29. Beginner Bible Course: The story of Isaac and Rebekah - an ancient dysfunctional family

EPISODE 29  The simple Bible overview of…THE STORY OF ISAAD REBEKAH – AN ANCIENT DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY

We continue with the...

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00:00:04

...Isaac story. The beginning of Genesis 25 tells us about the death of Abraham. The widower Abe got a second wind. He married Katurah and it named six boys. First six in chapter 25 tells us before he died. He also quote, gave gifts to the sons of his concubines. My seventh grade students want to know what a concubine is. It's essentially a mistress, a woman who's used without the honor and security of being a full fledged wife. I told you the Bible is utterly unique in how it treats its heroes. Here. We have the main trunk of the tree Abraham, and the last thing the text tells us about this man yet is this failure to keep God's pattern one, man, one woman glued together for life.

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00:00:52

He's got ladies on the side, back to Isaac and Rebecca, as the pregnancy progresses, Rebecca's concerned that baby in there is active more than active something's up. She asked God, what's up. God replies through her. There's two in their two children are in your womb. They'll become great nations. And the older will serve the younger that's highly unusual. The older was always the big shot that's God's code for saying the younger one will carry the blessing of God that he made to Abraham and pass to Isaac. He will carry the Stomper. When Rebecca gives birth, the two boys are hooked together, not conjoined.

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00:01:36

The second one's grabbing the heel of the first one, they decide to give them descriptive names. The first one was red and covered in hair. They named him red. Esau the second one holding onto his big brother's heel, heel, grabber, red and heel grabber. They'll born at the same time. They couldn't of been more different as they grew up. Genesis describes Esau as an outdoorsman, a real He-Man a Hunter. I have a brother-in-law like this and he had a little boy Matthew in Sunday school class, the teacher asked who can name the seasons Matthew's hand shot up hunting season and fishing season that's Esau Jacob on the other hand was a momma's boy, a homeboy Isaac and Rebecca started playing favorites.

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00:02:26

Isaac preferred Esau Rebecca, her homeboy Jacob fully grown. One day Esau comes in to the house. Jacob been whipping up a family. Favorite recipe. Some stew Esau may have said, man, I'd give anything for some of that. Apparently Jacob had been planning for a day like this. He had a suggestion. I'll trade you dinner for your birthright. I explained to my students, the birthright, it was given to the oldest son and came with two privileges first to be the, of the clan or family. And second, a double portion of the inheritance. That double portion wasn't a reward.

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00:03:06

It was meant for the oldest son, the leader of the family to take care of any unmarried daughters or a widowed mother. He would be the leader and the provider for others. That's a pretty big deal, both in terms of responsibility and honor, instead of telling Jacob to drop dead, he said, what good is a birthright? If I starved to death, shockingly, he made the deal. That story is very revealing about the wiring of both these twin boys of Isaac and Rebecca, the incident in Genesis chapter 26, sounds a bit like God cut and paste an incident from Abraham's life. Isaac fearing for his life, lies about Rebecca saying, she's his sister.

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00:03:50

You know it's coming don't you? Well, not exactly this time. The local officials sorta keeps his eye on Rebecca one day while keeping an eye on her Isaac shows up. He gets a bit amorous with Rebecca. The local official says, man, you don't do stuff like that to your sister. I asked my students, do you think there was a time that Abraham ever sat down with Isaac and said, Hey, if you get into a sticky situation and are fearful for your life, that somebody is going to watch your wife and kill you, just tell them she's your sister. I don't think so. Either. Apparently Isaac has picked up some of his father's bad habits at the end of chapter 26, the text tells us that Esau married.

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00:04:35

One of the local EITs that Canaanites. And then a second night, and that these two EIT daughter-in-laws made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca we're seeing the beginnings here of a very dysfunctional family. And it's about to get much, much worse in Genesis chapter 27. Jacob steals the blessing from his big brother. Esau remember he worked the angles on Esau to Connie out of the birthright with the blessing. He outright steals it with the help of his mother, with the help of his mother, to understand the gravity of this situation. We need to understand what the blessing was.

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00:05:17

A blessing was a spoken word of honor and favor almost a predictive prophecy about the trajectory of someone's life. I asked my students two words from someone older than you, whom you highly value matter if your beloved grandpa or grandma called you to their bedside and said, I love you. You're an amazing blessing to me. And you will make a difference in your world, or you're an annoying little kid and you'll bring nothing but trouble. Do you think those words might ring in your head and impact the trajectory of your life? Indeed. The text tells us, Isaac said it's time to my son.

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Esau Isaac is old. In fact, he's so old, he's blind. He calls Esau in and says it's Showtime time to give you my blessing. Let's turn it into a party. Go hunting, get a deer, make up that savory venison. You know the way I love it, then come back and I'm going to bless you. My son Esau. We need to stop and ask a question. Why is Isaac doing this? When Rebecca was pregnant, God told her the older will serve the younger it's. Jacob the younger who is to receive the blessing. He is the one who will carry the Stomper.

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00:06:37

He is the one whose trajectory is the preferred future. Yet Isaac pulls the trigger and says, I will bless Esau. I tell my students, I see only two possibilities. The first is Isaac knew that and didn't care. He liked his outdoor He-Man oldest son Esau and God could just get over it. But there's another possibility he didn't know. Is it possible? Rebecca never told him is a possible God could speak to pregnant Rebecca, and she'd never share this amazing news with her husband. It could of been either. I'd say it's a coin toss either way.

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00:07:17

They're messed up a dysfunctional family to say the least Rebecca hears Isaac conversation with Esau side and moves into action grabbing Jacob. She says quick do what I say. Go get to choice kids from the flock. Bring it to me and I'll prepare it. You'll take it in. He'll eat and pass the blessing to you. Jacob the heel grabber. The conniver wants no part of it. He's smart enough to know his ruse will be discovered by his father. Jacob's voices, different, any smooth skin, rather than Harry, like Esau he'll pull me close, feel my smooth skin and know I'm an imposter.

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00:07:58

Then he'll curse me. Instead of blast me. Rebecca's got that covered too. She'll put some hair from those two slaughtered kid goats on his hands in the back of his neck. I've lived with your father, my whole life. I know how to work them. Trust me. And that's exactly what Jacob does. When he enters the room. His father asks who he is. I'm Esau your firstborn. I've done what you said. Here's the game, eat it. And bless me. Isaac pauses. How did you get back so quickly from the hunt Jacob responds. The Lord helped me. Isaac asked him to come close. Isaac runs his hands across Jacob's hands in the back of his neck and says it's the voice of Jacob.

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00:08:42

But the hands of Esau Isaac then eats the meal. And at the end, ask Jacob to come close. Once again, this time he hugs them and smells him though his eyes have failed him, his nose lie taking a deep breath of his scent. He blesses Jacob disguised as Esau with abundance, with the respect of peoples around him, with favor over his brothers and ends it with cursed, to be those who curse you and bless it. Be those who bless you. The text tells us no sooner had Jacob departed the room that Esau came in with his prepared venison dish Isaac falls apart.

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00:09:22

The voice skin and smell are really Esau. He knows he's been had your brother came deceitfully and has stolen away your blessing. I blessed him with prosperity power and I've made him your master. First 38 of chapter 27 is heart-rending. Esau begs his father for a blessing. Certainly dad, you have to have a blessing for me. And he bursts into heaving sobs son. You will indeed be lesser than your brother and serve him. But one day you'll break away from him. Esau entered the room with venison. He left with a grudge saying to himself, when my father has died, I will kill my brother.

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00:10:06

Jacob again. Rebecca hears the conversation. She helps Jacob PAC to flee. She tells him more to go to Heran to our brother layman's house. She reminds Isaac the grief. The two local Canaanite daughter in laws are causing them. She tells him I'm sending Jacob to find a wife from our people. She knows how to work the angles too. He calls his deceptive sun to his side and repeats the blessing. May God almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you that you may become a company of people. May he also give you the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that they may possess the land of your sojourning, which God has given to Abraham.

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00:10:52

There it is the promise. Isaac the patriarch passes to his son. Jacob the promise he received from Abraham, his father, lots of kids, a special land, and best of all, the Stomper, I imagine Rebecca kissing her favorite son. Goodbye. It will only be for a few days. In fact, it will be nearly 20 years. What will be the life trajectory of this conniving heel grabber. We'll discover that in our next wordpicture,