Now it came to pass, when
Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called
Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”
And
he answered him, “Here I am.”
2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not
know the day of my death. 3 Now therefore, please take your
weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for
me. 4 And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to
me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
Isaac wasn’t exactly on his deathbed, but he was
making his last will and testament known while he was still able to do so. He probably learned the need for good advance
planning from his father Abraham’s
experience making funeral arrangements for his wife (Genesis 23).
Now
Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. . . (Genesis 27:5).
It’s possible that Rebekah was coincidentally
passing by when she heard the exchange between Isaac and Esau. It’s also possible she was eavesdropping like
her mother-in-law had done (Genesis 18:10).
But, considering that Isaac was blind and Rebekah would’ve been his
chief caregiver, it’s most likely that mother Rebekah was present as a witness
to Isaac’s plans to declare Esau’s inheritance.
Isaac trusted Rebekah, expecting her to
fulfill the role of the dutiful wife not to assert her own plan for the
inheritance but he underestimated his wife.
(Underestimating women is a recurring theme throughout the Bible.) Rebekah had her own plans (Genesis 27:6 - 17).
If you read verses 6-17, you have to appreciate the tactical complexity of
Rebekah’s arrangements: Goats. Not sheep
or cattle because the fur had to be of a specific texture. Kid goats.
Not adults because the meat would be more tender and the hairs would be
finer and closer to the texture on Esau’s body. Two kid goats, not one because one wouldn’t
supply enough fur to cover all Jacob’s upper body.
The goats had to be killed, cleaned, skinned,
and cooked. That would take hours. Cleaning, preparing, and sewing the hides
into form- fitting gloves and a sleeved turtleneck: that would take many more hours, maybe
days. The process would have involved a large pile
of supplies, multiple work stations, and a small army of servants skilled in
cooking, tanning and sewing who were all absolutely loyal to Rebekah. And, all of this had to get done in less time
than it would take Esau to complete a hunt at that particular time of year in
that particular terrain.
The logistics indicate that Rebekah had
planned and prepared for this specific contingency, and since she didn’t
foreknow this specific situation we can infer that Rebekah had multiple plans
for multiple scenarios to make sure her favorite son received the greater
inheritance.
Isaac, Esau, and Jacob never stood a chance.
As you examine the scene of Jacob in full
Esau costume lying to his old, blind father, keep in mind that the whole sad,
complicated performance in Genesis 27 was unnecessary.
A) Jacob shouldn’t have and shouldn’t have
had to lie about being the firstborn son because he was legally entitled to the
firstborn’s birthright. In Genesis
25:33, Esau sold that right to Jacob.
And B) Before the twins were born, the Lord
had declared that Jacob would dominate Esau.
With or without Isaac’s cooperation, God would have fulfilled His
word. Rebekah had heard the the stories
of Sarah, Hagar, and Isaac’s older brother.
She should’ve learned that our deceptive scheming complicates rather
than advances God’s plan for us.
We do so many sad, complicated, unnecessary things.
Still, gotta respect Rebekah’s timing. Now it
happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely
gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in
from his hunting. (Genesis 27:30).
But before you throw away your “I love
Rebekah” t-shirts, remember verse 36. And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named
Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright,
and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not
reserved a blessing for me?”
When Esau acknowledged that Jacob deserved
the birthright of the firstborn, Isaac didn’t flinch --- because he already
knew. Everybody knew. Rebekah hadn’t concocted a scheme to trick
Isaac because her husband didn’t know Jacob was prophetically and legally
entitled to the birthright. Rebekah
concocted a scheme to trick her husband because was going to give the birthright
to Esau anyway.
Knowing that Jacob had legally and actually
received the blessing of the firstborn, Esau begged his father to give him
(Esau) the blessing anyway. Isaac
replied, “I have blessed [Jacob]—and indeed he shall be blessed.” (Genesis
27:33
Jacob’s blessing was irrevocable but understand
why. Isaac the sinful man who’d just
tried to circumvent God’s revealed will did not have the power to issue an
irrevocable blessing. Theblessing was
sealed to Jacob’s line because GOD wanted the blessing to rest upon Jacob’s
line. Remember what we learned about The “Curse” of Ham. No man has the power to remove God’s
blessing. Esau had to settle for the
lesser endorsement (Genesis 27:39, 40) only he didn’t want to settle for second
place.
So
Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and
Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I
will kill my brother Jacob” (Genesis
27:41).
Esau was a spoiled, dumb, rich jock who
didn’t appreciate the privilege into which he was born until his nerdy little
brother became the family favorite.
But before you order your “I hate Esau”
t-shirts, remember that a son’s first love is his mother and Esau’s mother
didn’t like him. Yeah, Esau was
homicidally angry at Jacob but whose idea was it really? Mom’s.
Esau’s mother had conspired against him.
Esau’s mother had always liked Jacob better. And even after Jacob ran away (the little
coward), Esau still couldn’t make his mother happy.
Esau even got married, like a good boy, but
instead of his mother being happy at the prospect of grandkids, Rebekah’s
asked, “Are you trying to kill me?”
And
Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth;
if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the
daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?” (Genesis 27:46)
Esau wanted to please his parents, both of
his parents, so badly that when he saw them happy about Jacob finding a wife
from his mother’s brother Esau went looking for a wife from his father’s
brother.
Also
Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. So Esau
went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the
sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had (Genesis 28:8, 9).
But even the criticism of Esau’s marital
decisions was a ruse to get Isaac to protect Jacob (Genesis 27:42 – 28:2). Every thing reminded Esau that his mother didn’t
like his brother but not him. Imagine
how much that must have sucked!
It’s enough to give a guy “anger issues.”
Rebekah lied, compelled her youngest son to
lie, and deceived her blind husband.
Isaac tried to
circumvent God’s clearly revealed will and violate his
eldest son’s solemn oaths. Jacob lied,
initially at his mother’s request, but he kept up the lie through 3
opportunities to confess the truth. And
Esau tried to steal back what he’d legally sold and then conspired to murder
his twin. All because the mama and daddy were willing to do ANYTHING for their favorite child.
Ladies and gentlemen, the “holy” family of
the patriarchs.
So, man of God/ woman of God, who's your favorite? Maybe it isn't a child. Maybe it's a spouse, a significant other, or a parent. We quickly condemn the act of conspiring against someone, but whom are you quick to conspire FOR? We're not even talking about scenarios of life or death, just the normal, everyday situations that give your favorite an advantage over the next kid or the next candidate.
Would you lie to get your child into a better school? Would you cheat to help your spouse get the job he/she wants? Would you trip their 80 year old mom so your 70 year old dad could get to the front of the prescription drug line?
Since it's just us talking, what WOULDN'T you do to set your favorites up for a better life?
Genocides have been committed because a group of otherwise decent people were willing to do anything to give their favorites a better life on land somebody already owned. Neighborhoods in America right now are war zones because a generation of young men are "just trying to feed my family."
We blame the young generation of Esaus and Isaacs but children don't invent sins; they update and expand our sins, the sins we Isaacs and Rebekahs committed in their name.
The sins we commit for our favorites first taint, then dominate, then define the culture in which we and our favorites live.
Add up all the lying and cheating you (or I) do for our favorites and multiply by 7.5 billion. THAT is what's wrong with the world.
---Anderson T.
Graves II is a
writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural
leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles
Chapel CME Church in
Fairfield, Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth
Networking Organization (SAYNO);
and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for
Human Development (NIHD).
Subscribe to my personal blog www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com .
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
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