This week’s reading: Genesis 27:1-40
Hi Friends,
Tensions continue in the Isaac household this week, as everyone is trying to manipulate their own way towards getting what they want. Let’s see what each member of this family might be thinking. We will talk about doing the right thing the wrong way. Spoiler alert: that only leads to more problems. And we will also talk about the birthright again, and this time, distinguishing it from the blessing the father would give their sons. We are in Genesis chapter 27, reading verses 1 through 40. First, let’s listen to how Rebekah tries to control the situation.
“Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son, Jacob, ‘Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, “Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.” Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice, young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.’” Gen 27:5-10 NIV
Manipulation. It’s like a soap opera in our reading this week! Isaac trying to make his favored child the one to get the birthright, even though God has already said it would go to his youngest. Esau trying to get back what he carelessly gave away, counting on his father’s favoritism. Rebekah eavesdropping and then planning how to thwart Isaac’s intentions with her own dose of deception. And Jacob lying to get Esau’s blessing and thus confirming the birthright he had previously tricked his older brother out of. Oh my! Let’s see what we can learn from all this, besides the reality that, this side of Heaven, there will always be drama in families. Kind of makes us feel a little better about our own conflicts, doesn’t it? So let’s take this one family member at a time.
Isaac. First we hear how Isaac was much older at this point. His eyesight had become so extremely poor that he was legally blind. He knows his time in this world is coming to an end, so he wants to make sure his preferred son, Esau, is made the head of the household. He calls Esau to his bedside and tells him to go out and hunt some wild game for him, then use it to prepare his favorite meal. Side note: what is it with these men and their hunger causing them to make such foolish choices? I am sure Rebekah had sharedwith Isaac, and maybe even the boys, the prophecy God had given her about placing Jacob ahead of Esau, so why is Isaac trying to ignore God’s order of things here? Sometimes God, in His Wisdom, will ordain things to work in such a way that might seem wrong to us in our limited understanding. But when God says something will happen, He always has a great purpose in that plan, and so, it will happen whether we cooperate or not. Isaac knows he came about in a miraculous way. Recollect how his mother, Sarah, was well past her physical ability to conceive a child, and his father, Abraham, was way too old as well? (see Gen 18:10-12) Isaac has experienced God’s Mercy. Remember the hike up to Mount Moriah with his father, Abraham? (see Gen 22:11-14) Isaac has been blessed by God’s choice in the right life partner. Recall how Abraham’s chief servant was guided to Rebekah by the leading of the Lord? (see Gen 24:12-16) Isaac had been rescued from his own foolishness when he moved to escape the land’s famine. Don’t forget his fear which caused him to attempt deception of the leaders in the foreign land he moved to. (see Gen 26:6-7) And of course, Isaac had received so very many blessings from God, not only in wealth, but much more importantly in God appearing to Isaac at least twice. Go read how God spoke directly to Isaac, confirming and passing on His promise to Isaac. (see Gen 26:13-14; Gen 26:2-5; Gen 26:24) Isaac knew God. He had built an alter to honor Him and called on the Name of the Lord. (see Gen 26:25) There was intimacy there. A real relationship which Isaac sought to follow and obey throughout his life. So why does he try to manipulate God’s Plan so that it aligns with his own will more? Or why do we do the same, my Friends? It is futile to try to alter God’s Will. God is Sovereign. God is Omniscient. God is All-powerful. We fool ourselves when we think we can control every aspect of our lives. We must understand, if God allowed that, we would be in so much more of a mess! It is God’s Love that causes Him to be in charge of what happens in our lives. It is our choice to decide HOW we will react or respond to what God Wills. Yes, there are things we must do and God will lead us to those as well, but Isaac tries to get his way. And so do we. Praise God He understands us children, and never abandons us. Where would we be without God’s Faithfulness?!
Esau. After Isaac calls this favored son to his side and gives him instructions, Esau seems more than happy to comply. He knows if his father will give him the blessing, that it may reverse his former foolishness in selling the great gift of his birthright. Recall that the birthright was a big deal. It determined who would be the head of the family as well as give them the privilege of receiving a double portion of the father’s wealth. This was a gift from God that usually went to the firstborn son…but not always as we have seen. If that son is foolish and sins against the father and God, like Esau did, it is not automatically given to that son. This son was to carry on the family name, which later was also tied to receiving property and position within the tribes of Israel. This son would be the one the whole family relied on to bring them one step closer to the fulfillment of the promise God had given Abraham, that his descendants would take possession of the land they were currently foreigners in. Again, I’m trying to emphasize what a huge honor this God-given gift was to the son. And remember how Esau treated it with such little respect that he sold it to his younger brother for a bowl of stew! Ok, let me make this more realistic for you and me. Let’s say your dad was a billionaire and you were his firstborn child who would normally receive a double portion of his estate, plus the rights of managing all the rest of the families assets. But then you were really hungry one day and you traded all that in for a bowl of chili. Ok. I think I am seeing why God prefers Jacob over Esau. Esau was kind of a brute of a man, so impulsive that he did not use his God-given mind to think things through. I am sure the whole family knew that he had cared nothing about the birthright and blew it away because he was too impatient to wait to make his own meal. He also had disappointed his father and mother by marrying two Canaanite women, without consulting them. This was another disrespectful act towards God, because he didn’t care if his wives, either of them, knew or followed the God of his father. He basically just wanted what he wanted and to heck with God, his parents or any of the gifts he should rightly have. It might sound like I’m really beating Esau up here, but I am really thinking about us, God’s Church, right now. Do we give up privileges, gifts and blessings too? Every time we choose, freely and willingly choose, to follow this world instead of doing the right thing, we are acting exactly like Esau! We are disrespecting God, not acting like the children we are supposed to be in Christ, and giving this world a bad image of who God is. We are despising our birthright, my Friends, and if we do not repent and turn back to God as a Church, then we too are being brute-like and acting as if God is not important in our lives. Esau thinks he can win back his big honor through his father’s blessing, but his actions have already sealed his fate. I pray we still have the opportunity to turn things around for the Church. Listen to what God desires, and what He will do if we obey: “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2Chron 7:14) We still have the choice here, my Friends. God has not given up on us yet. Where would we be without God’s Patience?!
Rebekah. We can see she really held on to the promise God had given her about her two boys. She knows what God said, and in her defense, will not allow things to turn out any other way. Rebekah is listening at the door when Isaac is talking to Esau, and she knows what Isaac is up to, and steps in. She calls Jacob and comes up with her own plan. Deception. Maybe she learned this from her husband, huh? He had lied about her identity so that he would not be killed by his foreign neighbors, so what’s the problem, right? She probably knew Isaac would not listen to her pleas for her favorite son, the younger Jacob. And when I say “younger,” he most likely was only a couple of minutes younger. Esau and Jacob were twins, remember? It is not like Esau had many more years of wisdom under his belt. As a matter of fact, we already talked about his foolish heart. She knew what God had promised. She knew that Jacob was the one God chose to lead the family. I am sure she had no idea about the Messiah eventually coming from his lineage, but she knew Jacob was the chosen one. And so she too plans to trick her husband. She has either been thinking about this for quite some time, or she really was quick on her feet, because the scheme seems flawless. She has an answer for everything. “Go get two of the best goats from the flock so I can cook them up just the way dad likes them, “ she says. “Then you go to your father and pretend to be Esau and get that blessing!” When Jacob get scared of getting caught, she tells him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” (Gen 27:13) Rebekah remembers God’s words to her and trusts it so much that she is willing to risk the wrath of her husband, in order to see it come to pass. Since Esau had already sold his birthright, Rebekah is not so wrong in wanting Jacob to get the blessing…but her way of doing so was most definitely wrong. Very often we can sincerely want to help someone else, but if what we do is done at the wrong time, with the wrong motives or with the wrong attitude, it is not helpful at all. For instance, saying the right thing, but with a prideful, holier-than-thou attitude, will not cause the other person to receive it well. Even if we think we are doing the right thing, we will only end up hurting them instead of helping. Here Rebekah may think she is doing the right thing, but if she has to lie about it, then it is not done in a godly way. I spoke about this last week. Sometimes we take lying way too casually. Even this mentality of: “It’s only a white lie- I’m not hurting anyone” is not godly. Twisting the truth. Speaking in half-truths. Omitting part of the truth. All of these are lies. Do we see this? God is Truth. Jesus always, and only, spoke Truth, so anything less than that is ungodly. One of the many jobs of the Holy Spirit is to lead us into all truth. I say again, God is Truth. Hey, I get it. I struggle with this too. I am not saying we will be perfect at this, but when we do not admit it is wrong? When it is something as blatant as what is going on here with Rebekah and Jacob? We have to call it what it is. Her “sort of right motives” do not justify her actions. Yet God saw it coming, didn’t He? Lying is never right, but praise God He works it all together for our good. (Ro 8:1) While He never condones, He certainly understands that we are just not going to get it all right, all the time. Where would we be without God’s Mercy?!
Jacob. When his mother calls him, he dutifully goes to her. When his mother tells him what is going on, and how she wants to manipulate things for his benefit, note how he does not say, “Oh no, mother! We cannot deceive father!” No. This is his concern, listen: “But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.” (Gen 27:11-12) Jacob isn’t hesitating because he would be lying. He is worried about getting caught in the lie, and then having to deal with the bad consequences of it all. I love how he actually says, “I would APPEAR to be tricking him.” Appear? Dude, that is exactly what you’d be doing! You tricked your brother, and now you would be tricking your father too. Both times stealing what rightfully should have been your brother’s. Ok, let me calm down a bit. Excuses. We all use them. When we lie, we make up some other kind of lie to justify the first one. As Sir Walter Scott said, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” The problem is Jacob, and us when we lie, are sowing bad seeds. We will see in the future how Jacob ends up reaping from these poor choices. Here’s a truth that we must understand: God is not obligated to protect us when we do things in ungodly, and so, disobedient ways. Yes, praise God, He does protect us many times from our own foolishness. Again we talked about that last week. But God is not obligated to do so. And because of that, for our own good, sometimes He lets us fall on our face! I can remember a time when I was acting horribly. I was being disobedient to God and acting like a complete spoiled child, because of something that had happened that I just did not want to deal with. In other words, I was having a tantrum and did not want to speak to God. I turned my back on Him and…well, He let me know, in no uncertain terms, that that was simply not acceptable! You see, after several weeks of my bad attitude…several weeks, for crying out loud!… I just happened to go grocery shopping with my husband, Joe. While we were in the store, it started pouring rain. He was a complete gentleman, and went to get the car so I wouldn’t have to walk in the rain and get wet. He has a truck so I had to hold on to the handrail and pull myself up into the seat, when…almost in slow motion, I could feel my hand slipping off the handle and bang! Down I fell, slamming my hip on the ground, right into a puddle of water, right in front of the store with other people watching. Talk about embarrassing! As I quickly got myself up and back into the car, I clearly heard God whisper in my heart…thankfully with humor in His Voice, “When you disobey Me, Child, I am not obligated to protect you.” Wow! Lesson learned…well, lesson received anyway. I’m still learning it. Of course, God did protect me because I could have broken my hip the way I crashed on the ground, but I didn’t. The only thing that was slightly bruised was my Pride…and that is a good thing! I don’t share this with you because I am proud of what happened, but because I want us to learn that God desires us to be humble, and when we choose to act in Pride instead, we are heading for trouble. Jacob needs to get this Pride in check as well, and we will continue to read how God accomplishes this very thing. Where would we be without God’s Forgiveness?!
Birthright and blessing. So we have been talking about the birthright for quite some time. Now we read about the blessing. So what’s the difference? Listen to this excerpt from gotquestions.org: “While a birthright belonged to the firstborn son, anyone could receive a blessing. In the time of the patriarchs, such blessings acted as a ‘last will and testament’ and were highly prized as a means of revealing God’s will.” https://www.gotquestions.org/blessing-birthright.html While the birthright was given to the son that would lead the family in the future, the blessing, acting like the father’s “Last Will and Testament,” would confirm the father’s choice of who would lead. The father could, and would, give blessings to each of his sons, but Isaac was intending on giving Esau the blessing to confirm him as the leader of the family. That blessing would, in essence, make the birthright legally his. So had Isaac given that blessing to Esau, Esau would be stealing his birthright back from Jacob. He would be the leader and have the double portion of the estate. But God knew his faithless heart and would not allow it. God wanted someone who, even though he was far from perfect, would eventually surrender himself to God as his Lord. Spoiler alert: this is what Jacob does after many, many years of trying to manipulate his own way. My Friends, as born again believers in Christ, we too have been given a birthright. And by God’s Grace, He also has confirmed this eternal destiny with the sealing blessing of the Holy Spirit. God does not leave things to chance. He has a Plan and He will make sure His Plan comes to fruition. It is because He is our Good, Good Father, who so loves us, that we can rest in Him and seek to follow Him, as closely as we choose to. He will help us every step of the way because: God is Faithful. God is Patient. God is Merciful. God is Forgiving. I praise Him for never giving up on me. I thank Him for continuing to teach me to become more and more like Jesus. And I worship Him for all these holy character traits, and so much more. I pray I will never discover the depths of my love for God, but by His Grace, that I will simply continue to fall deeper and deeper in love with my Savior, Lord and King into all Eternity. This fills me with Hope. This fills me with a strong sense of Joy. This fills me with that Peace that surpasses understanding. And all that makes my life more and more abundant. Want that too? Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
