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Read Genesis 27:1-14, 30-35, 41-45.
Jacob is one of the more fascinating yet confusing characters in Scripture. His life is full of twists and turns. He makes decisions that seem selfish or even deceitful. Yet God stays faithful to his covenant with Abraham to make a great nation, and that covenant goes squarely through Jacob. Jacob’s life story provides one reminder after another that God’s ways are different than ours! It’s simply challenging to always understand how and why God chooses to deal with Jacob the way he does.
This lesson focuses on a terrible decision Jacob made—a decision that was encouraged and assisted by his mother, Rebekah. God had already told Rebekah that the promise given to Abraham would pass through Jacob (the younger brother) not Esau (Genesis 25:23). Knowing this, Rebekah sees an opportunity to force God’s promise by fooling her aged and half-blind husband, Isaac. Jacob foolishly agrees with only a mild protest—one that is based more on getting caught not on the morality of the situation (Genesis 27:11-12).
What we see in Genesis 27 is an example of making a choice based on an outcome that is seemingly in line with God’s will. God had made Rebekah a promise. She and Jacob were simply acting in order to bring about that promise—right? The only problem is that the decision itself was wrong. Before we judge Rebekah and Jacob, of course, we must understand how common this thinking is.
What we see in Genesis 27 is an example of making a choice based on an outcome that is seemingly in line with God’s will. God had made Rebekah a promise. She and Jacob were simply acting in order to bring about that promise—right? The only problem is that the decision itself was wrong. Before we judge Rebekah and Jacob, of course, we must understand how common this thinking is.
Teenagers live this reality all the time. They tell white lies because they think they are protecting a friend. They gossip knowing it will get back to the individual, when they should simply go to him or her personally. They speed to get somewhere on time. They cheat to pass a test. They demonstrate the same behavior in a million different ways each day. And let’s be honest: Adults do this, too.
The problem with this, of course, is that we are called to be holy, to live righteously. We are called to live as Christ himself lived. First Peter 1:15-16 says this: But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” God wants us to do what is right in every circumstance. We are called to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-15), to stand out in the world as people who live differently. The decisions we make—the big ones and the little ones, the public ones and the private ones—reveal to the world that we are Christ-followers. Choosing what is right is in our spiritual DNA.
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