Scheme Released

Scheme Released

Genesis 27: ¹¹ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. ¹² Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

 

¹³ But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” ¹⁴ And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

 

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Jacob presented flaws in Rebekah’s plan as if to say “How in the world will dad believe I am Esau? He’s covered with hair.” He was also afraid of getting caught and losing everything in the process. Rebekah told Jacob she would take the blame if Isaac were to find out.

 

My Observations:

• Jacob agreed with the deception, but was afraid of getting caught.
• Rebekah believed she was doing the right thing after hearing from GOD about who would be the chosen one.
• Esau and his wives still lived with his parents, so Rebekah heard and saw everything they did.

 

After thinking of everything, the scheme was put into place. Jacob brought the animals and Rebekah took the animals and made tasty food for Isaac. She then went into Esau’s closet and pulled out his stinking hunting clothes and gave them to Jacob.

 

She then took goat pelts and put them on Jacob’s hands and neck because Esau was very hairy. They thought of everything, but maybe they didn’t. Jacob was becoming better and better at getting his way through deceit. Wow! One son who could care less about his family inheritance, and the other, scheming to get what he could. Despite all of this, GOD would bless the family.

 

Challenge

• Why would GOD tell Moses about the scheme Rebekah and Jacob put together?
• Have you ever tried to over-spiritualize the actions of the people in the Bible?
• Can you see that GOD uses sinners, who mean things for evil, to do good for HIS purpose?

Scheming is never a good idea

Judges 21: ¹⁸ We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath: ‘Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.’¹⁹ But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh, which lies north of Bethel, east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.”

²⁰ So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards ²¹ and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. 

²² When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give your daughters to them.’”

²³ So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.

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²⁵ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

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Holding my breath and wishing everything would go well, I sat next to my potential buyer. He drove around the parking lot and everything seemed to work just fine.  He agreed to give me the maximum asking price and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I mean just a couple of week prior, the car stopped on the side of the road.  “It’s not my problem anymore” I thought to myself as I handed him the keys.  He called me two weeks later asking if I knew the car had major issues. “What [lie] should I say to this guy to get him off my back?”

• There is a way that seems right to me that is not.
• There is a path that is very wide and sometimes I choose to remain on it.
• There is a pile of money that sometimes drives my deepest decisions.

It seems like when I want to do something wrong, I can find a crowd to support my efforts.  They will look and act like me and I can do as I please because everyone else is doing it this way. BUT GOD wants something different.

• GOD wants me to follow HIM no matter how many people agree to do wrong.
• GOD wants me to do what’s right not what’s popular.
• GOD wants me to understand HIS plan instead of making up my own.

There is a way that seems right to a man, BUT GOD’s way in infinitely above mine.

• Are you thinking of a gimmick to bring people to GOD?
• Are you worried that your efforts are failing?
• Can you allow GOD to thin your tools and grow you HIS way?