Anneshaw

You explained rebellion well. It is doing what I want to do instead of doing as God commands. If Loving God is first in one's life, obeying Him will be what is in one's heart. Rebellion replaces God as the authority of one's life and exults self. Really, it is idolatry, the worship of self rather than God. To do this is arrogant and it produces more aggroance, pride. What to do? Confess, repent with godly sorrow and submit to the Lord. Have read the comparison in error before. Now I see that it is explained as a sin like witchcraft but not the same as. Both sin against God and replace His authority. "Blessed are thr poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Love the "allergic to Christian perfume" phrase. It is a challenge to deal with the animosity we as believers experience with increasing intensity. My prayer is to stay within God's will and receive His strength to live out His purposes. Staying in His word is critical for me to persevere. Thank you for opportunity to fill myself with the convictions of His word. ( Hebrews 10:35-36 ; Is 49:23) Hopefully, we can pray for one another to be the sweet fragrance of Christ in an angry world.

Favoritism always has difficult side effects. (anger, rejection, bitterness,feelings of not measuring up. etc) It is God's will that we love our children equally and bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Each child needs unconditional love. Never say, "I wish you were like your brother, sibling..." One may be more compliant and the other more difficult, but never is there an excuse to love one more than the other. Having said that, we are not perfect parents. When one child is more difficult than the other, we sometime find ourselves in that very position, sometimes struggling for right perspective.) It is the time to confess that attitude and seek God's guidance. (My husband says that we are only as happy as our most unhappy child. Just a thought.)

Actually, I think both Isaac and Rebekah were sensitive to spiritual things. Isaac knew God's promises, but possibly as he aged he was not as sharp. He had heard the prophesy about the twins. He should have been obedient. Rebekah prayed fervently about the struggle within her womb. She just took matters into her own hands, instead of letting God work out His plan. Am I not often that way? Impatient to wait on God to lead. Both Isaac and Jacob had a long way to go to be sensitive to spiritual things. Do not know if Esau ever came to that point, except Jacob exclaimed upon seeing Esau after 20 years , "to see your face is like seeing the face of God." Esau and Jacob were changed. Thank you for this study. It is very well done.