Gen 25:23 (NIV) The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Jesus, You decided to let Jacob have a twin brother, Esau; and You decided to let Esau be born a few minutes before Jacob. That made Esau the first born and gave him A LOT more power, position, and wealth. Your decision let Esau be in a position where he would get a special blessing pronounced over him just prior to his father’s death. This bothered Jacob. Help me accept Your decisions like that as being Your will.

The older will serve the younger: Jesus, even though it looked like a few minutes difference in time of birth cheated Jacob out of a lot of special things, God had decided to elevate Jacob to a higher level than Esau. Show me that as God looked at the two boy’s futures, He saw that Jacob was going to serve Him and His principles. He also saw that Esau was going to live a very ungodly life. So, with God’s foreknowledge of the future, He predestined Jacob to excel over Esau. Help me be one that God predestines to excel over those who are not going to serve You.

Gen 25:27-28 (NIV) The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Jesus, help me understand that it is a sin for parents to have favorites; they are supposed to love, respect, and nurture all their children the same. But, help me see that it was typical for parents back in Jacob’s day to have varying degrees of love and care for their children. So, not only did Jacob lose out on being the first born, he wasn’t as loved by his father. Protect me from allowing my past to effect my present and future.

Gen 25:29-34 (NIV) Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Jesus, Jacob took matters into his own hands; instead of trusting God to fulfill HIS plan in Jacob’s life, Jacob took unfair advantage of Esau. God said: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Help me trust God and not try to make things happen through my human effort, which will be me resisting evil. Give me a complete trust in God so I will be empowered to resist those things that are trying to get inside me.

Jesus, help me understand the spiritual issues in this example of how God blessed Isaac: Gen 26:26-29 (NIV) Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him (Isaac) from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?” They answered, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’--between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.”

Jesus, help me see that when King Abimelech’s people mistreated Isaac, he would move away and start in a different area of the country. Rather than quarrel and fight with them, he TRUSTED God, didn’t take matters into his own hands, and RESISTED doing evil. So, when his enemies came to him wanting a treaty and he asked them why, they said: “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you.” Teach me that when I trust God and resist evil, God will bless me so much that those around me will see how my type of life brings blessings.

Gen 26:34-35 (NIV) When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah. Jesus, help me understand that Esau wasn’t supposed to marry outside the family of Abraham. But, he went against God and his parents and did what he wanted. Teach me that God is able to look into the future and see what I will do. Since He saw I was going to need these studies and prayers, He made sure they would be here when I needed them.

Jesus, make it clear to me that God’s uses His foreknowledge only for good. However, help me see that He won’t look into the future of a person like Esau and make them do the right things. Esau has a God-given free will and God WON’T do anything to interfere with it. Instead, show me that He was using His foreknowledge to create a clear path for Jacob. Jacob, however, was adding some unnecessary attempts to improve his own life. But, as You will show me, they actually created great pain and misery for Jacob.

Gen 27:1-4 (NIV) 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.”

Jesus, show me that Jacob already had Esau’s birthright; but, he didn’t have the firstborn blessing from his father. Help me understand that these blessings were powerful and typically came true. But, help me alway keep in mind that God is the One Who makes them come true. Isaac could say what he wanted to over Esau. If it was according to God’s will, it would come true; if it wasn’t it wouldn’t. Help me see that Jacob didn’t have to worry about a thing; God was taking care of his blessings and future. But, help me see clearly that Jacob and his mother, Rebekah. didn’t TRUST God and therefore couldn’t RESIST evil.

Gen 27:5-8 (NIV) 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, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘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.’ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Jesus, teach me that Satan was actually talking through Jacob’s mother. Help me understand that the question is, would Jacob trust God and resist the evil his mother was telling him to commit? Show me that since Jacob had already cheated his brother out of his birthright and had never repented, he would probably go along with the evil plan.

Gen 27:9-12 (NIV) 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. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. 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.”

Jesus, teach me that I can know I am not trusting God and resisting my body, the world, or the devil when I am trying to make plans where I won’t get caught. Teach me that the moment I get a thought about how to do something in such a way that others won’t find out, is the moment when I need to run to You. If there is something wrong with a plan, help me understand that there will always be consequences. If I am more concerned with the consequences than the fact that it is wrong, show me that I need to take my heart to You and let You heal it.

Gen 27:13-14 (NIV) His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Jesus, make it clear to me that the more I read my Bible, do good devotions, pray, go to church, read good Christian books and listen to good Christian music, the less likely I will be to yield to sin. Teach me that these things empower me to TRUST God and RESIST wrong, bad, and evil things.

Gen 27:38-41 (NIV) Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud. His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.” Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

Jesus, help me see that Jacob “successfully” fooled his father and got Esau’s blessing; but, because he used wrong, bad, and evil procedures to get it, there were consequences that came with that kind of victory. Let me see that I don’t need to help God bless my life. All I will end up doing is adding bad circumstances to a life that God already had plans to bless. Show me that from that point on, Jacob was mightily blessed while being cheated, lied to, mistreated, and damaged. Help me trust God, resist wrong, bad, and evil and show me that I will get the blessings without the consequences.