Today's reading is fairly familiar territory.
Abraham's servant finds a wife for Isaac (Rebekah).
Abraham dies at age 175. I've always loved the a couple of the phrases used in describing him: "...an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people." That last phrase paints a fascinating and beautiful picture, I think, of death. As a Christ-follower, when I die I will be "gathered to my people." I think there's a lot of meaning there and I'm not sure I get it all...but I like it.
Jacob & Esau are born to Isaac & Rebekah.
Jacob swindles the birthright of the firstborn son from Esau. It's interesting to me that Esau is depicted as the one to blame here. It says, "So Esau despised his birthright." I think the lesson for me is that I need to be on my guard to protect my "birthright." It's MY responsibility to protect it and not to trade it away cheaply. I can't put the blame anywhere else if I do.
Isaac shows that he has learned from his father by lying to Abimilek about his wife. What is wrong with these people? He tells him she is his sister. Once again, Abimilek treats him mercifully in spite of his deception.
Esau gets married at age 40 to Judith...a Hittite. I think there is a world of meaning in the final phrase of this chapter: "They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah."
All in all it looks like these 3 chapters cover about 100 years of Hebrew history. Again I think it's worth noting that the Bible's goal doesn't seem to be to give a detailed historical account of everything that took place. I believe that what it includes is completely accurate but it certainly doesn't include everything. It concerns itself primarily with God's redemptive plan for humans and focuses on the events of history that show how He has interacted with us.
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