LIFE SCRIPTS

1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau. Genesis 28:1‭-‬5 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.28.1-5.NIV.

Jacob was commissioned and sent forth by his father Isaac to the land of Padan Aram to the household of Laban. In verse 1, Isaac makes a decree to Jacob not to marry from among the Canaanite people. However, scripture is silent as to whether Esau was warned by his parents not to engage the people of Canaan in marriage. The words of a parent shape the destiny of the children. Jacob took heed of the words from his father as he headed out from his father’s house. Verses 3 and 4 speak about blessings Isaac released to Jacob as he headed out. This is very significant since the blessings Jacob had received before were out of deceit. However, now, he was a recipient of blessings that were meant for him from his father. Infact, Isaac even prayed for the blessings of Jacob to be like those given to Abraham. Isaac was speaking words of prophecy over his son Jacob. He was releasing him with a blessing over his life. Not just a blessing obtained through deceit but one he meant from his heart. Indeed he had a choice to be angry at his son for the wrong he had done. However, as a loving father, his last words to his son were a blessing over his life. The relationship between Isaac and Jacob highlights the struggles of a typical father-son relationship. When Jacob was growing, he was the darling of his mother yet Isaac loved Esau. When Jacob was about to depart to Padan Aram, it was his mother who put the word for him. However ultimately, Isaac blessed and released his son in love. As fathers and sons, our relationship with each other is at times chequered. There are men who’ve never seen their fathers, others who’ve had absentee fathers yet others who’ve suffered from being discriminated against as children. There are also others who’ve wronged their fathers and hurt them. This story of Isaac and his son Jacob points us towards reconciliation between fathers and sons. When fathers and sons forgive each other, the Lord blesses them. When fathers choose to overlook the wrongs committed on them by their sons but choose to bless them in their lives, God honors it. It doesn’t matter how wayward the son is. Father wounds may run deep. But as God guides us, it’s not in our interest to hold a grudge against our fathers but to forgive and release them. Some of us have no memory of our fathers yet some of us are people who’ve inflicted these wounds to our children. May God lead us as sons to forgive our fathers for wrongs committed on us and for us as father’s to seek forgiveness from God and our sons and daughters and to seek to play a part in their lives where it is practical. God commands a blessing when families unite and reconcile (Psalms 133).