SERVICES: SATURDAY 6PM | SUNDAY 9AM & 10:45AM. 

We Livestream at www.FaithFellowshipWeb.com/livestream, through the FFC App, and YouTube.

Mom Loved You More

Words of Faith Final

Mom Loved You More
Words of Faith 5-13-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL    
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><<><

Genesis 27
    When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, "My son."
    "Here I am," he answered.
    [2] Isaac said, "I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. [3] Now then, get your weapons--your quiver and bow--and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. [4] Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die."
    [5] Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, [6] Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, [7] 'Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.' [8] Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: [9] Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. [10] Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies."
    [11] Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a man with smooth skin. [12] What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing."
    [13] His mother said to him, "My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me."

        For some of us, it is difficult to read this passage without thinking of the old Smothers Brothers routine in which one brother is always convinced that "Mom loves you more."  The truth is that the second generation of Patriarchs and Matriarchs was a troubled family! We have parents playing "favorites". Jacob was Rebekah's favorite. Esau was Isaac's favorite. We have brothers conspiring against each other. We have Jacob, who tricked Esau out of the birthright of the oldest brother.  
        Now, we also have Esau trying to get the Blessing of Isaac by bringing in fresh game. And Rebekah is trying to pull off a lie to set things straight in her own mind. Today we would undoubtedly refer Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob for family counseling!
        But there was another problem: In-laws. Rebekah could not stand her daughters-in-law. Esau had married not one but two Hittite women (26:34-35). This was a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah. Rebekah was particularly prejudiced against these women and was disgusted by them. To be fair, Esau had waited until he was 40 to marry! His parents had neglected to obtain a match for him as Abraham had a generation earlier! A hairy man could only wait so long to marry, and now there was significant strife.
         So Rebekah cooked up a plan. Despite the fact that God had told Rebekah that Esau would serve Jacob, Rebekah did not trust that God would work all this out. She conspired to have Jacob deceive Isaac in order to receive the Blessing that should go to the oldest son.
          "The Blessing" was an enormously significant, almost magical, pronouncement by a father upon a son. It was the word of the father that empowered the son to move on to the destiny of the next generation. This Blessing was the most essential part of the birthright that Esau had already bargained away. It was much more important than the larger material inheritance that customarily went to the oldest son. It could only be given once and was usually pronounced on the deathbed or in old age.
           So what does God do in such a situation? This family was a mess. If only these people could have learned to trust God, things would have run much smoother. Instead, there was betrayal, deception, duplicity, and hurt going on. The remarkable thing is that God was still at work even in all this.
          The most encouraging thing about this story is that God brings wonderful things out of even the most distressing family situations. This troubled family, filled with struggle and pain, was giving birth to God's chosen people from which the Messiah would come. Out of this painfully dysfunctional family, Salvation was being born. Despite our human failings and frailties, God is still at work around us and through us.  
         Do you have a troubled family? Did you come from a troubled family? There is hope! 2 Corinthians 5:17 boldly declares that hope: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  
         The truth is that there are no perfect families. None. We all struggle with the pain of our humanity. The marvelous thing is that the grace and mercy of God is at work in and through the most difficult of families to bring forth hope.

         Father, I give myself to You. I offer to You my past. I give to You this day. I thank You for my future. Today I am a New Creation. The old has passed away. The new has come. Use the experiences of my life for the redemption and healing of others. In Jesus' name.  

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an e-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an e-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. The daily devotion and archive are posted at http://www.faithfellowshipweb.com/cgi-bin/devotions/displayMonths.cgi
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -      
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.