Daily Bible Devotionals

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Genesis 29. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. Yahweh was standing there beside him, saying, ‘I am Yahweh, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on.’”  Genesis 28:12-13 (HCSB)

Anyone who has been in a music store over the past 30 years is familiar with the opening melody of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” They have, no doubt, been privy to countless bad renditions of it as well! If they lived in the days of Jacob, perhaps the band would have written: “Ladder to Heaven.”

Interestingly, traditionally, the rabbis have taught the “certain place” Jacob stopped to rest was Mount Moriah. If so, it would most likely have been the location where Abraham intended to offer Isaac and where Solomon’s Temple stood.

The description of Jacob’s dream is one of the most vivid Biblical images of the Lord and His angels working on the face of the earth. It’s like being privy to the whereabouts of that door where Disney characters enter and exit the theme park! It should be noted that the angels are first mentioned as “ascending” the ladder. That observation has caused some scholars to speculate that the angels had been accompanying Jacob on his journey the whole time and only now were returning to the Lord. Maybe it was a shift change at Heaven & Co.  Who knows? The Bible does not say.

It is safe to assume that Jacob was without any human friends, but unseen, angels had been by his side to protect and encourage him. Isn’t it comforting to know that the Lord has commanded His angels to watch over His children?

Abraham is mentioned as Jacob’s father because both Isaac’s blessing and Esau’s birthright now rested with Jacob. Jacob was the direct recipient and “conduit” of God’s promises to Abraham.

There is an excellent lesson concerning God’s faithfulness here. God’s guarantee of fulfilled promises depended on God’s character, not the patriarchs’. Jacob was a deceiver, and God would soon test Jacob’s mettle, but the Lord knew what kind of man Jacob would become once His work in Jacob’s life was completed.

I hope you are encouraged by this truth: God’s love for His children is great enough to lead them through hardships just to mold them into “inheritors” who would live up to the character of His name. If you are suffering through a time of molding and stretching, be encouraged! Asleep or awake, God Himself (and His angels) is ever-present and personally “there” for us, His children.

“…for God has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5b (NIV)

“Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau…’” Genesis 27:5-6a (HCSB)

Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, ‘Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin. Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.’ His mother said to him, ‘Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.’” Genesis 27:11-13 (HCSB)

It is important to remember what God told Rebekah in Genesis 25:23. When she inquired about her unborn children, she was told, “Two nations are in your womb; two people will come from you and be separated. One people  will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”  Rebekah knew God’s message concerning her two sons, which most likely explains why she kept Jacob so close.

God’s prophecy appeared to be in jeopardy by Isaac’s plan to bless Esau. Knowing how attached Isaac was to Esau, Rebekah must have felt how useless it was to dissuade Isaac. In desperation, she decided to circumvent him. Notice the Bible does not condone or condemn her actions. It just reports the facts. We are left to develop opinions as to the morality of these events.

At least, let today’s passage act as a warning to us all: God does a fine job backing up His own promises. He definitely does not need for us to sin to make His Word come true. God could have easily spoken to Isaac as He spoke to Abraham, back when he would sacrifice Isaac. Who is to say God did not communicate the same prophecy to Isaac concerning his sons?   Either way, Isaac was too rebellious, irrational, or forgetful to heed God’s Word.

Of course, because of Rebekah’s impulsiveness, Isaac was robbed of God’s intervention, and Esau was robbed of his blessing. Because Jacob was a partner in the deceit, we will soon read of his misfortune with an uncle named “Laban.”

Finally, Rebekah robbed herself. She was correct to say, “Your curse be on me.”  Not only did she never see her beloved Jacob again, but she was left behind, serving the two men she had deceived.

We must resist the temptation to fulfill God’s promises by our own wit, strength, and timing. Wait on the Lord and let Him unfold His plan as promised.

“Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them. Moreover, Isaac’s slaves dug in the valley and found a well of living (spring) water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, ‘The well is ours!’ So he named the well Quarrel because they quarreled with him. Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Hostility. He moved on from there and dug another and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces and said, ‘For now the Lord had made room for us and we will be fruitful in the land.’” Genesis 26:18-22 (HCSB)

The Middle East is not unlike Southern California. Landing in Tel Aviv is somewhat like landing in San Diego, except the “Jesus” who walks around Southern California is probably of the Mexican variety, whereas the “Jesus” who walked around Israel was actually Jesus! I digress… My point is that both Israel and SoCal understand deserts.

Anyone living in the desert knows that water is the most critical resource. Where there is water, there is life. No water, no life. Water in the Bible, therefore, becomes a metaphor for spiritual life. It symbolizes God’s presence, His Ruach (Spirit), His blessing. Today’s passage is about more than water feuds. It symbolizes the “spiritual” family strife between the sons of Isaac and those of Ishmael.

In the New Testament, water imagery is also used. In particular, note how Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman at “the well.” Samaritans were “half-breeds”: ½ Jewish and ½ Gentile. They were the “ugly reminders” of Israel’s past national sin, where the children of Israel intermarried with Canaanites and adopted pagan ways. Jesus came first for the Jew, then the Gentile. (Romans 1:16) And He used water imagery to communicate that He accepted the Samaritans as if they were fully Jewish. In doing this, Jesus evoked memories of age-old feuds, which went beyond simple water fights.    

“He had to travel through Samaria, so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. ‘Give me something to drink,’ Jesus said to her, for His disciples had gone into town to buy food. ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ she asked Him.  Jesus answered, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and Who is saying to you, “Give Me a drink” you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.’” John 4:4-10 (HCSB)

Jesus draws another parallel that we would be wise to note in today’s Church culture: Religion, apart from a personal relationship w/Jesus simply cannot hold water.

“For My people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that cannot hold water..” Jeremiah 2:13 (HCSB) (See also: Proverbs 11:25)

“Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, exhausted. He said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.’  That is why he was also named Edom. (Hebrew: Reddish) Jacob replied, ‘First, sell me your birthright.’”  Genesis 25:29-30 (HCSB)

I believe Abraham to be a man of struggles and contradictions. He always seemed to live somewhere between faith and faithlessness. With the birth of his twin grandsons, Jacob and Esau, it is as if Abraham’s personal spiritual conflicts were divided between the two.   Esau inherited Abraham’s impulsive short-sightedness, but Jacob got Abraham’s deceit. Later, we’ll see Esau displaying forgiveness and Jacob leaning on faith.

At first glance, Jacob’s conduct seems to be way out of line: demanding a birthright from a starving man. But on closer examination, we learn that the privileges of birthright that Jacob sought (at that time) were purely spiritual.

In the days of the patriarchs, the head of the clan acted as the family “priest.” The firstborn’s “right by birth order” was to inherit that priestly role unless the firstborn failed to accept his duty. In that case, the birthright could be passed on to the next qualified family member. Esau’s general demeanor was hardly in accord with someone who served the Lord.

It is possible that Jacob suspected his brother did not value the dignity and privilege of being firstborn. Therefore, when the opportunity came along, Jacob determined to put his brother to the test. He fully knew that withholding some stew would not kill Esau. However, he found out what Esau really thought about his priestly role. Esau was willing to trade his rights and responsibilities unnecessarily. Esau was impulsive, putting his fleshly desires above the family’s spiritual needs. Put simply, Esau was not fit to minister.  

Have you ever heard of the “Priesthood of all believers”? “You are a royal priesthood and a priestly kingdom” (1 Peter 2:9).

It is our spiritual “birthright” to minister. (See also: 1 Corinthians 4:1, Revelation 5:10, the book of Hebrews) Upon receiving salvation, all believers are called to minister to the Lord, each other, and those who are yet to believe. Some “believers” reject that notion. Just like Esau, they choose to satisfy the desires of their flesh rather than accept their “birthright” (or rather, “born again” right) to put others first.

What can we learn from Esau? If we reject the call to minister to others, two things will happen: 1) We will miss the blessing of serving, and 2) Someone else will take it and assume the ministry we rejected. God doesn’t need us for His will to be done. But in rejecting our God-given roles, we forfeit the blessing that accompanies obedience in favor of the temporary pleasure of sin, which always leads to the Lord’s rebuke.

“The servant said to him, ‘Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land he came from?’  Abraham answered him, ‘Make sure that you don’t take my son back there. The Lord, the God of Heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘I will give this land to your offspring’- He will send His angel before you and you can take a wife for my son from there.’” Genesis 24:5-7 (HCSB)

Some scholars suggest the story of finding Isaac’s wife is a multi-faceted metaphor. In one sense, it is an historical account. It also presents an image of God’s Spirit searching out the bride of Messiah. (the Church) From another angle, it is practical advice for anyone desperately seeking a marriage partner.

Abraham knew God’s promise fully rested in Isaac’s offspring. (Sarah was dead, and the promise was through her womb)  He sent his servant Eliezer to find a wife for the unmarried Isaac. Eliezer had strict orders to 1) Trust in the Lord’s leading and 2) Never take Isaac back to the land of Abraham’s forefathers.  

In Hebrew, “Eliezer” means: “God was my help.” In this way, Eliezer is considered symbolic of God’s Spirit, whom Jesus promised as a helper and comforter for His bride, the Church.

Similarly, God’s Spirit searches the earth for those willing to accept God’s invitation of spiritual “marriage” to Jesus. The resurrected and glorified Messiah awaits the day when His bride (the Church) will be raptured and united with Him.  

I have heard people say that God does not care who you marry as long as you both love the Lord. I disagree. Not only is that just about the most unromantic thing I’ve ever heard, but it is bad theology. The Bible recounts several episodes where God prepared specific people to be wed to each other. God prepared Eve for Adam and brought her to him. And in today’s chapter, He is directing Eliezer specifically to Rebecca.  

Furthermore, Jesus (the bridegroom) personally died for your sin. That means specific combinations of husbands & wives are woven throughout time just to make YOU, for whom Jesus died personally. Whenever you marry, you will probably have children, whom Jesus also died for personally. Of course, it matters who you marry! God is very concerned with whom you choose for a mate.  

Whatever you do, don’t go back to Worldly relationships. Trust God! Wait on His Spirit to bring you the one God has chosen. But what happens if you feel you have chosen wrongly? Trust God! He can redeem any situation for His glory: Romans 8:28.

“Abraham bowed down to the people of the land and said to Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, ‘Please listen to me. Let me pay the price of the field. Accept it from me, and let me bury my dead there.’  Ephron answered Abraham and said to him, ‘My lord, listen to me. Land worth 400 shekels of silver – what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.’  Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had agreed to in the hearing of the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver at the current commercial rate.” Genesis 23:12-16 (HCSB)

Once, I heard a rabbi say that this was the first recorded real estate deal in Jewish history! The land of Canaan was Abraham’s by promise, but the time to possess it had not yet come. Nevertheless, Abraham had the opportunity to buy a piece of it. This was not land for living on, which could be sold or taken away. It was land for burial…a FINAL resting place. Now, that is faith! Abraham said he believed God’s promises to the extent that he was willing to buy real estate and be buried in a land that would eventually become filled with a nation full of his offspring. Abraham wasn’t the only one to believe God’s promise on that same level.  

“So Jacob’s sons did for him what he had commanded them. They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.” Genesis 50:12-13 (HCSB)

“And Jacob went down to Egypt. He and our ancestors died there, were carried back to Shechem, and were placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. As the time was drawing near to fulfill the promise that God had made to Abraham, the people flourished and multiplied in Egypt.” Acts 7:15-17 (HCSB)

“Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: ‘When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.’”  Genesis 50:24-25 (HCSB)

“Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the plot of land which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons.”  Joshua 24:32 (NASB)

The writer of Hebrews melds the Patriarchal hope of Canaan with the believers in Jesus’ “hope for eternity” with the Lord in Heaven.

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:13-16 (NKJV)

Grab your Bible & experience the Groundworks Ministries Podcast as Steve Wiggins leads us through the full chapter of Genesis 22. Click the links below to watch or listen now!

“The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him. Abraham named his son who was born to him – the one Sarah bore to him - Isaac. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, ‘God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.’ She also said, ‘Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.’” Genesis 21:1-7 (HCSB)

God fulfills His covenant promises. That is the theme of today’s chapter. God is faithful to His Word, whether His promises are to His “Chosen” people (Hebrews like Abraham and Sarah) or the Goyim (Gentiles like Hagar and Ishmael). We learn faithfulness by experiencing His faithfulness…often through trials, which can only be endured by God’s intervention.

In my life, I have faced difficulty and cried out to God. In my desperation, I wanted to hear God say, “I’ll take care of it immediately!” Most often, though, I have heard the retort, “Trust Me.” Then, silence…for what seemed like an eternity. The heat would grow, and I’d be an emotional wreck. Still, the echo, “Trust Me.” I would struggle, groan, cry, and wail, but eventually, God would make good on His promise.

After all these years as a believer, I have only just begun to learn to wait on the Lord patiently. I have only begun to take Him at His Word because I don’t understand His timing. I am learning to trust Him, to distinguish His voice from that of the “Impersonator.”

As a child, I remember the great impersonator “Rich Little” on the TV variety shows. I recall closing my eyes and thinking, “He sounds exactly like… (insert celebrity)”. But there were subtleties in the voices of those people Mr. Little impersonated. Friends of the celebrity being impersonated could clearly distinguish those subtleties. Are you that close to God and His Word that you can discern His voice among the impersonators? Apparently, Sarah knew the Lord’s voice when she heard it because upon hearing it, she faithfully waited for the Lord to fulfill His promise.  

“By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the One who had promised was faithful. Therefore from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.” Hebrews 11:11-12 (HCSB)

Who knows how much faith Sarah had when she first heard the Lord? I am certain that her faith ballooned when the Lord delivered on His Word! Let’s take today’s chapter as a challenge to continue seeking God’s Word and to rely on it. That way, we can rest in His promises until we rejoice at their fulfillment.