Category: Devotions

We are moving into one of the most dysfunctional of family stories. Isaac and Rebekah are married, and they have twins. Isaac favoured Esau, the older twin and skilled hunter; his father loved the BBQs Esau cooked, while Rebekah favoured Jacob, the younger son. Division has emerged in marriage.

“When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. ²⁵ The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.²⁶ After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. ²⁷ The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. ²⁸ Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (Genesis 25 v 24-28)

Imagine the scene. Jacob comes out, grasping at his brother’s heel, as if trying to pull him back. He doesn’t want to be second. He obviously doesn’t know he is in the line of the covenant promised child, Christ. Neither do his parents. Their division and his grasping are pointless. For God has a plan.

Most divisions and competitive ambitions are pointless. God has a plan.

Esau, the one you can see and feel the hairs of, is the firstborn. Jacob, the heel-grabber, the one born second but wants to be first, the deceiver, will be the main character of the Bible story.

They grow and follow different pursuits. Then comes the major schism.

“Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”

We know that sentence could have been written so much better, fairer, and more loving.

Isaac loved what he was getting from his son (the wild game). Rebekah just loved.

What must it do to a child to know one of their parents doesn’t love them as much as the other sibling?

Do we love conditionally?

Do we love those who feed our ego and satisfy our appetites?

Do we spend our lives grasping at heels, jealous of what was given to others?

The story is beginning. We know the end.

Importantly, we know God has a plan that can navigate the divisions, deceptions, and selfish ambitions within families and friendship circles.

Now for the other brother, the youngest, the promised child, Isaac.

“This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aramand sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. ²² The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³ The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25 v 19-23)

There are so many similarities among the next generation descended from Abraham and Sarah.

Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, is barren. A few verses later, we read that Isaac was 60 years old when the twins were born. So for 20 years (v20), they prayed for her to conceive. I am sure you know the experience of praying for something for a long time. Prayer often needs persistence. But notice the difference within the similarity. Unlike his father, Isaac didn’t take matters into his own hands. There was no new Hagar in this story. Just patient intercession.

Then God answers only to find that what should have been a joyous occasion was actually a painful one. Sometimes the new chapter of our lives contains new complications, questions and struggles. The question that is often cried, ‘Why?’ is uttered. When was the last time you prayed that prayer? ‘Why God?’ Sometimes the gift is wrapped in confusion.

Again, a mirror of the story already told: ‘older will serve the younger’. Like Ishmael not being the main character, it comes up again here: Esau will serve Jacob. Man’s expectations of what will happen are again overturned by God. People around you may assume one thing today; they may have their predictions, but God’s purposes often challenge and usurp man’s understanding.

Your life may not be making much sense right now. Bring it before God. It makes sense to Him, and His plan will roll out and bring glory to His name.

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Before we read the family line of Ishmael, let’s remind ourselves of a few things.

Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar.

Sent away into the wilderness so that Isaac (the promised son) could have the freedom to grow.

God found Ishmael and his mother and promised that a nation would come from him.  These verses are the fulfilment of that promise.

¹² This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. ¹⁷ Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. ¹⁸ His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility towardall the tribes related to them.” (Genesis 25 v 12-18)

The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah would mention these tribes in their prophecies. I have emboldened the interesting part of the hostilities amongst them.

Families have break-ups and break-downs, don’t they? You might be in one of them right now. Yet somehow, the struggles do not mean you step outside God’s purposes. God manages to work through the complications and strain of imperfect families. He will still fulfil His purposes despite us.

The whole passage is full of amazing grace.

The fact that it is recorded is one thing. The main character of the story is Isaac, whose bloodline will lead to Christ.

But here, the Bible story pauses to record the other brother on the margins of the main story. You may think you are not important, not the centrepiece, an add-on, but you couldn’t be further from the truth in terms of what God thinks of you. He sees you. He sees your family.

• Your life can be one long struggle, but you can know the blessing of God at the same time. The struggle doesn’t disqualify you from the blessings.
• Look at the blessing – the twelve sons that became tribes, the long life of 137 years. Look at the pain – the hostilities. See the honesty? You don’t have to pretend everything is fine in order to be thankful for the good that God has done. When I was a Pastor, people came to me often and said, ‘Pastor, my testimony is nearly ready to give.’ They were referring to the fact that God still hadn’t completely healed them, or they hadn’t quite secured that promotion yet. I changed things. I began asking for testimonies of the cancer members and those without jobs to testify to the blessings and purposes of God within the presence of struggle and pain.
• God works through the mess. He won’t wait for us to get ourselves perfected. He just carries on working through our dysfunction. Struggle doesn’t mean you are outside of His purpose for your life.

I’m not sure how many funerals I have conducted over the years, but they are always unique, even if the ceremony is the same. That’s obviously because we are all different.

When I read these next few verses, I at first skipped past something that caught my eye the second time. It was the occasion of the funeral of Abraham.

“Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.” (Genesis 25 v 7-11)

Ishmael, the eldest son of Abraham (but the son of Hagar and not of Sarah), was with Isaac, the promised son, born to Sarah in her old age.

It may have been some time since they had been together. Isn’t that the case even today? We have no record of whether they had seen each other in the intervening years.

Isaac was the heir to the covenant given to Abraham, and Ishmael became the father of twelve rulers. They live separate lives with separate families, but on the occasion of their father’s death, they stand together to bury him. Death had brought them back together. Grief over their father was the uniting factor.

Maybe they had so many differences, one being their age, that they would never be walking together in life. But they each shared a love for their father. They both would carry something of his image and standing at the cave of Machpelah were two sons in grief. Well, we don’t know the extent of that grief, so I am presuming there were tears; maybe they both gave eulogies? Did they embrace? This certainly wasn’t a 30-minute crematorium slot. This funeral would have lasted a while and would have taken time to work it all out together.

But that is the word, isn’t it? Even if it was the very last time. They were together.

It is never too late to stand together with your brother, sister, parent, child, etc. It is never too late to call that friend. You see, they, too, despite your many differences are made in the image of God, just like we all are.

It’s never too late to come together. Even at a grave side.

This woman’s name isn’t well-known as the wife of Abraham. Generally, people will say his wife was Sarah, and he had a concubine, Hagar. But Keturah is forgotten, probably because we don’t have any story about her life.

“Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. ² She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. ³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. ⁴ The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. ⁵ Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. ⁶ But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.” (Genesis 25 v 1-5)

After Sarah’s death, Abraham and Keturah came together. Interestingly, here it says she was his wife, but in 1 Chronicles 1:32 it records her as his concubine. There’s no confusion, really, because the concubine was seen as a wife, but one of a lower legal status, and the resulting children also had fewer inheritance rights. So in verse 6, the gifts given as leaving presents to his sons from the concubines were those of Hagar and Keturah.

They were not heirs to the covenant promise of God through Sarah and Isaac. This is the main point of these verses. The primary inheritance, the promised blood-line would run through Isaac. That was always the case, and Abraham protected it.

Abraham didn’t dismiss this part of his family; he sent them, he provided for them, and he directed them. His kindness also protected the other side of the family, Isaac’s. That was the reason. Keeping distinctions in your life so that your primary purpose is protected is wisdom. Let me illustrate this.

1. All your working life, you have had more than one job. Many of us do. You have had a paid role and at least one other voluntary role. At various seasons, like the present one, this has amounted to several voluntary roles. But you have had to work hard at protecting the primary role, which is the one others pay you for. Of course, if you understand what it is to ‘tent-make’, then your primary role could be the voluntary one, and the paid role is supporting that.

2. The focal point of your life is Jesus. He is the start, the race and the finishing line. You have other things in your life that are pleasurable and important. There’s nothing wrong with the social circles, the leisure pursuits and the investments of your time and energy. But these do not compare to the importance of your life as a disciple and as a member of His church. So you don’t let these attractions become distractions from the primary purpose of serving Jesus.

You are keeping distinctions in your life. Keep clarity around the true purpose of your life. You will then be able to protect it and separate it so that it can grow into fulfilment. Treat your commitments differently, and then you will find contentment with your true purpose for then you will be faithful to it.

Within all of us is the capacity to love.

Today could be that day when your words and actions of love can change the hearts of people who are hurting. This romantic story we have been reading over the last few days demonstrates this, but it doesn’t need to be a romantic one to bring healing to someone’s difficult season.

“Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. ⁶³ He went out to the field one evening to meditate,and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel ⁶⁵ and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. ⁶⁷ Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” (Genesis 24 v 62-67)

Isaac is still grieving his mother. He is 40 years of age (25:20), and Sarah had died 3 years before. She was 127 years old when she died (23:1), 90 years old when Isaac was born (17:17), and Isaac was therefore 37 years old when she died.

Even grown men at 40 years of age grieve their mothers.

Here we find him (and Rebekah too) in the desert one evening, meditating, his heart needing to find solace.

From that moment, this story became a love story.

But it was more than that. It became a healing story.

He opens his heart again after his loss. Love was there.

He permits his life to continue past his mother. Love was there.

He receives his needed comfort. Love was there.

When he went out to meditate that evening, we don’t know what he was thinking over, but we do know the state of his heart. The ordinariness of that evening became a moment that would change his world as he knew it. He moved from hurt to healing. This is the power of love.

You don’t need a married partner to do that. The principle also applies to the love of a friend. Let today be a day of love, for you may not know the people you will meet who are hurting.

We will all be speaking to people today. We do it every day. We can use those words carelessly or intentionally. Sometimes careless criticism can cause lasting damage. Similarly, if we were more careful and less fake, truly encouraging and blessing someone with words of hope and destiny, perhaps we could make someone’s world a better place.

Abraham’s servant has found Rebekah and, after a short stay with her family, is now ready to take her back to marry Isaac, his master’s son. Her family are basically waving her goodbye. But they do more than that.

“So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.” ⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.” (Genesis 24 v 59-61)

They didn’t just wave goodbye.

They didn’t express concern or anxiety. “Be careful, Rebekah, this is a long journey ahead. Be safe. Stay on that camel. Be careful in this new land you are travelling to. Don’t trust strangers easily. If it doesn’t work out, you can always come back.” 

No. They blessed Rebekah with words that she would carry in her heart forever.

The words from the family were not just well-wishing; they were blessing her into her destiny. Such is the power of words. They carry the same ability as seeds we sow in the ground. Our words can sow seeds of faith for increase and possession. These words of blessing look beyond the initial challenges to destinations and dreams fulfilled. We know the story; they didn’t when they blessed her. We know she became the mother of Jacob, whose twelve sons and their descendants would become the twelve tribes of Israel, and ‘thousands upon thousands’ were indeed her inheritance.

You may know someone today about to venture into something new. Your friend or family member hasn’t been down this road before. You have a choice. There’s nothing wrong with the words of wisdom and advice. However, perhaps words of blessing will do far more than the words of concern.

There are moments when it is wise to wait and not act with impulsion. However, I wonder how much of our lives we spend in delay rather than taking the opportunities given to us? In this story, we see Rebekah act in faith by saying ‘I will go’ and actually going immediately.

“Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewellery and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.” ⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you^[e] may go.” ⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” ⁵⁸ So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she said.” (Genesis 24 v 53-58)

Will you go?

The servant didn’t want more time. It wasn’t wrong to have ten more days to prepare, to work things through or to say goodbye. But ten more days would make obedience even harder. There are times when, if you have decided to go, you had better go. Even an understandable reason not to go now can be wrong for you.

Rebekah didn’t know all the details. She didn’t know Isaac. This was either stupidity or faith. That’s how ‘I will go’ looks. An act of faith doesn’t seem certain to some.

How about us?

We may be waiting for another confirmation, and the days and weeks have gone by. All along, God has been waiting for us. When will you go? Of course, waiting can be wise. But it can also be fear or a refusal to let go of comfort. It’s not naïve to think that if God has already orchestrated a meeting with this servant, Rebekah should now be willing to go immediately. The best thing she did was to move quickly.

There are times in our lives when the Holy Spirit moves quickly, and He wants you to keep up.

What is God waiting for you to stop delaying? Has God called you, but you are still analysing the details? Is it about time you said ‘I will go’ and that you went?

It’s a long passage to read today, and much is a repeat as the servant of Abraham recalls what has brought him to Nahor, which turned out to be the hometown of Abraham’s brother. I have emboldened the verses that I will be focusing on.

 ^“Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. ³⁰ As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. ³¹ “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” ³² So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. ³³ Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.” “Then tell us,” Laban said. ³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. ³⁷ And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, ³⁸ but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’ ⁴⁰ “He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. ⁴¹ You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’ ⁴² “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. ⁴³ See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” ⁴⁴ and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’ ⁴⁵ “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ ⁴⁶ “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also. ⁴⁷ “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ “She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’ “Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, ⁴⁸ and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.⁵⁰ Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.” ⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. “ (Genesis 24 v 29-52)

We all love a testimony in church, don’t we? Here is Abraham’s servant doing just that. What does it teach us?

• The servant couldn’t wait to give his testimony. When you know God is moving and at work, it is more than excitement; there is a compulsion that means everything else comes second, even food (v. 33).
• The servant told the story as it was. There was no embellishment; it didn’t need any, i.e., just told the story, v34 onwards. Note that he was only the messenger. He doesn’t take any credit. This was all of God’s doing. Isn’t that a wonderful way to testify to what has happened in our lives? Simply faithfully retelling of what God has done.
• Initial response from people may seem selfish, but they could still serve the purposes of God. Laban, whose character deficiencies we will see later in this book, is clearly a man who may display wonderful hospitality and a language of faith, but who also seeks benefits. Notice how in v30 he sees the gold before he rushes to welcome. However, even selfish and greedy motives cannot derail what God is doing.
• The servant worshipped after the answered prayer. Twice in v48 and v52 his first response is to worship because of answered prayer. Do you need to worship today?
• The servant lived with a single focus of obedience. He had one task: find a wife, v49. He had such a clear focus. What would it be like to live with such clarity, knowing that God is orchestrating appointments in the ordinariness of life? In that focused living, the servant was paying attention to what might be happening around him and whether God was moving. God was indeed moving and working, and the servant didn’t miss it. Let’s hope we don’t either.

We are continuing this incredible story of Abraham’s servant finding a wife for Isaac.  He was praying and waiting and watching, and Rebekah was in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing.

“Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. ¹⁶ The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. ¹⁷ The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.” ¹⁸ “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. ²¹ Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. ²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a bekaand two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. ²³ Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” ²⁴ She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.” ²⁶ Then the man bowed down and worshipped the Lord, ²⁷ saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.” ²⁸ The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things.” (Genesis 24 v 15-28)

Rebekah’s destiny was shaped in the ordinariness of life.

• She didn’t know she was being watched. Whether we like it or not, we are constantly being watched. If we use social media even more so! Our character is continually on display in moments that may not appear very special. She didn’t know who this man with the camels was. She was just herself. She was being kind. At the centre of kindness is the well-being of another, and it reveals a person’s character.
• She offered to go the extra mile. She could have stopped after giving him a drink and then moved on from there, but she didn’t. She went the extra mile and volunteered to water all his camels. She was not there for herself. She would then offer the servant and his camels a place for the night. We never know the outcome of such hospitality.
• She was faithful in the ordinariness. Often, we think we must wait for an incredible God moment to serve His purposes. It seems God is waiting for us. He is looking for our faithfulness in the unglamorous moments, the boring parts of life.
• She had somewhere and someone to share the story with. For her, it was her mother and the family members. She told of the gold ring and bracelet gifts, the whole encounter with the servant and his prayer, and how she learns that there is a wider family connection. But she was not going to keep this to herself. In our world, we make so many decisions on our own, without drawing people into our lives to share the journey with us.

It is an incredible story, which, as we know, we still have the next part to read. But the main point so far is this: Be faithful in small, everyday acts of kindness and character-building, because you never know when an ordinary moment might become a divine appointment. And when those moments come, don’t face them alone; run to your family and friends.