Author: Beth Duncan

Genesis 28:10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 

Holy Father, Just like Jacob, many of us feel a bit adrift at present. Everything seems…off. Thank You for being sovereign, for still being on Your throne. No matter how chaotic life feels, help me to remember that You are still God. You’ve got us.

Genesis 28:11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 

Loving God, When I take my eyes off of You, when I get distracted by life, fear and anger, anxiety and bitterness creep in. Thank You that You are bigger than my feelings, outside of them. Help me, no matter what I’m feeling, to hold on to You, to trust You. You are God. You are sovereign. You’ve got us.

Genesis 28:12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 

Precious Savior, Creator of the Universe, Thank You for Your fierce love of me. Thank You that You know every hair on my head, every tear that I cry. You haven’t forgotten me. You are with me. Even when it is hard for me to feel Your presence, You are there. Thank You for these truths that I can trust. Thank You for Your unending love. Amen.

Genesis 28:13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 28:5 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.

There is nothing quite as appealing as something you cannot have. This maxim appears as true in Esau’s time as it is today. Esau saw that Jacob pleased their mother and father with his actions. Esau then decides to take a non-Canaanite wife from his Uncle Ishmael’s daughters. But what is he hoping to gain?

Genesis 28:6-7 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,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.

This situation brings to mind Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters….” Instead of trying to please his parents, Esau should be trying to please God. We all should. Instead of trying to get accolades from fellow humans, our only concern should be bringing God glory in our thoughts, words, and actions. Help me, Jesus.

Genesis 28:8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 

Precious Savior, I know that I need to live Colossians 3:23, that I need to work at all things as though working for You alone, not for human masters. I know that I need to squash the human tendency for pride, for wanting recognition and accolades for my accomplishments. Help me, Jesus. Help me. Amen.

Genesis 28:9 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.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 

As I read this dysfunctional family saga, Gen 50:20 keeps coming to mind, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good….” Isaac wanted to bless his favorite. Esau wanted the blessing he threw away carelessly (that was never actually his). Rebekah wanted her favorite to get what she saw as his due. Jacob wanted the birthright.

Genesis 28:2 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. 

They intended harm, trickery, deception, but God…. I was going to say that God used it for good. And He does in Gen 50:20, but in this story, God uses their scheme to accomplish His will, which He declared at the twins’ birth– “the older will serve the younger” (Gen 25:23). They schemed, but God’s will was accomplished, despite them.

Genesis 28:3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 

Precious Savior, As I ponder what You would have me learn from today’s scripture, I wonder if the lesson is that I don’t need to get all upset when things don’t go the way I feel they should, when I feel I am due something and it doesn’t look like it will happen. If I trust, if I put You first, Your way will win out. Your will *will* be accomplished. So help me to peacefully, defiantly live out Exodus 14:14: “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Amen.

Genesis 28:4 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.” 

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran.  

Commentary says of this story: “In this tragic story, everyone lost.” This family seems monumentally dysfunctional. Each parent has their undisguised favorite, schemes to get their way. And Rebekah is successful in that her favorite gets the birthright (promised by God) and is sent away for his own safety (because he tricked his brother). Commentary said she probably never saw him again. What a victory.

Genesis 27:44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides.

When I think of childhood recollections of this family from Sunday School and Bible stories, none of this is what comes to mind. Isaac was faithful. Rebekah was kind. Esau was shifty. Jacob was triumphant. Clearly my memories don’t jive with the reality of their stories. But God is still sovereign, still king. His will is still accomplished, even though this family schemes and plans. Instead of a beacon of faithfulness, they feel like a cautionary tale.

Genesis 27:45 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?”

Precious Savior, It is easy to shake my head, wag my finger at the lengths this family goes to to get their way. However, if I’m honest, I know that I have little room for either as I can be just as bad. Help me, Jesus, to die to self, to put my selfish nature aside and instead to align myself so closely with You, to fill myself so full with Your spirit that there is no room for my fleshly foolishness. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:46 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.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:39 His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.

I’ve told the story before of how I ended up in Taylorsville all those years ago. I didn’t choose this place. In fact, of all the places I interviewed that summer (14 in total), I boldly proclaimed that the only way I would end up here was if this were the only job offer I received.

Genesis 27:40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”

Fast forward thirty years. I’ve been in “the Ville” the whole time. I’ve been married to my love for 28 of those years. I’ve got two amazing children. I’ve got close friends whom I love dearly. I’ve got colleagues whom I cherish. I’ve touched the lives of more students than I can honestly count. If I had had my way, I would have missed all of this, this beautiful life that I love.

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.”

Precious Savior, Thank You that Your thoughts are nothing like my thoughts and Your ways are beyond anything I can imagine (Is 55:8). Forgive me when I get set in my ways and get angry when Your ways don’t coincide. Thank You for the beautiful future You have for me. Help me to praise You. Always. Even when I struggle with a change of plans. Amen.

Genesis 27:42 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.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:34-35 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

Verses 34 and 38 are so sad with Esau imploring Isaac to “Bless me too,” that if you didn’t know the whole story–Esau despised his birthright, then sold it for a bowl of stew, Isaac and Esau openly set out to ensure Esau received the birthright blessing that was promised to Jacob by God at birth –you’d feel sorry for him.

Genesis 27:36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob ? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

As it is, I’m having a hard time feeling sorry for Esau…except that I know the bitterness that can come from the “poor me” attitude that he is espousing here. I know what it feels like to think I’m entitled to something and not get it. So, in a way, I do feel a bit sorry for Esau because I know how what he’s feeling can eat at him, causing all sorts of issues in his thoughts, feelings, and behaviors towards others.

Genesis 27:37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

Precious Savior, We all know what it’s like to feel entitled to something and not get it. We all know the sting of that rejection. Many of us know the bitterness, anger, and resentment that can come from how we deal with those feelings. Help us to put You first–Your will, Your word, Your way. We can never be worthy of Your love, Jesus, but we can strive to be more like You each day. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

Commentary says that Isaac realized during today’s verses that “he would always lose when he tried to resist God’s will, even when he didn’t like God’s will.” The wording of this revelation bothers me. The idea that being in God’s will constitutes losing is troubling.

Genesis 27:32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

I get it. If this is a battle of wills between Isaac and God, Isaac loses because he doesn’t accomplish his will–to bless his favorite, Esau. However, the thought of being in God’s will for me and considering it a loss is difficult for me. If I’m living God’s will for me, isn’t that the ultimate win?

Genesis 27:33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

Precious Savior, My life should not be a battle of wills between You and me. Help me to sink my roots so deeply into Your word that Your will *is* my will, that when I am walking in Your will, all I can see is that I am winning at life because I am Yours. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.

I am the third of four children. My husband is an only child. We have two children of our own. More than once as our boys have squabbled over something that belonged to one and was used by the other, my husband was baffled about why it mattered. Couldn’t they share? Meanwhile, I respect the rules of what’s mine and what’s yours. I can’t take what’s yours. That’s not fair.

Genesis 27:28 May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine.

Isaac and Rebekah, Esau and Jacob don’t seem to understand those boundaries. Isaac was determined to bestow upon Esau the blessing God had promised to Jacob. Rebekah was just as determined that Jacob would have that blessing. Esau was willing to engage in the deception as was Jacob. Did any of them “win” in this situation? Even Jacob. He got the birthright, but at what cost?

Genesis 27:29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

Precious Savior, “At what cost?” weighs heavy on my mind as I read today’s scripture. Help me to seek Your will in my life. Help me to work towards that will in a positive way that brings You glory. I don’t want to ever gain the world and lose my soul (Matt 16:26). Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 

In verse 19, after Isaac asks “Who is it,” Jacob commits to the lie by saying he is Esau. I wonder if Isaac’s question in verse 24 is because he suspects deceit (the game was acquired awfully fast and the voice sounded like Jacob’s) or because Isaac’s own deceit made him question everything?

Genesis 27:24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied.

Regardless, Jacob’s answer cements his deception (as if the disguise and the food in his hands weren’t enough). I wonder if that question was God giving Jacob an out, an opportunity to do the right thing? What if Jacob had said, “No. It’s Jacob. The birthright has been promised by God to me, so you can’t give it to my brother”?

Genesis 27:25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 

Precious Savior, You give us the ability to have difficult conversations. Thank You. Help us to use that ability, to use our words, to talk with one another when things are not as they should be. Help us, instead of trying to deceive each other, to work together to find solutions. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

Jacob knew that God had promised him the birthright blessing (“the older will serve the younger” Gen 25:23). Not only that, but Jacob had secured an oath from Esau, giving him that same birthright (which the Lord already promised him) in exchange for a bowl of stew: “But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob” (Gen 23:33). So why does he feel the need to engage in this deception in chapter 27?

Genesis 27:20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.

Ok, so that is a rhetorical question. I know the answer. I bet you do, too. Sometimes when I want something really, really badly, I decide to try to help God out a little. I trust Him, but… He could use my help, right? Maybe I justify myself by saying that I don’t go to the deceitful lengths of Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob, but my heart is the same: I am afraid and I act to achieve the ends I want to see.

Genesis 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I am stubborn and headstrong, so locked into what I feel is my due that I run all over You and others to try to orchestrate things to turn out my way. Help me, always, to glorify You–in my words, in my thoughts, in my actions. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

Have a blessed day.