AI (Wombo) Angry Man in Tornado by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
It’s easy to see the devastation and loss in this image. What the man once prided himself in is now worthless after the destruction of a tornado. His family is safe, but you can tell they are scared. And is the father trying to comfort them as they share in that loss? Is he looking at them as a gift that God allowed him to keep? Or, like the first man in the garden, is he just looking for someone to blame?
Proverbs Chapter 19 begins with the statement that a poor person who walks with integrity is better than a rich fool. Then it continues in verse 3 about that fool blaming God for his troubles. The Amplified Bible states it this way ..
Proverbs 19:1 AMP [1] Better is a poor man who walks in his Integrity than a [rich] man who is twisted in his speech and is a [shortsighted] fool.
Proverbs 19:3 AMP [3] The foolishness of man undermines his way [ruining whatever he undertakes];Then his heart is resentful and rages against the Lord [for, being a fool, he blames the Lord instead of himself].
So what happened the day before this terrible storm? As The family gathered around the dinner table, the television, or shared a hug before climbing into their comfy beds, did they stop to look up at the sky then? Did they think about God and all that He had provided for them and give Him the praise He’s worthy of? Or was it just another blessed day they took for granted?
Sometimes, I think it’s good that my sister and I grew up in a harder life situation where even ground beef for a skillet meal was seen as a benefit and something we should be grateful for. Though we didn’t have a regular church or religion, we had Bibles and we had at least an inkling of God as our Provider. When an earthquake damaged our apartment, we slept on the floor at our grandparents’ house; though it was only in adulthood that I looked back and saw all the provisions we had to be grateful for. Still , I never recall hearing all the blame and anger against The Almighty that seems to permeate the atmosphere these days.
Surely, the rich and wise King Solomon based verse 6 on his own kingly experiences. It says,…
Proverbs 19:6 WEBUS [6] Many will entreat the favor of a ruler, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.
And they treat God the same way. They entreat His favor and offer Him friendship as long as He’s willing to pour out gifts on them. But even in that, it’s a shallow friendship. Though it doesn’t have to be that way. Each of us can look at what we have gained and lost in this life and offer praise to The Great Provider. We can know that nothing is guaranteed (and, yes that can stir up fear if we dwell on it) and just trust that Abba Yahveh has been there before us and nothing surprises Him. If we spend the day before with a grateful heart, we will have more resilience and strength if the day after the day before (today) brings something unexpected.
And this is a great place for the song, “Count Your Blessings.”
Protected Beauty by Crystal A Murray With 1 Corinthians 1:18 Encouragement Click on image for Flickr page and more.
We have a slightly longer reading today from Genesis 26:30 through Genesis 27:27. It begins where yesterday left off with Abimelech spending the night and being blessed by Isaac. They all made a commitment to treating each other with blessings from that point forward, and while they were making the agreement, Isaac’s servants came to report the digging of a new well. Isaac named the well Beersheba, which meant “Well of the Oath.”
The end of Chapter 26 tells us that Esau was now 40 years old, and that he married two women that grieved his parents. Very shortly afterwards, Isaac began to realize that his time on earth was coming to an end, and he knew it was time to pass the blessing of the firstborn to Esau. He asked Esau to go out and hunt for his favorite game and bring it back for him to eat, so he could spend some time with him and give him the blessing that was due him as the firstborn. And, yes, that is the blessing that he gave up for a bowl of stew.
Now, we’re not told if Esau confessed his foolish trade, and we’re never told whether Jacob shared that information with his mother or father, but I’m thinking he at least shared it with Rebekah. And I’m thinking that is why Rebekah decided to use her feminine wiles and have a hand in how the blessings were dispersed. She overheard the plans between Isaac and Esau, so she made secretive plans with Jacob on how to trick his aging father who was almost blind.
In a quick summary, Rebecca had Jacob get some goats from the field, and she prepared them to taste like the game that Esau normally prepared for him. Then, she took the skins from the goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and on his neck. After that, she placed some of Esau’s clothes on him, so he would have the scent of his brother. When Jacob went in to present his father with the food, Isaac thought the voice sounded like Jacob, but through touching his skin and smelling the clothes, Isaac was mostly convinced that he was indeed talking with his eldest son. The rest of the story should be in tomorrow’s reading.
I’m mostly certain that at least some of you readers have had the experience of giving from your heart to someone who was ungrateful and who did not value your gift or gifts. And it’s likely also true that each of you has given to someone who was grateful and made you feel wonderful in your giving. Giving to a grateful receiver is far more enjoyable than giving to a taker or is demanding or thinks he or she deserves what you have to give. Even God makes His salvation to whosoever will because it just feels better to give to someone who humbly receives and values a gift.
I know the plan between Rebekah and Jacob seems a bit unfair to Esau, but I have to wonder if God did not set all this up with allowing Rebecca to hear the plans, with keeping Esau in the field just long enough, and with making sure that the blessings were given to the one whose heart was closest to God. I believe Jacob was closer because of Esau’s lack of respect for the birthright, because of Esau’s marriage that grieved his parents, and because of verse 20 where Jacob, imitating Esau, makes the following statement: Adonai your God made it happen that way. I think this statement shows that Esau did not believe in or respect Yahveh the same as his parents or his brother. And I believe God wanted the birthright blessings that would affect the whole future of Abraham’s descendants to be given to the one who most valued and respected them. We will learn later just what it meant for Jacob to carry the birthright into the future.
P.S. NaNo words today hit 14,888, but I’m running out of story, so I’ll gladly take prayers for some more creative ideas. Thanks.
Crystal is, like her name, multi-faceted. She can even write about herself in third person and only feel a little awkward about it. 🙂 She loves to write; she loves kaleidoscopes, fractals, and all things colorful; she loves her husband, her family, and her feline furkids; and mostly she loves Yahveh Almighty, her Creator. She believes her creative mind is in her DNA from Him, and she believes He sees His creations as she sees the images inside a kaleidoscope–all different yet all beautiful and most beautiful when light (His light) shines through them.
Crystal Writes A Blog 
Feminine Wiles
Protected Beauty by Crystal A Murray
With 1 Corinthians 1:18 Encouragement
Click on image for Flickr page and more.
We have a slightly longer reading today from Genesis 26:30 through Genesis 27:27. It begins where yesterday left off with Abimelech spending the night and being blessed by Isaac. They all made a commitment to treating each other with blessings from that point forward, and while they were making the agreement, Isaac’s servants came to report the digging of a new well. Isaac named the well Beersheba, which meant “Well of the Oath.”
The end of Chapter 26 tells us that Esau was now 40 years old, and that he married two women that grieved his parents. Very shortly afterwards, Isaac began to realize that his time on earth was coming to an end, and he knew it was time to pass the blessing of the firstborn to Esau. He asked Esau to go out and hunt for his favorite game and bring it back for him to eat, so he could spend some time with him and give him the blessing that was due him as the firstborn. And, yes, that is the blessing that he gave up for a bowl of stew.
Now, we’re not told if Esau confessed his foolish trade, and we’re never told whether Jacob shared that information with his mother or father, but I’m thinking he at least shared it with Rebekah. And I’m thinking that is why Rebekah decided to use her feminine wiles and have a hand in how the blessings were dispersed. She overheard the plans between Isaac and Esau, so she made secretive plans with Jacob on how to trick his aging father who was almost blind.
In a quick summary, Rebecca had Jacob get some goats from the field, and she prepared them to taste like the game that Esau normally prepared for him. Then, she took the skins from the goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and on his neck. After that, she placed some of Esau’s clothes on him, so he would have the scent of his brother. When Jacob went in to present his father with the food, Isaac thought the voice sounded like Jacob, but through touching his skin and smelling the clothes, Isaac was mostly convinced that he was indeed talking with his eldest son. The rest of the story should be in tomorrow’s reading.
I’m mostly certain that at least some of you readers have had the experience of giving from your heart to someone who was ungrateful and who did not value your gift or gifts. And it’s likely also true that each of you has given to someone who was grateful and made you feel wonderful in your giving. Giving to a grateful receiver is far more enjoyable than giving to a taker or is demanding or thinks he or she deserves what you have to give. Even God makes His salvation to whosoever will because it just feels better to give to someone who humbly receives and values a gift.
I know the plan between Rebekah and Jacob seems a bit unfair to Esau, but I have to wonder if God did not set all this up with allowing Rebecca to hear the plans, with keeping Esau in the field just long enough, and with making sure that the blessings were given to the one whose heart was closest to God. I believe Jacob was closer because of Esau’s lack of respect for the birthright, because of Esau’s marriage that grieved his parents, and because of verse 20 where Jacob, imitating Esau, makes the following statement: Adonai your God made it happen that way. I think this statement shows that Esau did not believe in or respect Yahveh the same as his parents or his brother. And I believe God wanted the birthright blessings that would affect the whole future of Abraham’s descendants to be given to the one who most valued and respected them. We will learn later just what it meant for Jacob to carry the birthright into the future.
P.S. NaNo words today hit 14,888, but I’m running out of story, so I’ll gladly take prayers for some more creative ideas. Thanks.
Share this post on:
November 6, 2013 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Adonai, Almighty, Bible, Bible Gateway, Bible reading, Bible study, birthright, blessing, clothes, Complete Jewish Bible, cook, Creator, crystalwriter, deceit, deceive, Esau, feminine wiles, firstborn, game, Genesis, Genesis 26, Genesis 27, goats, God, grateful, hairy, Holy Bible, hunt, Isaac, Jacob, Lord, Old Covenant, Old Testament, Parashah, Portions, Rebekah, respectful, Rivkah, scent, Scripture, secret, skin, The Complete Jewish Bible, Torah, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Torah Reading, trick, Word, Word of God, Word of the Lord, www.biblegateway.com, Yaakov, Yahveh, Yahweh, Yitzchak | Leave a comment