Summary
After Sarah's death, Abraham sent his servant back to his homeland to find a bride for Issac so he would not marry a Canaanite woman. When the servant
reached his destination, he sat down at the springs and asked God to let the young woman who offered to water his camels when he asked her for a drink
of water to be the right one. Before he finished praying, Rebekah walked up and offered to water his camels after he asked her for a drink of water.
She and her family agreed she should return with the servant and become Issac's wife.
Isaac and Rebekah had twins named Esau and Jacob. The boys were very different from the start and “jostled each other within her.” God told her, “two nations
are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Esau, the oldest,
was "Daddy's Boy" while Jacob, the youngest, was "Mama's Boy".
Esau, sold his birthright to his younger brother, and Jacob stole the blessing of the oldest son from Esau by tricking his father with his mother's help. When Esau
threatened Jacob, Jacob fled. On the way, he had a dream where he saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder to and from heaven. God repeated the Covenant
to him and said He would be with Jacob. Jacob agreed to serve God and give him a tenth of all God gave him “if” God would give him food and clothes and allow him
to return to his father in peace one day.
When Jacob reached his mother's homeland, he lived with his uncle. He fell in love with his uncle's youngest daughter, Rachel, and agreed to work for his for
seven years to be able to marry her. His uncle tricked him on his wedding night and gave him his oldest daughter, Leah, instead. Jacob agreed to work seven more
years to be able to marry Rachel as well.
Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Nevertheless, Leah gave him four sons while Rachel was still childless. Eventually, Jacob has 12 sons and a daughter with Leah,
Rachel, and their two servants.
Jacob continued to work for his uncle and worked out a deal to start his own herds of sheep and goats. Eventually, his uncle's sons got jealous, and Jacob and his
family headed back to the Promised Land. On the way, Jacob spent one night wrestling with God, and God blessed him the next morning. When Jacob finally met Esau,
he had also become a wealth man with a big family and welcomed his brother home with a hug.
A couple of accounts about Jacob's family include: A man from Shechem defiled Jacob's daughter and then wanted to marry her. Simeon and Levi killed all
the men in the city because of the way the man from there treated their sister. God affirmed the Covenant with Jacob at Bethel and changed his name to Israel.
Rachel died during childbirth with another son names Benjamin.
The Bible includes what seems to be a random account in the life of Judah as well. Judah's oldest son had married a woman named Tamar, but he died before they had children. As the Bible commanded,
Judah's next oldest son married Tamar. Their first child would be considered the child of the oldest brother to perpetuate his name. This son died as well
before the two had children. Judah promised his youngest son to Tamar, but he secretly never planned to let them marry for fear he too would die. When Tamar
figured out Judah would not let them marry, she dressed as a temple prostitute and waited for....Judah. Judah ended up getting her pregnant. When he found out
she was pregnant, he called for her to be stoned as the law said. Tamar showed some personal belongings the man who got her pregnant had left with her when they
were together. Judah recognized his belongings and called Tamar "more righteous" them himself because she was willing to fulfill the law to have
children for her first husband.
Jacob has a "daddy's boy" just like his father. He loved Joseph - the eldest of his favorite wife, Rachel - more than any of his other sons, even to the points
of giving him special gifts. His other brothers did not like him very much, and, when Joseph brought bad reports about his older brother to Jacob, it only made it worse.
In addtion, Joseph had muliple dreams in which he dreamed his brother bowed down to him. Joseph even dreamed his parent bowed to him. No one guessed the
truth foreshadowed by these dreams meant Joseph would one day save his family from starvation, so the brothers planned to kill Joseph. In stead, they ened up selling him
to a caravan of traders headed to Egypt. As Joseph headed to slavery in Egypt, none of the brothers dreamed their descendants would end up Egyptian themselves.
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