I’m a middle child. They say middle children are sometimes called the forgotten children. (I’m sure my daughter would agree!)
In the Bible, the firstborn child was the lucky one. Take Esau and Jacob: When Isaac died, Esau got two-thirds of his riches and Jacob got one-third. In every family, the firstborn would get twice as much as his siblings.
Esau was the firstborn; Jacob was a nobody.
Romans 9:13, “As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.’ ” Modern English Version
This verse confused me until I read Romans 9:25 in The Message…
“…I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved. In the place where they yelled out, ‘You’re nobody!’ they’re calling you ‘God’s living children.’ ” The Message
Genesis 25:28, tells us Isaac loved Esau. Esau was the firstborn and his father’s favorite. Jacob was nobody and unloved. But God changed that! God is “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Jacob is God’s living child and Esau was forgotten. God determined this before Esau and Jacob were born!
Genesis 25:23, “Then the Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from your body; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’ ” Modern English Version
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“What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don’t do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative….Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? Not so fast, please. God told Moses ‘I’m in charge of mercy. I’m in charge of compassion.’ Compassion doesn’t originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God’s mercy….’If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled “chosen of God,” they’d be numbers still, not names, salvation comes by personal selection. God doesn’t count us, he calls us by name…’ ” The Message
I serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…and Pamela.
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