Arms Reaching

Howdy –

Today our journey takes us to Genesis 27-29. We will read about Isaac giving his blessing to Jacob, Jacob’s dream about a stairway to heaven and Jacob’s marriages to Leah and Rachel.

https://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/beginning/2023/01/09?version=NIV

Things to Ponder

What was the significance of Isaac’s blessing?

Why did Laban switch Rachel for Leah on Jacob’s wedding night?

Things to Ponder from Day 8

Why did Esau give up his birth right for a bowl of stew? More on this after today’s reading

Isaac tells Abimelech that Rebekah is his sister. What is the deal? How strange, this theme repeats itself three different times in the old testament. All three times the patriarch that commits this sin (tells a lie) says it is because they feared they would be killed due to their wives’ great beauty. In Abraham’s case, commentators accept Abraham’s excuse that Sarah was actually his half-sister so that his lie was more of a sin of omission not commission. However in Isaac’s case Rebekah was Jacob’s cousin not a half sister. Other commentators use other theories to justify their behavior. I prefer to follow the third option; The bible (God’s Word) shares the stories from an unbiased point of view. The bible details the historical aspects of all these events in order to show that even the great leaders of the bible had their flaws. God was able to use them to accomplish his plans regardless, sometimes because of their shortcomings. As the Lord told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “M”y grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness