Rebekah

This is where God asked Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son, Isaac.

Moving right along, Abraham's son Isaac marries Rebekah.

They have Jacob and Esau.

If you've read into this in chapter 25, you'll know that Jacob is the younger brother, Esau's older.

And the Bible says that she conceived and bore him.

And you know, even when she conceived, Isaac and Rebekah, their marriage was so spiritual.

Such that some people think Jacob stole the birthright.

He didn't.

So, you think mothers here can tell you they love their firstborns.

They love their firstborns.

So why did Rebekah love Jacob over Esau? It's because when she was pregnant, she went and inquired of the Lord.

And the Lord told her that this young one will rule over the elders.

Una vez más, un pozo particular se convierte en escenario de un encuentro considerablemente decisivo.

Recuerda, brevemente, aquel mismo patrón que ya identificamos, extensamente, respecto al encuentro entre el criado de Abraham y Rebeca en nuestro decimoctavo capítulo, y respecto al encuentro entre Jacob y Raquel en nuestro vigésimo tercer capítulo.

Los pozos, dentro de la propia geografía simbólica consistente de toda la escritura, funcionan repetidamente como lugares providenciales de encuentro decisivo y de revelación considerablemente significativa.

y observa, con particular admiración genuina, la disposición inmediata de Moisés para defender a estas mismas mujeres desconocidas ante la propia hostilidad injusta de aquellos pastores locales, confirmando una vez más aquella misma preocupación genuina hacia la justicia que ya habíamos observado, considerablemente respecto a sus dos intervenciones previas en Egipto.

Second question, why did God specifically allow Moses to experience 40 years of complete exile in Madian, instead of, perhaps, a considerably shorter preparation period before actually starting his own significant liberating ministry? This considerable duration, although genuinely difficult to fully understand from our own limited human perspective, suggests that our own genuinely profound and genuinely transformative character formation frequently requires considerably more time than we would naturally prefer to invest in any particular preparation process.

Moses needed, presumably, not only to learn his own practical skills of genuine pastoring, but also to experience a considerably deeper transformation of his own inner character, progressively abandoning that impulsive and genuinely violent disposition that had so markedly characterized his own initial response to the injustice observed in Egypt.

Third question, what relationship does this story have with the broader theme of divine providence operating consistently through apparently casual encounters, along with particular wells that we have repeatedly observed throughout our complete biblical journey? Este mismo patrón, que ya identificamos extensamente respecto al criado de Abraham y Rebeca y respecto a Jacob y Raquel, confirma, una vez más, aquella misma disposición consistente de Dios para orquestar Providencialmente, encuentros considerablemente decisivos en lugares aparentemente ordinarios y genuinamente cotidianos, sin necesidad, siempre, de manifestaciones sobrenaturales directamente explícitas para confirmar su propia dirección providencial activa.

Fourth question.

No lawyer was there to sign a contract agreement.

How come when it was time for the blessing that it was only Esau that Isaac had called, God positioned Rebekah to be hearing what Isaac was saying at the time so that Jacob could get the blessing.

Yet, it's not as if Rebecca was there when that thing happened.

But God had told Rebecca that the older one will serve the younger.

And over the last few episodes of Doxology Go, we've been learning about the life of Jacob.

Before Jacob was even born, Genesis chapter 25 tells us that he wrestled not his dad in the dark game, but with his twin brother Esau inside their mother Rebekah.

Then in Genesis chapter 27, Jacob lied to his father Isaac and tricked him into giving him a blessing that was supposed to be for his older brother Esau.

Later, Jacob experienced some of the same dishonesty from his own uncle Laban.

There is Isaac, shepherd chieftain, father of Joseph's father and Joseph's father's twin brother, Esau.

Rebekah, Joseph's sharp-edged grandmother.

Leah, first of his father's wives, keen for his father's affection, and mother to Joseph's only sister and six of his brothers.

And beside Leah, an empty place.