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These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. The children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If it is to be this way, why do I live?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her,‘Two nations are in your womb,and two peoples born of you shall be divided; one shall be stronger than the other,the elder shall serve the younger.’ When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb.The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau. Afterwards his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.When the boys grew up, Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. Isaac loved Esau, because he was fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. Esau said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!’ (Therefore he was called Edom.) Jacob said, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ Esau said, ‘I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?’ Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’ So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:19-34)
Last week we read the story of how God delivered to Isaac his dream girl. This week, the dream girl finds herself pregnant with twins and having the most agonizing pregnancy you can imagine. And, dear friends, this was an answered prayer! Rebekah was barren and her husband prayed for her, and now she's about to deliver twins! That in itself would make a great sermon, and it does; but hear the human side of it too; Rebekah, like most women at some stage of their pregnancy says, "If it it to be this way, why do I live?" Some don't say it quite that nicely...
The struggle within her as God revealed would be a lifelong one between her sons. "Two nations are within you and they will be divided," God said. "One stronger than the other, and the big brother will serve the younger." And so she delivered two sons. The first born was a very hairy baby with red hair and she named him Esau, which means "Hairy." The second, or younger, brother was born quickly because he was holding on to his brother's heel, thus she named him Jacob, which means "Heel." The two were as different as night and day, as God had said. Esau was a Daddy's boy who loved hunting; Jacob was more a Momma's boy, quiet staying indoors, learning how to cook. One day when Esau came home from hunting he was famished. Jacob just happened to be cooking a nice stew, so he asked for a bowl of stew from his younger brother. Jacob said, "I'll give you a bowl of red is you give me your birth right." The hunger was more than he could stand, so Esau says, "I'm about to die, what good is a birthright, you can have it!" And thus, the two nations were born. From the same family.
The Bible is a very honest book. As much as we'd love to read about the perfect family, we just can't find any. The Adam's Family had the first murderer; the household with two sisters, Martha and Mary, had them fighting about housework and Sunday school; and the others we find aren't much better. We can sigh and blame it to the human condition; but God sent Jesus to show us to rise above the excuse, "I'm only human," to the one we've studied about this week: Where God's Holy Spirit is present, there is power to rise above the humanness that serves to bring us down and away from God. God wants us near to Him, and so provided the Holy Spirit to guide us. It may not be easy in some cases, but we still ask for love to share, and patience to endure; and God provides.
PRAYER: Loving Heavenly Father, I pray for this dear reader and his/her family. You know better than any what these dear souls face and fear; I pray for the presence and power of Your Holy Spirit to be within each of us to rise above what we can easily use as an excuse, that we are only human. You want us to be divine, and so that is our prayer, in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Seek to be a great member of God's family by rising above!
Eradio Valverde
