Category Archives: Sunday Brunch

Sunday Brunch! Esau And Jacob – Selling Your Birthright For Some Stew?

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Isn’t it hard to imagine that Esau came out of Rebekah’s womb, covered with hair?

Infants are usually smooth-skinned, perhaps a bit wrinkled, with sometimes hair on their head, maybe some eyebrows. I’ve just never seen a hairy baby before. Also, just the thought of Jacob grasping Esau’s heel, coming out of the womb – just sounds so awesome – a hairy baby coming out, with his brother grasping his heel.

Also, Esau despised his birthright. He sold his birthright to his brother for some lentil stew?

Jacob probably knew that Esau despised his birthright, so, he took advantage of that fact by asking his brother to sell it to him in exchange for the stew.

Was it the Lord’s will for Jacob to do this?

Why couldn’t Jacob simply shared, given his brother something to eat without mentioning the birthright?

On a different note, anybody have a good recipe for lentil stew? I also wonder what was used to season the lentil stew. I wonder how lentil stew tasted when it was made during old testament times. I wonder if we ate it, if we’d think it was good.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

21Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

Genesis 25:23-34
23The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. )
31Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.

Sunday Brunch – Why Did The Lord Ask Abraham To Sacrifice His Son?

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Why did God ask Abraham to sacrifice his son?

I’ve always wondered about this. The obvious answer was to test Abraham’s faith, however, if the Lord were to test my faith this way, I doubt I’d pass the test. I think about my nine-year-old son, so young, innocent, trusting, and I think about the love I have for him in my heart. If the Lord asked me to sacrfice my son…I don’t think I could do it. Actually, I know I couldn’t do it.

Someone mentioned to me that Abraham’s “sacrifice” was symbolic – it was symbolic of the Lord sacrificing his son, Jesus, for all humankind. I do understand and see the symbolism in the example, but, I still struggle to understand God’s reasoning in asking this of Abraham. In addition to being symbolic, someone mentioned to me that Abraham is the father if the Jewish nation, and testing is faith was done for this reason?

Why do you think God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son? Do you remember studying about this in Sunday school when you were a kid? Please, share your thoughts!

Abraham’s Faith Confirmed

Genesis 22:1-2, 9-12

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.”

12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Sunday Brunch – A Pillar Of Salt?

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Why did Lot’s wife become a pillar of salt?

Genesis 19:26

26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

I realize she’d been disobedient – the Lord had said not to look back, but, Lot’s wife looked back. But, why would she turn into a pillar of salt? I’d think that the Lord would’ve struck Lot’s wife dead, suddenly, for disobeying. I’d wondered if the salt had some deep meaning – is a pillar of salt symbolic?

I was talking to someone in my Bible study group and she said that when’s Lot’s wife looked back, she’d been so abhorred about the death and destruction that she’d witnessed that she froze, could not move, and perhaps the sulfur which the Lord had raining down from the sky, had fallen upon Lot’s wife, therefore turning her into a pillar of salt.

Another thought is, perhaps his wife just did not want to leave, and had to look back, to see what she was leaving behind. Lot and his family lingered so much that the angels had to take their hands and force them to leave!

Genesis 19:15-17

15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.

Lot and his family didn’t realize the gravity of their situation. Perhaps Lot’s wife really didn’t want to leave – and when the angels forced her to go, she went against her wishes. Perhaps, when she looked back, she was thinking about returning to her home, and to her friends who’d been left behind?

We can only speculate about this since the scriptures give us limited information about Lot’s wife. Far as I can tell, we don’t even know her name.

Why do you think Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt? Do you recall anything your pastor or Bible study teacher shared with you about this subject?

 

Sunday Brunch – The Tower Of Babel!

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Can you imagine, building a tower that stretches all the way to heaven?

I’m doing my Sunday Brunch post a little differently today. I’m posting a Bible verse, with my random thoughts and questions. My random thoughts/questions are in parenthesis.

Genesis 11:1-9 NIV:

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

(I find it hard to imagine grown people actually thinking they can build a tower that reaches to the heavens! I’m wondering if, back then, people weren’t conscious of boundaries since they didn’t have the luxury of science and technology? Did they look in the sky, see the clouds and not fathom how far away those clouds were? Did they think building to the clouds was the same as building to the heavens? Were the clouds much closer back then? Was heaven closer? If somebody, today, were to say they were building a tower to reach the moon – we’d be like, NO WAY! Just wondering what was going through people’s minds back then when they decided to build this tower.)

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

(I’m assuming the Lord confused their language first, before they scattered? Did they wake up one morning and nobody understood one another? I’m wondering if families were broken, separated, because of a sudden language barrier? I guess the Lord did not want them to build this tower because the entire task was impossible, and besides, that would take massive attention from the Lord, people would be more focused on building this impossible tower, instead of focusing on God. )

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. (I’m wondering how the Lord managed to scatter everybody. I’m assuming the people who spoke the same language, gathered together and migrated to a different part of the world?) 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

So, can you imagine, waking up one morning, and a whole city of people not understanding one another?

Sunday Brunch – Cain And Abel

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Why did God accept Abel’s offering? Why did the Lord reject Cain’s offering?

That’s a question that’s always puzzled me. The scriptures do not really give us a reason as to why this happened. Someone in my Bible study group pointed out that Cain’s offering was not the right kind of offering. However, there are other agricultural offerings in the Bible. I know they mention agricultural offerings in Deuteronomy.

Cain became enraged that the Lord rejected his offering, he became so mad that he killed his brother Abel. I was thinking that it was Cain’s bad attitude that cause the Lord to reject his offering.

So, why do you think God rejected Cain’s offering?

Genesis 4:2-5

New King James Version (NKJV)

2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

Sunday Brunch – Mandrakes!

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Do you know anybody who has eaten a mandrake?

According to my research, mandrakes are poisonous. They are a root plant, but, produces berry-like fruit. The only part of the mandrake that is not poisonous is the fruit. Supposedly, it’s an ancient remedy to help barren women produce children. This plant has also been used in magic and witchcraft practices.

I’m assuming, in the Bible, when Rachel barters with Leah, wanting some of Reuben’s (Leah’s son) mandrakes, that she was aware of the supposed remedy since Rachel was barren. I also assume that Leah and Rachel ate the berries, not the root since it’s poisonous. But, as I think about it, perhaps Rachel was NOT going to consume the mandrakes – perhaps she wanted to keep them as a symbol of fertility since she was a barren woman?

So, other than the biblical references, have you ever heard anybody talk about mandrakes? Have you ever known anybody who’s eaten the fruit of a mandrake? If so, how did it taste? Do you think Rachel and Leah consumed the berries of the mandrakes, or, did they keep the plants for another reason?

The reason why I’m writing this blog post is because, when I think of mandrakes, I think about the Bible. Then I’m led to wonder – why don’t I ever see mandrakes in the grocery store? Why don’t people ever mention eating them? For the longest time, I’d just assumed that they were a foreign plant, only sparingly available in the states, and that’s why I never saw them offered for consumption. But, now it makes sense as to why I don’t see them. They’re poisonous plants, and knowing this, I would not want to eat the berries even if they were offered. I guess you could call me paranoid, but, although the berries are not poisonous, I’d still be hesitant to eat them!

If somebody offered you a mandrake berry, would you eat it?

Genesis 30:14-16

New King James Version (NKJV)

14 Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?”

And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

16 When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night.

Sunday Brunch – The Animals!

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Were animals domesticated before the flood? After the flood, God told Noah and his family that they could eat the animals, and that the animals would fear them:

Genesis 9:2-3 New King James Version (NKJV)

2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.

When Noah took the animals onto the ark, I’m assuming the animals came willingly. He was able to easily capture the animals and lead them onto the ark.

If all animals were domesticated, then, I wonder about Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep – I’m assuming the sheep were used for their wool and for their milk? If animals were not allowed to be eaten before the flood, then I doubt Abel (or anybody else) consumed any of his flock? Abel only killed his sheep as sacrifices to God?

Genesis 4:2 New King James Version (NKJV)

2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

I guess it’s possible that the wool may have been used to make clothing for the few people living on the earth at that time?

These are just random ramblings that have been going through my head lately! Comment if you wish!

Sunday Brunch – Evicted From The Garden of Eden!

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Remember the scripture where Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden? The Lord placed cherubim with swords, guarding the garden so that Adam and Eve could not re-enter. I wonder, how long do you think those cherubim guarded the garden? After their eviction, Adam and Eve had to toil in the soil, work to make a living, and Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel. I wonder if those cherubim continued guarding the garden after Adam and Eve populated the earth? Do you think Adam and Eve told their kids about the garden, taking them over there, showing them where they sinned and, perhaps, their children saw the cherubim guarding the garden?

If you had to guess, how long do you think those cherubim stayed there? How long did the Garden of Eden exist before the Lord took it away? When I say ‘take it away’ I’m implying that the Garden of Eden no longer existed and the ground became like the rest of the earth.

Genesis 3:23-24

New King James Version (NKJV)

23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.