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January 8, 2007
Genesis 25-26
Thought for the day:
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Genesis 25
- Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
- And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
- And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
- And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
- And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.
- But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.
- And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.
- Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
- And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;
- The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.
- And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.
- Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham:
- And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel,
and Mibsam,
- And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,
- Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:
- These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.
- And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.
- And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.
- And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac:
- And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
- And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
- And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
- And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
- And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
- And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
- And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
- And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
- And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
- And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
- And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
- And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
- And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
- And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
- Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis 26
- And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
- And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
- Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
- And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
- Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
- And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
- And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my
sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
- And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
- And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
- And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
- And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
- Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
- And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
- For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
- For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
- And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
- And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
- And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
- And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
- And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
- And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
- And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
- And he went up from thence to Beersheba.
- And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
- And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
- Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
- And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
- And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
- 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.
- And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
- And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
- And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
- And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
- And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
- Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
Thought for the day:
You may click on verses for Scripture
 In Genesis 25:34 we read that "Esau despised his birthright." Esau, as the firstborn son, received both material and spiritual blessings. He would receive a double portion of his father's goods (
Deut. 21:17), would lord over his brethren (
Gen 27:29,
37), and had the right of being the priest for his family (
Ex. 22:29), as well as the honor of being in the line of the patriarchs and being able to transmit to his offspring the promises that had been made to Abraham and Isaac. This was truly a high and noble position. Yet Esau sacrificed it all on the altar of his stomach. He was hungry, and in his carnality was willing to sell all the blessings of the birthright for a temporary satisfaction of his flesh.
This seems very foolish to us. Yet God warns in
Hebrews 12:14-17,
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright."
In this passage, God instructs His people to be holy. He then warns against four violations of that holiness: "failing of the grace of God" (moving away from the doctrine of grace alone), bitterness, fornication, and being profane. The Greek word for "profane" literally means to "cross the threshold" i.e. to cross over into behaving like a heathen. The illustration of this profanity given in
Hebrews 12:16 is Esau. In selling his birthright, Esau behaved like a pagan, because he was more interested in temporary comfort and convenience than he was in eternal and spiritual values. A similar idea is found in
Philippians 3:18-19,
"(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things)".
Unsaved people are more concerned about earthly things than heavenly things. Esau, although he knew truth, loved earthly things more than spiritual things. How many born-again Christians, if the truth were known, love the things of this world more than they cherish the interests of the Lord Who saved them? What would you be willing to sell your relationship with Jesus Christ for? A better job? Physical pleasures? More playthings? A famous name? In
Matthew 26:15, Judas asked the chief priests this question: "What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?" Let us not make the same mistake. There is nothing more important than our relationship with the Lord. Don't trade it for anything
Mark Montgomery
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