After reading chapter 27:
*Isaac was getting old and growing blind. He wanted to settle his estate. So, he called his favorite son Esau and asked him to go hunt and cook some wild game for him, just the way he liked it. Then he would give Esau the all important blessing. Rebekah was listening and told Jacob all about it. She suggested they trick Isaac into thinking Jacob was Esau, so he could get the blessing instead. Jacob didn't want to be caught impersonating his brother and get a curse instead of a blessing. Rebekah said if that happened, the curse would fall on her. (More likely, being a smart woman, she knew that curses had no power.)
*So, Jacob and Rebekah prepared some meat. Jacob dressed up in Esau's clothes and tied goat skins on his body to make himself hairy like Esau. Jacob manages to convince Isaac he is Esau, even though he is a little unsure. All that rich, goaty smell finally convinced him. He blesses Jacob. Not only that, he says Jacob, who he thinks is Esau, will be lord over his brothers, too.
*As soon as Jacob leaves, Esau enters and tries to receive the blessing. Isaac figures out what happened and is very upset, because once those words are out of your mouth you can't take them back. Esau is understandably upset and begs for any blessing left over. What's left is pretty pitiful, because there is a magical blessing meter that measures how how many blessings can be given by one person. Apparently Isaac's blessing meant Jacob will be well fed, protected from curses, and have power over others. Esau will lose the outdoor life he loves, live by the sword, and will serve his brother, all because of some words spoken by a feeble old man.
*After Jacob and his mother tricked Isaac and Esau, Rebekah wanted Jacob to go to her brother Laban because she was afraid Esau would kill him. To accomplish this task, she manipulated Isaac by telling him Hittite women were disgusting and she did not want Jacob to marry one.
Showing posts with label Hittites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hittites. Show all posts
Friday, July 24, 2015
Genesis chapter 26
After reading chapter 26:
*There was a famine. God told Isaac not to go to Egypt but to stay in that area so God could bless him. So, he went to Abimelech, King of the Philistines. The study bible says this must have been a descendant of the Abimelech Abraham dealt with, but we have no way of knowing. Just like his father, Isaac told the people that Rebekah was his sister because he was afraid they would kill him for her. However, this time it wasn't even a half truth. Abimelech saw Isaac and Rebekah in a public display of affection and said, "what's up with that?" Isaac explained and Abimelech gave orders that they were to be left alone.
*Isaac became very prosperous and the Philistines became very jealous. Abimelech told him it was time to go. So he took his family back to the area where his father had dug some wells. There were disputes with other nomadic groups over those wells and some other wells Isaac dug. Finally, he dug a well that nobody else wanted.
*Then Isaac went to Beersheba and had his own personal revelation from his father's God. He built an altar, dug another well, and settled down there. Abimelech came to him to make a peace treaty and there was a party to celebrate.
*Verse 33 is very confusing. It says Beersheba got its name because of the well Isaac dug. However, it was called that before he dug the well. His father had also been to Beersheba long before.
*As an afterthought, we are told that at the age of 40 Esau married two Hittite women, which made Isaac And Rebekah unhappy.
*There was a famine. God told Isaac not to go to Egypt but to stay in that area so God could bless him. So, he went to Abimelech, King of the Philistines. The study bible says this must have been a descendant of the Abimelech Abraham dealt with, but we have no way of knowing. Just like his father, Isaac told the people that Rebekah was his sister because he was afraid they would kill him for her. However, this time it wasn't even a half truth. Abimelech saw Isaac and Rebekah in a public display of affection and said, "what's up with that?" Isaac explained and Abimelech gave orders that they were to be left alone.
*Isaac became very prosperous and the Philistines became very jealous. Abimelech told him it was time to go. So he took his family back to the area where his father had dug some wells. There were disputes with other nomadic groups over those wells and some other wells Isaac dug. Finally, he dug a well that nobody else wanted.
*Then Isaac went to Beersheba and had his own personal revelation from his father's God. He built an altar, dug another well, and settled down there. Abimelech came to him to make a peace treaty and there was a party to celebrate.
*Verse 33 is very confusing. It says Beersheba got its name because of the well Isaac dug. However, it was called that before he dug the well. His father had also been to Beersheba long before.
*As an afterthought, we are told that at the age of 40 Esau married two Hittite women, which made Isaac And Rebekah unhappy.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Genesis chapter 23
After reading chapter 23:
*Sarah dies at 127 years of age at Hebron. Abraham went there to mourn for Sarah. It would seem he wasn't there when she died. He negotiated with a land owner named Ephron for land to bury Sarah.
He paid for a field and a cave, in the presence of witnesses. Abraham then buried Sarah in the cave.
*This passage makes a point of showing that Abraham owned that land, which probably means a question of ownership will come up later.
*It also makes a point of showing that this land belonged to the Hittites, who were Canaanites, according to Genesis 10:15. It is very unlikely that they are the same group of people known as the Hittites in history books.
*Sarah dies at 127 years of age at Hebron. Abraham went there to mourn for Sarah. It would seem he wasn't there when she died. He negotiated with a land owner named Ephron for land to bury Sarah.
He paid for a field and a cave, in the presence of witnesses. Abraham then buried Sarah in the cave.
*This passage makes a point of showing that Abraham owned that land, which probably means a question of ownership will come up later.
*It also makes a point of showing that this land belonged to the Hittites, who were Canaanites, according to Genesis 10:15. It is very unlikely that they are the same group of people known as the Hittites in history books.
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