Reflections: The Potter Starts His Work - Jacob and Esau Part One

Reflections: The Potter Starts His Work

Jacob and Esau Part One

Genesis 25.19 - .35 & 27.1 - 28.9

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren.  The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.  The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?”  So she went to inquire the LORD.  The LORD said to her,

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 25.21 - .23)

Imagine you are a young Israelite who is hearing the story of your people and your God for the first time.  You are making your way through Genesis.  You know that the LORD has chosen your people.  You know that your ancestors weren’t perfect but they were great men and women who should be imitated.  You are feeling good about yourself and then you hit the story of Jacob and Esau.  This is not the kind of story you expect.  You expect that the story of the LORD and the Patriarchs would be of people getting better.  Instead the children of the promised son can be seen as scoundrels!

They start off rough but the LORD will be working on them all their lives. Esau begins as a red, hairy guy who marries Canaanite women and loves to hunt.  Jacob begins as a quiet single guy who is a liar and a thief.  What is going on?  Neither Jacob nor Esau are the kind of people the LORD wants them to be but the LORD has just started working on them.   We know more about Jacob than we do about Esau but as you will see it is clear that they both grow and mature in unexpected ways.

How rough are you?  Our lives now may be a mess but the LORD is an expert at taking messy lives and cleaning them up!  He has a plan for you!