Men and women in the Bible
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7. In the 27th chapter of the book of Genesis it is written part of
the story of Esau and Jacob. I ask you, ‘Why did their mother Rebekah show
favouritism loving Jacob more than Esau? Why did she prompt Jacob to deceive
Isaac, who was her husband and whom she loved and respected so much? It is
true that Esau had sold his birthright, but it is also true that he was a
hard worker, unlike Jacob who did nothing but make himself cuddled by his
mother. |
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Listen,
brother, when we read that Esau sold his birthright to Jacob and that Jacob
took away the blessing of Esau by deceiving Isaac (and Jacob was prompted to
act in that way by his mother Rebekah, who loved Jacob more than Esau), we
must keep in mind the following words that God said to Rebekah before Esau
and Jacob were born: “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be
separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and
the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23 – NKJV). Why do I say to
you this? Because if we consider these words of God, then we will understand
why Rebekah loved Jacob more than Esau (however, I would like to point out to
you that Isaac also showed favouritism, in that he loved Esau more than
Jacob, as it is written: “And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game” Genesis
25:28 – NKJV), and why Jacob, prompted by his mother, took away the blessing
of Esau. In other words, we will understand that those things happened that
the above mentioned words of God might be fulfilled. |
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However, I
don’t justify Esau (who despised and sold his birthright for a stew of
lentils) nor Rebekah (who prompted Jacob to act cunningly). Both of these
behaviours are to be condemned because they are wrong; however, the fact
still remains that God used them to fulfil His word. This teaches us that God
does whatever He likes and how He likes, brother. This is what God has showed
throughout the ages. |
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Do your
remember, for instance, the hatred of Joseph’s brothers toward Joseph, which prompted
them to plot to kill him first, and then to sell him to a company of
Ishmaelites? Were they not blameworthy? Of course they were, yet God used
their hatred to send Joseph to Egypt, and to make him ruler of Egypt in order
to save the lives of Jacob and his relatives by a great deliverance and to
make them stay in Egypt four hundred years, as He had said to Abraham (Genesis
15:13). In other words, God used their hatred to accomplish His purpose. |
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And what
shall we say then about the hatred of the Jews toward Jesus, the Righteous,
which prompted them to condemn Him to death, and to crucify Him by the hands
of the Romans? Were the Jews not blameworthy? Of course they were, yet the
Scripture says that all those things came to pass “by the determined purpose
and foreknowledge of God” (Acts |