“Obey my voice.” That
was the sin of Adam, obeying the voice of his wife, and here Rebekah encourages
Jacob to obey her voice in perpetrating the deception to steal the blessing of
Isaac that is meant for Esau. Why does
she do this considering that she had a word from the Lord that the elder would
serve the younger. Rebekah and Jacob are
determined to take matters into their own hands and procure the blessing and
they don’t care who gets hurt in the process.
Again, as with the birthright, hunger plays a prominent role, Isaac is
motivated by his desire for the food that he loves that Esau provides. Jacob and his mother are motivated by greed
and ambition. All are willing to
sacrifice their principles and relationships to get what they desire. Isaac is
willing to take Jacob’s word for his identity because he has the feel of Esau
and the smell of Esau and provides for his hunger like Esau. This deception can’t end well. Trusting the Lord would have been a far
better path to take, it always is.
Can we trust our own judgment? These who question Jesus have evidence on
which to base a sound judgment but they want Him to tell them with words who He
is. Would they believe Him if He did
tell them? If they didn’t believe the
works He did or the authority with which He taught, there is little hope that
they would have believed His claim to be Messiah. Jesus is the light of the world and in Him
and by the power of the Spirit operating in us we will make right judgments
because we will be judging not by the flesh.
Remember David’s anointing by Samuel when the priest wanted to anoint
all David’s brothers and was admonished by the Lord for judging by sight? If we want to make right judgments we can’t
trust our senses any more than Isaac could trust his senses in our first
lesson. We have to learn to live by the
Spirit.
Paul makes an incredibly important point here, that we are
to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
We need to learn to think differently than we did before we met Jesus
and knew the deeper truth about all things.
In Jesus the veil is removed from our eyes and our minds and we are able
to make better judgments. We know that
this world is a passing fancy and that the things to be truly valued and sought
are the eternal things. We are intended
to think differently from those who do not know the grand truth that Jesus
reveals about the world. Our values are
to be different, we are to be motivated and driven by the desire to see the
kingdom of God come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. It all begins with understanding that Jesus
and the promise of eternal life changes everything. The renewing of the mind is the first step to
transformation of life.
You are my hiding
place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
I hope in your word.
Uphold me according to
your promise, that I may live,
and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
Hold me up, that I may be safe
and have regard for your statutes continually!
and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
Hold me up, that I may be safe
and have regard for your statutes continually!
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