God's Providence
God knows everything. God sees what will happen before it happens. We call that His providence, which literally means "to see before." When God sees something, it does not mean that He forces it to happen. It means that He knows it will happen, so He plans according to what He knows. That is what happened with Jacob and Esau. God knew that One would be stronger, and the older would serve the younger.(Genesis 25:23) He told their mother Rebekah that before their birth, when they were struggling in her womb. I believe it is important for us to understand God's providence in this situation and in our lives.
God saw the weakness of Esau in that he would sell his birthright for some stew. That is mental, physical, and spiritual weakness that he would require such immediate gratification, and that he would make such a poor choice in a hasty decision. God knew that his character was not going to lead Him to believe in God and trust Him. Therefore, since He knew that He decided to have him serve Jacob, instead of the younger serving the older, as it was usually in that culture. God's choice was based on His knowledge of Esau before any of this happened.
The same kinds of things happen in our lives. We are free to make decisions, but God knows those choices before we make them, and He plans for our lives based on His providence. He never forces us to sin or to reject Him, but He knows who will do that and who will trust Him in faith. Then, He plans in advance for our lives, since He knows in advance. Just like Jacob, those of us who are believers, are not perfect. However, we have a heart to trust God like Jacob did. Unbelievers have a heart like Esau, which makes wrong decisions and does not trust God, even though he did good things in his life, like forgive his brother. It is not about being perfect or doing good works to be saved. It is all about trusting God from our hearts and following Him. God doesn't determine that in advance, but He knows in advance what we will do, and He plans based on what He knows.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 27-30.
God saw the weakness of Esau in that he would sell his birthright for some stew. That is mental, physical, and spiritual weakness that he would require such immediate gratification, and that he would make such a poor choice in a hasty decision. God knew that his character was not going to lead Him to believe in God and trust Him. Therefore, since He knew that He decided to have him serve Jacob, instead of the younger serving the older, as it was usually in that culture. God's choice was based on His knowledge of Esau before any of this happened.
The same kinds of things happen in our lives. We are free to make decisions, but God knows those choices before we make them, and He plans for our lives based on His providence. He never forces us to sin or to reject Him, but He knows who will do that and who will trust Him in faith. Then, He plans in advance for our lives, since He knows in advance. Just like Jacob, those of us who are believers, are not perfect. However, we have a heart to trust God like Jacob did. Unbelievers have a heart like Esau, which makes wrong decisions and does not trust God, even though he did good things in his life, like forgive his brother. It is not about being perfect or doing good works to be saved. It is all about trusting God from our hearts and following Him. God doesn't determine that in advance, but He knows in advance what we will do, and He plans based on what He knows.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 27-30.