Ascending Together
Jacob is one of the most fascinating characters in the Bible to me – maybe because we are given the richness of his character through stories across his lifespan. We know that he has been scheming early in life – he tricks his brother out of his birthright and then deceives his father so that he might receive Esau’s blessing.
It may be that my status as a younger brother allows me more sympathy. Eldest siblings may not find Jacob as intriguing!
His cunning likely didn’t develop in a vacuum. In fact, the deceit over the blessing was actually his mother’s idea. Later, when Esau is looking for revenge, Rebekah schemes to send Jacob to her brother’s house with the excuse that she would prefer he find a wife other than the local Canaanite women that Esau had married.
It may be that Rebekah comes by it honestly (so to speak) as well. This week’s reading is Genesis 29:15-28 and we see that Jacob has safely arrived at his uncle Laban’s home. He does seek a wife in his first cousin Rachel (we’ll skip over the marriage of close relations – Jacob’s parents were first cousins once removed). After working for seven years, Laban marries off his older daughter Leah in place of Rachel as a sleight of hand with Jacob only discovering what happened in the light of the next morning. My guess is that there was likely a lot of wine involved at the wedding feast to accomplish this!
Now that the shoe is on the other foot, I wonder how Jacob felt about being tricked? Would he have had a little more sympathy for Esau at this point?
Perspective is important in relationships. For them to succeed, we must learn how to see life from the other’s point of view. I hope you’ll join us for worship on Sunday. In the sanctuary, I’ll be preaching the sermon entitled, ““Instant (or Maybe Delayed) Karma’s Gonna Get You”.
And as we wrap up our July Revival, we will also be singing the old hymns with a little bluegrass accompaniment as Kyle Dillingham and Peter Markes join us from Horseshoe Road! I’ve heard them many times and have never been disappointed!
If you missed Sunday’s sermon, you can find it here: https://youtu.be/NOOIL3LhSYY.
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