Sent and Went

O.T. #57  "Sent and Went"
May 29, 2013
Genesis 28-Part 1
And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.  Genesis 28:1

LET IT GLOW

At first the empty nest is too quiet, too  slow of a  pace, and a little lonely. I found that to be true when our youngest left home. Now it has been just the two of us for 17 years so we are used to it.

Here we go...Jacob is sent away and Esau went away. Isaac and Rebekah had an empty nest.
Before Jacob left, Isaac blessed him and charged him. One of the meanings of the word charged
is give a command. (Thayer's Lexicon)

What was the blessing and command that Isaac gave to Jacob?

• Take not a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Go to your Uncle Laban and marry one of his daughters. (verse 2)                                                                                                          (Apparently the genes were not messed up by intermarrying back then.)
• God Almighty (El Shaddai) bless you. (verse 2)
• God almighty make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people. (verse 2)
•  God give Jacob the blessing of Abraham to him and his seed, so they would inherit the land; the Promised Land given to Abraham was given to Jacob and his descendants. (verse 4)
• Isaac sent away Jacob (verse 5).
• Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and went to Padan-a-ram (where his mother's     relatives lived). (verse 7)

I noticed that nothing is recorded about the deception and Esau's threat to kill Jacob. I wonder if
they all realized what a mess their sinful, selfish ways made.
The real reason Rebekah engineered Jacob's departure from home was to avoid the anger of Esau (27:41-46), but her excuse was that she wanted Jacob to find a godly wife (24:1-9). Faith is living without scheming. (Wiersbe)

Were Rebekah's family believers in God? We know that the Canaanites were not. That's why the Israelites were told to not intermarry with them. They worshiped idols.
Maybe this family would get things straightened out after all, or not.

Do we try to make amends with family members? Do we need to confess our sins to God and get back on the right road He has for us?

Isn't it wonderful when a child can leave home with their father's blessing? Jacob was about 77 years old when he began to walk on his own. I think it was about time.

James 4:17 says, Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.


LET IT GROW

Jacob was sent away while Esau went away on his own. Esau heard the charge Isaac gave to
Jacob-do not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Esau learned how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac, so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, in addition to the
wives he already had.

Esau did not recognize that Ishmael had been separated from the house of Abraham by God Himself. His intention may have been good, but he did not really improve his position, either with his parents or with God. There is no record that Esau put away his heathen wives, though.
(Liberty Bible Commentary)

Sometimes we just dig in deeper the mess we made by trying to fix things our self.

LET IT GO

Check with God's Word before jumping into a situation.

Ask the Lord Jesus what He wants us to do when confronted with a decision.

Trust and obey.