Forgiveness, Redemption, Love: the never-ending story

Recap of our Discussion on Aug 30, 2009
Genesis 25: Jacob and Esau;
Overview of Gen 1-25

Finishing up from our discussion of Genesis 25: 19-34
7. Because God has chosen Jacob to be the bearer of the family tradition, does that justify Jacob’s tricky ways?
- Did God give them (Jacob and Esau) their personalities? They were pre-wired.
- Esau didn’t appreciate his birthright anyway, so he was a bad candidate to carry on the covenant.
[We ask again – was Esau really hungry, or was he exaggerating? Later on, was Esau’s wife saying, “I married you for better or for worse, but not for lunch.”?]
Nobody’s perfect – everybody is flawed and God can use us, even flawed.
How could Rebecca dismiss what God told her about the older serving the younger?

Overview of Genesis 1 - 25
1. Themes we see in the first part of Genesis
- The same story is told over again and again (through Genesis, and throughout the entire Bible). The story is forgiveness, redemption, and love. Everything leads up to Jesus’ death on the cross, and then the plot line changes.

- There are many different stories with the same underlying theme, because God knows that each of us will respond to certain stories and not others.

- The whole story of Genesis is about how we gave up on our relationship with God, for immediate gratification, starting with Adam-Eve-serpent-fruit, right on through Esau selling his birthright for some red stew.

2. Perceptions which have changed with this study
- (See #1 above)
- I have a problem with Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. Also a problem with Hagar being sent into the desert – it seems unjust. But I don’t blame God; the people made wrong choices.

3. Some favorite characters from Genesis:
- all the barren women
- Jacob talking Esau out of his birthright. It’s cloak-and-dagger stuff!

Some books mentioned:
The Language of God by a scientist. (I am guessing that this book is
The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis S. Collins (Paperback - Jul 17, 2007)
-basic thesis of the book is that we need to learn to accept God as a holy mystery.

Your God is Too Small (I am guessing that this is Your God Is Too Small: A Guide for Believers and Skeptics Alike by J.B. Phillips (Paperback - May 25, 2004)
We tend to put human limitations on God. We try to put God in a box, but God isn’t in a box. God IS the box.

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis