Day 9, January 9 Bible Reading

Day 9,  January 9

Gen. 26 Isaac and Abimelech / Isaac’s wells

Gen. 27 – 28:9 Jacob steals Isaac’s blessing / Jacob flees from Esau

Gen. 26

• This is Isaac’s first major test after his father Abraham died. A famine has swept over the land. 

• Once again, he tried to fool Abimelech and his people.  Abimelech happened to notice Isaac engaging in public PDA through an open window (or was Abimelech being a peeping Tom?)  I am trying to understand what is wrong with these Syrians acting as if their wives were sisters. (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were originally Syrians, like the rest of his family [Gen. 25:20; Deut 26:5]). And how much women does Abimilech needs?

• The Philistines though started to treat him the same way they treated Abraham, by undercutting his wells behind his back.  Remember when Abimelech previously covenanted with Abraham, as he was becoming too powerful for them?[Gen 21:22-34] 

• Sometimes there are people who will claim that the result of your hard work was due to them.  Isaac had to endure quarreling [Esek - Gen 26:20], be in enmity [Sitnah - Gen 26:21], before he got space and room and was left alone [Rehoboth - Gen 26:22]  to be fruitful.  Sometimes you just have to move on when people oppose you, to make your own room.

• Even though God is with you, you still have to deal with people who would oppose you, disassociate with you, try to hinder your progress. How did Christ deal with that? How do you deal with that?

• Apparently right after Abraham died, they conveniently forgot about this covenantal treaty and returned to their old ways.  They stopped up the wells again.  Once again, Abimelech put on a public request with his commander Phichol, to make a covenant with Isaac.  

• So who actually named the place Beersheba? Isaac [Gen 26:3] or Abraham? [Gen 21:31]?  If Moses wrote Genesis he could not get his facts straight.

• How many parents have certain expectations of the kids, made them known, but the kids decide to do their own thing and bring them grief? Well Esau married, not just one, but two Hittites, which Isaac and Rebekah did not like.  Would that be the issue today? No. Sometimes parents’ expectations are misplaced.  

Gen. 27 – 28:9 

• Isaac liked some roti and curry goat (the bible called it bread and savory goat food, same difference. Remember they were Syrians; they like flavor ).  Who will not give a blessing after some good curry goat?

• But Esau cyah ketch ah break. It is one thing to arrange with your brother to sell your birthright, but it is another thing for it to be confirmed by your father through deception.

• Heb 12:14-17 called Esau a fornicator for selling his birthright and being disinherited from his blessing.  Why?

• What we note here is that both Esau and Jacob’s blessings involved “the dew of heaven and the fatness of earth”.  The main difference is that one will be given it by God and the other has to struggle and fit for it.  Esau will always have to struggle until he breaks the yoke off Jacob’s neck. This is a shadow demonstrating the difference between the Old Covenant and the New. 

• Eventually Esau did rise up against the yoke of his brother and by the time Christ was on the earth, Edom was merged with Judea after the Maccabees wars.  King Herod was an Edomite or an Idumean in Greek.

• "Today's Jews are a mixture mostly of three groups: 1) A few, maybe only 5%, are legitimately from Judah, 2) 5% are Edomites due to Esau (Edomites and Canaanites were forced into the clan in 126 BC by a Maccabee son, John Hyrcanus. Amazing history, 3) 60-90% are Ashkenazi from Khazar European descent. On YouTube search Khazars. Also Benjamin Freedman's 1961 speech in Washington DC." - E. Dean Cozzens. https://www.amazon.com/Jacob-Israel-vs-Esau-Edom-Middle-Crisis/dp/1469975467 

• Remember Abraham refused to send Isaac out of the land to get a wife? Well because of the dysfunction and they were afraid Esau will kill Jacob, they had no choice but to send Jacob away to his uncle Laban for safety and to get a wife.

• Esau saw that Issac didn't want Jacob to take a wife of the Canaanites. He decided to make wives of the daughters of Ishmael who were not daughters of Canaan hoping it would please his Father, as they seem to be family close enough. Poor Esau.  He does need psychological counselling.  

• Why do we have this intense desire to please our parents? How can we break free from that as adults? How can you stop being a mama’s boy like Jacob? Nothing is as annoying as someone getting married and still a mama’s boy.  Mothers, stop babying your grown a** sons especially when they are married. Men, your wife is not your mother.