Genesis 27-29

(February 9, 2014)
I had several thoughts as I read through these chapters.  The first was on Esau – his story is a tragic one.  He sold his birthright long ago, but he had apparently matured in the intervening years.  As his father grew closer to death, he wanted to be in his father’s good graces.  He wanted Isaac’s firstborn blessing, after he had so casually sold his birthright long ago.  He married again when he realized that his prior marriage brought grief to his parents.  But it was too late for Esau – the decisions that he made earlier in his life established the course of his life thereafter.  He repented of a number of things, and was able to achieve greatness in his own right, but the lineage still went through Jacob.

The second thought was on Jacob himself.  It is always dangerous to criticize a prophet of the Lord, but Jacob’s actions through these two chapters are firm proof to me that the Lord works through imperfect human instruments.  Jacob lies to his father about who he was – it was not an issue of mincing words (as did Abraham and Isaac), but rather an outright lie.  But that isn’t the behavior that is most concerning to me.

Jacob, from what I can tell from the text, is unkind with Leah.  She feels like she is hated, and Jacob clearly loved Rachel far more than he loves Leah.  How it must have hurt Leah to see the man who she was given to and was to spend the rest of her life with love another woman (her sister, no less) so much more than he loved her.

Looking at the way Leah handled matters, however, gives us some profound insights.  Leah was dealing with a painful injury in the most precious relationship on Earth – her spouse did not love her.  But she understood where she needed to go for her comfort and her peace.  She sought out the Lord to make things right for her, and as such she received the blessing of a number of children (which was what she so desperately wanted).  In the same way, at times those around us will hurt us, but we must remember that the Lord stands ready to bind up those wounds and bring peace to us in the way that we need if we are only willing to turn to Him.