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Genesis 27:42-46: A mother knows.

^“42 When Rebekah was told what her elder son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, ‘Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. ⁴³ Now then, my son, do what I say: flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?’” NIV

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.’

There is much about Rebekah’s behaviour that cannot be admired. She was manipulative, deceitful at times, and favoured one son over the other. None of this is good. But it is true that she knew her boys. She was aware that although Esau was livid, one day his anger would cool. She was so right.

As Christian parents, we should let our knowledge of our children inform our prayers for them, and shape our handling of them. But we don’t have to scheme, and we shouldn’t. WE can trust God.

Genesis 27:41: Smouldering anger.

⁴¹ Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’ NIV UK

Deal with anger before it deals with you! If you want to make progress in the Christian life, you must determine to forgive everyone who hurts you. Smouldering resentment is a form of murder in the heart. Although it may cause someone to injure another, in the mean time you do great damage to yourself. How different is the attitude we see in Jesus, praying for the forgiveness of those who crucified Him, even as He hung on the Cross. If Jesus lives inside you, just think what becomes possible for you. He calls you to forgive, and you find you can.

Genesis 27:30-40: Burning regret.

³⁰ After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, ‘My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.’ ³² His father Isaac asked him, ‘Who are you?’ ‘I am your son,’ he answered, ‘your firstborn, Esau.’ ³³ Isaac trembled violently and said, ‘Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him – and indeed he will be blessed!’ ³⁴ When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me – me too, my father!’ ³⁵ But he said, ‘Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.’ ³⁶ Esau said, ‘Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?^[a] This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!’ Then he asked, ‘Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?’ ³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, ‘I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?’ ³⁸ Esau said to his father, ‘Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!’ Then Esau wept aloud. ³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,

Although Esau declared that his brother took his ‘’birthright’’, it must be observed the truth is larger than that. We know that Esau regarded his birthright so lightly that, effectively, he sold it for a bowl of soup. We regularly play the ‘blame game’; seeking to evade responsibility for our own bad decisions, by pointing the finger at others. In this case, if Esau himself had not made a bad decision, he would have had no cause for searing regret. But as someone said, we make our decisions then our decisions turn around and make us.

PRAYER: Lord help me please, so that I do not treat great things lightly.

Genesis 27: 25-29: Aromatic Christians.

^“25 Then he said, ‘My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.’ Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come here, my son, and kiss me.’ ²⁷ So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,

Years ago, I was in a café in Interlaken, Switzerland. A man, passing through, had so splashed on the after shave, that a strong scent wafted through the room with him. It was not unpleasant, but it was obvious. There was an unmistakeable fragrance emanating from him.

We each give off an aroma. I mean something more than bodily scents. Of course we are aware of these (as are others close to us!), and we, for the most part, try to observe good standards of hygiene. We don’t want to be offensive to others; we want to smell nice.

As a Christian, I want to carry a good scent through this world. I often pray that people coming into our home will be able to smell the fragrance of Jesus in every room, and, particularly, on our lives (see 2 Corinthians 2). There is an almost indefineable something about a godly person, and those coming into contact with him/her know it.

PRAYER: Lord, please may I smell strongly of Christ.