Genesis 26
Isaac's tribe is cast out of Abimelech's land. Abimilech wants peace. Esau gets married (twice).
26:1-6 There was another great famine. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines (it doesn't say why). God told him not to go to Egypt, but to stay where he was, and promised to fulfill his promise to Abraham that Isaac would father nations.
26:7-11 Isaac lied and said Rebekah was his sister. Abimelech called him on it, telling him he could have caused them a lot of problems if they'd slept with her, not knowing she was another man's wife. Abimelech threatened his people with death if they touched Rebekah. This is the same thing Abraham and Sarah did, and it had already caused problems for two kings (one of whom was Abimelech). How their son and daughter in law are doing the same thing.
26:12-16 Isaac sewed on Abimelech's land that year and reaped 100-fold. His herds also did well, to the point that the Philistines were jealous, so they stopped up all the wells Abraham had dug before. Abimelech asked him to leave because he was doing too well.
26:17-25 Isaac dug new wells, which the philistines stopped up again. This happened several times, until he got to Rehoboth, where they were finally left in peace. He went from there to Beersheba (the same place his father had built an alter before, and the place where his half-brother had been saved by the magically appearing well). God appears to him, identifies himself as God, and tells him he's going to give him lots of descendants, so Isaac built an alter, set up his tent, and had his servants dig another well.
26:26-33 King Abimelech goes to visit Isaac where he's set up his new home, and Isaac's like, "What gives? You sent me away - you hate me. Why are you here?" Abimilech explains that they can tell God is on Isaac's side, and he wants to make a pact with Isaac that there will be peace between them. They had a big feast and both sides swore peace.
26:34 Esau took two wives: Judith and Bashemath, both Hittite women. Isaac and Rebekah were unhappy with the marriages. It doesn't say why. One assumes it's because they're not Syrian - such a big deal was made about Isaac having to marry from Abraham's own family.
Genesis 27
Isaac is dying. Rebekah plots against Esau. Esau wants to kill Jacob.
27:1-10 Isaac is old and dying. He asks Esau, his eldest son, the hunter, to go kill a deer and bring him some venison so he can bless Esau before he dies. Rebekah overheard, and because she loved Jacob more than his twin brother, Esau, she asked him to slaughter to goat kids, saying they would trick Isaac to get Jacob blessed instead of Esau.
27:11-17 Jacob says he'll never pull it off, because Esau is very hairy and Jacob isn't. Rebekah puts the goat skins on Jacob's hands and throat to fool Isaac, and sent him into the tent in Esau's stead.
27:18-27 Jacob enters the tent, and when Isaac asks who he is, he says he's Esau. Isaac asks how he found the deer so quickly, and Jacob says God brought him a deer. Isaac asks him to come closer, so he can feel him and ensure he really is Esau, because he sounded like Jacob, but his hands were hairy like Esau's, and he was dressed in Esau's clothes so he smelled like Esau.
27:28-40 Isaac blesses Jacob, thinking he's Esau. Jacob leaves the tent just as Esau is coming back from his hunt. When Esau goes to see Isaac and bring him the venison he asked for, Isaac says he's already blessed some one he thought was Esau, and Esau knows it was Jacob. Isaac tells him he's blessed Jacob with service from his family, and that everything will be Jacobs, but he blesses Esau by saying he will break out of Jacob's service
27:41-45 Esau hated Jacob because he'd stolen his birthright (Genesis 25:31) and his father's dying blessing, and swore to kill him when the time of mourning for his father ended. One of the servants told Rebekah, so she told Jacob about Esau's plan to kill him and sent him to her brother Laban. She told Isaac she'd sent him to Laban because she didn't want him to marry one of Heth's daughters.
Genesis 28
Esau takes a third wife. Isaac builds the first church. Tithing becomes official.
28:1-9 Isaac tells Jacob to go to Laban and find a wife. Esau saw that Isaac didn't like Canaanite women marrying his sons, so he married Ishmael's daughter, Mahalath (Ishmael was Isaac's half-brother).
28:10 Jacob is travelling to Laban's house, but it's getting dark so he stops to sleep through the night. He has a dream, seeing angels going up and down a ladder between earth and heaven. God tells him (again) he will give him as many descendants as there are pieces of dust on the earth. God also tells him he will be with him, no matter where he goes or what he does, until the land he promised to him is his. Jacob swears that God will be his lord if he makes it back to his father's house in peace, and builds an alter to God where he had the dream. The alter becomes "God's house", and he promises to give 1/10 of everything God gives him back to God. This is the official introduction of both the church as a physical location and the House of God, and of tithing to the church.
No comments:
Post a Comment