The law of unintended consequences.

Good Tuesday morning and I do hope you are finding plenty of reasons to be thankful on this November 10, 2009. While the law of unintended consequences is not a scientific law, it is an observable outcome that happens whenever an action that was originally intended to accomplish one purpose actually produces many others that were not known at the time. It is also a very prominent biblical principle that we all would do well to take into consideration. Our Bible study class has been working through the Book of Genesis since January and we are now studying the life of Jacob. Jacob was a momma’s boy and his older brother, Esau, was a daddy’s boy. God had informed Rebekah, the mom, that the younger would one day rule the elder. Therefore, when Isaac, the dad, who was losing his eyesight, sought to confer the Abrahamic blessing upon Esau as the elder, mom intervened to have Jacob deceptively steal the blessing from Esau. The details read like a modern soap opera as Jacob dressed up in Esau’s clothes and put goatskin on his neck and hands to imitate the feel and smell of his brother. In addition, Jacob, following his mother’s detailed advice, openly lied several times as well as even invoking God into his devilish plan. But, in the end while God’s prophetic word was accomplished in seeing the younger receive the blessing in place of the eldest, that was certainly not the end of the story.

Rebekah may have thought she was doing God’s will but she had no idea of the consequences that came about because of trying to operate outside the clear boundaries of right and wrong. Esau was rightfully enraged by what had happened and looked for a convenient opportunity to do away with Jacob. Mom was very worried for Jacob’s safety so she again misled Isaac by saying Jacob needed to find a wife from her people and he agreed and sent Jacob away. Yes, it was God’s will that he marry from the Abrahamic family, but again; the deception was her choice, not God’s. Some today look at the overall outcome many years later and say perhaps that is the way God had intended it to play out. That would mean that God condones evil, for any reason, and that cannot be true because He clearly has said that He can do no evil, nor will He ever tempt anyone to do evil. (See James Chapter 1.) We could say that He accomplished His purpose despite the shenanigans of Rebekah and Jacob.

Some might say it was a mother’s love that drove Rebekah to do what she did, therefore, she shouldn’t be blamed. However, it was God who had informed her that Jacob would inherit the blessings promised to Abraham, therefore, it was up to Him to do it in His own way and in His own time. Her connecting of the dots based on feelings and emotions only brought about years of misery and heartache for herself and for her beloved son Jacob. This is not a fairy tale story. It is a picture of real people living out life and making decisions that carry with them --- consequences. Jacob and Rebekah had no idea they would soon be separated and suffering but that is where the unintended consequences of their actions came home to roost. Any of us can do the very same thing, today! That’s right. We need to be reminded from this account of how critical it is that we do life, with God’s help, not only according to His will, but also according to His ways. A decision today can have tremendous consequences later and this is a sobering reminder for us all. May God help us to take this to heart. Amen. ……More later.