『But Rebekah Loved Jacob (Genesis 25:19‑28)』のカバーアート

But Rebekah Loved Jacob (Genesis 25:19‑28)

But Rebekah Loved Jacob (Genesis 25:19‑28)

無料で聴く

ポッドキャストの詳細を見る

このコンテンツについて

 Genesis 25:19-28These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean of Padamaren, the sister of Laban, the Aramean, to be his wife. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said, If it is thus, why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided. The one shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterwards his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them, and when the boys grew up Esau was a skillful hunter and a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man dwelling in the tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.The Continuity of God's PromiseOur passage here opens with a simple genealogy. Isaac is the son of Abram, Rebekah is the daughter of Bethuel and the sister of Laban. So here we see the continuity of God's promise through this ordinary family line. But the very next line reminds us that Isaac's wife was barren. So the son of the promise, Isaac, faced the same problem that his parents faced.Isaac, however, didn't do what his father did and he doesn't resort to human schemes. He brings the problem to the Lord. The Faithlife Study Bible points out that Isaac considered fertility to be in God's hands and that the conception of the birth of his sons would be possible only through divine help. So Isaac's prayer is really a picture of a kind of faithful dependence on the Lord.When faced with the barrenness, whether it's literal like it is in this story, or it's the barren seasons of our lives where things are not going the way we would want them to or don't feel fruitful, this passage invites us to pray and to wait on the Lord's timing and to trust that the Lord has it within His hands.A Tumultuous Pregnancy and Divine ProphecyAnd so what happens is that Rebecca conceives, but her pregnancy itself is tumultuous. The children jostle within her, they fight within her, and she asks, why is this happening to me? And what does she do? Well, like her husband, she goes and inquires of the Lord. She seeks the Lord and God gives her this vision, this prophecy. She hears him speaking to her and he says to her, two nations are in your womb. They will be divided. The one will be stronger, but the older will serve the younger.And so God's sovereign choice is again introduced here. God here does not choose based on birth order or on human merit, but he chooses, he elects according to his purposes. Paul uses this very same story in Romans chapter 9 to illustrate that God's purpose in election stands not because of works, not because of what we've done, but because of him who calls, that is God himself.So this passage pushes us to really marvel at God's sovereignty and his will for us and his grace in election. None of us who believe in Jesus earn God's favor. We receive it. We receive it as a gift because he's merciful.The Meaning Behind NamesAnd so when the twins are born, their physical characteristics and names carry meaning. Often in the Hebrew times, in the Old Testament times, names carried particular weight and they served as a kind of prophecy about what a person's life would be like.So first one comes out and he's red and hairy and so he's called Esau. The second one comes out having grasped his brother's heel and he's named Jacob. So the New International Commentary of the Old Testament notes that the name Jacob comes from the root meaning heal. So that even here in the womb, this divine plan of God is at work. The infant, the baby Jacob, is already acting out the prophecy that God had given to Rebekah, that the older will serve the younger.The commentators go on to explain that Jacob may also be a kind of abbreviated form of the word Jacob-el, meaning that God, or it's a prayer, that may God protect him. And so this shows us that God's hand is already upon Jacob from that time.Brothers in ContrastThen in verse 27, we jump a whole bunch of years and Esau becomes a skillful hunter. He's a man of the field. Jacob, however, is a quiet man dwelling in the tents. Now, the commentary notes that scripture has already provided two instances of brothers fighting each other. There was Cain and Abel. There was Ishmael and Isaac. And in each case, the older brother comes out in the less good light.And so here again, these two brothers couldn't be more different. Esau is the outdoors man. He's impulsive. He's strong. Jacob is the quiet man. The ...
まだレビューはありません