A 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle

A series on the story of redemption – Part II
The story of Rebekah
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1-40 

[Everybody has a story. Even God has one. His is a story about love and redemption and faithfulness. In this series we are going to take a closer look at God’s story through the lives of the people that He touched. How their story became His story of redemption. And how your story is also a part of it.]

  

I hate puzzles. It doesn’t matter what kind it is… crossword, Wordle, Rubik’s Cube, Sudoku or jigsaw. However, recently I found myself addicted to working on a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of Spartan Stadium, where Michigan State plays football.

 

My strategy was to look for a scene that was identifiable and try to complete that section of the puzzle… piece by piece. Have you ever sorted through 1000 puzzle pieces that all seem to look alike? It can be tedious and frustrating! But when one of the pieces actually fits, you want to celebrate!

 

Life is like a puzzle. We have to problem solve all the time. If trying one way doesn’t work, then try another. Figure it out. Make it work. Take control. Do whatever you need to do in order to solve your problem. At least, that’s what Rebekah thought.

 

Rebekah was the wife of Isaac. Following their marriage, she was unable to conceive for twenty years. Finally, after Isaac pleaded with the Lord, she became pregnant. But during her pregnancy the babies jostled each other within her. When she asked the Lord why, his answer was unsettling.

 

²³ And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”    Genesis 25    NLT

 

Because of this, Rebekah was aware that the Lord’s plan to carry his covenant down through the generations involved Jacob, but not Esau. Many years later, she most likely learned about Esau trading his birthright for a meal. Knowledge is power.

 

When Isaac was old and frail, Rebekah overheard him tell Esau that he was going to give him his blessing. But the Lord had said that Jacob would carry the covenant. Plus, he was Rebekah’s favorite.

 

It would have been an easy step for her to think that she needed to take things into her own hands. With that thought in mind, she devised a plan to trick Isaac into blessing Jacob. More so than Jacob, Rebekah was the master manipulator.

 

But the Lord is sovereign, loving and faithful. His plans are fulfilled despite sinful people. In Romans 9, Paul wrote about God’s sovereignty. As an example, he used the story of Rebekah giving birth to Esau and Jacob.

 

¹¹ But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; ^12a he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.)        NLT

 

The Lord is a master puzzler. That is, he knows exactly where each piece of the puzzle goes. He knows how to make 1000 unique pieces fit perfectly for the picture to look proper. We may not understand it while he’s putting the puzzle together. But he is God, and we are not.

 

²⁰ But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?” ²¹ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?            NIV

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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