seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 27:41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”
Genesis 28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.
There are two links to commentary this morning. Chapter 27 and chapter 28 are included, and here are the links to both. This is from the commentary.Stay with him a few days: The few days Jacob was to stay with Laban and Rebekah’s family in Haran turned out to be more than 20 years. Yet God would fulfill His purpose in all of it.
If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me: Rebekah successfully manipulated Isaac into telling Jacob to leave. This saved his life, but it is likely that this mother never saw her son again.
So yesterday we learned that Esau wasn't going to take Jacob stealing his birthright and his blessing, lying down. Esau vowed to kill Jacob just as soon as Isaac passed and a proper mourning period had ended. We also learned that Esau would have to hold that vow another 23 years because even though Isaac was blind... Isaac would live another 23 years. [Poor guy]
Now the commentary for chapter 28 leans toward Isaac's ability to understand, like some all-knowing-super-hero. Like the old blind man is some kind of all-knowing-super-hero realizing he was on the right path all along.... but the way I read it; Isaac was just bowing to Rebekah's desires. Actually, Rebekah overheard Esau's threat and knew she had to get Jacob out of town fast. So, she said she hated the Canaanite wives of Esau in order to trick Isaac into sending Jacob away. See, Isaac wasn't all-knowing. Rebekah was clever and Isaac didn't know that!So Isaac sent Jacob away: Jacob would travel eastward to the region where his mother Rebekah was raised. He would not see his father Isaac again for more than 20 years, when Isaac was truly near death.
Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob: Now the blessing and the birthright seemed important to Esau. They were important enough to him that he determined to impress his father by marrying non-Canaanite women when he saw that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother.
Esau went to Ishmael: Esau avoided the Canaanite women and married women from the family of his uncle Ishmael.
Polygamy has set in.Esau had a lot of wives.... He had two Canaanite wives when this story began. Now he has married Mahalath from Uncle Ishmael's neighborhood.
Abraham had Sarah alone, until she died and then he remarried. Keturah was the name of his second wife. He also had a son with Hagar, that's Ishmael, but never married her.
Isaac only married Rebekah, right? I don't see where he was married to anyone else.
So, what's up with Esau having all these wives hanging around? Oh, that's right... His uncle Ishmael doesn't have to live by the "one wife" rule. Ishmael had two wives too. Ishmael married Aisha and Fatima.
But wait.... Jacob's going to have a few wives [not just one] as well. He will have a favorite... but he too will have a harem.
Now this brings me to a couple of questions.
Why is polygamy wrong when Esau and Jacob both did it?
Why are there concubines in God's chosen family?
So, in the last few chapters, we've seen theft of birthright, theft of blessing, a vow to murder, several deceptions, and now polygamy in Jesus's family album.This story has been about the deception and polygamy.
Deception and polygamy...
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