Genesis 27: 11-14: “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.”
Jacob saw problems while Rebekah saw an opportunity. She was determined to ensure that Jacob received the blessing while Jacob was concerned that he be discovered for his part in the plot and be cursed. In our modern society we don’t believe in blessings and curses too much because we are far to rational for that. However, we all believe in the importance of having the right mentor to help us find our way through the maze of success, don’t we? This is essentially the same as looking for a successful senior person to give us a blessing along the way. If we manage to alienate someone who is important to the progress of our careers then we will find it very hard to succeed and this is similar to a curse. The middle verse in the English Bible is Psalm 118: 8 “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” This is essentially what Rebekah was doing here. She remembered the promise that the Lord gave her and trusted in the Lord to bring that promise to pass. However, she had a small crisis in hope when she heard Isaac call Esau and set out to give the Lord a hand in keeping His promise. Should we just trust in the Lord and do nothing or should we be proactive and give the Lord some help as we seek to achieve our goals? First we have to be very sure that the goals we have set come from the Lord and not from our own desires and secondly we have to remember that the Lord works in His own time according to His own plan. It is also wise to remember the counsel given by Gamaliel in Acts 5: 38, 39 “And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” It is important to make sure that we remember that God is God and we don’t tell Him what to do. But we all know that if you aim at nothing you are sure to hit it, don’t we? Tell that to Ahab (see 1 Kings 22: 34, 35 “And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded. And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.”)
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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