1/17/2024 0 Comments Dew nation rewards long receiptMy next observation is that God works through the free choices, both good and bad, of human moral agents to accomplish his purposes. And so the judges, for example, include both men and women (Deborah), even though this was a patriarchal society that privileged men, and they also include an illegitimate son (Jephthah) and a youngest son (Gideon). It seems that God simply looks for the person who can best fulfill his purposes, regardless of that person’s social standing. The Old Testament is full of examples of God choosing younger brothers over older ones: Isaac over Ishmael Jacob over Esau (even before they were born, God told their mother, “ the older will serve the younger“) Judah over his three older brothers as the ancestor of the royal line David over his seven older brothers as king and so forth. Accordingly, when Isaac blesses Jacob (thinking that he’s Esau his firstborn), he says, “ May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness- an abundance of grain and new wine,” and, “ Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.”Ī further observation I’d like to make is that, paradoxically, God repeatedly did not follow the custom of primogeniture as He carried out His program of redemption. It was customary for a father, on his deathbed, to bless the firstborn son, asking God to give him material abundance so that he could care for the extended family, and to make his brothers come under his authority so that order would be preserved within the clan. That’s why he was given a double portion, so he could care both for his own immediate family and for his extended family in his late father’s stead. But any unmarried sisters, or widowed sisters without children, would have to depend on this oldest brother after the father’s death. In this culture women didn’t own property and so they were dependent on male relatives, typically their fathers and then their husbands. The book of Deuteronomy commands that when a father dies and his inheritance is divided, the firstborn son is to be given a “ double portion,” that is, twice as much as the other sons. Primogeniture (which simply means “first born”) was one of the existing cultural institutions that God incorporated into the Law of Moses to promote order and provide for those in need. First, the blessing that Jacob stole from Esau was specifically the blessing of primogeniture, that is, the blessing Esau would have been given so that he could fulfill his responsibilities as the first-born son of Isaac. Let me respond by offering a series of observations. Why did God allow Jacob to steal Esau’s blessing and get away with it? Why did God continue to bless Jacob? I expected that at some point, because we are dealing with an omnipotent being, God was going to reverse the blessings, but that doesn’t happen. This one has been disturbing me for quite a long time. I appreciated your post on “ Why couldn’t God defeat Jacob in a wresting match?” but I have another question.
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