Monday, February 11: Genesis 36- Promises kept; promises never made.

The Lord is a promise keeper. He promised that He would give Esau many descendants “too numerous to count” (see Genesis 16:10) and as we read today we see the makings of that nation. God keeps His Word. Reading the Bible and hearing all of God’s promises, know this: God keeps His promises!

During my time with the Lord, I also wondered why Israel and Edom (the descendants of Jacob and Esau) don’t get along. The brothers seemed to have patched up their differences, so why all the animosity? As I pondered this, I recalled the many accounts where people made covenants and built altars to signify their covenants. In particular I thought about the time when Israel, under Joshua, captured the Promised Land and two tribes wanted to live on the east side of the Jordan. After the conquest they build an altar as a reminder that they were brothers…

It hit me….Esau and Jacob never made any kind of pact or covenant. They never gave their word to each other that they would remain brothers. Hmmm… maybe they never really patched things up? Maybe by not making a covenant and building an altar as a witness to the generations, their sons missed the reconnection and harbored bitterness against their cousins. We will never really know. But one thing we do know is that they never confirmed, in any way, that they were brothers and they would live in peace with each other. Our world today is unstable, in part, due to this lack.

When we reconcile with others, let’s make sure people know we have reconciled so that the differences we once had do not continue to fester…

Promises kept form significant bonds!

Oh, God, thank You for keeping Your Word even when I do not keep mine. Praise be to You, Lord God. Through Jesus, I pray. Amen.