“When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram; And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife” (Genesis 28:6-9).
We see in today’s verses something else that happened prior to Jacob and Esau being reunited. Esau was not only angry with Jacob, he was mad at his father. The world says, “Don’t get mad; get even.” What Esau did in our verses was done out of spite. He knew his Dad would not be happy with his choice of wives, but he took them to himself anyway. We see not only a cause of conflict, but also something that would keep it brewing.
What did he hope to attain by acting in such a rebellious manner?
As we live for Christ, not everyone will be drawn to us. They are not really rejecting us, but our Savior. As America drifts farther from God, we may one day face persecution. How are we going to handle that? Will we take a stand and hold on to our faith? Or will we seek to rebel and do things out of spite to hurt back?
Sue Winchester
Missouri
PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for E-TEAM leaders in training this week. Pray that God would give them unity and spiritual wisdom as they seek to lead these groups of teens in missions efforts.
