Today’s Reading: Genesis 27, 28 & 29

OK…so this is just how crazy the story of “God’s chosen people” is. For those of us who are somewhat familiar with the story of the people of Israel, consider the back half of the book of Genesis the prequel to that story. This is the story of Jacob (later called Israel) and his descendants…and it’s a crazy one. In just these three chapters, we get a good glimpse of the kind of family chaos that was taking place in this family that would become God’s chosen ones.

First, we have the continuation of Jacob’s deception of his brother Esau (aided by their mother Rebekah). Then we see Esau’s anger and desire to murder his brother. Then another act of deception by Rebekah as she tricks Isaac into blessing Jacob’s departure. Then, not to be outdone, Esau recognizes how much his parents hate the idea of their sons marrying Canaanite women, so he goes and marries two more, in addition to the women he is already married to. Uh, yeah…chaos.

I wish I could say it ended there, but no. The chaos continues as the tables are turned on Jacob and he gets a bit of his own medicine in the form of Laban, his “own flesh and blood.” As a result of Laban’s deception of Jacob, Jacob ends up in 14 years of indentured servant-hood (and an extra wife) just to marry the woman he wants to marry.

And out of all of this chaos, the future heads of the tribes of Israel begin to be born – not to Rachel, the woman Jacob loved, but to Leah, the one Jacob kind of just got stuck with. While Rachel was barren, Leah began having children – Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah (some important figures in the upcoming story of Israel).

Sound like a daytime soap-opera? Yeah, it’s that kind of chaos that serves as the prequel to the incredible story of the people of Israel. Stay tuned for more!