A Journey Through the Bible, Part Thirteen

Old Testament

Genesis 25 and 26

Genesis 25:23—“And the LORD said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger." Jehovah is speaking to Rebekah, Isaac's wife. She will give birth to twins, though they weren’t identical. The elder’s name was Esau, the younger, Jacob. Esau will become the “father” of the Edomites, whom we run across frequently in the Old Testament, usually troubling Israel. Jacob will have 12 sons who will become the 12 tribes of Israel. Even though, given the law of primogeniture, the greater inheritance should have gone through Esau, God chose Jacob as the son of promise. According to Paul, it was purely an “arbitrary” decision by God, if God makes those kinds of decisions. The point being, God isn’t bound by ancient customs, like primogeniture. It might not have helped matters that Esau was a profane man; later in this chapter he will sell his birthright to Jacob, in effect, despising what was rightfully his. Jacob was a pretty good deceiver early in his life and he (and his mother) will trick Esau and Isaac later on into getting the younger brother a greater blessing. But that seems to have been all part of God’s plan—Jacob was the chosen of God, not Esau. Read the series on “Who Can Say To Him, What Are You Doing?” on my Bible blog for more discussion of God’s marvelous workings to get His will accomplished.

Genesis 26:2—“Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.” God repeats to Isaac the promise He had made to Abraham. Never forget that, through all of this, God is weaving a remarkable plan for the salvation of mankind. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the 12 tribes, the Promised Land, the Law of Moses—all of this is pointing from Genesis 3:15 to Jesus of Nazareth.

Genesis 26:6-7—“So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, "She is my sister"; for he was afraid to say, "She is my wife," because he thought, "lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.” Like father, like son. At least Abraham was half-right; as noted, Sarah was his half-sister. Rebekah wasn’t that close to Isaac.

Genesis 26:34-35—“When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.” Esau marries a couple of heathen women. He just wasn’t terribly spiritual, but from Romans 9:11, this seems to have nothing to do with why God selected Jacob over Esau. That’s as far as I’ll venture on that subject.

New Testament

Matthew 15

Matthew 15:9—“And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” A few points of interest here. 1. There is such a thing as worshipping Christ “in vain.” Many people seem to think that, as long as they have a good heart, that Jesus will accept their “worship,” regardless of what it might be. That isn’t what this verse says. 2. Notice what that vain worship consists of: “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” If we follow the “commandments of men” rather than the law of Christ, our worship will be vain. Introducing unauthorized innovations into Christian worship—elements that are the “commandments of men” and found nowhere in the New Testament—will constitute “vain worship,” regardless of how sincere we might offer it. Jesus said in John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Note carefully: we must worship Him in “spirit” (with the proper attitude), and in “truth”—“Thy Word is truth,” (John 17:17), thus our worship must consist only of acts of devotion authorized by the New Testament, the current will of God. If we worship “in spirit,” but not “in truth,” we are failing; if we worship “in truth,” but not “in spirit,” we also fall short. Jesus said we can know the truth (John 8:32), thus we can know when someone is teaching the “commandments of men” and thereby know if we are worshipping as God wishes or not. There is this peculiar idea floating around—mentioned briefly above—that God will accept virtually anything as long as we are sincere about it. Gentle reader, if God has told us what He wants, and we do something else, how do we expect to please Him, even if we are “sincere” about it?  If we are “sincere” about our relationship with God, aren't we going to do the best we can to find out what pleases HIM, not what pleases us?  And shouldn't what pleases Him please us? How can we truly be “sincere” in our service to God and then deliberately offer Him something other than what He said He wanted? We owe God everything, He is God, we are human, and I confess, I am greatly disturbed by this flippant attitude that suggests that God loves me enough that He will accept just any ol’ thing I give as long as it pleases me and I’m sincere about it. I respect and adore God enough that I’m going to do everything I can to discover what He wants, and give that to Him. How dare we presume upon the love of God by not having enough respect for Him to offer Him what He asks for—and commands. Let’s find out what HE desires, lest we be guilty of “vain worship” by succumbing, even innocently, to the “commandments of men.”