June 20, 2010
Scripture:
We usually apply this precious Psalm to ourselves, but Mr. Bellett reminds us in his “Short Meditations on the Psalms” that it can also be read as a meditation of the Lord Jesus while He was here walking by faith in this “valley of the shadow of death”. The One who is the Good Shepherd; the Great Shepherd and the Chief Shepherd is also the Lamb of God.
Hymn 338 - I Love My Saviour
Prayer
We spent a lot of time on Genesis 24. Isaac and Rebekah loved each other and got married. This is the second mention of love in the Bible. The first mention of it is in Chapter 22, where Abraham loved Isaac.
Genesis 25:8 So Abraham passes away, and we go on with Isaac and Rebekah. They are expecting a baby, but they are in for a bit of a surprise.
V24. They have twins! Two babies at the same time.
Vv.25-26. The first-born was Esau, he was all red. The second was Jacob.
V27. Now Esau went hunting for food, and the Bible tells us that he was very good at it. But Jacob wasn’t a hunter, he dwelt in tents.
V28. Here we have love mentioned again. Isaac loved Esau, because he ate the meat that Esau brought home. Rebekah loved Jacob.
Let’s read about Esau now. V29. Jacob was cooking some pottage; and Esau came home very hungry, with nothing to eat. V30. So he asked Jacob for some of the pottage he was making. Now we start to see what kind of fellow Jacob was. V31. He didn’t say, “Sure, brother.” Instead he said, “Let’s make a deal.” Jacob is a wheeler and dealer. He said to Esau, “Sell me your birthright.” What’s a birthright? It’s the privileges that you get by being born into a certain family. You get to stay under your parents’ roof and be provided for. One of my greatest birthright privileges was being born into a Christian family, and being taught the word of God. Esau had some special privileges, being the firstborn. He had the right to all the promises God made to Abraham. That is what Jacob wants to get.
So what did Esau do? V.32. He didn’t care about the birthright. He said, “I’m about to die, what good will this birthright do me?” Vv.33-34. Esau didn’t value his birthright. But it got worse. At the end it said that he despised it. He almost hated his birthright.
Can that happen today? Yes, children can be taught the Bible and memorize verses, and then grow up and turn their backs on it all. May we value our Christian heritage.
Next time we’ll take another look at this love story and see where it takes us.
Between the books Nehemiah and Malachi there are several other books; however, there are only about 30 years. The prophets directly before Malachi - Haggai and Zachariah - prophesied during the time of Ezra. The book of Malachi is the last inspired book in the Old Testament; the name Malachi means “the messenger.” We don’t know much about Malachi; we aren’t given his lineage anywhere. He brought the word of God to the remnant. They were worshipping God, but it was only a formality. They had the right position, but the wrong condition.
This chapter starts by pointing back to the story of Jacob and Esau. God loved Jacob, but hated Esau. Love is a theme throughout the Bible; the Lord showed love for Israel in everything He did for them. However, now the remnant is asking “How have you loved us?” It’s amazing how quickly they forget what the Lord has done for them; just 30 or 40 years previously, God had blessed them. Now, they are asking how God blessed them. It is very similar to Jude, where we see the corruption of Christianity. It all started when they lost their first love. God’s love should bring a response, but they had no response. We have so much more than they did; we have a greater responsibility to return that love. We should be attached to Him.
God spoke to this remnant as a community. Each one of us should enjoy the Lord’s love, but we should be able to go on together in the enjoyment of that love as well.
Hymn 369 - I claim for my own a king on a throne
Prayer