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Who Is The Good Guy
Who Is The Good Guy
So who is the good guy in these stories? Jacob? He was a deceiver, a liar, a cheat. Esau? He proved himself to be worldly, rebellious toward parents, and revengeful. Laban? The sons of Jacob?
God chose them, but for a purpose. It was NOT because of the righteousness nor their superior godly character (that should be obvious to anyone who has just read these stores, but just in case you doubt this, read Deut. 9:4-6 at the end of this article). Rather, it was God who is the good guy in that through all of this He is working to bring the promised seed – a savior for sinful men. In all of this working of God, men continue to have their freedom. God’s word of promise though will not be denied! Their unfaithfulness will not cause God to be unfaithful to what He promised.
As our story progresses, we will continue to see such men being used. God is God, not me. God is in control, even when it doesn’t look like it. God’s instructions really are for man’s good, as you see when time after time men strike out on their own only to end up with a life that is a mess. As you sit being the ‘onlooker’, you can keep muttering “if only they would have….”
Paul wrote that these are written that we might learn NOT to make such choices in our lives (1 Cor. 10:6). Our lives are to be centered upon God. Whatever we do is to be done to the glory of God. We are to have the mind of Christ. We are to be pursuing holiness and godliness, hungering and thirsting after being right with God. So, are you one of God’s people? Are you learning anything from reading of these people long ago?
Hugh DeLong
Deuteronomy 9:4-6 4 "Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, 'Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,' but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. 5 "It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 "Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people.
