Scripture Reading : Gen 27
Theme : The Blessing of God
A wrong decision.
It was only a matter of time before the divided home would start to self-destruct, and it all began with Isaac. He knew that God had chosen Jacob, the younger son, to receive the blessing (Gen. 25:23–26); but he announced that he would give it to Esau. It seems that Isaac was more interested in his physical appetite than in spiritual things. He was not the spiritual person he once had been.
A wrong solution.
Rebekah knew what God’s promise was to Jacob, and she should have let God work it out in His own way. “Faith is living without scheming,” and who can hinder the Lord from accomplishing His purposes (Dan. 4:35)? Instead, she made her son a liar and deceived her husband. If Isaac had trusted the Lord instead of his physical senses (vv. 21, 22, 25, 27), he would not have been fooled.
A wrong attitude.
Esau had made it clear years before that he was not interested in spiritual things (Gen. 25:29–34), and certainly he knew God’s word about the blessing. He wept (Heb. 12:17) and begged for a blessing, and then he plotted to kill his brother! His heart was not right with God or man. We are reminded of Cain (Gen. 4).
Praying the Scripture
- Before the twins were born, God had told Isaac and Rebekah that the younger son, Jacob, was to receive the covenant blessing (vv. 19–23); yet Isaac planned to give the blessing to the eldest son, Esau. Isaac rejected the way of faith and depended on his feelings and senses: taste (vv. 4, 9, 25), touch (v. 21), hearing (v. 22), and smell (v. 27). Are you living by your feelings or God’s Word? Yes, the temptation is always strong because if the feeling is not strong, there will be no temptation. Let’s pray that you will not put feelings before God’s word.
- Isaac was depending on his own physical senses, but Rebekah was depending on her own wisdom. However, human wisdom always leads to trouble. Knowing that Jacob was chosen to receive the covenant blessing, Rebekah immediately took matters into her own hands to make sure her favorite son got what the Lord had promised him. She wanted to help God accomplish His will. Let’s pray that we trust God to fulfill his promise in His own way and timing instead of at our wisdom and scheming.
- The man who despised his birthright and married two pagan women now wept and cried out for his father to bless him. Hebrews 12:16–17 commented on this event: Esau tried to repent, but his own heart was too hard; and he couldn’t change his father’s mind. Esau’s tears were not tears of repentance for being an ungodly man; they were tears of regret because he had lost the covenant blessing. Esau wanted the blessing but he didn’t want to be the kind of man whom God could bless! We may forget our decisions, but our decisions don’t forget us. Let’s pray that we walk in God’s way in order to receive God’s blessing.
[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, With the Word Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), Ge 27:1.
经文：创27章
主题：神的祝福
错误的决定
一个纷争的家庭迟早会开始自我毁灭的，而这一切原由以撒。他知道，神已拣选并祝福小儿子雅各（创25:23-26）；但他却宣布将名分赐给以扫。以撒似乎更喜欢属肉体的事多过属灵的事。他已经不是那“属灵的以撒”了。
错误的解决
利百加知道神对雅各的应许，她原该让神自己来解决问题。 “信心的生命是没有诡计的生命”，谁可以阻碍神完成他的计划呢？（但4:35）相反，她要自己的儿子撒谎并欺骗自己的丈夫。如果以撒能信靠主而不是靠感觉（vv.21，22，25，27），他就不会被愚弄了。
错误的态度
以扫在多年前已声明他对属灵的事情没有兴趣（创25:29-34），而他也非常清楚神祝福的话。所以，他哭泣（希伯来书12:17）和乞求祝福，然后他更是要密谋杀害自己的弟弟！他的心，在神或在人，都是不正确的。这使我们想起该隐。（创4）利百加的“几天后相见”（44节）竟成为了二十多年！在她百般谋算下，她在有生之年再也没见过自己儿子一面了。
用经文祷告
- 在双胞胎出生之前，神曾告诉以撒和利百加，祂将祝福小儿子雅各（19-23节）；但以撒却打算把祝福赐给长子以扫。以撒拒绝信心的道路，而跟随自己的感觉行事：味觉（4节，9节，25节）、触觉（21节）、听觉（22节）和嗅觉（第27节）。你是否按自己的感觉还是神的话语生活呢？是的，诱惑总是带着强烈的感觉。因为如果没有感觉，那就不会有诱惑。让我们祈祷，我们不把感觉摆在神的话语之前。
- 以撒凭着自己身体的感觉，而利百加凭着自己的智慧。然而，人类的智慧总是带来麻烦。利百加知道雅各是被拣选的，因此她立即采取行动，以确保她最喜欢的儿子得到主所应许他的。她想帮助神完成祂的旨意。让我们祈祷，我们不会依赖自己的智慧和谋算，而是相信神必定会在祂的时机完成祂的旨意。
- 藐视自己长子名分并和两名的外邦女子结婚的以扫现在哭了，并要求父亲祝福自己。希伯来书12:16-17对这一事件评论说：以扫试图悔改，但他自己的心太硬；也无法使父亲的心意回转。以扫的眼泪不是因自己犯罪而流下忏悔的眼泪，是遗憾的泪水，因为他失去祝福。以扫想要得到神的祝福，但他并不想成为神所要祝福的人！我们可以忘记自己做过的决定，但决定绝不会忘记我们。让我们祈祷，我们能走在神的道路上并获得神的祝福。
