| Subject: Genesis 28 vss. 6-9 Post 145 |
Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 20:35:17 01/25/11 Tue
Genesis 28:6-9 When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; 7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram; 8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; 9 Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
Esau is left with a great big empty feeling in himself as he watches his brother leave home with yet another blessing from his father. The feeling of emptiness is increased by the knowledge that both Isaac and Rebekah have rejected his two Hittite wives from the land of Canaan. It must have cut to the quick when he heard Isaac charge Jacob: "Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan". Isaac knew there were no suitable wives in Canaan for Jacob and he knew the birthright promise was Jacob's and that the promise to Abraham was to be fulfilled through Jacob's children. It was imperative that he have an acceptable wife with which to rear progeny to Abraham.
It also had to have hit Esau hard with the knowledge that if Isaac felt there were no suitable wives for Jacob then there were no suitable wives for Esau either. What Esau did next must have been a pure act of spite against his father and mother. He went to the people of Ishmael to take yet another wife. There are those who say that Esau was trying to placate his parents by marrying a cousin from Abraham's half brother. The thought is that surely a daughter from here would be acceptable. The problem with this line of thinking is that Isaac did not think any of them were acceptable to Jacob or he would have given him the opportunity to either choose from among the Ishmaelites or from one of the daughters from his mothers side of the family. What is missed is the these descendants of Ishmael lived in the land of Canaan also. More than likely they had adopted the pagan ways of the Canaanites.. Not only that but God had already rejected Ishmael from any of the birthright promises that were to go to Abraham through his offspring.
In today's society and political correctness it is deemed abhorrent in many circles that mom and dad should have input into whom their children marry. One of the greatest tragedies in families is when there is an unequal yoke. Stresses on married couples are bad enough without added stresses of religion or customs. Added to that is the natural tendency for children to be like their parents.
When God gave us Exodus 20:4-5 which says: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;" there had to be a reason. This is the same God that said in Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
What is the difference in the two statements. One is dealing with individual sin and the other is dealing with the religious practices that are taught and ingrained into the fabric of the family or society. There is also the genetic tendencies that are written in our genetic and DNA codes. This was not understood among people in ages past but God knew it. How many times have you been told you are just like your mother or father in you actions? There are many instances where children are told they act just like one parent or the other when the child never even knew their parents. Identical twins have thought processes so similar it is sometimes scary. You enter into conversation with twins and one is likely to finish the sentence the other started. Twins separated at birth will exhibit traits of each other when they don't even know the other exists. Why?
Why would God tell the children of Israel to completely destroy whole ethnic peoples when they went in to take the land He had promised them? Even the small children and infants were to be killed of these peoples. Deuteronomy 20:16-17 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: 17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: 1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
I don't pretend to understand all this but I do know that God is a just and righteous God who knows the end from the beginning. God knows how people will turn out in their future when they themselves don't. One of the things the Bible tells us is that until a child reaches an age where he is responsible for his actions he or she is safe should the child die. A child that dies before reaching an age and knowledge where God holds them accountable for actions and thoughts is guaranteed entrance to heaven. Think of the children of these pagan devil worshipping Canaanites should they live to embrace the bloody idolatry that God so hated. They in turn would be sacrificing many of their own children to their bloody god. Evidence would suggest that all whom the Israelites slew of these innocents entered into the presence of God.
You might ask if I have biblical authority for such a belief and I will tell you that I do. Not only that I will give you the passage.2 Samuel 12:19-23 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. 20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. 22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. David is in heaven. So is that infant!
Also we have this in Romans: "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." (Rom. 5:13) I would ask what law any infant is under. They know to do neither good nor evil. They live to eat and sleep. They respond, they laugh, they cry and they goo and gurgle but it is not within them to make a conscious decision. I think that while infanticide is horrible there have been multitudes who have entered heaven that would not have if they had been given the choice to accept or reject the creator for salvation. While abortion is a great evil and I make no excuses for it think of how many millions are in heaven that would not be there if given the chance to live to adulthood.
Possibly someone reading this has lost an infant or young child. They are safe in the arms of Jesus. Would they be there if they lived a full life? We hope so but we do not know do we? Never be bitter at God for the loss of a precious child. Just be sure you are prepared to be with that child at the end of your life.
Yes sometimes God's ways seem harsh. We wonder why Isaac and Rebekah would be so harsh with Esau's choices but they knew the true and living God and they knew the eternity of those who turned their back on God. They did not want to see their grandchildren given over to idolatry and they did not want the corrupting influence on Esau's life from his wives. They both were determined that Jacob would not follow in Esau's footsteps in this. They wanted every chance for their grandchildren to have every opportunity to grow up as people true to the One True God.
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