Author: Beth Duncan

Genesis 27:5-6 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau,  

Was this a case of Rebekah scheming to get her way? Was this Rebekah, afraid that Isaac was going to give his promised blessing, the blessing God indicated was Jacob’s, to his, Isaac’s, favorite son? Was this a case of Rebekah doing what she felt she had to do to preserve what God had promised?

Genesis 27:7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’

Honestly, based on the words of scripture alone, it’s hard to tell. It is said (though not in the Bible) that God helps those who help themselves, but deceit is not something God calls us to. We have to put in the work as well as the prayers, but if we cross over into scheming and deceit, we’ve crossed a line from doing God’s work to ensuring we get our own way.

Genesis 27:8-9 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 

Precious Savior, It is easy to get so focused on what I want that I lose sight of what Your will is for me. Forgive me. Help me to put in the hard work, to be Your hands and feet, to stay in Your will for my life. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered.

On its surface, this scene seems like a very sweet scene of a father on his deathbed and the son of inheritance. In reality, Isaac will live another 37 years, Esau was not the son God deemed inheritor, and there was a lot of deceit and mistrust within this house.

Genesis 27:2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 

I have to keep reminding myself that these are God’s chosen ones. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob who becomes Israel, ancestor to Jesus through his son Joseph…are so utterly, fallibly, messily human. Just like me. Just like you.

Genesis 27:3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.   

Precious Savior, Thank You that You can use me, no matter my faults and flaws. Thank You that perfect is not and has never been a requirement for those who love You. Help me, always, to shine Your light, to be Your hands and feet. Use me, faults and all, to do Your will. Amen.

Genesis 27:4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 26:31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.

Commentary says of today’s scripture that Isaac enjoyed a “rich season of blessing” during this time. And while that’s true, I maintain as I said the other day, that we are all richly blessed by God daily and that we should strive for gratefulness and thankfulness instead of just defaulting to #blessed.

Genesis 26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 

I used to have these periods that I called “blue funks” when everything just felt….off. And something I would do to try to lift myself out of the funk was to count my blessings. Literally. 1. Air in my lungs, 2. A roof over my head, 3. Clothes on my back, 4. People who love me….Every blessing had a number, and I would count until I reminded myself that I truly was richly blessed, even though everything felt wrong. Then I was usually able to switch to praise for those blessings.

Genesis 26:33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing.

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I cannot see the blessings for the hardships in my life. Help me to remember, always, that I am richly blessed because I am Your child. Even when life is difficult, even when things are rocky and chaotic, even when life breaks my heart, even then, You are with me, Your presence blesses me richly. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 26:34-35 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 26:25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

If I were Isaac, I would be tempted to use my position of power (favored by God) in some sort of retaliation for the earlier behavior of the Philistine herdsmen. They filled in multiple wells (which were timely and expensive to dig). They chased him out of town. Now they want a sworn agreement? Now that they see God is with him?

Genesis 26:26-27 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”

Thankfully, Isaac responds with a cooler, more godly head than I would have. He makes a feast for them, invites them to the table. He uses his status as God’s child for reparation instead of further division.

Genesis 26:28-29 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”

Precious Savior, Sometimes life is contentious, sometimes people are cruel. But always we have the power to act as Your hands and feet, to use our status as You children to facilitate reparation instead of further division. Forgive us when we choose poorly. Help us always to strive to shine Your light. Amen.

Genesis 26:30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 26:17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 

Verses 14 & 15 tell us that the Philistines envied Isaac because he was so richly blessed by the Lord. As a result of that envy, the Philistines stopped up Isaac’s wells, wells that had been dug by his father Abraham, wells that were expensive and laborious to dig, wells that were absolutely necessary to the life of both humans and animals. Envy is an ugly beast.

Genesis 26:18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

Revenge is also an ugly beast, but Isaac didn’t choose that path. He decided to “move away from there” (v17), to trust that God would provide, to trust that God would defend, to put in the hard work of redigging the sabotaged wells of his father, to put in the work and to trust and to live instead of investing his time in getting even with those who had wronged him.

Genesis 26:19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.

Precious Savior, Forgive us that often our first thoughts after being wronged are about seeking revenge. Help us, instead, to seek You, to glorify You, to trust You, to obey You, to put in the work and to trust and to live instead of investing our time in revenge on those who have wronged us. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 26:20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 26:12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him.  

The expression “I am so blessed” really bothers me. I think the reason it does is that we are all blessed, daily, lavishly, in a multitude of ways, yet it is so very easy to overlook those blessings when we are focused on disappointments, heartaches, hopes for the future. Sometimes we overlook what’s right under our noses. I know I do.

Genesis 26:13-14 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 

I guess instead of spouting off about “blessings,” I feel like what I should be doing is showing my gratitude, showing my thankfulness to the Giver of all blessings. I woke up this morning. Thank You, Jesus. I can move without significant pain. Thank You, Jesus. I have a beautiful family whom I love dearly (even when they pluck my last nerve…because they are human as I am). Thank You, Jesus.

Genesis 26:15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the multitude of blessings that You lavish on me daily. Forgive me when I get so focused on wants and hopes and disappointments that I fail to see the blessings that You provide. Help me, daily, to count those blessings, to give You praise and glory, to show my gratitude, my thankfulness. I’m not worthy, Lord. I can never be worthy. Thank You for loving me fiercely and completely anyway. Amen.

Genesis 26:16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

A phrase from commentary jumped out at me this morning, “sin can follow upon an outpouring of God’s blessing.” That line reminded me of a church sign I’ve seen before, which truly bothers me: “When all else fails, pray.” The two quotes, in my mind, are closely linked.

Genesis 26:8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 

When God showers us with blessings, many of us eventually get complacent with our prayers of thanks. We start to see the blessings as our due. Maybe we grumble when the blessings aren’t flowing. But prayer should never be reserved for “when all else fails.” Prayer should be a daily conversation, as ingrained in us and as natural to us as breathing.

Genesis 26:9 So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

Precious Savior, Forgive me that prayer is not my default, is not as natural to me as breathing. Help me to view prayer and to practice prayer as the lifeline that it is. Help me to lay everything before You–my worries and fears, my praise and thanksgiving, my random musings and observations. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 26:10-11 Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 26:1 Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.  

Today’s scripture is an interesting look at connections made through stream-of-consciousness thought. Commentary says of Isaac’s situation: “Though Isaac lived in the land God promised to his father Abraham and his descendants, it did not mean that life in the land would be without trouble or challenge.” The reminder of  “trouble or challenge” brought to mind a poem by Annie Johnson Flynt, entitled “What God Hath Promised.”

Genesis 26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.

The last stanza of that poem reads: “But God hath promised strength for the day,/Rest for the labor, light for the way,/Grace for the trials, help from above,/Unfailing sympathy, undying love.” God promised never to leave us, never to forsake us. So no matter what dark and winding road you are currently on, He is with you, right beside you, holding you, carrying you, loving you. Even now.

Genesis 26:3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for this reminder that You are with us always. When life is going sideways, what I want is for You to make it stop. That’s not what You promise. You promise never to leave me, never forsake me. I don’t always understand Your ways, Lord, but I understand Your presence. Thank You. Amen.

Genesis 26:4-6 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 25:29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 

My first thought when I read today’s verses is Esau’s comment about being “about to die” is said because he is so very hungry. Commentary says that the comment shows his lack of regard for the spiritual (and physical, I suppose) inheritance of his birthright.  Life is short. He’ll die at the end of it. What does he care about birthrights?

Genesis 25:30-31 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

Truly, though, Esau is guilty of something we all are guilty of at times–providing for his physical wants and needs without being concerned about the spiritual. Esau is hungry right now. There is stew right there. Who cares about anything other than this current need/want/desire that can be so easily fulfilled?

Genesis 25:32-33 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

Precious Savior, It’s easy to sit in judgment, to armchair quarterback what other people do, should do, should have done. Help us to be more concerned with our own lives, our own spiritual growth and  health. Help us to think further than our immediate desires and comfort and to consider our eternal health as well. Amen.

Genesis 25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Have a blessed day.