today's meditation (Gn.25) Go to God in Prayer

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and help me to see Your truth...)

(Genesis 25:1-34)  Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. 5 Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; 6 but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.

7 These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. 9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, 10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife. 11 It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.

12 Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham; 13 and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam 14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, 15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes. 17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.

19 Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of Isaac; 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 The Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb;
And two peoples will be separated from your body;
And one people shall be stronger than the other;
And the older shall serve the younger.”

24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. 28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; 30 and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” 33 And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

We don't know if Abraham took this second wife, Keturah, after Sarah died.  This could have been possible, giving him about 35 years to have 6 more sons before dying a happy man.  Now perhaps all the sons from the second wife wisely stayed out of the way regarding Abraham's burial in order to avoid any family drama.

It is interesting that Ishmael, the son of Abraham's oops (concubine, Hagar) helped Isaac bury Abraham.  Maybe Ishmael helped in order to show that he was an honorable son, so that he could make a better case when he tried to contest "the will"...  to argue that as Abraham's eldest son, he was therefore the rightful heir to everything.  I have spoken to Muslims who still adamantly claim this.

Maybe Ishmael even tried to get the other half-brothers from Keturah, to side with him; but we can only speculate what happened.  In the end, Isaac was heir, and Ishmael and his sons settled east of Egypt "in defiance of all his relatives."  

So, we seem to have a better time understanding the potential for family drama to come out of dysfunctional type relationships, such as half-brothers from several mothers, than it is to understand the family drama which comes out of loving family dynamics, such as Isaac and Rebekah.  Even more so, twins typically are joined at the hip.  But here we see that the twin brothers, Esau and Jacob, were already at war within Rebekah's womb.  And it certainly would not have helped matters that each parent had a favorite child. 

But here again, it was prophesied that the older would serve the younger.  Curious if Rebekah told her sons this, and that thought embedded in their heads and determined a lot of their behavior?  Perhaps this prophecy also determined the parents' behavior.  Rebekah favored "the winner" and nurtured Jacob's political savvy, while Isaac maybe felt for Esau, understanding the potential issues that arise when the eldest son does not inherit everything.  Or the preferences could have been as simple as - "I just relate more with this child, than with that one."

And the drama unfolded.  Jacob saw his chance to manipulate a situation, and Esau unwittingly gave Jacob his birthright for some food.  So many questions!  But the only time we see God in this situation was when Isaac prayed for Rebekah to get pregnant, and when Rebekah was pregnant, she asked God what was going on inside her womb.

My takeaway from all of this is - - - that we should pray - - - like Rebekah and Isaac did!  Rebekah asked God for insight.  And even though Isaac absolutely knew that God would bless him with many descendants because of God's covenant with his father, Isaac still prayed about it.

We cannot take God for granted.  Yes, God promises us joy and peace and strength, and all these things... but God wants a personal relationship with us,.  He wants us to go to Him as our heavenly Father - and freely ask Him for things... for everything... all of the time!!!  And as the perfectly patient and all-powerful Father that He is - He will never tire of His children's desire to grow closer to Him!!!