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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Saturday, 30 November 2024:
Genesis 27:1-4 — When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
Remember what God has told Rebekah: “…the older shall serve the younger.” (Isaiah 25:23) Yet, Isaac, who favored Esau, was determined on giving Esau the blessing and was planning on doing it privately, though Rebekah overheard his scheme. Isaac and Rebekah modeled for their children distrust and favoritism.
“Prepare for me delicious food, such as I love….” It wasn’t the food Isaac loved (Rebekah demonstrated she could make the same thing without Isaac knowing the difference), it was the fact that the mighty Esau had hunted the game and prepared the meal. Isaac was enamored with Esau’s capabilities, which blinded him to Esau’s lack of character. This is a common mistake people make, choosing capabilities over character. Character is what matters most, and it is Christlike character which God desires from us above all else.
Genesis 27:1-10 – Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
Rebekah and Jacob sinned against family to steal the blessings God had already promised. Christians often sin when they think they must make God’s promises happen through their own efforts apart from God’s direction.
Genesis 27:13 – His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”
Family members become idols when we put them ahead of God.
Rebekah led her child into sin against God while rashly and flippantly calling the curse upon herself, but God holds everyone accountable for their part in sin – Jacob would not be able to blame his mother. Also, Rebekah’s willingness to shield her son from the punishment of sin was futile and would not protect his character from being corrupted and tarnished from sin — you can’t handle filth and not get filthy. She may have thought that she was acting in Jacob’s interest by securing his earthly prosperity through deception, but in reality, she was contributing to his separation from God and his potential downfall. As the saying goes, “When someone loses their fortune, they have lost nothing; when someone loses their health, they have lost something; but when a person loses their character, they have lost everything.” Sin will never bring you closer to your goal, and what we might consider a blessing is only a curse if it isn’t provided by God within His perfect will for us. Also, if your advice to others is outside of God’s will, it is unloving and will only hurt them and those around them.
Genesis 27:18 – Who are you, my son?
Jesus once asked, “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25) Jacob forfeited himself, his integrity, to steal what God intended to give him anyway. (Romans 9:11-13) In so doing, Jacob brought much needless sorrow upon himself and upon his family – “The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22) “Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.” (Proverbs 20:17) Now in our readings, Jacob is on the run with a very hard road ahead of him; his self-induced struggle will result in much needless pain and sorrow.
Who are you? Who do you say you are? Are you still struggling needlessly to gain or claim something when Christ has already given you everything, immeasurable riches beyond imagination?
- 1 John 3:1-3 — See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
- John 1:12-13 — But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 — Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
- Galatians 3:26-29 — For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
- Galatians 2:20 — I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
- 1 Peter 2:9 — But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
- Romans 8:1, 14-15 — There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
- Romans 8:31-34 — What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
- Ephesians 1:11 — In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will….
If you are a Christian, “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8, 9) You are a new creation, and your identity is glorious and secure in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20) Don’t pretend to be something you’re not, and don’t disguise your identity before the world in an attempt to gain or protect something only God can give you and ensure. Don’t try to steal or earn an inheritance already guaranteed to you through Jesus. Don’t live in the lies of self-justification, self-sufficiency, and self-righteousness and suffer needless pain and heartache. Rest in the Lord, trust in the Lord, wait upon the Lord, and glorify Him. Abide in His love and be fruitful. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)
- Matthew 11:28-30 – Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
- Colossians 3:1-4 — If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
- Ephesians 5:8-10 — For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
- Matthew 6:25-33 — “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Genesis 27:20 — Because the Lord your God granted me success.
Jacob was so deep in sin that he even claimed that God had supported him in his deceptive gain. He not only misrepresented himself, he also misrepresented God. Many people use religion to deceive themselves and other people about their sins.
Genesis 27:26 — Come near and kiss me, my son.
The kiss was a deep form of intimacy and trust. Jacob defied all trust in his deceit and demonstrated complete callousness. Similarly, Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. An unrepentant sinner is completely untrustworthy even to those closest to them.
Genesis 27:34-36 — As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.”
What a stark contrast between Esau’s concern over his blessing here as compared to when he flippantly traded his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew – “Esau said, ‘I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?’ Jacob said, ‘Swear to me now.’ So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” (Genesis 25:32-34)
“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” (Jim Rohn) Jesus’ light load is one of disciplined living as a disciple of Christ with no regrets.
Genesis 27:41 — Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
Jacob’s ungodliness induced many unnecessary sorrows for himself and many others and caused much resentment and hostility with those closest to him. Therefore, he could not enjoy his blessings but rather lived fearfully and painfully.
God says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) However, when Jesus taught throughout the cities, villages, and synagogues, he observed that the people were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) They were harassed and helpless because they had wandered from the Shepherd and were seeking to sinfully fend for themselves though they had no real power to do so. Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Solomon observed, “See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29) Too many Christians are living fearful, painful, harassed, and helpless lives, unable to enjoy God’s blessings because they have “sought out many schemes” – attempting to earn or take what must be given to them by grace, and pursuing many worldly goals that God never intended them to pursue. They have denied themselves the restful soul, the light burden, and the peace that transcends understanding by choosing to live by the flesh, by seeking personal kingdoms rather than the Kingdom of God, and by getting caught up in the worries of the world. Though they have free and immediate access to the Good Shepherd, they live as “sheep without a shepherd” because they refuse to follow the Shepherd, choosing instead to wander off on their own paths (often in the name of the Shepherd) expecting the Shepherd to follow them and continue to bless them along their way. Though they have full access to the Living Water which satisfies all thirst, they have instead “hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13) Therefore, they live in dry lands and continuously thirst needlessly.
Are you harassed today? Did you add sorrows to your ‘blessings’? Perhaps you have loaded unnecessary burdens upon yourself by doing things your way for your purposes rather than denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus. Perhaps in some areas of your life you are a builder laboring in vain. (Psalm 127:1) Do you feel like there is not enough time in the day to do all the things you need to do? Well, God has given you all the time you need to do all the things He wants you to do without losing your joy and peace. If you find that you have drifted away from the Good Shepherd, return to him in your weariness, and he will give you rest (and don’t try to earn what he has given you or it won’t be restful).
Genesis 27:41 — The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.
Just like the story of Cain and Abel, hate, jealousy, bitterness, and un-forgiveness caused one brother to want to kill another. Interestingly, Herod who sought kill Jesus, was an Edomite, perhaps fulfilling the prophecy in verse 40.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 30 November 2024: Today, focus on obeying and honoring God in all that you do, and trust Him to provide for you perfectly and richly in your obedience. Don’t compromise your character in a futile effort to take what only God can give.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 