INVESTING IN THE BOSS'S KID

I wrote this post 4 years ago, on the eve of my daughter's 16th birthday.  Tomorrow she turns 20, and what I said then is even more true today.

Tomorrow my daughter turns 16.  For the last couple of hours I’ve been looking at her picture and feeling all wet in the eyes.

Which made me think about Eliezer and Abraham. 

Genesis 15: 1-3 says that Eliezer was the chief servant in Abraham’s household.

The household of a Biblical patriarch was a lot like a family owned corporation.  For example, in the house of Abraham, the patriarch had more servants (employees) than actual relatives by blood or marriage.

Yet the entire household depended on one another.  Together they weathered storms and famine.  Together, they fought marauders and rival tribes.   Together they would either prosper or die in the Canaanite frontier.  And when God gave Abraham the sign of circumcision in Genesis 17, EVERY male in Abraham’s house became a Jew---- the hard way.

But you could say that was all just good business. 

You have to be nice to the boss.  You have to work together.  If the company (household) fails then everybody’s out of a job.  In Old Testament days, being “out of a job” meant death or enslavement, so doing a good job was simple self-interest.  Genuine love wasn’t necessarily part of the job description.

But sometimes it was.

Before Abraham and Sarah had children, Eliezer was the designated heir of Abraham’s entire fortune.  So when Isaac, the promised son, came along Eliezer had no objective economic reason to love the boy. 

But he did.

We know that Eliezer CARED ABOUT Isaac because Eliezer INVESTED IN Isaac.

In Genesis 25, Abraham sent his chief servant to research and negotiate a marriage-merger for his son.   This was a lot of trouble.  There was no match.com to sign onto, no Instagram full of selfies to peruse, not even a postal system to send letters asking, “Hey, do you know any nice single women around Isaac’s age?”

Eliezer had to take ten camels and basically wander around the sparsely populated Canaanite and Mesopotamian wilderness looking for “the one.” 

And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.”…Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. (Genesis 25: 8, 10)

At this point Abraham was old and Eliezer had power of attorney over the whole family business.  All he had to do was “not find” the right woman or ship Isaac off to Syria and he could have taken over the family.

But he didn’t. 

Instead, he risked his time, the peril of his own safety (wandering around the dessert with a caravan of provisions at his age), and his personal self-interest; and invested it all in his boss’s child.

^Then he said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. (Genesis 25: 12)

In my career as an educator and pastor I’ve worked with, for, and over a lot of people.  Especially on faculties when I was a department chair or administrator (boss), teachers had an economic self-interest in being nice to me because I performed their evaluations and managed their personnel files.

They didn’t have to really love me.  They didn’t have to really love my house, my family.

But they have.

My daughter turns 16 tomorrow. When I posted the announcement online and looked at the range of people who commented and liked I realized how expansive my household has really been.

Over the last 20 years, teachers, counselor,  pastors, co-workers, colleagues, church members, and employees have invested in their time, their gifts, their favor, and their love in me, my wife, and our children. 

They have gone far, far out of their way to protect my children when I could not be there to protect them. 

They have prayed for my family.  They have looked out for my wife.  They have sought our good when our good wouldn’t do them any good.  They helped me and mine when undermining me would have been easy and profitable.

I know what you did.

You loved my house when you didn’t have to.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

THE PRICE OF FAVORITISM

Blogging Genesis 27 - 28: 9

 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”

And he answered him, “Here I am.”

² Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. ³ Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. ⁴ And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

Isaac wasn’t exactly on his deathbed, but he was making his last will and testament known while he was still able to do so.  He probably learned the need for good advance planning from  his father Abraham’s experience making funeral arrangements for his wife (Genesis 23).

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. . . (Genesis 27:5).

It’s possible that Rebekah was coincidentally passing by when she heard the exchange between Isaac and Esau.  It’s also possible she was eavesdropping like her mother-in-law had done (Genesis 18:10).  But, considering that Isaac was blind and Rebekah would’ve been his chief caregiver, it’s most likely that mother Rebekah was present as a witness to Isaac’s plans to declare Esau’s inheritance.

Isaac trusted Rebekah, expecting her to fulfill the role of the dutiful wife not to assert her own plan for the inheritance but he underestimated his wife.  (Underestimating women is a recurring theme throughout the Bible.)   Rebekah had her own plans (Genesis 27:6 - 17).

If you read verses 6-17, you have to  appreciate the tactical complexity of Rebekah’s arrangements: Goats.  Not sheep or cattle because the fur had to be of a specific texture.  Kid goats.  Not adults because the meat would be more tender and the hairs would be finer and closer to the texture on Esau’s body.   Two kid goats, not one because one wouldn’t supply enough fur to cover all Jacob’s upper body.

The goats had to be killed, cleaned, skinned, and cooked.  That would take hours.  Cleaning, preparing, and sewing the hides into form- fitting gloves and a sleeved turtleneck:  that would take many more hours, maybe days.   The process would have involved a large pile of supplies, multiple work stations, and a small army of servants skilled in cooking, tanning and sewing who were all absolutely loyal to Rebekah.  And, all of this had to get done in less time than it would take Esau to complete a hunt at that particular time of year in that particular terrain.  

The logistics indicate that Rebekah had planned and prepared for this specific contingency, and since she didn’t foreknow this specific situation we can infer that Rebekah had multiple plans for multiple scenarios to make sure her favorite son received the greater inheritance.

Isaac, Esau, and Jacob never stood a chance.

As you examine the scene of Jacob in full Esau costume lying to his old, blind father, keep in mind that the whole sad, complicated performance in Genesis 27 was unnecessary.

A) Jacob shouldn’t have and shouldn’t have had to lie about being the firstborn son because he was legally entitled to the firstborn’s birthright.  In Genesis 25:33, Esau sold that right to Jacob.  

And B) Before the twins were born, the Lord had declared that Jacob would dominate Esau.  With or without Isaac’s cooperation, God would have fulfilled His word.  Rebekah had heard the the stories of Sarah, Hagar, and Isaac’s older brother.  She should’ve learned that our deceptive scheming complicates rather than advances God’s plan for us.  

We do so many sad, complicated, unnecessary things.

Still,  gotta respect Rebekah’s timing.   Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. (Genesis 27:30).

But before you throw away your “I love Rebekah” t-shirts, remember verse 36.  And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

When Esau acknowledged that Jacob deserved the birthright of the firstborn, Isaac didn’t flinch --- because he already knew.  Everybody knew.   Rebekah hadn’t concocted a scheme to trick Isaac because her husband didn’t know Jacob was prophetically and legally entitled to the birthright.  Rebekah concocted a scheme to trick her husband because was going to give the birthright to Esau anyway.

Knowing that Jacob had legally and actually received the blessing of the firstborn, Esau begged his father to give him (Esau) the blessing  anyway. Isaac replied, “I have blessed [Jacob]—and indeed he shall be blessed.” (Genesis 27:33

Jacob’s blessing was irrevocable but understand why.  Isaac the sinful man who’d just tried to circumvent God’s revealed will did not have the power to issue an irrevocable blessing.  Theblessing was sealed to Jacob’s line because GOD wanted the blessing to rest upon Jacob’s line.  Remember what we learned about The “Curse” of Ham.  No man has the power to remove God’s blessing.  Esau had to settle for the lesser endorsement (Genesis 27:39, 40) only he didn’t want to settle for second place. 

So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob” (Genesis 27:41). 

Esau was a spoiled, dumb, rich jock who didn’t appreciate the privilege into which he was born until his nerdy little brother became the family favorite.

But before you order your “I hate Esau” t-shirts, remember that a son’s first love is his mother and Esau’s mother didn’t like him.  Yeah, Esau was homicidally angry at Jacob but whose idea was it really?  Mom’s.  Esau’s mother had conspired against him.  Esau’s mother had always liked Jacob better.  And even after Jacob ran away (the little coward), Esau still couldn’t make his mother happy. 

Esau even got married, like a good boy, but instead of his mother being happy at the prospect of grandkids, Rebekah’s asked, “Are you trying to kill me?”

And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?” (Genesis 27:46)

Esau wanted to please his parents, both of his parents, so badly that when he saw them happy about Jacob finding a wife from his mother’s brother Esau went looking for a wife from his father’s brother. 

Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had (Genesis 28:8, 9).

But even the criticism of Esau’s marital decisions was a ruse to get Isaac to protect Jacob (Genesis 27:42 – 28:2).  Every thing reminded Esau that his mother didn’t like his brother but not him.  Imagine how much that must have sucked!

It’s enough to give a guy “anger issues.”

Rebekah lied, compelled her youngest son to lie, and deceived her blind husband.  Isaac tried to

circumvent God’s clearly revealed will and violate his eldest son’s solemn oaths.  Jacob lied, initially at his mother’s request, but he kept up the lie through 3 opportunities to confess the truth.  And Esau tried to steal back what he’d legally sold and then conspired to murder his twin. 

All because the mama and daddy were willing to do ANYTHING for their favorite child.

Ladies and gentlemen, the “holy” family of the patriarchs.

So, man of God/ woman of God, who's your favorite?  Maybe it isn't a child. Maybe it's a spouse, a significant other, or a parent.   We quickly condemn the act of conspiring against someone, but whom are you quick to conspire FOR?  We're not even talking about scenarios of life or death, just the normal, everyday situations that give your favorite an advantage over the next kid or the next candidate.  

Would you lie to get your child into a better school?  Would you cheat to help your spouse get the job he/she wants?  Would you trip their 80 year old mom so your 70 year old dad could get to the front of the prescription drug line?   

Since it's just us talking, what WOULDN'T you  do to set your favorites up for a better life?

Genocides have been committed because a group of otherwise decent people were willing to do anything to give their favorites a better life on land somebody already owned.  Neighborhoods in America right now are war zones because a generation of young men are "just trying to feed my family."  

We blame the young generation of Esaus and Isaacs but children don't invent sins; they update and expand our sins, the sins we Isaacs and Rebekahs committed in their name.

The sins we commit for our favorites first taint, then dominate, then define the culture in which we and our favorites live.  

Add up all the lying and cheating you (or I) do for our favorites and multiply by 7.5 billion.  THAT is what's wrong with the world.  

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this ministry with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF DADDY'S SINS

blogging Genesis 26:1-11

There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 7 And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.” 

8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”

10 And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

In February 2017, I blogged about Abraham and Sarah’s Bonnie-and-Clyde days.  Long story shorter, when there was a famine (recession) Abraham and Sarah would move somewhere like Egypt or Gerar of the Philistines, pretend they were only brother and sister, and defraud the local king (Genesis 12; 20). 

Isaac was 75 when his father, Abraham, died (Genesis 21:5; 25:8).  The twins, Esau and Jacob, were 15 (Genesis 25:26).  That’s 15-75 years of advice and stories and family history, meaning  Isaac had heard about his parents’ criminal past.   He told his sons, too; and they passed the stories down until they were written into the book of Genesis.   

When famine struck in Isaac’s time, he thought about what his dad had done and moved his family to Gerar of the Philistines --- just like Abraham.  He considered sliding down to Egypt as well, but the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt”(Genesis 26:2).

Isaac repeated his father’s journey.  God repeated the promises to Isaac that He’d made to Abraham (Genesis 26:3-4).  And, when Philistine men started checking out Rebekah, big papa Isaac got scared the local guys would kill him and take his wife so he and his wife repeated the family lie.

(Can we just take a moment and reflect on what a crazy world they lived in?  Polygamy was totally acceptable.  So, apparently, was murdering immigrant men with pretty wives.  You could buy or kidnap a man’s sister and force her to be your wife, but you couldn’t touch a guy’s wife while he was
still alive ---- cause that would be wrong.  Of course if you made her a widow by murder, then you were totally clear for the kidnapping and marriage-rape.  Cultural frickin’ norms.)

Isaac and Rebekah weren’t as slick as the previous generation so they got caught.  Abimelech (named for the ancestor who’d dealt with Abraham), king of the Philistines saw Isaac and Rebekah making out.  He called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife” (Genesis 26:8,9). 

Isaac and Rebekah were WRONG. 

They broke covenant.  Not THE covenant, another one.

Abimelech said to Abraham, “Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt”

And Abraham said, “I will swear.” (Genesis 21:23, 24).

If Isaac knew the story of Abraham deceiving the older Abimelech, he also knew that Abraham and Abimelech had a solemn, multi-generational covenant under which he should have gone to Abimelech and told him the truth.  Abimelech honored their fathers’ treaty. In fact, the King of the Philistines was angry that Isaac had put him in danger of accidentally breaking his family’s word. 

Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” (Genesis 26:10-11).

This Abimelech wanted no part in the part of the story where the king is rendered infertile and God threatens to kill him. 

In this case, the pre-Israelite Philistine acted honestly and honorably.  The ancestor of Jesus was a liar and a cheater and at least a little bit of a coward. 

It was all daddies’ fault.  (spelling intentional)

When Abimelech #1 told the story to his son and grandson from the Philistine perspective, the message was:  don’t mess with a man’s wife even accidentally because the man’s god will get you.   Even if you ALMOST commit adultery, apologize, give the husband gifts, and make it right with his god.

When Abraham told the story the message was:  this is how I got rich getting over on people.

But when dad tells the story like his sin was a good thing, there’s a strong chance (not a certainty) that his son will make the same poor choices that daddy made like Isaac did when he lied about Rebekah being his wife and when he and Rebekah played their children against each other the way Sarah and Abraham made Ishmael and Isaac into opponents.

Abimelech despite being a religious pagan, learned repentance from his forefather.  Isaac, despite being a pre-Mosaic Jew, learned how to lie just like his daddy. 

Our children will either learn to repent of our sins or they will learn to repeat our sins.  

When we pass to our children a spirit of repetition instead of repentance, we are assigning an inheritance of sin, and God complies by visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me (Deuteronomy 5:9).

 

Abraham lied.  Isaac lied.  Jacob lied.  Abraham’s sons were rivals.  Isaac’s sons were rivals.  Jacob’s sons sold their brother Joseph into slavery and faked his death.  To the third and fourth generation of those who act hatefully toward God by refusing to repent.

 But if we own (confess) our poor choices and teach the next generation to do better, we break the cycle of generational sin which is the root of generational curses. 

If, however, he begets a son who sees all the sins which his father has done, and considers but does not do likewise;  . .  . who has withdrawn his hand from the poor and not received usury or increase, but has executed My judgments and walked in My statutes, he shall not die for the iniquity of his father.  He shall surely live (Ezekiel 18:14, 17)!

It’s a hard thing to confess your imperfections to the only people who think you’re perfect.  Find the strength.  Deliver them from the sins that so easily beset you.  Break the cycle before they repeat the cycle. 

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this ministry with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

BRO, IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY: JACOB AND ESAU

 blogging Genesis 25:12-26

Isaac loved Rebekah.  After his mother’s death, Isaac had entered a state of inconsolable grief and depression. Their love had brought him out of the darkness (Genesis 24:67). 

Then they found out that Rebekah couldn’t have children.  They prayed for a miracle and they believed.  After all, Isaac himself was the miracle baby of a 90 year old woman and a 100 year old man.  Twenty years later Isaac was still praying.  Twenty years of faith and hope. It was worth it.

. . . the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived (Genesis 24:21).

But there were complications, and Rebekah feared she would lose the baby.  Everyone around her was so positive, so full of “It’ll be fines” and “Don’t worry about its” that it made Rebekah sick.  Her anxiety turned to anger.  How could they know it would be all right if none of them knew what was wrong.

. . . and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” (Genesis 24:22)

“Only God knows, “ someone probably said, which sounded like the one helpful affirmation they had to offer.

So she went to inquire of the Lord (Genesis 24:22).

It’s hard to reconstruct exactly how Rebekah inquired of the Lord.  Did she seek out a surviving priest from Melchizedek’s order?  Did she ask her father-in-law Abraham (who was still living) to offer a sacrifice on her behalf?  Did she travel up the mountain to where her husband had nearly been sacrificed and cry out to the Angel of the Lord?  Maybe she just found a quiet spot away from the annoyingly positive masses.  Which ever way, it worked.

 And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb.  Two peoples shall be separated from your body.  One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23)

For us post New Testament believers God’s revelation to Rebekah sound ominous.  We know the long story of deception, anger, and mistrust between these brothers.  We know that their respective descendants waged ethnic war on each other for centuries.  But Rebekah didn’t hear any of that. 

Rebekah’s husband Isaac was given a greater birthright  than Ishmael who was 13 years his older brother.  It didn’t seem strange or tragic that her younger twin would outshine a brother older only by a few minutes.  So Rebekah didn’t hear an ominous warning.  She heard: I’m pregnant with twins.  My babies will be born healthy.  My sons will grow up to be great men.  Rebekah heard a blessing not a warning.

Rebekah was right.  At least, she could have been.

By the time Esau and Jacob, aka “Red” and “Tricky,” were young men the twins had firmly established polar-opposite identities.  Esau was the hairy-chested outdoorsman, and Jacob was the smart, introverted mama’s-boy (Genesis 25: 28). But that wasn’t what made them enemies. 

Their parents made them enemies.

One day, Esau came home hungry and Jacob said, “ I’ll give you some red stew if  you sell me your birthright as of this day.” (Genesis 25:29-31).

 

That’s too specific to be random.  There’s backstory to that proposition, a long history of little brother telling big brother:

“I’ll help you start the fire if you give me your birthright.”

“I’ll let you play with my toy if you let me have your birthright.”

“You can have my dessert if you let me have your right to the blessings of the firstborn.”

And why would young Jacob have it in his head to pester his brother for his birthright?  Why would any kid in the ancient world think that there was any chance that the eldest son would slip up and surrender the most important status any child could hold?

Because he was his mother’s favorite child and she had told him that God told her that he was destined to dominate his brother, so he was to keep asking until he got what God and Mama wanted him to have.

And why would any son agree to trade the greater claim to all the riches of Isaac and Abraham for the low-low price of a bowl of stew (and complimentary bread)?

Because his twin brother had been asking this question since they were little, and he didn’t take it seriously anymore, and it was just a thing they said, and whatever man, I’m hungry.

In other words, Jacob was a pest, Esau was an idiot (Hebrews 12:16, 17), and their parents turned that into actual, fatal enmity.

From the moment of Genesis 25:29, Jacob was legally entitled to the blessings of the firstborn,  a fact about which Isaac, the giver of  the blessings, should have been informed.  But either Rebekah thought it a better idea to direct an elaborate prank complete with lines, costumes, and (bad) voice acting; or Isaac ignored Jacob’s inheritance rights (Genesis 27).

Mama made Jacob lie.  Daddy tried to pass over both prophesy and the transfer of inheritance rights.  Jacob and Esau played their parts in a drama composed by their parents.  And the Israelites and Edomites waged war with each other for the duration of the Old Testament.

Rebekah and Isaac took  a double blessing and turn it into a half curse.

But it didn't have to be that way, and it doesn't have to be that way for us.  Do what Rebekah and Isaac should have done. 

1.  Mom and Dad, tell each other the truth up front.
If Isaac and Rebekah had created a culture of honesty then their sons would've been less likely to deceive each other or at least less likely to think the deception would be accepted by their parents.

2.  Love your children equally.  

Children often compete for parental affection, but parents are to have better sense than to stoke that competition.

3.  Plan together,  how to walk out God's will for your family.   A house divided can't stand.  A family united can stand anything.

Honesty. Love. Unity.

The way God meant for it to be. 

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this ministry with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

THE SPECIALIST

Blogging Genesis 25:19-34

  

Genesis 25: ²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.

²¹ Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

²³ And the Lord said to her:

“Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples shall be separated from your body;

One people shall be stronger than the other,

And the older shall serve the younger.”

²⁴ So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷ So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.

²⁸ And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Rebekah couldn’t have children (Genesis 25:22), but she and Isaac prayed for a miracle and tried to get pregnant despite the diagnosis.  After 20 years of infertility, their miracle happened.  Rebekah was pregnant. Twins. But there were complications.  She got sick and not the normal pregnancy sick.  Rebekah thought she was going to lose the babies.

She’d been the lady of a great household for 2 decades.  Her father-in-law Abraham had resources and connections that brought in the best midwives and healers in Canaan, but all they said was, “It’s going to be alright.”  

Rebekah didn’t want affirmations; she wanted answers.  She said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” (Genesis 25:22)

Her husband, her father-in-law, her servants, healers, and midwives: none of them could explain what was happening, So she went to inquire of the Lord (Genesis 25:22).

Going to inquire of the Lord probably meant more than “she prayed that morning.”  Rebekah travelled to a sacred location,  built (or had servants build) an altar and offered sacrifices there; or she brought gifts to a  known prophet so he would inquire of the Lord on her behalf (2 Kings 3:11; 2 Kings 8:8; Jeremiah 21:2).

In other words, Rebekah went to talk to a specialist. THE Specialist.

The Specialist explained like no other power could do.  And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; two peoples shall be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).

The twins were incompatible.  The physical complications of her pregnancy were the result of invitro conflict between the 2 fetuses.  The prognosis was that she would bring the babies to term and deliver them safely.  After 20 barren years and 9 painful months would be followed by a lifetime of conflict between her only 2 babies.

Congratulations.

If this were a fairy tale or a myth invented by ancient priests advancing a misogynist agenda to suppress dissent among the masses, then the story would have a happily ever after for the holy patriarch and matriarch of the Jewish nation.  If this were a fiction edited and published as holy writ, the heroine (Rebekah) wouldn’t play favorites with her children, and the hero (Isaac) wouldn’t pick the wrong son as his favorite.

And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob (Genesis 25:28).

But this isn’t a fairy tale, or a myth.  This is the Bible, and the Bible tells the truth about what happened even when that truth is messy. 

The parents, Isaac and Rebekah, were good people; but they were human and, therefore, prone to screw up --- which they did.  They exacerbated the (literally) inborn animosity between their sons.  They pitted kid against kid and kid against spouse.  They all lived under the grace and remarkable favor of God, but within that sphere of blessing, they made some really bad choices.  That’s the messy truth.   

Inspirational affirmations declare that it will all be all right.  For some of us, that’s enough.  You feel better and go on. 

But some of us are more like Rebekah.  We want answers not affirmations.  We don’t need your motivation; we need your HELP.  Stop sending me text messages saying, “You can do it.” Meet me in the morning and HELP ME get it done. 

Anybody can be an encourager, but sometimes you need a specialist.  You need someone who will honestly and in detail lay out how screwed you are and then walk you through the steps necessary to unscrew yourself.  Some of us need a specialist who will be tell us the messy truth about the coming trouble and be present and participating when the next level of problems and opportunities arrive.  

Genesis 25 explains that such a Specialist is available. 

Have you any rivers
That seem un-crossable?
And have you any mountain
That you cannot tunnel through?

God specializes
In things impossible
And He will do what no other other power

but Holy Ghost power can do.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Follow me on twitter @AndersonTGraves 

Click here to support this ministry with a donation.  Or go to andersontgraves.blogspot.com and click on the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

BIRTHRIGHTS, BLESSINGS, & BURDENS

What does it mean when someone says, “I’m trying to ‘find myself’ “?  Sometimes we treat the statement as a joke, a clichéd cover for irresponsibility. But, “finding yourself” is a deep and important task for every individual and every church.  But still, what does it mean to find yourself?

These were the questions God placed on my heart on my first Sunday as pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama.  The answers are important for all of us, wherever we worship. 

The message is called: BIRTHRIGHTS, BLESSINGS, & BURDENS.

Listen well.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

You can help support Rev. Graves’ work by visiting his personal blog and clicking the DONATE button on the right-hand sidebar.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

5220 Myron Massey Boulevard

Fairfield, AL 35064

HOW TO FIND "THE ONE"

Audio of a morning Bible lesson on relationships.  From the story of Jacob and Rachel, we learn HOW TO FIND THE ONE.

Listen well.

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---Anderson T. Graves II   is a  writer, community organizer, and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church and the executive director of SAYNO (Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization) in Montgomery, Alabama.

Call  334-288-0577
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

Subscribe to my personal blog  www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .

If you enjoy our work, please help support our work in the community. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116