THE MARRIAGES OF ISAAC AND JACOB

This 16th Post goes along with Gospel Doctrine lesson 10. Marriage in the Covenant. Take a look at some chiasms in The Marriages of Isaac and Jacob.

Abram lived in Haran (also called Padan-aram (Genesis 28:2 for example) and Aram-Naharaim (Bible Dictionary) until he was 75 years old. Haran is usually identified with Harran, a village in Turkey, but archaeologists have not positively connected the two.

In case you thought the words, sounding alike, meant something similar, Harran is said to be from an Akkadian word meaning "road", Haran (the place) is a Hebrew word that means "parched", and Haran (Abram's brother) is a Hebrew word that means "mountaineer".

When he was 75, Abram and Sarai moved about 450 miles southwest to Mamre. You can zoom in on Mamre and Harran, but you won't see much, not after 1900 years. Like Harran, the exact location of Mamre is disputed. Genesis 23:19 identifies it with Hebron itself.

Today, you can fly from Ben Gurion Airport to Sanliurfa Airport in 5 hours and 40 minutes. Either I've underestimated the distance, or they use very slow airplanes. Imagine how long it took to make that journey on foot or even in a camel caravan nineteen centuries ago.

Abraham sent his servant all the way back to Haran to get a worthy wife for Isaac. Genesis 24. The man's name is not given, but most Jewish and Christian sources say he was probably the Eliezer mentioned in Genesis 15:2. Abraham emphasized the importance of marriage in the covenant by going to so much trouble to get Rebekah.

Isaac Meeting Rebecca by Friedrich Bouterwek

Rebekah received a revelation about her unborn twin sons (Genesis 25:22–23). The elder boy would serve the younger boy. When these sons had grown up, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup (Genesis 25:29–34).

When the time came for Isaac to give the birthright blessing, Rebekah persuaded Jacob to trick Isaac, who was blind, into giving him the blessing instead of Esau (Genesis 27:1-29).

Jacob fled to Haran to his mother's family to avoid Esau's wrath (Genesis 27:41-46). In fact, Isaac sent him there and commanded him to marry one of his cousins (Genesis 28:1-5), again emphasizing the importance of marrying in the covenant.

Jacob served his uncle Laban for seven years in order to marry Rachel, and he got her sister Leah in the bargain (Genesis 29:1-30).

What are you doing to make your marriage more of a Covenant Marriage?

Don't forget to include reading the Book of Mormon in that effort.