Devotionals

LIVING WITH REGRET Facing our Past Mistakes

by Henry Jaegers
10/23/20
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LIVING WITH REGRET

Facing our Past Mistakes
By Henry Jaegers

For thy violence against thy brother, Jaco shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut off forever. For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast has done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon Thine own head. 16. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. (Obadiah 11,15,16) 

The verses that I have chosen I have done so with a purpose. As we are coming close to the end of the book of Obadiah, I would like to spend some time talking about a subject that I think is crucial. I am sure all of us at times fear for the future of our children. It is a strategy of Satan to continually bring up the failures of the past, even though God has forgiven and forgotten them, but somehow Satan delights in not letting us forget. 

The verses before we express a sad outcome for Esau's wrong choices. He chose to live a godless life, despite the example that the parents set before him. If Isaac and Rebekah lived to read these words, there would have been sorrow upon sorrow placed upon them. God in his mercy keeps us from seeing that.

They probably would have been quite happy to see that Jacob and Esau shortly after the death of his parents did reconcile and live at peace with each other. But like Isaac and Rebekah, Esau also must have made some choices that he regretted. Again, this is an argument from silence. But this hostility expressed here is not the hostility that had taken place the last time we saw Jacob and Esau together. As a fact, although the disunity between Jacob and Esau was not completely visited, the lingering effects that they failed to deal with, traced forward, perhaps, as we think of it, to several generations. The problems that Esau had were made worse by those who followed him later. 

I remember Bill Gothard saying something, that was somewhat of a concern to me while I was raising my young children. He said "what we do in moderation, our children do in excess. And I think he was thinking about Esau when he made this statement. Although it is something to be concerned about, this is not necessarily a word of prophecy to be fulfilled. Things don't always turn out like that. Remember, our loving God is still in control and can cause these things not to happen as well. More to come!  For healthy, happy families, I think this is a concern that we all have. 

Although my treatment of these verses is not necessarily good Bible exposition, I have intended to be devotional and practical. I cannot leave this book without giving some attention, especially to parents whose children chose to follow a different direction from their parents.

Going back to Isaac and Rebekah, as they watched their children grow and develop, do you think that they exercised similar concerns over the choices that the children would make? Although it is an argument from silence, the fact is, towards the end of their lives this hostility between Jacob and Esau was a concern enough that Rebecca took steps to protect Jacob from the anger of his brother. They had reason to be concerned and they did what they could to try to resolve this problem. 

As they faced the end of their lives, I wonder if they were tempted by Satan in blaming them for showing favoritism to their sons. That is not necessarily a sin, but things that people do unconsciously. It's part of being human. Is it possible that Satan tried to bring guilt upon them for this? This is equally, something to think about!