Genesis
25:23 The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples
from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger."
Abraham
walked on the earth until the age of 175 years, when he went home to be with
the Lord. Abraham's children buried him in a cave he had procured, where his
first wife, Sarah's body lay. Abraham fathered many children with his second
wife Keturah and made sure they were all provided for financially for life;
however, he set them all away from the land that promised him and the seed that
came through Isaac, his Godly promised son (Genesis 25:6).
At
age 40, Isaac married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel from Paddan Aram and the
sister of Laban from Armenia. After twenty years of marriage, Rebekah had not
yet been able to bear a child, and we find in this story in the Book of Genesis
that Isaac prayed to God that his wife would be able to bear children. Isaac
had seen his father Abraham's faith, and he had told Isaac of all the promises
from God that would occur through him, the promised son.
All
that God did was good, but faith in these promises did not go down from father
to son. Isaac had to trust in God's promise and acquire and cultivate a
personal relationship with God. In his time and his way, God did open the
unfruitful womb of Rebekah, and she was carrying twins, but struggles filled
her pregnancy. The Bible tells us that the two boy babies jostled each other in
her womb. God tested Sarah to see if she would trust and believe in the
promises made to Abraham and through the promised son Isaac. In the same way,
faith does not convey from father to son; faith from the husband does not
convey to his wife.
In
those days, it was the traditional way of humanity for the oldest son to become
the family's patriarch. However, through the pages of God's Word, we see many
incidences where God rejected humanity's worldly ways. This way, in the
genealogical line of the coming of the promised Messiah, we read that Seth,
Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David were not firstborn sons.
It
is somewhat difficult to understand why God would favor one son over another
before they were born and choose the younger son over the elder one. Esau's
carnal lust became prevalent as he grew into manhood. However, we also will
discover that Jacob was no better, developing many worldly attributes and was a
methodical swindler and fraudster at his very core.
In
his letter to the Roman Christians, Paul tells us that God did not choose Jacob
over Esau because of any lack of character or good or evil done in their lives
(Romans 9:11). God chooses people to do His work on earth, not through any good
deeds or exceptional character, but through His love, grace, and mercy. This
story does not indicate that God did not love Esau or that only one of the
brothers knew salvation and the other did not. The greatest lesson we can take
away from this great Bible story is that God is no respecter of people. God
does not choose us because of any good or bad traits in our character, but
through our faith in Christ Jesus as the true promised Messiah and the only way
to eternal life.
We
may not always comprehend why God allows certain things to happen, either good
or bad, in our eyes, but we can rest assured that God is always in control, and
His ways will always work out for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
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