Genesis 25:21-24 “Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea and Rebekah his wife conceived. (22) But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the Lord. (23) And the Lord said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger." (24) So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.”
One of the mechanisms that God used to form nations is revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, which was the birthing of nations through the descendants of a patriarch; for in this passage God told Rebekah that the twins she was carrying would in fact become two separate nations. The twins born to Isaac and Rebekah were Jacob and Esau, and we know from scripture that Jacob became the father of the nation of Israel while Esau became the father of the nation of Edom. God used this particular method for forming nations when the earth was still relatively sparsely populated and families could develop into clans or tribes, eventually growing sufficiently in number to becoming fully fledged nations. God no longer employs this method however, as the earth has become fully occupied by the nations that are currently on the earth and there are no longer “empty” spaces for patriarchs of families to move into and develop over time into becoming newly formed nations.
Michael E.B. Maher
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