The Reconciled Brothers

Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother. But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor with my lord.” But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” Jacob said, “No, please; if I find favor with you, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God—since you have received me with such favor. Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want.” So he urged him, and he took it. Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go alongside you.” But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die. Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “Why should my lord be so kind to me?” (Genesis 33:1-15, NRSV)

Have you ever met someone years after there was a conflict and you thought it was not going to go well?

We worry about how we treat others and what they will do in retribution. We need to watch what we do because if we burn bridges we will not be able to get back across. But it is not about us doing things to maintain relationships but it is about living a life that is lived in love. These brothers were looking out for their own good, but when they came back together Esau was focused on the relationship that was broken.

Why do we live, for ourselves or for others?

The Quarreling Brothers: Jacob and Esau

These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.” When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau. Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. Isaac loved Esau, because he was fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore he was called Edom.) Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:19-34, NRSV)

2 nations are in your womb…

Twins. Esau came out first with Jacob holding onto his heal like he was trying to hold him back.

And then Esau gives up his birthright for some stew. Seemed like a good thing to do at the time, but how many of us do hasty things and then regret them?

That is why there is a thing called buyers remorse. We do things without thinking through the long-term consequences. We do things for the joy of the moment or to fix a quick need. But then it turns out bad in the long run.

How can we better use our resources for the furthering of God’s kingdom and not regret the decisions we make?

The Promised Child is Born

The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” The child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. (Genesis 21:1-8, NRSV)

So God keeps the promises God makes.

And everyone will laugh with Sarah. The thing we miss in this is that Isaac in the Hebrew means to laugh.

Because we think we know more than God does, God laughs at us…

What is something we can all laugh at?

The Promise is Given Again

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.” (Genesis 18:1-15, NRSV)

Abraham and Sarah were very old and now they are visited and told again they will be the father of many nations and they will have an offspring. This when they are well beyond the childbearing years. But nothing is impossible for God.

When God makes a promise it is kept. What would you laugh at if God told you something that was hard to believe?

We think we know what God can do, but nothing is beyond His doing.

So have faith and trust in the promises God has given us.

God Calls Abram

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb. (Genesis 12:1-9, NRSV)

What made Abram so special that he got singled out for this blessing?

He did not do anything yet that would make him any more worthy of finding favor with the Lord. He was the son of Terah, son of Nahor, who continues back to Shem son of Noah. But he was no different than anyone else.

But Abram almost sacrificed his only son for God. Yes, you are correct, but that was long after this. At this point, Abram had done nothing to win the favor of God and that is really what is upsetting to most of us, but should be the thing that really gives us hope.

You see we get upset because others seem to get the good stuff from God. They are nothing special, why I can herd goats better than Abram, why did he get God’s blessing? Because God wanted to give him a blessing.

You see it is not because Abram had done something special or was living the way that everyone expected him to. Abram was chosen by God because he was God’s creation and he was enough just as he was.

And if you read the reading again and look for why Abram was blessed you will see that he was blessed to be a blessing. You see each and every one of us is good enough just as we are and were made this way to be a blessing to others.

So to quote the great theologian Jon Bon Jovi in his song Welcome to Wherever You Are “When you wanna give up, and your hearts about to break remember that you’re perfect, God makes no mistakes.”

Descendants of Terah

Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran. (Genesis 11:27-32, NRSV)

Why is it important we know who Terah is?

Not because he did anything great or memorable. But he is the father of Abram.

And Abram becomes Abraham, and he and his wife, here Sarai, Sarah are the parents of many nations.

Abraham’s descendants will outnumber the stars in the sky and the sand on the beach!

Part of our story is Terah. We know him because he is a part of God’s story.

Are you sharing the story?

Descendants of Shem

These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad for five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. When Arpachshad had lived for thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah; and Arpachshad lived after the birth of Shelah for four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters. When Shelah had lived for thirty years, he became the father of Eber; and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber for four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters. When Eber had lived for thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg; and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg for four hundred and thirty years, and had other sons and daughters. When Peleg had lived for thirty years, he became the father of Reu; and Peleg lived after the birth of Reu for two hundred and nine years, and had other sons and daughters. When Reu had lived for thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug; and Reu lived after the birth of Serug for two hundred and seven years, and had other sons and daughters. When Serug had lived for thirty years, he became the father of Nahor; and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor for two hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. When Nahor had lived for twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah; and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah for one hundred and nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters. When Terah had lived for seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. (Genesis 11:10-26, NRSV)

Shem lived 600 years.

Arpachshed lived 438 years.

Shelah lived 433 years.

Eber lived 463 years.

Peleg lived 239 years.

Reu lived 239 years.

Serug lived 230 years.

Nahor lived 148 years.

Is this what we are to get out of this reading that people lived way longer in those days than they do now, or are these numbers not for the years that we say are years?

What if I told you that the numbers don’t really matter and what matters is the second son of Nahor?

Abram. Abram is the grandson of Nahor and the father of many nations!

You see Abram will become Abraham. And that is why this story is here. Not to prove you could live longer or time is measured differently. But to continue the story.

Are you continuing the story?

Tower of Babel

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, ‘Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:1-9, NRSV)

I often wonder about this story…

Everyone on earth spoke the same language because they all descended from Adam and Eve. So they could all understand each other. So they thought they would build a tower and get to heaven. But why did they want to get to heaven? And why were they worried about being spread abroad?

And why did God not want them to get to heaven?

And why did God confuse their language?

And who is the us, when God says let us go down?

There are a lot of questions…

But my take on this story is it is a way to get from all of the people descending from Adam and Eve and there being so many different languages on the earth.

And we as a people need to know the answers. Just ask any parent what the most asked question by a kid is, and they will tell you why. We want to know why things happen or are done a certain way. We want to know.

So take it as a story to tell something. Maybe it is the formation of the languages, maybe it is a delay in us being with God fully in His kingdom, maybe it is a lot of things we don’t know.

But know this, the story shows us that God is present in the lives of the people He has created.

Nations Descended from Noah

Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterwards the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These are the descendants of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. The descendants of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the descendants of Joktan. The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country of the east. These are the descendants of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.  These are the families of Noah’s sons, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. (Genesis 10:15-32, NRSV)

These are the generations of Noah and where they spread to. And remember why all of this is important.

Because God wanted you to have something that could help you to fall asleep so we have the begat chapters in the Bible. No, not really.

It is our story. This is where we came from? Remember that all life came from Adam and Eve and then when the flood came, Noah and his family were all that survived so we trace back to Noah. So the lineage of Noah is your family tree.

This story is your story.

Share your story with the world and help them to connect with all of their story.

Nations Descended from Noah

These are the descendants of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; children were born to them after the flood. The descendants of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The descendants of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim. From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the descendants of Japheth in their lands, with their own language, by their families, in their nations.  The descendants of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.’ The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, from which the Philistines come. (Genesis 10:1-14, NRSV)

If you’re like me you probably let out a big sigh when you get to these sections of the Bible. I wonder why do I need to know who begat who and whose descended from whom…

But in reality, all of that is important because we need to know where we come from. And the story of the Bible is not just someone’s story who lived a long time ago that I won’t meet until that final great banquet feast. The story of the Bible is my story, and it is your story.

You see I need to know who begat who because those are my relatives. Those are people from my tree.

For me to know their story is for me to know my story.

Do you know your story?