Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

The story of Jacob lying to his Father and his mother starting the whole situation is told in Genesis 27.  She is as deceptive as her youngest son.  The deceit pits the two sons against each other and results in her favorite child having to leave home.

Isaac must have been very gullible, or he would have trusted his ears and not the word of a liar.  He certainly would never have believed his wife and son would steal the blessing of Esau.  Esau is the ancestor of the Edomites who also becomes an enemy of Jacob’s family.  How you treat someone today can affect history.

Genesis 28 begins with Isaac blessing Jacob and sending him back to their family to find a proper wife.  Esau hears of this and realizes how he has displeased his parents.  He takes an Ishmaelite woman as a third wife.

Jacob dreams his first night on the road and sees angels traveling to and from Heaven.  God renews the promise that he made to Abraham and Isaac to make them a great people group.  Jacob named it Bethel and used the stone that was his pillow as a monument to the vision he had seen. He then makes what seems to be a bad statement.  If God will do all of these things that have been promised, he will make God his god.

This is what many of us do.  God must prove Himself and then we will worship Him.  What God wants is our obedient worship.  God will bless our faithfulness.  Who do we think we are to expect Jehovah to bless us before we follow Him?  And who am I to stop following Him, when he doesn’t do what I think He should?  Which one is really the ruler of the universe?

The joke is about to be on the jokester in Genesis 29, our reading for today.  Two interesting things are the procedure for watering the sheep at the well and the reason the stone was over the well.  What do you think?

Jacob met Rachel and waters her sheep ahead of the others.  This may not have made him one of their favorite people.  Rachel shows her gratitude and takes him to meet her father Laban.  He is warmly greeted and then he meets his match.

Rachel is beautiful and Jacob agrees to work seven years for her hand in marriage.  After the wedding ceremony at the end of the seven years, Jacob wakes up to discover he is married to the older, ugly sister.  Laban agrees to give him Rachel also after the marriage week in return for another seven years of work.  The agreement made Jacob gets two wives in two weeks.  The trickery is just beginning.

©Copyright 2020 by Charles Kensinger