Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have 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.”
His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” (Gen 27:11-13)
Rebekah’s willingness to take on a curse astounded me when I first read it. Possibly, she just meant, “I’ll take the wrath of your father if I need to, just to be sure that you get that blessing that God promised!” But the really telling phrase here is “Just do what I say!” Oh, my goodness! Here is the heart of the problem - what EVERY woman utters at one time or another - Just do what I say! Isn’t this the picture of the woman who wants to control every outcome in her household? This is such a “motherly” tendency! We are so sure that we know what is best for our husbands and our children, that we don’t think twice about manipulating circumstances in order to get our own way. We even dress that desire up as selfless. “I’ll do whatever it takes to help my family!” It could be something as simple as what everyone will wear to church on Sunday, or what car we’ll buy, or something more consequential, like where the children will go to college and whom they’ll marry.
Beth Moore points out that she also uses the phrase, “...go and get them for me.” Again, the Bible is almost brutal in opening up our sinful hearts! There is nothing to wink at with sin! Our primary problem is that “I” is in the middle of S-I-N! Rebekah knows that God has declared that “the older will serve the younger.” No doubt this has colored the way she viewed these boys from the beginning. And she knows without a doubt that this IS God’s will. However, her mistake here is in not letting God be God. She feels the need to help Him out. And because Jacob is the one she loves, this is as much about her as it is about Jacob’s destiny.
No matter how much we want the best for our children, there is always a little bit about us in there... I don’t think we can fully separate that self-interest on this side of heaven, but we certainly must be aware of it and guard against it, and be prayerful about letting God have HIS way in us. One of the things I pray every morning as I get out of bed is Psalm 19:14:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
I so don’t trust my thoughts and I so desperately need to control my tongue, so I try to give them to God every morning. The Bible tells me that my heart is desperately wicked, so I need to give it to God, or I will be following my own self-interest all day long! I’m feeling much more empathetic with Rebekah now. But the ramifications of this deception will be long-lasting. LORD, help us learn these lessons deep within our hearts!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment