Blessings for you

Before I launch into my subject, I'm making mention I'm back in the U.S. in Savannah, GA which is where I'll have my shop. Not Guatemala. Sorry for the confusion (Michelle).

Where was I? Oh yes, a sermon. From time to time I get little sermons, or words, that stick in my head and I realize I should share them. The last big one for me was when we were in Peru and I preached at the church there. This ones been in my head probably even longer than that but I just never got around to sharing it. Well, here, in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, I've decided to go ahead and get it out.
I'd like to share about blessings. Today we'll be looking in the scriptures at the story of Jacob. I'll cite a few scriptures direct, but mostly be paraphrasing so you go read the story when I'm done to get the whole scoop yourself.
Isaac had twin sons, Jacob and Esau. Esaus was the elder of the two. Now, the story goes that when Esau was born, as he was coming out, his younger brother was grabbing his ankle. This is how he got the name Jacob, which in the Hebrew means "He grasps the heel" (Gen, 24: 25-26). A modern day meaning for the name Jacob is "supplanter" Which means:

1. to take the place of (another), as through force, scheming, strategy, or the like. (dictionary.com)

We soon see this was an accurate name to give Jacob. Now Esau was a manly man and hunted and did stuff outdoors and if he we in modern times probably would have worn cammo and drove a big ole pickup truck. Jacob was a mamma's boy and probably would have been a computer nerd or book worm.

Now the whole supplanting started one day when Esau came home famished from a hunting trip and asked Jacob for some of the stew he was cooking. Jacob said he would give him the stew for Esau's birthright. Now, we don't have time to go into the birthright at this point but suffice it to say it was a big deal in their culture. The eldest son had far more rights and privileges than younger siblings. Esau must have been hungry in a bad way and ended up making the deal. We'll call this Jacob's first big scheme (Gen. 25: 29-34).
Fast forward to the end of Isaac's life. Isaac was an old dude and his eyes were pretty bad. As one of his last requests, he asked Esau to go hunting, kill something, and cook him up a hearty meal before he gave him is last blessing. Now this is where all those years of being a momma's boy worked for Jacob. Rebekah heard all of this and took on Jacob's scheming ways and got Jacob to go fetch a goat and then she'd make a goatburger and Jacob would pretend to be Esaus and get his blessing. The only problem was that the boys weren't exactly identical twins. Esau was all hairy and rough and Jacob used moisturizer and was was smooth and white from being inside all day. So Jacob dressed all up in Esau's clothes and put some goat skin on his arms and neck. He went in to Isaac and said "Here's your food, I'm ready for my blessing!" Isaac, while being old, was still somewhat suspicious. First off, the person he hears sounded like Jacob. He asked him once if it was Esau and Jacob said yes. Still not being convinced, he asked him to come nearer so he could use his sense of touch, and felt the hairiness of the goat skin that felt like Esau's arms and neck. He asked him one more time if he really was Esau, and Jacob said yes. As Jacob brought him closer, he smelled Esau's clothes and was finally convinced. He then proceeded to give him a wonderful blessing, placing him over his brothers and blessing all he does. Then Jacob leaves and in soap opera fashion, Esau walks in right after. He comes to Isaac and Says "I got the food and I'm ready for my blessing!" Isaac says, "who are you?" and Esaus says "It Esau, your first born". Then Isaac starts shaking all over because he knows somethings up. He says, "Who was that guy who was just in here? He's the one that got the blessing," Esau immediately knew it was Jacob and mentions how appropriate his name is as supplanter, taking through scheming. We'll call this Jacob's second big scheme (Gen 27: 1-36). Esau then starts making plans to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac dies. Once again, Rebekah does some sneaky eavesdropping and warns Jacob to flee, sending him to her brother Laban (Gen 27: 41-46).

I'm gonna stop here and pick up another time since this is getting pretty long. What we've seen so far is that Jacob through his scheming has gotten two blessings that don't belong to him. He's plotted and planned as a result gotten a birthright and an incredible father's blessing, and now he's running for his life because of it. Because of these blessings he worked so hard to get, he's found him separated from a mother than loves him and misses the death of his father. Tune in next time to see where all of this is heading. Peace.