Please forgive this rough draft format, as these are my raw study notes on the book of Genesis. I felt a great sense of urgency to publish them rather than waiting until I had the time to pretty them up. Thank you and I pray that God blesses you through this material.
Stacey
Take a few minutes to savor Genesis Chapter 25. Then return here and ponder the thoughts, answer the questions, and be sure to leave comments about your own revelations…
25:1 – Abraham married again at age 137 (or older)!
25:2 – And he had at least six more children! Keturah bore several of the Arab nations.
25:6 – He sent his other sons out of the land that belonged to Isaac.
25:7 – Abraham died at 175 years old. God promised he would live a long life (see 15:15). Ishmael was 89 and Isaac was 75 at this time. Esau and Jacob would be 15.
25:9-10 – Isaac and Ishmael buried their father with Sarah.
25:13-16 – Ishmael had 12 sons as foretold in 17:20.
25:18 – lived in hostility… - see 16:12.
25:21 – What a man!!! He was a man of prayer and lifted his wife up in prayer to the Lord!
They were married 20 years before their sons were born.
25:22 – the babies jostled. Ouch! God even listens to whiny, pregnant women. She was bold to go to God.
“It pays to take your questions to the top.” See Isaiah 55:6. (Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible – Higgs)
25:23 – God answered her!
The Bible does not say she pondered these things in her heart. Based on a couple of later situations (25:31; 28:1), I believe she told Jacob and Isaac at the very least.
25:26 – twins are typically born 6-10 minutes apart. The fact that Jacob grasped Esau’s heel was a miracle!
25:27 – the wild man and the mild man. hehehehe
25:27-28 – Isaac loved Esau because of his taste for wild game.
Did Rebekah favor Jacob because of his personality? Or because of God’s prophetic words to her in v. 23?
25:28 – The favoritism of the parents for the children came between them.
“What God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matthew 19:6) See Ephesians 5:33.
25:30 – red stew – Esau couldn’t even identify the meal! It certainly wasn’t worth selling his birthright.
25:31 – how long had Jacob waited for this opportunity? Perhaps Rebekah shared with Jacob what God told her in 25:23, and he was waiting for an opportunity to usurp “his” position.
The birthright wasn’t just a double portion of the estate, but also leadership of the clan!
25:33 – swearing brings God into the transaction.
25:34 – “…ate, drank, got up, left…” - this happened very quickly. Esau didn’t savor the meal for which he sold his birthright. “Esau despised his birthright” – he rejected God’s blessings. He was godless.
Esau despised his birthright – he devalued it. It meant nothing to him.
What attributes of God have you observed in your study today? How will this change your relationship with Him?
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