Isaac blesses Jacob

Story: Isaac Blesses Jacob

Passage: Genesis 27

Characters: Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Esau

Summary: Isaac was about to die so he told Esau to make him a meal so he could bless him. Rebekah heard this and told Jacob to get two goats so she could make a meal that Isaac loves so he would bless Jacob instead. Jacob was worried that he would not be hairy enough and he would be caught and cursed. Rebekah said she would take the curse on herself. So they made a nice meal and Jacob put on Esau’s clothes and wore the goat hair on his arms and neck. Isaac knew that it was Jacob’s voice, but he felt the hair and assumed it was Esau. He knew for sure when he smelled Esau’s clothes so he blessed Jacob, giving him power over his brothers. When Jacob left, Esau came in and he and Isaac discovered they had been tricked. Esau was very upset and wanted a blessing too. Isaac gave him what was mostly a curse, but it did promise that Esau would one day break the yoke of Jacob from his neck. Esau wanted to kill Jacob, so Rebekah sent him to her brother Laban. Rebekah told Isaac that she loathed her life because of Esau’s Hittite wives and that Jacob could not marry a Hittite.

Notes: I have a few notes here. First of all, Isaac was intending to bless Esau even though he knew God had given the promise to Jacob. Rebekah obviously hated Esau’s wives, and she loved Jacob, so she hatched a plan to get Jacob blessed instead. While this was not Jacob’s idea, he did go along with it. You can see how desperate she was in that she was willing to take the curse on herself. I find it funny that Isaac was expecting wild game, but Rebekah planned on tricking him with goat. He obviously knew it was goat because it was one of his favorite meals. The Hebrew even specifies that what she made was delicious food. Savory food. The hair issue was solved by putting goat hair on Jacob’s arms and neck. He wore Esau’s clothes so he also had the scent of Esau. Jacob must have been nervous. Isaac should have known he was eating goat and that the arms were covered in coarse goat hair. Goat hair and human hair should not be too easy to confuse. But Isaac was ultimately tricked. He was obviously suspicious though. It wasn’t until he smelled the clothes that he finally began to bless Jacob. His blessing granted him provision with food and wine, authority over peoples and nations, and authority over his brothers, specifically his mother’s sons. This implies that he was specifically trying to give Esau authority over Jacob. This surprises me since God told Rebekah before they were born that Esau would serve Jacob. When Isaac left, Esau came in and he and Isaac discovered what had happened. Esau is distraught. He wanted some small part in the blessing, but his father had given it all to Jacob. Talk about family drama! Esau notes that his name is fitting as he has deceived him again. Esau says that Jacob deceived him when he got his birthright as well, but if we remember that story, Jacob was not deceptive at all. Instead, Esau despised his birthright. Isaac’s “blessing” to Esau stated that he would serve Jacob, but that one day, he would break the yoke of his brother off his neck. Esau was done dealing with his deceitful twin, and he decided to kill him. Jealousy was the cause of Cain’s murder of Abel and jealousy and the feeling of being cheated fueled this attempt as well. Esau did a poor job of hiding his plan though and word of it got to his mother. Rebekah wanted to send Jacob to her brother. I am convinced this is because she was hoping he would meet a daughter of her brother and fall in love. My suspicion is supported by the fact that the next verses describe her telling Isaac that she doesn’t want Jacob marrying a Hittite woman. Sure enough, tomorrow we will see that Isaac’s response to this conversation with his wife is to send Jacob to marry one of Laban’s daughters. Rebekah says that she loathes her life because of the Hittite women. Esau’s lifestyle was not one of peace and unity within his family. Another note is that Isaac was shocked at how fast Jacob had found game and cooked it, but Esau walks in right after Isaac leaves, so it would seem that Esau’s hunt was indeed very successful and brief.

Questions: How could this setup have fooled Isaac? Was Isaac wrong to try to give the blessing to Esau in the first place? Was Esau missing his birthright at this point? Why was Rebekah so desperate to get Isaac the blessing? Why did Esau’s wives irritate her so much?

Lessons: God will work things the way He wants to no matter what. Isaac tried to bless Esau when he knew very well that God intended Isaac to carry on the promise. God worked things so that Isaac accidentally blessed Jacob. Also, a marriage to an ungodly woman (or two in this case) can heavily affect everyone close to you as well. It is very important for a Christian to marry another Christian in much the same way it was important for Jacob to marry someon

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

Story: The birth of Esau and Jacob

Passage: Genesis 25:19-28

Characters: Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, Jacob

Summary: Rebekah was barren. Isaac prayed for her and she conceived. God told her that she had twins. He told her she had two nations in her womb, and the two nations would fight with each other and the older would serve the younger. She bore the twins. The first was hairy and was named Esau. The second was grasping Esau’s heel so he was called Jacob. Esau grew up to be a hunter and his father loved him. Jacob was a quiet man and lived in the tents and Rebekah loved him.

Notes: First of all, Isaac is a man of faith! We don’t read much about his faith, but in the previous chapter, he was in a field meditating. And now he prays to the Lord to let Rebekah have children. He knew who was really in control. Rebekah felt her children fighting in the womb and it freaked her out and hurt. God’s promise was interesting. He told her she had two nations in her womb. The older would serve the younger. God does not take birth order into account. Esau was born with so much hair it says it looked like he had a cloak. I’m not that hairy even after 21 years! Esau fittingly means hairy. Jacob came out grasping Esau’s heel. Their struggle in the womb never stopped. They were fighting as they were born and they would continue to fight their whole lives. Jacob means he grasps the heel. This was a pun because it also meant he who deceives. As we will see, this name was also fitting for Jacob! God apparently enjoys puns since he made Jacob be born in such a way that his name would describe him perfectly! Esau hunted. His dad liked him best because he enjoyed eating the game he would kill. Jacob was a quiet man. This makes him sound effeminate, but the Hebrew word used to describe him is the same word used to describe Job as blameless. So really, Jacob was a whole, blameless man who just preferred to stay close to home and cook. His mother liked him best. This favoritism is unfortunate, but it is the reality for many families today just as it was back then.

Questions: Why did God chooses to bless Jacob the second born over Esau? What did Isaac think of Jacob? What did Rebekah think of Esau? How hairy was Esau?

Lessons: God can heal! God responded to prayers for healing in the Old Testament, God responded to prayers for healing in the New Testament. There is no reason to believe that God does not respond to prayers for healing now as well. We need to actually believe that and live with the faith it takes to believe that God can heal! Also, no lessons are here yet about showing favoritism to your children, but we will see in the future that this causes conflict.

Isaac and Rebekah

Story: Isaac and Rebekah

Passage: Genesis 24

Characters: Abraham, His servant, Rebekah, Laban, Isaac

Summary: Abraham made his servant swear to pick a wife for Isaac from his own family and not from the Canaanites. The servant wanted to know what to do if the woman would not return with him. Abraham said that he would be released from his oath, only don’t bring Isaac back to his family’s country. The servant went to the city of Nahor. He asked God to show him who Isaac was supposed to marry. The deal was that when the servant asked for water, the woman He wanted Isaac to marry would offer to water his camels as well. Sure enough, when Rebekah walked out the servant asked her for water and she offered to water his camels as well. He found out she was a relative so he found Laban, her brother, and told him his mission. Laban said that he could take Rebekah back with him but he wanted to wait ten days. When the servant expressed his wish to leave immediately, they consulted Rebekah and she said she would go. They left and Isaac saw them coming from far away so he married her immediately.

Notes: This is the first account of a marriage relationship prior to marriage that we see in the bible. However, as we have just read, there was really very little relationship before marriage. Here are a few observations I made from this story. I am going to analyze this by character.
Abraham trusted his servant a lot! He gave him control of his house, his son, his son’s marriage, his wealth, etc. Abraham was insistent on two things: staying separate from Canaan, and staying on the land which God was giving him. So he wanted Isaac to not mix with Canaan, but continue living on their land. Having Isaac marry a family member was a good way to keep their family separate. When his servant prayed, he prayed to the God of his master Abraham. I wonder if he considered God to be his god as well. He must have trusted God since he asked a very specific request of God. I feel like serving a man like Abraham would make it easy to trust God. He finishes his prayer by saying that if God does this, the servant would know that God has shown steadfast love to his master. I really get the idea that he looked at God as his master’s god. God would come through indeed. In fact, before Abraham’s servant had finished praying, Rebekah had come out. The servant asked her the question and she responded by offering to water his camels. The servant did not jump to conclusions though. As she watered the camels, he silently watched her and prayed about whether she really was the one God wanted. It was later that he found out that Rebekah was family. God had led him straight to Abraham’s family. It was perfect! The servant retold his entire journey and what God had done and then demanded an answer. When he was told his journey was going to be successful, he wanted to get back home as fast as possible! The servant’s job was complete. He had been blessed with a successful journey.

Rebekah’s family was a little unusual from what I can tell. Her brother Laban was the one who did most of the negotiations in this story. The dad, Bethuel, was around because he was involved in giving the servant permission to take Rebekah back as Isaac’s wife. However, Laban was just as involved in giving his sister away. In fact, his name is mentioned before Bethuel’s name. It was not Bethuel who wanted Rebekah to stay another ten days, but rather it was Laban and her mom. The dad sounds like he was just not too involved in running the family. Her family blessed her as she left. They had no idea that their blessing mirrored the promise given to Abraham about his descendants. When Laban saw the man talking to his sister, he ran out to see what was going on. He was obviously very protective of Rebekah.

Rebekah is definitely wise and polite. She is portrayed as very mature in this story. She is also described as very attractive. I find it interesting that physical attraction played a role in this divine match. Is it possible that God’s design for marriage, physical attraction is actually quite important? I would say that it is very possible! Christians today are very quick to point out that a marriage cannot be based on physical attraction. This is true, but it also cannot ignore attraction. God designed marriage to involve a certain level of physical attraction! We also read in previous chapters that Sarah was very beautiful as well. Beauty played a big role in marriages in these stories! I find it amazing that Rebekah went from minding her own business, to riding on a camel towards her future husband, away from her family and land, all within a day! The faith and maturity she shows is amazing to me! To leave her family like to that to marry a man she doesn’t know who lives in land which he doesn’t owe take incredible faith!

Isaac sounds like he was still grieving his mother’s death. He was in a field meditating when Rebekah arrived. I suspect he was praying still as a result of his mother’s death. When he saw Rebekah he took her into his mother’s former tent, which was still set up apparently, and he married her. Marriage was not built around getting to know the other person and making sure you are compatible, it was a beautiful practical thing ordained and set up by God himself. It says that she became his wife and he loved her. Love is the result of marriage not the basis for marriage. And this marriage comforted Isaac after Sarah’s death.

Questions: What did Abraham think of this match? Why was Rebekah so willing to leave her family like this? Why was Laban the primary protector of Rebekah? Did Abraham’s servant truly fear God? How attached to his mother was Isaac? Why was he meditating in the field?

Lessons: Pray specifically. The servant prayed a very specific prayer and God answered it immediately. We need to pray specifically and expect God to be able to listen. This story also teaches me a lot about what marriage should look like. You do not need to love someone or get to know them perfectly before marriage, all of that will come after marriage. Marriage can be a very comforting thing. Laban is also a good model of how protective a brother should be of his sister. If the father and the brother accept their responsibility as protectors, then it is less likely that a guy will take advantage of a young woman.