Genesis Bible Study: Chapter 24–25
Chapter 24
A wife for Isaac
Abraham is old, his wife is dead and his only son is unmarried.
So he sent out his most trusted servant to find a wife for his son from Abraham’s hometown.
Abraham didn’t want his son to marry any Canaanite woman. They were a sinful lot.
So the servant set out on a journey to find a wife for his master’s son.
On arriving at the town, the servant stopped by a well and said a prayer:
“O Lord, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham.”
Genesis 24:12 NLT
He had to be specific of the God he was praying to. Because there were many idols and gods.
He continued his prayer:
“See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’ — let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.””
Genesis 24:13–14 NLT
Then something happened:
“Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah.”
Genesis 24:15 NLT
I absolutely love this verse. Before he had finished praying, he saw.
God was quite aware of his request even before he prayed and God already had an answer and the servant saw the answer.
“The servant watched her in silence, wondering whether or not the Lord had given him success in his mission.”
Genesis 24:21 NLT
Rebekah did exactly as the servant wanted her to do and in my mind it should have been confirmed by now that this was the one Isaac was to marry.
But the servant was still careful, he didn’t jump to a conclusion, he watched silently. The confirmation for the servant was when he realised that Rebekah was from the house of Abraham’s brother. At this point he rejoiced and thanked God for answering his prayers.
That evening Abraham’s servant went to the home of Rebekah’s family and made his intentions known, summarizing the story of how he got there and how he confirmed that Rebekah was ‘the one’.
The family agreed to let Rebekah go to be married to Isaac recognizing that it was a divine direction. They asked for Rebekah’s opinion as well, she also agreed to the marriage.
Immediately the next morning Abraham’s servant set out along with Rebekah, her servants and all her belongings.
Rebekah and Isaac meet and let’s say it was love at first sight.
Isaac immediately took Rebekah and married her, he loved her deeply and she was of great comfort to him especially since his mum had died.
I don’t see any big fancy expensive Nigerian wedding here, but that’s talk for another day hehe.
Chapter 25
Abraham married another wife
I mean you’d think he’d want to rest in his old age. But no.
He had 6 sons with her.
Yay more humans -___-
Abraham gave all his inheritance to Isaac and gave gifts to his remaining sons and sent them away to the east, far away from Isaac.
Abraham died at 175 years of age, he lived a good long and fulfilling life and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael in the same land that Sarah was buried.
After Abraham’s death, God blessed Isaac.
Ishmael had 12 sons that became founders of 12 tribes named after them, they were scattered around the regions located around the east of Egypt and they lived in open hostility with all their relatives.
That explains a lot now doesn’t it?
Rebekah and Isaac finally start their own family. Rebekah couldn’t have children until Isaac prayed to God on her behalf. He was 40 when he married Rebekah and 60 when he eventually had kids.
Rebekah was pregnant with twins and even before they were born they were fighting in the womb. Rebekah asked God why and this was His response:
“And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”
Genesis 25:23 NLT
I’m not exactly sure why God would allow 2 brothers become rival nations but uhh… let’s continue the story.
What I got from this is God knows people before they’re born and He gives them a purpose. This is one of the many reasons why Christians are against abortions, because they believe that every child, wether planned by you or not, was planned by God and that God has a plan for them.
The twins were born the first was called Esau, because of his red skin and thick hair, while the second born was called Jacob.
Jacob was born holding on to Esau’s heel. It is assumed they were struggling to be born first. Lol.
Esau was Isaac’s favorite
Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite (smart woman)
Esau became a hunter, he was said to be an outdoorsman (I’d say he had an extroverted personality)
Jacob was quiet and preferred to be indoors (typical introverted behavior)
One day after a long day of hunting, Esau returned home hungry and saw his brother making red stew. Esau asked his brother for some and Jacob gave a very strange reply.
““All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.””
Genesis 25:31 NLT
It’s such an odd request and it’s such a huge request for a small bowl of stew.
Esau’s response
“Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”
Genesis 25:32 NLT
And just like that, Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew and some bread that Jacob also gave.
Esau made a decision that would cost him his destiny on the basis of an emotion that he was presently feeling. Hunger
First of all, don’t make decisions when you’re hungry, Lol
Don’t make decisions solely off of the emotions you’re feeling presently.
It’s true his birthright didn’t mean anything at that moment, but it would mean everything in the future. He traded up something very valuable for temporary gratification of his flesh.
We must learn from Esau.
It was said that Esau showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn child, which is true.
He equated his birth rights too one bowl of stew.
The guy didn’t even tell Jacob to make him stew for as long as he lived lool. That would’ve been a better bargain, at least he’d have a lifetime supply of free chow.
If only Esau understood the meaning of what he had done. If only Esau knew the word that God had given his mum before he was born.
