Genesis 25-34 continues in the same vein but we have moved on. The grand-children have grown up. What follows is more like a family saga or dynasty.
Jacob, having made a bit of a conquest in his new family, has settled in well. His uncle is not all that different from his mother. The new is not markedly different from the old. God no longer seems a frightening prospect. But after 15-20 years a slight restlessness is creeping in. Perhaps he is doing too well for the locals or the next generation is not nearly so enamoured of their new cousin as their father was.
Some of the past is still with us, but this generation is different. The old, simple faith with an unquestioning vision of hope has given place to ‘the real world’ with more sophisticated and self-centred planning, plotting and determination. Trickery and deceitfulness seem to have entered the human psyche and God is less prominent in the dialogue and sometimes seems scarcely there at all.
Isaac is a fairly inconsequential figure, a pause between a long-reigning Abraham and two grandsons with more potential, where (as often) the younger proves more exciting and adventurous than the older and walks off with the honours. It is a story of tension between rivals and contestants, a foreshadowing of much that still dogs not only individuals in families but all races, tribes, nations or any other group you wish to think of, including churches.
Having moved from the personal to the extended family and being confronted with the messiness of life — those who come and go, those who make a genuine contribution and those whose main concern is to help themselves and move on — it may be more helpful to focus on your own experience of living in a local community rather than personal family relationships.
Avoid getting lost in the details of what was happening there and then. Concentrate on the underlying issues here and now and instead of worrying what you should be doing about it pause first to see if you can discover where God fits in and how he seems to be handling it. Only then are we likely to make the right moves and making the wrong ones will only make things worse.
