“The First Family” - Death dominates our news: the death of Breonna Taylor, the death of police officers shot during riots, the death of people infected with COVID-19, the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We return to our series in Genesis this week and come face to face with death: the death of Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, and the death of Isaac, the father with whom Jacob had such a difficult relationship. There is also grave sin in this passage that functions as a kind of death as a son tries to overthrow his father’s leadership. The “First Family” of the Bible, the heirs of the Abrahamic covenant, are a mess. Maybe they—to borrow another culturally relevant term—should just be “canceled.” But God is still at work—in the death and despair of Jacob’s family, God’s unseen hand is silently but inevitably moving the family forward, fulfilling his promise to them. Join us this Sunday as we are reintroduced to the First Family of the Bible and God’s mercy and grace in their lives.
As we return this fall to Genesis, we’ll be talking about how God works in and through the sinful actions of the characters in this section of the book to accomplish his will.
