Genesis 25:19-27:29, Matthew 16:1-20

Thought from Today’s Old Testament Passage: The Stolen Blessing In assessing the importance of this episode, we need to guard against two extremes: either to condemn the characters entirely, without any recognition of their better motives, or to excuse them at the expense of true morality. Robert Candlish writes: “On the one hand, we may be tempted to extenuate or excuse the sin of those who are taking part with God, and seeking to fulfill his purpose; and, in so doing, we may run the risk of compromising God’s holy law, and lowering our own sense of truth and right. Or again, on the other hand, we may allow our just indignation against the faults into which we see the professing people of God betrayed, to carry us too far in the direction of an unjust and uncharitable judgment of their whole profession. We may thus strengthen in ourselves and others a prejudice, not only against the godly, but against their godliness itself, such as may be anything but conducive to the spiritual prosperity either of our own souls or of theirs.” (Robert S. Candlish, Commentary on Genesis, 2 reprint, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1956), 1:457) The truth of the matter, though we do not like to admit it, is that the characters are very much like ourselves. The point is that the sovereign will of God is done, in spite of our or any other person’s opposition to it. (J. M. Boice, Genesis, an Expositional Commentary, Vol. 2, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1985), p. 277)