Right Down the Line

Genesis 36:1-29

Another section of geneologies...yippee.

Esau marries Canaanites- Abdah, Oholibamah (which sounds like an ancient Jewish obscenity) and Basemath. Some of his children are referred to as "chiefs." Is this a reference to some tribal way of life prevalent during this time, or just a funky translation?

There is a quick mentioning of Anah: "This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the desert while he was grazing the donkeys of his father Zibeon." Ooooh, that Anah. Are we supposed to know this story- or is this a legendary tale that would have been known to the folks around when Moses penned the book? Are their any implications from this reference about what's intended for us and what's meant for folks of another time?

In another moment of deja vu from another earlier story, Esau and Jacob split up because they are too rich for one area. This time though, I'm struck with a positive vibe. Yes, Jacob was underhanded and stole the birthright and the blessing from his older brother- but the result seems to be minimal damage to the hairy one- he's too rich for the land he's on- and has quite a line of descendants of his own.

Maybe the lesson here is that God looks out for us when we've been cheated. Even when those benefit who shouldn't, even when we don't get what's coming to us (which is actually usually a good thing), God looks down and gives us what we need.

Not that there aren't people without, people in need, people who will never have their needs met in this life- but maybe God comforts us all in different ways. And even if we want more, His blessings abound if we look around and notice them.