Memory Text: Genesis 28:15 KJV “And, behold, I [am] with thee, and will keep thee in all [places] whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done [that] which I have spoken to thee of.”

Sunday, December 3 Esau and Jacob
Genesis 25:19-34 NKJV “19 ¶ This [is] the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac. 20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian. 21 Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she [was] barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If [all is] well, why [am I like] this?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her: "Two nations [are] in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; [One] people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger." 24 So when her days were fulfilled [for her] to give birth, indeed [there were] twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red. [He was] like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac [was] sixty years old when she bore them. 27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau because he ate [of his] game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 ¶ Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he [was] weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red [stew], for I [am] weary." Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright as of this day." 32 And Esau said, "Look, I [am] about to die; so what [is] this birthright to me?" 33 Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day." So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised [his] birthright.”
Genesis 25:23 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE The Edomites were the offspring of Esau, the Israelites were of Jacob; and who but the Author and Giver of life could foresee that two children in the womb would multiply into two nations? Jacob had twelve sons, and their descendants were all united and incorporated into one nation; and what an overruling providence was it that two nations should arise from the two sons only of Isaac! and that they should be two such different nations!

Monday, December 4 Isaac and Abimelech
Genesis 26:7-11 NIV “7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful." 8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?" Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her." 10 Then Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us." 11 So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: "Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."”
Genesis 26:8 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Whatever may be the precise meaning of the word, it evidently implies that there were liberties taken and freedom used on the occasion, which were not lawful but between man and wife.
Genesis 26:24-25 NIV “24 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham." 25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.”
Genesis 26:28-29 KJ21 “28 And they said, "We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee; and we said, ‘Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee, 29 that thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace. Thou art now the blessed of the LORD.’"”

Tuesday, December 5 Faithless Schemes
Genesis 27:8-29 NLT “8 Now, my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you. 9 Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish. 10 Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.” 11 “But look,” Jacob replied to Rebekah, “my brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth. 12 What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.” 13 But his mother replied, “Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats for me!” 14 So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal, just the way Isaac liked it. 15 Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes, which were there in the house, and gave them to her younger son, Jacob. 16 She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats. 17 Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread. 18 ¶ So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said. “Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you––Esau or Jacob?” 19 Jacob replied, “It’s Esau, your firstborn son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild game. Now sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing.” 20 Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God put it in my path!” Jacob replied. 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau.” 22 So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said. 23 But he did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob. 24 “But are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “Yes, I am,” Jacob replied. 25 Then Isaac said, “Now, my son, bring me the wild game. Let me eat it, and then I will give you my blessing.” So Jacob took the food to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the wine that Jacob served him. Then Isaac said to Jacob, 26 “Please come a little closer and kiss me, my son.” 27 So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of the outdoors, which the LORD has blessed! 28 “From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine. 29 May many nations become your servants, and may they bow down to you. May you be the master over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. All who curse you will be cursed, and all who bless you will be blessed.””
Genesis 27:23 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE From this circumstance we may learn that Isaac's sense of feeling was much impaired by his present malady. When he could not discern the skin of a kid from the flesh of his son, we see that he was, through his infirmity, in a fit state to be imposed on by the deceit of his wife, and the cunning of his younger son.

Wednesday, December 6 The Price of Duplicity
Genesis 27:30-46 NLT “30 ¶ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunt. 31 Esau prepared a delicious meal and brought it to his father. Then he said, “Sit up, my father, and eat my wild game so you can give me your blessing.” 32 But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn son, Esau.” 33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, “Then who just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!” 34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what about me? Bless me, too!” he begged. 35 But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.” 36 Esau exclaimed, “No wonder his name is Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice. First he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven’t you saved even one blessing for me?” 37 Isaac said to Esau, “I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine––what is left for me to give you, my son?” 38 Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept. 39 Finally, his father, Isaac, said to him, “You will live away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the heaven above. 40 You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you decide to break free, you will shake his yoke from your neck.” 41 ¶ From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob the blessing. And Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be mourning my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.” 42 But Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans. So she sent for Jacob and told him, “Listen, Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. 43 So listen carefully, my son. Get ready and flee to my brother, Laban, in Haran. 44 Stay there with him until your brother cools off. 45 When he calms down and forgets what you have done to him, I will send for you to come back. Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick and tired of these local Hittite women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.””
Genesis 27:41 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY He [Esau] hated him for no other reason but because his father blessed him and God loved him. Note: The happiness of saints is the envy of sinners. Whom Heaven blesses, hell curses…Nothing less would satisfy him than to slay his brother. It is the blood of the saints that persecutors thirst after: I will slay my brother. How could he say that word without horror? How could he call him brother, and yet vow his death? Note, The rage of persecutors will not be tied up by any bonds, no, not the strongest and most sacred….He is loathe to grieve his father while he lives, and therefore puts off the intended murder till his death, not caring how much he then grieved his surviving mother.

Thursday, December 7 Jacob’s Ladder
Genesis 28:1-5 NRSV “1 ¶ Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women. 2 Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien—land that God gave to Abraham." 5 Thus Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.”
Genesis 28:1 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY How unlike was his taking a wife thence to his father's! Isaac had servants and camels sent to fetch his; Jacob must go himself, go alone, and go afoot, to fetch his: he must go too in a fright from his father's house, not knowing when he might return. Note,If God, in his providence, disable us, we must be content, though we cannot keep up the state and grandeur of our ancestors. We should be more in care to maintain their piety than to maintain their dignity.
Genesis 28:10-15 NRSV “10 ¶ Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."”
Genesis 28:11 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN By a forced march he had reached Beth-el, about forty-eight miles from Beer-sheba, and had to spend the night in the open field.
Genesis 28:12 COMMENTARY JOHN WESLEY NOTES The counsels of heaven are executed on earth, and the affairs of this earth are all known in heaven. Providence doth his work gradually and by steps; angels are employed as ministering spirits to serve all the designs of providence, and the wisdom of God is at the upper end of the ladder, directing all the motions of second causes to his glory. The angels are active spirits, continually ascending and descending; they rest not day nor night. They ascend to give account of what they have done, and to receive orders; and desend to execute the orders they have received.
Genesis 28:15 COMMENTARY JOHN WESLEY NOTES He knew not, but God foresaw what hardships he would meet with in his uncle's service, and therefore promiseth to preserve him in all places.

Sometimes we are very quick to criticise Rebekah and Jacob for their "plan", but how often do we do something that we feel is just "helping God out"?

It is sometimes just so painful waiting patiently for God to do something about a situation!! Ever feel that way?

Beryl

Plenty of times.

Wondering out loud........Two nations battling one another and the elder will serve the younger.......God told this to Rebekah so were her actions in line at least in her own reasoning that she was doing God's will through deceitful means to ensure Jacob's birthright? The ends justifies the means? Or did she really know God? Just wondering.............

annie

Wondering out loud........Two nations battling one another and the elder will serve the younger.......God told this to Rebekah so were her actions in line at least in her own reasoning that she was doing God's will through deceitful means to ensure Jacob's birthright? The ends justifies the means? Or did she really know God? Just wondering.............

annie

How many times do wse do the same type of thing? We know that something is what God would want -- and He is taking s-o-o-o-o-o-o l-o-n-g! Surely He must be waiting for me to do something!!!

Beryl

At least one stage in her life Rebekah 'had gone to inquire of the Lord". Gen 25:22. I wonder why she did not do the same again when she was facing a difficult situation.

Again like us/me - at times we have ample evidence of God's leading and providence in our lives, and still manage to rush ahead/get discouraged/take matters into our own hands.