Week July 12, 2020
Bible Study for Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 25:19-34
This summer we are looking at some of the stories in Genesis that involved the forebears of our faith – the patriarchs and matriarchs. We’ve studied God’s call to Abram and Sarai and the covenant relationship between them, the promise of offspring despite the absence of any children even in their old age. We have seen Sarah try to solve this problem on her own and a son, Ishmael, was born to Abraham and Sarah’s servant, Hagar. We considered the binding of Abraham’s and Sarah’s son, Isaac. And we saw the courting and marriage of Isaac and Rebekah.
his week we come to the start of the narrative of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. This narrative unfolds over the next many chapters of Genesis ultimately culminating in the story of Joseph and his brothers, Jacob’s sons. I’ve prepared a “family tree” of sorts that may help you keeping the people and relationships straight. (Note, I did not include information on Abraham’s family of origin, though there are important relationships there as well including that between Abraham and his nephew, Lot.)
As we follow this overall narrative, there are many plot twists along the way involving his relationships with his brother (Esau), his father-in-law (Laban), his wife (Rachel) and even his sons. We don’t cover all of these in the lectionary readings appointed for each Sunday, but I commend them to you – the stories and the people in them are interesting and, oh so very human. (You may be interested in reading “The Book of God” by Lutheran pastor and author Walter Wangerin; it tells the story of God and God’s people as a novel.)
The reading for this week is Genesis 25:19-34 but in the verses preceding these, we learn of Abraham marrying Keturah after Sarah had died and had six more children with her. In Genesis 25:6 we learn that Abraham sent these children away from Isaac and they went to lands to the east. And then in Genesis 25:8, Abraham breathes his last and his sons, Ishmael and Isaac come together to bury him where Sarah was buried. And it is against this backdrop that we come to the story of the birth of twins, Esau and Jacob, a study in contrasts.
Once again, we see that Isaac and Rebekah, like Abraham and Sarah, spent years waiting for the birth of a son through whom God would realize the promises of the covenant. One commentator noted that the basic role of the parents here was as pray-ers. And he went on to note Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. We each have yearnings of our heart, things that we may have carried for years or decades. The model of Isaac and Rebekah is that we bring these to the Lord in prayer. A favorite hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” speaks eloquently of our need to pray. Think about the times in your life that you have brought burdens to God in prayer. Take some time to reflect on how you experienced God’s grace and care.
Note the descriptions in verses 23-28 of each of the twins. List the words and phrases here.
Do the same thing for verses 29-34. Now, which of the twins showed the least honorable behavior? Which showed the most? Was there honorable conduct here?
In order to make sense of this story, we need to understand the practice of primogeniture in ancient patriarchal cultures – the largest portion of the wealth of the father is passed to the firstborn son (Deut. 21:15-17). Esau was the firstborn. Jacob was the second. In this narrative (and later in Genesis 27 shortly before Isaac died) we see that there is an inversion of rights. The one who was first has become last and the one who was last becomes first. What does this tell us about God’s intention for carrying his covenant into the world? What New Testament themes does this remind you of?
Let us pray: Loving God, sometimes the stories of our forebears confound us and confuse us and leave us scratching our heads. Yet, Lord, we see that you are persistently present with your people, working in ways that we may not see. Grow our faith and trust in you. Use us Lord as you used our forebears to carry your steadfast love into the world around us. In Christ, Amen.
