Gods Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 25:29–34. “When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daugh ter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” Genesis 26:34–35.

Isaac’s Mistake

Unfortunately the father seemed to be blinded by love for his darling elder son. Isaac could not be persuaded to change his purpose of giving Esau the birthright, despite the facts that he was disqualified from its possession, and that God had revealed His choice of Jacob for this honor. This determination of Isaac’s was a source of trouble in the family. The issue as to which son would receive the promised blessing produced a divided household, which in turn delayed the bestowal of the birthright. The occasion when the ceremony usually took place was doubtless a significant one, attended by relatives. The reverent though joyous tone of the endowment service was intended to leave a lifelong impression on the minds of both the recipient and the witnesses. But because of the division in his home, Isaac postponed the pronouncement of the birthright blessing on Esau until his fail ing physical health warned him not to delay any longer. “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. Isaac said, ‘I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 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.’” Genesis 27:1–4. The whole arrangement was contracted in the utmost secrecy, but Rebekah, who had feared just such a conspiracy, never let her guard drop. Tent walls do not inhibit the transmission of hu man voices, no matter how quietly spoken the words, so Rebek ah was able to overhear the instructions given by Isaac to Esau: