Genesis 25–26; Job 15–16; Proverbs 2:20-22;
Commentary on Genesis 25
In Genesis 25 we are presented with a lot of genealogies: Abraham took another wife (Keturah) and had children with her, Ishmael had twelve sons (the twelve princes, spread across Arabia; Ishmael is considered the father of the Arabs), and Isaac had trouble having children as Rebekah was barren. Isaac prays (he is a powerful intercessor just like Abraham), and they have twins (Esau and Jacob).
Abraham gave all he had to Isaac and sent he other descendants away with their concubines along with gifts, just as he did with Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham died and was buried with Sarah by Isaac and Ishmael.
Esau is the first-born, but he ends up selling his birthright to Jacob for food, in a moment of need. This is a somewhat replay of Isaac and Ishmael, as the youngest (Isaac, Jacob) gets the blessing and carries the covenant God made with Abraham.
Notes:
- Kinda shady that Jacob “forces” Esau to sell his birthright because his life was in danger.
- At the same time, the Lord said to Rebekah that “the elder shall serve the younger”
- There is a reference to this story in St Paul’s letter to the Romans (Rom 9:10-13), but I don’t have the time to figure it out. But it does seem to have a connection with God’s Election and sovereignty.
- This also shows that biological/natural descendancy is not enough for the blessings.
- TODO: Why God chose Jacob instead of Esau?
Commentary on Genesis 26
Just like it happened with Abraham, a famine happens in Canaan. But God says to Isaac to go to Gerar instead of Egypt, and renewals the covenant made with Abraham to multiply his descendants, give those lands to his descendants, and that all nations bless themselves through his descendants. God is renewing this promise because Abraham kept His commandments.
Isaac also denies that Rebekah is his wife in front of Abimelech, the king of the Philistines. Seems that it was very dangerous to travel with a beautiful wife. But Abimelech notices that Rebekah is Isaac’s wife and reprimands him for doing so, and prohibits any of his servants of taking her as wife.
In the first year, the Lord blessed Issac, and he had an extraordinary harvest and became very rich. The Philistines envied him and Abimelech asked him to go away.
Isaac found a place where there were no disputes on who owned the water and established his residence there, and built an altar, continuing the priestly legacy of his father Abraham.
Abimelech goes to Isaac to make a peace covenant with him, because he saw how blessed Isaac was by the Lord.
Esau takes two Hittites (Judith, Basemath) as wives, which made life “bitter”, “miserable” for Isaac and Rebekah.
Notes:
- Esau’s wife made his parents (Isaac, Rebekah) life bitter because he married Canaanites, who are under the curse of Noah, probably without parental consent or advise.
Commentary on Job 15-16
Eliphaz then answers Job by saying that his speech is evidence of his iniquity, because he is not being fearful of God, and that his lips is condemning him, not his friends. He thinks Job’s defensive posture is him turning away from God. Then, he exposes the consequences of being a wicked man, and the punishments that are brought forth.
Job responds by calling their friends “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2) and that their advice is “windy words” (Job 16:3). He says that if his friends were in his place, he could do the same thing they’re doing to him, or he could help them with his words, lessening their pain.
Job then reaffirms his innocence, and pictures not him going against God as Eliphaz suggested, but God like a warrior going against him. He describes all the physical suffering he has passed and says that he is innocent.
Commentary on Proverbs 2:20-22
Wise men stay in the path of the righteous and the ways of good men. Proverbs 2:21-22:
21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and men of integrity will remain in it; 22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it.
The land is a reference to the promised land by God. The upright that will inhabit the land is Israel, and the wicked is a reference to the people that inhabited those lands (the Canaanites).
Anagogically, it can be read as the celestial Israel, and that the upright will inhabit heaven, and the wicked will inhabit hell.