Summary of passage: Isaac was forty when he married Rebekah. Isaac prayed when he discovered Rebekah was barren and God granted her twins. The Lord told her she carried two nations, one will be stronger and the older will serve the younger. Esau was the first born (his name may mean hairy. He was also called Edom which means red for he was red-headed). The second born was Jacob who came out clasping Esau’s heel (his name means he grasps the heel or he deceives). Isaac was 60 years old at their birth.
Questions:
3a) 20 years
b) Yes
c) Personal Question. My answer: The passages we are referred to say so God’s work can be displayed and so that they (Isaac and Rebekah) will learn God’s decrees and so they will cast their cares on the Lord so He can sustain them. It is estimated that about 12-15 percent of women can’t have kids, have trouble getting pregnant, or have trouble carrying a baby to term. They could have been one of these couples.
d) Personal Question. My answer: They prayed and the Lord answered in His timing.
4) “Two nations are in your womb” refers to how Esau will be the father of the Edomites (Genesis 36) and Jacob the father of the Israelites. Abraham was promised in Genesis 17:4-6, 16 that many nations would descend from him and Sarah.
“Two people within you will be separated” means they will live apart. 1 Kings 11:14-16 shows how the Edomites fought against the Israelites and lost.
“One people will be stronger than the other” is the Israelites will be stronger.
“The older will serve the younger” shows how the Edomites will be subjects of the Israelites. 2 Samuel 8:12-14 discusses how David struck down the Edomites and subjected them to his rule.
2 Chronicles 21:8-10 speaks of how Edom rebelled against Judah’s rule.
The tiny book of Obadiah is prophecy from the Lord about Edom and Israel, basically saying in sum that Israel will be the last one standing and Edom will disappear from the face of the earth. The last people of Edom were destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 when they took Jerusalem and destroyed the temple of the Lord.
Conclusions: I’m not exactly thrilled about re-visiting Scripture we have already visited for an entire week. And tomorrow is Hebrews–again. Help.
I didn’t like 3b. That was a “duh” to me. Obviously. Isaac was God’s chosen one to establish His people. How else is he going to do it? I thought we’d pick up at Genesis 28:10.
Needless to say, I’m not looking forward to this week. To me, this is another filler lesson. Or I’m too impatient. All year I’ve been looking forward to Joseph. I’m ready. Let’s move on!
End Note: Just being honest here for those of you whom I’m sure will comment what a bad attitude I have and how I should drop out or quit or what-have-you (it could be a reflection of my state-of-mind right now as some of you have suggested as well. I don’t know. I’m not a psychologist). This is how I feel about this lesson. And I make no apologies for saying so. But see this POST. I’m doing it despite how I feel about it. For I’m sure God has something here for me whether I see it or not or whether I feel like learning it or not.
Hang in there! I really enjoy your posts and intelligent insight into our lessons!
I love your honesty… and your insights!
I know how you feel, I feel the same way. The only thing I could tell you is that maybe there is someone here that is a new christian, and they may not know the bible, and you may have that 1 answer that they need to help them understand. So my opinion the Lord may be using you to help others,
I’m not a new christian but still have trouble navigating these lessons and the Bible. How do you find all the references? Obadiah? Really?! Do you know the Bible that well or do you use a help or reference guide? Would love to figure out how it all fits together!
Hey Donna,
I use Google and commentaries. And whatever else I need to in order to understand. Atlases. Dictionaries. Other reference materials.
Me too.
I love your candidness. Your thoughts are mine as well.
Keep pressing on!! You encourage me every day!!!
Echoing all the above thoughts. It is an easier study and repetitive. A new Christian (or new to in-depth Bible Study) may find this easier to stay with. I love you posts.
I agree. I’m in a separate study along with bsf and I feel this way about that one. Want to quit but I am with you…the Lord surely has something planned. Thank you for hanging in there. I love to see how my answers compare to yours. Thank you.
I hear you! I missed last week wasn’t feeling good enough to push my self to go. Read your post and was already feeling the quit feel that I feel this time of year. I just needed a break, wish they would have a spring break. Thank you for you posting, I am going to hang in there because of you, hope you do too. Thank God for you, prayer for all to press on, including me. God Bless
They do have a spring break. It just hasn’t come yet.
Of course, we’re all struggling! There’s a war going on!!! I’m struggling. My BSF friends are all struggling. Our families are struggling. It’s Lent. We’re praying more. We’re struggling more to understand. We have more turmoil and tribulation in our personal lives. We’re clinging to our faith for dear life. We’re frustrated and grumbling at our plights. We’re letting ourselves become so inward directed that we lose sight of those with tougher situations, tougher struggles, life and death both physical and spiritual. The dark days are upon us in the northern hemisphere. The days are short. For many they are dark and cold. Fog and ice. It obscures our view. Snow. Rain. The 40 Days to the Cross.
We celebrate the Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday but think of what takes place between that ride and the Cross. You could fill all forty days of Lent with those chapters in the Gospels. Liturgical practices “bury the alleluias” during Lent. It is a contemplative time. A time to reflect deeply on personal sin and your life in Christ and where it is going and where it needs attention. A time to push through the darkness and think of others in service. A time to push through the complacency and challenge yourself to make time daily to answer a couple of questions, to read, reflect, call a BSF friend or text or Facebook and say, “What moved you in the lecture or notes or what did you put on question 4?” A time to help a friend, save your extra change for missions, give a little more than is comfortable.
Jesus isn’t having happy times in Jerusalem. When does he cleanse the temple? When does he challenge the Pharisees and chief priests with the Parable of the Two Sons? Think about that one. The grumbling son doesn’t want to work in the vineyard for his father. He doesn’t want to do the work. The youngest son is all talk and no do. The grumbling son, changes his mind, and goes to the vineyard anyway and works. The big talker son says he will work yet he does not go to the vineyard nor does he work.
Jesus asks the Big Temple People a question in Matthew 21:31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”
It’s okay to struggle. There is a war going on after all!
Romans:31 What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies; 34 who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us?[e] 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For thy sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The question is, “Even if we are balking, grumbling, struggling, and reluctant some days, do we still remember the One who suffered agony for us on the Cross? Can we pray for each other to press on, ask His mercy on us, plead for His cleansing flood to rain down on us, keep the faith, and do the work anyway?”
I’m seeing the Fingerprints of God through your reply! Thank you!
I’m thankful for your response, it redirects the focus.
If we’re allowed to be honest here than please allow me, I feel like there’s a lot of complaining & griping about how hard it is to get it done, how tough it is to do the same passage 2 weeks in a row, how tired we are and how we want to quit, etc. i have to think what must God think?,
I just finished reading “The Hiding Place” the true story about Corrie ten Boom’s struggle in German concentration camps during WWII. She was jailed after saving the Jews & resistance workers. She was a Christian and God called her to unthinkable hardship in her walk with Him. She and her sister were called to share Christ and the Word under Nazi soldiers, starvation, abuse, poverty, beatings, just horrific conditions. They didn’t do a tenth of the complaining I sometimes hear from many of us over not being challenged enough by the questions or text/format BSF selected or maybe challenged too much by the length and demands of a year long study. It’s as if we’re so used to being entertained and BSF isn’t meeting the need quite right so we’re tempted to change the channel. In a German concentration camp while being eaten alive by fleas and lice they didn’t do a tenth of the complaining I see we’re tempted to do because they realized their life was not their own. They were vessels of Christ and true joy comes from serving Him alone. God used them in mighty ways because of their singular devotion to Him. Isn’t that what we want? A life of purpose? Perhaps we often feel less than because our perspectives are so selfish and flawed. We need to get a grip people and toughen up a bit, don’t ya think?
Love your insight, Michelle. Scripture is not spoon feeding. Look, the bible is chock full of repetition, over and over til we get it. To have to go over the same ground has purpose. If you were in Heaven at the knee of Jesus, would you get up and leave because he made the same point in more than one parable?
You’re honest, I’ll give you that but I don’t see the problem with going over the same scripture again for a couple weeks. We’re looking at it from a different perspective. First was viewing it in light of Isaac only, now it’s in light of Jacob & Esau. There’s a lot to learn here, significant information. BSF would have done it a disservice to rush through it.
Hang in there! What would we do without you? You have great insight! !
Nothing wrong with being honest.
I LOVE your spirit, thanks for the laugh its sooooo needed.
I love coming to your blog. I gain so much valuable insight into the study after reading your answers. This blog has opened up a whole new area of study for me. I hate when you get people who criticize. I know it’s hard but I pray you don’t let it get you down. Thank you for being honest when you don’t like a question or your sick of going over the same thing again. Your honesty is what keeps me coming back. Don’t change a thing!!!