A blessing? Esau hardly thought so. “Once dad has died,” he thought, “I’ll kill Jacob.” Anger gave way to revenge. Bitterness grew like a deep root in his heart, squeezing out his very life. He set his heart on killing his brother.

Time passed. Esau and Jacob died…but the bitterness lived on. Generations later Moses confronted the offspring from that root of bitterness. Esau fathered a son named Eliphaz. Eliphaz had a concubine, Timna who bore him a son. They named him Amalek. From Amalek, a people known as the Amalekites arose who became bitter enemies of Israel. Perhaps Amalek heard stories passed down from his father about Jacob’s deceit. Though Esau had forgiven Jacob (whose name had been changed to Israel), the anger and enmity between the Amalekites and the Israelites ran deep. The Hatfields and the McCoys were no match for the Israelites and the Amalekites. These cousins fought one another furiously.

Moses had just witnessed the parting of the Red Sea. Israel, pursued by an advancing army on one side and a raging sea on the other walked across on dry land. The same sea that became a dry bed for them swallowed Pharaoh’s army alive. Though the people had seen God’s hand in a mighty way, their celebration soon gave way to agitation when they ran out of food. They wished once more for the food of the Egyptians. Like Esau, their stomachs cried louder than the voice of their God. “Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

God’s response: manna and quail. Every evening, the quail flew into the Israelite camp. Each family had enough to fill their stomachs. The next morning, once the dew evaporated, fine flakes of delicious bread, fresh from God’s bakery, with a dash of honey taste. What more could they ask? Perhaps a light, fluffy croissant dripping with honey would compare.

God’s provision. In His faithfulness, He provided. They moved on to Rephidim. The very name means “rest.” And the Israelites must have needed rest. Tens of years in captivity had come to an end. A pursuing army, a parting sea and the stubborn Mediterranean climate had taken their toll. And they were thirsty.

Rephidim. A river valley. Along this valley tall palms grew in long groves providing shade and rest for all who entered. Cool streams of water mixed with the shade from the palms created the most fertile place in the land. Towering mountains provided much needed protection from the enemy. Rephidim. A place of rest and refreshment. Here the Israelites would be renewed, revived, restored. Here they would receive much needed energy and refreshment. Here, their cousins showed up—the Amalekites!

They attacked Israel at their weakest point. The sick, the faint, the weary were their targets. Those who straggled behind the great Israelite host were suddenly attacked. Amalek, whose grandfather Esau lost his birthright when he was weary, now used the same plan of attack against the Israelites. Ruthlessly, the Amalekites sought to destroy the Israelites. Cousins bitterly engaged in war.

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief, gathered the leftovers and slipped out of the room.

Esau rushed in. His food prepared to perfection, he awaited his father’s blessing. “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” Esau waited.

“Who are you?” Isaac questioned.

“I am your son, your firstborn,” Esau answered, carefully indicating that he had been born first, though only a few seconds before Jacob.

The news shocked Isaac. He trembled in his bed. “Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he will be blessed.”

The words pierced Esau like an arrow from his quiver. He cried out bitterly, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”

Isaac’s trembling body lay still. All that could be heard was Esau’s groaning and Isaac’s weakening voice, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.”

Esau, filled with rage, begged his father. “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing. Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

Isaac’s words stung like driving rain. “Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?”

Dignity gone. Self-respect relinquished. Esau begged. “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” Esau’s weeping could be heard through the entire village.

Isaac’s feeble voice penetrated Esau’s sobbing cries. “Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling. And away from the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve; but it shall come about when you become restless that you will break his yoke from off your neck.”

A blessing? Esau hardly thought so. “Once dad has died,” he thought, “I’ll kill Jacob.” Anger gave way to revenge. Bitterness grew like a deep root in his heart, squeezing out his very life. He set his heart on killing his brother.

Jacob served Esau for the last time. From now on, Esau would serve Jacob. With each swallow of the soup Esau’s birthright disintegrated into nothing. A full stomach gave way to an empty heart. Esau despised his birthright.

Years passed. Esau continued to hunt and his father continued to favor him. Jacob perfected his bean soup. Isaac aged. His eyesight grew dim. Death lurked just around the corner.

One day. So much happens in a day. Isaac called Esau into his quarters. “I am old and do not know the day of my death. Now, then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

Esau’s heart jumped for joy. A glimmer of hope shed new light on the emptiness. Though he did not have his birthright, at least he would receive the blessing. He readied his bow, filled his quiver with arrows, dressed in his best camouflage and headed straight for hunting ground.

Rebekah overheard the entire conversation. Her favor for Jacob overshadowed her respect for her husband. Her plan became her priority. Quickly she summoned Jacob, informed him of Isaac’s intention to give Esau the blessing and instructed him to choose two young goats from the flock. She would prepare one of Isaac’s favorite dishes and Jacob would carry it into him and receive the blessing.

“But mama,” Jacob replied, “Esau is hairy and I am smooth. What if my father feels me and discovers that I have deceived him. I will be a deceiver in his sight and receive a curse, not a blessing.”

“Do what I say,” Rebekah scolded. Jacob conceded.

Once again the pleasing aroma of a simple cooked meal paved the way for Jacob to receive what rightly belonged to Esau. He stepped into his father’s room.

“Father.”

“Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

“Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me.” Jacob hesitated—shocked by a shiver of fear. “Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me.”

Esau had never gotten game so quickly and prepared it so wonderfully. Isaac hesitated.

“How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?”

Jacob continued resolutely in his deception. “Because the Lord your God caused it to happen to me.”

Isaac hesitated again. Something wasn’t right about this and he couldn’t put his finger on it. “Come close that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

Jacob’s heart skipped a beat.   Did Isaac know? He feared his father’s curse if his true identity were revealed. He walked timidly toward his father, arranging the goatskin that now graced his hands and neck so that his father would touch the hairy hands of Esau.

“The voice is the voice of Jacob,” Isaac stammered, “But the hands are the hands of Esau.”

Isaac blessed Jacob.

Another moment of doubt. “Are you really my son Esau?” Isaac asked.

Another lie. “I am.”

Jacob served Rebekah’s best. Young goat marinated in deception. Wine aged by dishonesty. An aging father, a desperate son, a doting mother and a deceitful brother. A recipe for disaster.

Isaac’s tired voice broke the silence. “Come close and kiss me my son.”

Jacob approached his father—again—and kissed him. The smell of the fresh goatskins pleased Isaac.

“See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine; may peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you; be master of your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.”

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief, gathered the leftovers and slipped out of the room.

Sometimes God’s greatest characteristics shine through life’s darkest moments. In a four part series, you’ll discover Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our Banner. You will be surprised at the unseemly form the banner ultimately took–and totally grateful.

Twins. Not one child, but two. And though they came from the same womb, they grew to be worlds apart. Their names are probably familiar to you. Esau, born first, loved to hunt. Isaac, his father, loved him for it. Jacob, riding out of the womb on the heel of Esau, hung out at the tents—a homebody of sorts. Rebekah loved him.

Esau could hunt, Jacob cook. Esau was passionate, emotional and sporadic. Jacob, cunning and deceitful. Isaac kept on loving Esau, Rebekah continued to favor Jacob.

One day. How a day changes everything. Esau, as the firstborn owned the birthright. He owned it for no other reason than the fact he was born first. As owner of the birthright, he knew that several privileges awaited him at his father’s death. First of all, he would receive twice as much of his father’s property as any other heir. His wealth was secure. Second, he received authority over the other family members. He became the new patriarch, the newly respected leader of the family. His authority would be in tact. Finally, he would receive the much-desired blessing from the father which secured his relationship with Almighty God. His spiritual heritage was pronounced. All because he owned the birthright.

One day. Esau came home from the field—exhausted, famished, weary. Almost home, he smelled lunch. Jacob was practicing his culinary arts again. The aroma of the freshly cooked stew floated through the dry desert air. Esau’s empty stomach screamed for food. His tired, aching body begged for relief. His mind listened to nothing else but their voices.

“Jacob, please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished,” Esau begged.

Jacob had plenty of time to fill his stomach and his heart with a devious plan. Seeing Esau’s desperate condition, he went for the jugular.

“First, sell me your birthright.”

Esau’s eyes grew larger than his stomach. Hunger overwhelmed him. Forgetting that in his father’s house was plenty of food, in his father’s house were servants who could have responded to his request for food, he chose a swallow of lentil soup— a simple stew of red beans. Where he could have enjoyed a leg of lamb, he gulped a mouthful of beans. When he could have feasted at Isaac’s table, he begged at his brother’s trailside soup kitchen. Overcome with emotion, Esau responded:

“Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?”

Jacob, wanting to clearly understand that he had so easily won the coveted birthright asked Esau for further assurance. “Swear to me.” The steam from the bean soup slowly wafted to Esau’s nostrils. Swearing that Jacob could have his birthright, Esau lunged for the bowl of soup.

Jacob served Esau for the last time. From now on, Esau would serve Jacob. With each swallow of the soup Esau’s birthright disintegrated into nothing. A full stomach gave way to an empty heart. Esau despised his birthright.

Not only is He Elohim the creator God, and Elohim the covenant God; He is Elohim, the God who is three in One. His voice resonates through the shining new creation, “Let us make man in our image.” In that instant, He confers with the Son and the Spirit. Their decision is unanimous. As a matter of fact, their decision is always unanimous. This is the Dream Team. They never disagree—never. Elohim is plural, yet consistently One.

In those early days, when the earth didn’t know the footprints of a man, where three-day old tigers explored newly created jungles, Elohim made a decision. Looking at His Son He said, “Let us make man.” Jesus, knowing that Eve would choose a bite of fruit over the sweetness of eternal bliss, said yes. Jesus, knowing that man’s failure would require His faithfulness, said yes. Jesus, understanding man’s proclivity toward sin and his eventual need for a personal Savior, said yes. No other team has ever worked like Elohim. Though He is three in One, He is One in three. There is no dissension, no difficulty. He is Elohim—creator, covenant-maker, and Christ.

In that moment of decision, Jesus looked across the years and saw you. He saw you cry in your mother’s arms. He watched you take your first steps. He witnessed your first spanking. He saw the tears of your mother when she left you at school for the very first time. He enjoyed your first basketball game, and the trophy, too! He cringed when you looked at your friend’s Algebra paper, hurt when you laughed at your poorly dressed neighbor. He wept when you went too far with your girlfriend. His heart broke when you said His name—and you weren’t talking to Him.

At that moment, He knew that creation would cause his crucifixion.

He looked across the years and saw the cross. He felt the tearing of the flesh as the whip tore into his back. He heard his own groans as he lifted the cross to his shoulders. He jerked when the nail ripped apart his wrist. He looked into the eyes of the one holding the hammer—and saw you!

“Let us make __________________________.” You fill in the blank. Write your name there. He knew what you would do to him, that one day you would hold the hammer; one day you would drive the nail. In total submission to the Father, He said, “Yes.”

Elohim. Amazingly consistent. Faithful One. He is the Creator God, the Coming Christ, and the Comforting Spirit. Jesus now sits at the right hand of God. He proclaimed with his death, “It is finished!” Never again will he face the cry of the crowd. Never again will he flinch as the hair is pulled from his face. Never again will he cry from a cross in desperate loneliness. The work has been done—the awesome task completed.

He didn’t leave you comfortless, though. You don’t fight this battle alone. No! The Holy Spirit, that third person of the Trinity, leads the way. He goes before you, is behind you, and lives within you. Jesus Himself said, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17, NAS)

What a team! That’s Elohim. He started this thing called life. He redeemed your life. And He continues to make life possible through living inside you.

Before you read any further, stop and take inventory. Have you ever met a God who cares so much? Did you know that your Creator can be your Savior? Do you know Him personally? Need a friend, a guide? In this world of psychic powers and astrological predictions, looking for the sure thing? The real thing? Read no further. He is the way, the truth the life.

Bow your head, humble your heart and call out to Him right now. Ask Him to come into your heart and change your life. Pray this prayer. Elohim, Creator, Christ, Comforter, waits to hear from you—his most prized creation.

Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I need your forgiveness for my sins. I believe you died on the cross for my sins. I believe you were raised from the dead three days later and that you will return. I surrender my life to you. Forgive me of my sins. Change my life. Thank you for loving me.