and he will draw nigh to you. – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Chapters: Genesis 27-28
Message: Sibling Rivalry

Hello My Friend,

If you have sisters and or brothers, I do not have to tell you about the rivalries you had growing up, or still have. My father had six kids with two women, I am the oldest and only girl, so yes, I was daddy’s girl. My parents divorced when I was ten, he moved to another state, and started another family there. For years I was jealous of my brothers, they had my dad while we struggled to make ends meet. I only got to hear from him on Christmas Day or see him when came to visit once in a while, but no matter what, I was still daddy’s girl. Years later, I lived with him for a while, and soon realized that the grass was definitely not greener on the other side, but I was still daddy’s girl. You know, saved, born again Christians have the same Father, none other than the Almighty God, Himself, and yes, we have rivalries, we argue, fuss, and fight because we get jealous over one another, and let me tell you, God will not bless us as long as we rival one another. Nevertheless, He is still our daddy, and loves us just the same. “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.” – Romans 2:9-11.

When are we going to get it through our heads that when God says He will do something that we need to trust Him, and let Him give it to us His way, and not try to help Him out? I will tell you, part of sibling rivalry has to do with parents, when one parent pays more attention to one over the others it shows, and it actually creates a rivalry between siblings competing for the attention of theor parents. Jacob and Esau were no different, Jacob got the attention of his mother while Esau got the attention of his father. Now, Isaac was about to bless Esau, by heritage he would have received the blessing because he was the first born, but remember, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob. Upon hearing Isaac and remembering what God told her about the youngest ruling over the oldest, Rebekah helped Jacob deceive his father into believing that he was Esau in order to get the blessing.

“And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.” – Genesis 27:1-6,9,11-13.

“Upon me be thy curse,” We do not hear much about Isaac’s life beyond him being the seed that God promised He would be to establish His covenant with Abraham. Much of this is due to the fact that he was about to bless Esau with great power simply because he favored him over Jacob. That charade would actually bring a curse to both, Rebekah and Jacob. It does not matter if we sin because our parents tell us, it is still sin, and we will suffer for it. And if you think the rivalry between Jacob and Esau was bad already, this only made things worse. When Esau found out that Jacob received his blessing, he discovered just how important his birthright was..

“And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.” – Genesis 27:30,32-33,35-36,39-41.

“And Isaac trembled very exceedingly,” Whenever we discover that God’s plan supersedes our own, it will frighten and embarrass us. “and hath taken away thy blessing.” Let me tell you, we have no one to blame, but ourselves if we find out that our plans were interceded by God, and He will judge us if we do not repent. And if we are not right with God, He will take blessings away, and will give them to His people, plus add to them (Matthew 25:14-30). “And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him:” Esau is a type of the man of the earth, in many respects he is more nobler than Jacob, but he lacked faith in God and despised his birthright, which made Him of no value to God. In fact, the Bible says that God hated him because of this. “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” -Romans 9:13-16.

God’s choice of His children does not depend on their character, or even what family they are born into, it is dependent upon their faith in Him. This sibling rivalry was over, Rebekah, fearing Jacob’s life, encourages Jacob to flee and go to her brothers house. She then went to Isaac, who sent him there to find a wife. Esau hearing this, while trying to please his father, decides to take a wife himself, only of Ishmael’s family.

“And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother. 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; And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram; And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; 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.” – Genesis 28:1-9.

“which God gave unto Abraham.” Isaac finally accepted that perhaps he was wrong in how he handled all this, and blessed Jacob with the same blessing that God had promised Abraham. God will fulfill His plan one way or another, but He knew from the time these two brothers were conceived that Esau would have never given his life to Him. “Then went Esau unto Ishmael,” Esau knew that his lifestyle was not something that God approved of, he had every opportunity to turn his life in the right direction, instead he chose to go his own way. And that is exactly why God chose Jacob to fulfill His promise to Abraham. We may lose connection with some of our siblings because they chose a worldly path, I barely speak to my brothers to this day because of the path they have taken. All I can do is pray that God reaches their heart to repentance. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” – John 15:18-19.

Fearful, and perhaps a little guilty of what he had done, Jacob embarks on his journey to Padanaram, I imagine he had a lot of time to think about what he had done to his brother and father too. He stops to rest, he was so tired that he used a rock for a pillow and fell right to sleep. That was when God showed him something amazing, a ladder that was going up to heaven, with angels going up and down, and Jesus standing at the top.

“And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” – Genesis 28:13-18,20-22.

“And, behold, I am with thee,” God is always with His chosen, we can mess up a thousand times a day, but when He does make a covenant or promise with us, He fulfills that promise until we have completed it. “until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.” God promised that Jacob would return to the land he was standing on. Even though God would not have planned it this way, He made use of the choices Jacob made, and he will surely find out that sin does bring a curse. “and I knew it not.” After years of his father’s guidance about God, Jacob finally heard from God, and realized that He was directing his path. We can all get diverted in other directions when we go against God’s will, but that does not mean God has walked away from us.

“If God will be with me,” Keep in mind that when we are faithful to God, He is faithful to us, but it works both ways, if we want God with us, we need to go to Him. And we need to understand that God does not favor one of His children over the other, and if it seems He does then perhaps it is time to take a good look at what you are doing. Do you have sibling rivalry over your brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you vying for the attention of Your Father, but doing it in the wrong way? We only get God’s attention when we come to Him willingly, and faithfully. “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” – James 4:1-3,7-10.

Today’s Prayer: God, I became more to You than just Your creation when I received Your Son as my Saviour, I became Your child. I know that You have a purpose and a plan for my life, and I am living it right now. And while You have blessed me tremendously for being faithful to You, I admit that I have been jealous of my siblings when things are not going my way. I know that my decisions are not always what You want them to be, and for that reason You hold back Your blessings. So, I tank You, for loving me and not giving up on me, and for never going back on Your promises. While I have not always made the best decisions, You always turn them into Your purpose for me. Lord, lead me and guide me, let me not become jealous of my siblings, keep me humble, thankful, and always reminded of Your promises. Forgive me where I have failed You, and lift me up as I remain faithful to You, and the path You have chosen for me. I love You, Lord, and pray this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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