September 26, 2021
Join us live for worship at 10 am in person or on YouTube.
Service will be uploaded at smarkknox.org/sermons later on Sunday.
And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.”
– Genesis 25:23
Today we hear of an interesting story in the formation of the people known as Israel; the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is often believed that in the patriarchal system that the eldest son has the most right to inherit the Father’s blessing. However, scripture often turns our inclinations upon themselves when we read who and how God chooses to lead his people. One such instances is the birth of Isaac’s sons Jacob and Esau. Esau is the first born, he is strong, a skillful hunter, a man of the field. His younger twin brother Jacob is a quiet man, living in nature, but often seen as cunning in mind.
As the boys grew in their own right, there is a point, in which Esau, out from a hunt is famished, and smells a stew his brother, Jacob is cooking. Esau desires to eat of the stew, but Jacob bamboozles Esau to sell his birthright to the Father’s blessing in order to receive something to eat.
The story might make us wonder if God’s plan was always to see Jacob blessed, or if it his own cunning that allows this to happen? We know from the verse above that God has spoken to their mother, Rachel, that younger would be master over the elder, and that one shall be stronger. Then notion of strength, again would be presumed to be the one who was physically strong, but that may not be the case, for God looks upon all people differently than we do. So perhaps it is Jacob who is stronger because he ultimately receives the blessing form Isaac and the blessing to be the line for the people of God.
Many modern societies are slowly waking up to the fact that various benefits once thought of as deserved have in fact been the products of unearned privilege all along. In light of these realities, election in the Bible may be read not as a prescription for the way things ought to be, but as a description for the way things so often are. Schemers like Jacob really do get ahead sometimes.
Even though Jacob receives the blessing of his father, and becomes the patriarch of the people of God, Esau is not left without blessing. God blesses Esau with wealth, children, and a long life. Even though we may not receive the blessing we desire, or think we deserve, God is still blessing us today. Blessing us as we continue to do our part to live in community, to work as a people seeking after Christ, and a people building the kingdom of God. Because of this, we can give thanks to God, for his continued blessings on us.
Grace & Peace,
Sam