Day 010 - Genesis 25-26

Jacob and Esau come on the scene in this passage as the 2nd generation after Abraham and we also get to know more about their parents Isaac and Rebecca at the same time. Like her mother-in-law before her Rebecca has trouble conceiving, but she doesn't have to wait as long for God to give her an heir and when he does it's twins. My younger sisters are non-identical twins like Jacob and Esau though unlike these two my sisters are the best of friends. Isaac's kids seem to grow up in a state of conflict with one being strong and the other being crafty and each is favoured by one of his parents. One wonders how much conflict was caused in their marriage by bringing up these two sons.

Then the record appears to get stuck in a groove as Isaac repeats the mistake that his father made twice by pretending that Rebecca is his sister. You feel sorry for Abimelech as this is the second time this has happened in his land, but instead of punishing Issac he allows him to stay (probably because he is aware on some level that God is with Isaac).

A battle of wells then ensues (yes you did read that right) as Isaac re-digs the wells of his father and comes into conflict with the people now living there. Isaac renames the wells to remind him of the conflict (or lack of it) and I guess when future generations came across these places it would be an opportunity to learn something of their history. I wish we could do this today and I could call this place "Accident" because I fell of my bike here when a car driver cut me up.