BIBLE LESSON

“The LORD said to Rebekah, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’”

— Genesis 25:23 Before they were born, the Lord had good plans for both Esau and Jacob. Each one did what they wanted to do according to their different abilities and interests. Esau loved hunting and the outdoors, and he provided game for the family. Jacob loved staying at home among the tents, where he learned how to cook and care for the family’s sheep. By staying home, Jacob also learned much about the adventures and encounters with God that Abraham and his father, Isaac, experienced, for he could know his grandfather during his early years. Both twins were loved by their parents. Isaac loved Esau for the fresh game he brought him. Rebekah loved Jacob, perhaps because she knew “the older will serve the younger,” so she looked out for him. For the Lord to fulfill His plan of salvation that had proceeded from Adam through Noah, Abraham and Isaac, the Messiah that the Lord had promised to send could not descend from both Esau and Jacob. One of them had to be chosen by the Lord. God chose Jacob, and God arranged for Jacob to have the interests and opportunities he would need to carry on the line of faith that would eventually lead to the Messiah. God fulfilled His words to Rebekah: Esau became an ancestor of the Edomites; Jacob became the ancestor of Israel. Both had the opportunity to know and obey the Lord and pass down the knowledge of the Lord to their children and grandchildren. But the Messiah would come through Israel.

— L.G. Parkhurst Jr. Send email to lgp@ prayersteps.org