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NASB | Genesis 28:14 "Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 28:14 "Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and your descendants. [Gen 12:2, 3; 13:16; 22:18; 26:4; Acts 3:25, 26; Gal 3:8, 16] |
Bible Question: Why was Jacob blessed, and not punished, after decieving his farther. Thanks |
Bible Answer: This question reminds me of a book "In the beginning" by Karen Armstrong.She states her case pretty early on: there is no way to get a coherant understanding of God from reading Genesis. He is utterly contradictory -- creative and all-powerful in one story; vengeful and capricious in the next. This paradox has befuddled many of reader. I, for one, had come to think of Genesis as typical of the flawed meaninglessness of the Bible. But Armstrong has me reconsidering my conclusion. It seems clear, she says, that all the characters in Genesis have to endure afflictions and unfairness. Whether they are favored in God's eyes or not, their lives are difficult. A relationship with God doesn't spare them difficulties -- instead the meaning in their lives is derived in part by making it through their difficulties with their faith intact. The story of Jacob is no different in these respects. A close pondering of the scriptures illumines the mind to the realization of who God is. God is not the packaged spell that most use when in need of a miracle . God truly is a being of higher wisdom and purpose than we could ever fathom. We may question the motives of Divine Mind but we must also be prepared for the answers that he will surely give. In the case of Jacob the answer is "Life is unfair and sometimes its meant to be that way". |