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Genesis

Lesson #11

The Terrible Twins

(25: 19 27: 46)

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ReviewAs we entered Lesson #10, Isaac is 40 years old, he is still single, living at home and he has been mourning the death of his motherSarah for three years If !od"s lan of redemtion is to succeed, Isaac needs a wife$and he needs one %uic&ly'

1 Abraham sends his servant to (aran to get a wife forIsaac from Abraham"s own family

) *he beautiful Rebe&ah fulfills all the re%uirements, shereturns with Abraham"s servant and she marries Isaac

+ At the end of Lesson #10 Abraham dies, bringing the

AbrahamIsaac story to a close -!enesis 1). 1 / ). 12

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Review3hat have we learned so far -!enesis 1. 1 / ). 12

1 We have learne in the 5rimeval6 chaters -!enesis 17112$the 8rologue to our story$that !od -!lohi"2 createdall that is, and that it was good, erfect and comlete

) We have learne that humanity is the 59ewel in the

crown6 of !od"s creation and that humanity en9oyed anintimate, covenant relationshi with !od

+ We have learne In !enesis + that sin entered theworld, and that humanity turned their bac&s on !od andwent their own way

4 We have learne that sin is. 12 subtle: )2 it distorts our9udgment: +2 it escalates: and 42 it cascades down throughgenerations

We have learne that left to our own devices we cannotresolve the issue of sin !od brought the flood, washing theboard clean, to give humanity a second chance$buthumanity failed again

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Review, ;ont6 We have learne that in !enesis 1). 1 / ). 1 !od chooses

Abraham and Sarah from find blessing in =them>6-!enesis 1). +2 Abraham and Sarah will be the instrumentsthrough whom !od will redeem humanity

7 We have learne that Abraham and Sarah are far from being

erfect eole, but !od will use them mightily, none7the7less$ We have learne that Abraham has a son by Sarah"s ?gytian

maidservant, (agar, but both (agar and her son, Ishmael, are sentaway on Sarah"s insistence

9 We have learne that Abraham and Sarah finally have a son, Isaac,through whom the covenant will be fulfilled

10And we have learne that when Abraham and Sarah die, Isaacmarries Rebe&ah and the 8lan of Redemtion continues through

them

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Review, ;ont3e have also learned that biblical narrative is comle@ and multidimensional.

1 any biblical stories have antecedents or arallels in other ancient literature -eg,!%i& o' Gila"esh, (omer"s *sse*, etc2 and recogniBing those antecedents andarallels enriches and deeens our understanding of the te@t

) Ciblical stories are very carefully structured, often using an architecturalframewor& built on sets of +s and Ds: highly balanced and symmetrical

+ At the sentence level, the literal narrative is tyically very sarse. economy ofwords: many 5gas6

4 Ere%uent grammatical ambiguity, oening multile aths of interretation

As a result, we are forced to abandon asimlistic, literal reading of Scriture andengage in a more subtle, nuan

ced reading

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8review

In Lesson #11 we begin the second of three 5anels6 in the mainbody of !enesis, the 5tritych6. 12 the AbrahamIsaac story -1). 1 /). 12: )2 the IsaacFacob story -). 1G / +H. 4+2: and the

FacobFoseh story -+D. 1 / 0. )H2

3ith the marriage of Isaac and Rebe&ah, the 8lan of Redemtion

moves forward and Rebe&ah gives birth to twins, ?sau and FacobAnd 5terrible twins6 they are, struggling with each other, even inthe womb *he romise will move through the younger son Facob,but not until after a great deal of deceit and mischief wrea& havoc

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?sau and Facob, the 5*errible *wins6

Struggling even in Rebe&ah"s womb, ?sauand Facob are olar oosites.

1 ?sau is born first: Facob follows, grasing ?sau"s heel, trying toull him bac& in and get ahead of him

) ?sau is a s&illful hunter, a man of the oen country: Facob staysamong the tents with the women

+ ?sau is a 5hairy6 man: Facob is smooth7s&inned

4 ?sau is straight7forward and rather nave: Facob is shrewd andconniving$his name means 5the deceiver6

Isaac loves ?sau more than Facob: Rebe&ah loves Facob morethan ?sau

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*rouble is sure to Eollow'

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So, let"s wor& the story

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Juestions for discussion and thought

1 (ow does Isaac differ from his father Abraham

) (ow do ?sau and Facob differ from each other

+ In a sinle word, how would you describe Rebe&ah"scharacter

4 3e meet Laban in this lesson (ow does this briefencounter with Laban foreshadow his future

behavior and his relationshi with Facob

3hy would !od choose Facob rather than ?sau

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;oyright K )01+ by 3illiam ; ;reasy

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