舊約人物：成為以色列的雅各
創世記二十五章19至28節
19亞伯拉罕的兒子以撒的後代記在下面。亞伯拉罕生以撒。
20以撒娶利百加為妻的時候正四十歲。利百加是巴旦亞蘭地的亞蘭人彼土利的女兒，是亞蘭人拉班的妹子。
21以撒因他妻子不生育，就為他祈求耶和華；耶和華應允他的祈求，他的妻子利百加就懷了孕。
22孩子們在他腹中彼此相爭，他就說：若是這樣，我為甚麼活著呢(或作我為甚麼如此呢)？他就去求問耶和華。
23耶和華對他說：兩國在你腹內；兩族要從你身上出來。這族必強於那族；將來大的要服事小的。
24生產的日子到了，腹中果然是雙子。
25先產的身體發紅，渾身有毛，如同皮衣，他們就給他起名叫以掃(就是有毛的意思)。
26隨後又生了以掃的兄弟，手抓住以掃的腳跟，因此給他起名叫雅各(就是抓住的意思)。利百加生下兩個兒子的時候，以撒年正六十歲。
27兩個孩子漸漸長大，以掃善於打獵，常在田野；雅各為人安靜，常住在帳棚裡。
28以撒愛以掃，因為常吃他的野味；利百加卻愛雅各。
信息分享
這也是一個家的故事。這個家庭若在今天我們會稱之為「屬主家庭」。 雅各有一對敬虔的祖父母：亞伯拉罕和撒拉。祖母撒拉已經去世，但祖父亞伯拉罕一直到雅各與他孿生兄長十五歲的時候才離世。
雅各的父親以撒也是一個敬畏神的人。他的出生，本來已經是一個極大的神蹟（創二十一章）。而利百加成為他的妻子，也是一個美麗而奇妙的過程，神恩手的作為在當中清晰可見。以撒和利百加結婚二十年後，神答應了他們的禱告，這對雙生子在神的應許中出生。
可惜，這個家庭卻不是一個快樂的家庭，它充滿了妒忌和紛爭。父親以撒喜歡活潑好動的長子以掃；母親利百加卻偏愛文靜的幼子雅各。家庭的紛爭若是由父母的偏心而起，那麼，做父母的實在是難辭其咎。
孩子們成長的期間，家裡常常搬遷。做父親的以撒雖然不完全，然而神的恩典和忍耐，始終眷顧著他的一生。
長子以掃後來娶了兩個外邦女子為妻，常常令父母心煩。
儘管生長在這樣的一個家庭，神最終仍引領雅各到真正的蒙福之地，並使他成為神兒子耶穌基督的先祖。
今日聖詩：約翰˙牛頓的「奇異恩典」，唱出來並為神的奇異恩典頌讚祂。
OLD TESTAMENT HEROES: Jacob who became Israel
Genesis 25:19-28
19 This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac.
20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.
21 Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?|” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said to her:
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”
24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.
26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.
28 And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Message
It is also a family story. We would call it a 'church family' today. The grandparents had been a very godly couple, Abraham and Sarah. Grandma had passed away but Grandfather Abraham was alive until the twins in today's reading were 15 years old.
The father, Isaac, too was a godly man. His own birth had been remarkable. (Genesis 21) Then his wife Rebekah had come to him in a beautiful way in which the hand of God had been clearly seen.
The twins themselves were a direct answer to prayer. Isaac and Rebekah had been married 20 years before they were born.
But it was not a happy family. There were tensions and jealousy. The father Isaac preferred the outdoors boy, Esau. The mother, Rebekah, preferred the quieter, younger twin, Jacob. Parents have only themselves to blame if tension is created by their 'playing favourites'.
As the boys grew older, the family travelled from place to place. The father wasn't always what he should have been but God's grace and patience were continually seen in his life.
The older son, Esau, married two heathen girls. That caused real heartache to his parents.
What a family! Yet out of it, God finally brought Jacob to a place of great blessing and made him an ancestor of God's own Son, Jesus Christ.
A SONG FOR TODAY: John Newton's 'Amazing Grace'. Sing a verse or two and thank God again for His amazing grace.