This lesson will be taught tomorrow, March 14th. The lesson material for this week is Genesis 24-29.
PURPOSE: Strengthen our desire to live worthy of birthright blessings and of eternal marriage.
Chapter 24 Background:
"This chapter contains one of the greatest love stories of all time. It is tender and sweet. It is the story of finding a wife for Isaac.
By now, Isaac is nearly forty years of age. He was born 1900 B.C. and is the one through whom the Abrahamic covenant is to be perpetuated. Since this covenant involves the priesthood and taking the blessings and ordinances performed by worthy priesthood holders to all the world, Abraham is naturally concerned that Isaac not marry a wife whose lineage would prevent his posterity from holding the priesthood.
During this time, Abraham is living among the Philistines in the land of Canaan among people who are descendants of Cain, coming through the lineage of Ham (Noah's son) and his wife, Egyptus. The descendants of Ham and Egyptus were not permitted to hold the priesthood.
Thus Abraham is very concerned that Isaac marry a Canaanite woman. later, Isaac will have the same concern about his son, Jacob.
Abraham's inspired solution to this concern is to have his "eldest servant" travel to Haran to find a wife for Isaac. Haran was near the headwaters of the Euphrates River, some 450 miles northwest of Abraham's current home among the Canaanites. Abraham and Sarah had relatives still living in Haran." (The Old Testament Made Easier, pg 300-301)
In Chapter 25 we learn of Ishmael's posterity, and the birth of twins to Isaac and Rebekah (Esau and Jacob), and of Esau's disdain for the birthright blessing and the responsibility to live the gospel and carry on the heritage and blessings of Abraham and Isaac. Therefore, he will sell his birthright to Jacob for a meal of bread and lentil soup. (see The Old Testament Made Easier, pg.310) Also worth noting in this chapter, Abraham dies at the age of 175 and is buried with Sarah in Hebron.
Chapter 27 has long troubled Bible scholars and readers alike. While there are lots of things we do not understand, there are some that we do.
1) Rebekah was clearly told by direct revelation from the Lord that Jacob was to be the covenant son. 2) Esau did not respect or prove worthy of the birthright and the responsibility of perpetuating the Abrahamic covenant. He "despised" his birthright (Gen. 25:34) and sold it to Jacob for a mess of pottage. Furthermore, Esau married Canannite wives who were not worshippers of God and whose ancestry came through Ham and Egyptus and thus could not hold the priesthood. Therefore, his posterity could not have perpetuated the Abrahamic covenant, which includes the priesthood blessings and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 3) Once the blessing had been given to Jacob by Isaac and Isaac had discovered the deception, he confirmed that the blessing belonged to Jacob by saying, "And he shall be blessed". If this had not been the case, he could have used his priesthood keys to revoke the blessing given to Jacob and pronounced it, instead, upon Esau. Such is the right of authorized servants of God. 4) It appears that Esau was not disputing the fact that Jacob had validly obtained the birthright from him but was disturbed that he had "taken away [his] blessing. The fact is that Esau had long since "taken away" the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant from himself by his apostate behavior. 5) We know from modern revelation that Isaac and Jacob have become gods (D&C132:20) Thus, Rebekah has also become a goddess (D&C 132:20). 6) One of the interesting things about the Old Testament is that it presents people as thy are. Thus we are often shown the human weaknesses of great people in its pages. This should be comforting to us, knowing as we do that if they could make it to exaltation despite their human frailties, so can we through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 7) we have seen a great many examples of places in the Old Testament in which the Joesph Smith Translation corrections have completely changes the story. It may be that we simply do not have the correct version of all that went on here in this chapter. Since the Prophet Joseph Smith did not make any changes to it, we are left to wonder if it didn't need any or if it was something he planned to do thoroughly at a later date but did not get back to it.
With the above in mind, chapter 27 starts with Isaac being old and blind. He would like a good meal before he dies. Esau and Jacob were born when Isaac was 60 years old, and Esau was forty years old when he married the Hittite women. thus, Isaac was 100 yrs old at that time and could be much older when this chapter begins. It appears from the context that he expected to die soon and he lived to be 180 yrs old.
To PREPARE study the following scriptures:
- Genesis 24. Abraham emphasizes the importance of marriage in the covenant through the selection of a worthy wife for Isaac.
- Genesis 25:20-34. Rebekah receives a revelation concerning her unborn twin sons (25:22-23). When these sons are grown, Esau sells his birthright to Jacob (25:29-34).
- Genesis 26-29. Isaac and his descendants are promised the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant (26:1-5). Esau marries out of the covenant (26:34-35). Isaac blesses Jacob to rule over peoples and nations (27:1-46). Isaac pronounces on Jacob the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant and sends him away to find a worthy wife (28:1-10). Jacob marries Leah and Rachel in the covenant (29:1-30).
Questions to consider:
- How might some of us make errors similar to Esau's, choosing things that bring immediate gratification rather than things that have eternal value?
- What can we learn about Jacob from his efforts to marry in the covenant?
- What are some things children and youth can do to prepare to be married in the temple? After two people have been married in the temple, what must they do to ensure they have a truly eternal marriage?
2 comments:
I like the comment you made about chapter 27 (6). I have never heard that point made before. It is easy to think that we can never measure up to these great prophets of the past, even with their mistakes. But if we have lived worthy of it, the atonement makes up for our deficiency, no matter how large or small.
I agree with Tom. I also appreciate the insights to this story, especially as it relates to the priesthood and honoring it (or not.) As for question 1, it seems like something we have to be constantly vigilant about, as we always have "messes of pottage" before us in our "be happy/gratified now" world.
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