Loving God Holy

Friday, February 03, 2006

Gen. 27:41--28:9 Jacob Flees to Laban

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16

41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
I seem to remember reading something like this before…ah ha! Remember Cain and Abel? It would appear in those days many people solved their problems with murder. Seems things haven’t changed that much. This is a sad shame.
42When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. 43Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. 44Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”

28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2Go at once to Paddan Aram to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8Esau then realized how dispeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaoith and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.
This is one of the reasons it is necessary to understand where everyone come from. Was his next wife a Canaanite? I cannot believe that everywhere I searched has no answer one way or the other! I guess everyone is looking more closely at Jacob right now. Why is it I always have to come up with the odd-ball questions? lol.