Genesis 25 – 26 and Haywire

Genesis 25 – 26

Abraham, probably lonely after the death of Sarah, makes a lady named Keturah as his second wife. She bears him six sons, Abraham is careful to make sure no one can lay claim to anything he owned except Isaac. However, he did provide for his other children, even those of his concubines and then “sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.”

At 175 years of age, Abraham dies “at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying age.” He is buried in the same cave where Sarah was buried – the cave of Machpelah. Note it says his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him. Don’t you wonder what kind of relationship the two half-brothers had. There had to be animosity, whether acknowledged or not. Imagine you are Ishmael and when you are 13 or so, a brother is born who takes away your father’s attention. Your brother is the obvious favorite and poised to inherit everything. I’m sure both mourned their father’s passing, but I doubt they lifted up each other or encouraged each other.

The Scriptures do not ignore Ishamel, but mention a number of his descendants. They describe his descendants as living “in open hostility toward all their relatives.”

I wonder if Isaac was jealous of Ishmael’s children. We know Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of Rebekah, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered his prayer by giving Rebekah twin boys. And here’s another instance of discord between siblings before they are even born.

Rebekah, a woman of prayer, asked God why the two struggled with each other in her womb. The Lord gives her a lot of information about the twins:

• They will become two nations
• The two nations will be rivals
• One nation will be stronger than the other
• The older son will serve the younger

Sure enough, Rebekah gave birth to twins – apparently fraternal and not identical. The oldest, Esau, was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. Jacob came out of the womb second, his hand grasping Esau’s heel.

The situation goes from bad to worse. Not only are the boys very different in appearance and in temperament, but their animosity toward each other is evident from the beginning.

Esau	Jacob
A skillful hunter	Quiet temperament
An outdoorsman	Preferred to stay at home
Isaac’s favorite	Rebekah’s favorite

When Esau arrived home “exhausted and hungry,” Jacob was cooking some red stew. It must have smelled delicious. Esau asks his brother for some of the “red” stew (this is where he gets his other name, Edom, meaning red). Jacob says he’ll do it if Esau gives him his rights as the firstborn son.

Was Esau really “dying of starvation” or was he just being dramatic. Can’t you just see him saying, “What good is my birthright to me now?” Jacob makes Esau swear an oath that he gets Esau’s birthright. The writer of Genesis describes this as: “He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.” Hebrews 12:14 references this situation as follows: “Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal.”

Can we say “like father, like son?” Isaac uses one of his father’s tricks and passes Rebekah off as his sister. Is this the same Abimelech that Abraham tried to fool? Isaac is found out and Abimelech confronts him about it, but it doesn’t seem as if either Isaac or Rebekah suffered as a result. Instead, Abimelech proclaims, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death.”

God certainly blesses Isaac, so much that the Philistines become jealous of him. Eventually, Abimelech asks Isaac to leave the country (I wonder if the trick Isaac played had anything to do with the decision.) Isaac moves his family to the Gerar Valley where Abraham had been, reopening the wells his father had dug. Just as now, water was an important resource. Eventually, Isaac moved to Beersheba where the Lord appears to him on the night of his arrival re-affirming God’s covenant with Abraham. Isaac builds an altar there and worships the Lord.

Abimelech clearly looks ahead, realizing God is with Isaac. He makes a covenant with Isaac similar to the one he or some similarly-named Abimelech made with Abraham.

Remember how important it was to Abraham that Isaac not marry a Canaanite woman? Esau takes two Hittite wives, who make life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.

Tomorrow, it’s Genesis 27 – 29.

Haywire

Today, I saw the movie Haywire with Gina Carano, Michael Angarano, Channing Tatum, and Michael Douglas. It was a thriller with lots of twists and turns. I recommend it.

The strawberries I dried yesterday are wonderful. I think I’m going to do some more next week.