Esau has discovered Jacob's treachery. He knows his father can't take back the blessing he's already conferred on Jacob, but he also knows his father can bless him too. Isaac does bless him, but the circumstances of Chapter 27 are going to divide the family.
Upon his pleas for a blessing, Isaac blesses Esau. "His father Isaac answered him, 'Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of the heaven above. You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.'" (Genesis 27:39-40) Jacob's blessing promised material riches, with flowing wine and abundant grain. He's going to be successful at farming and agriculture. Esau's blessing makes it sound as if he will have to make his living from the land, but he's able to do so. He's a mighty hunter. He's strong and resourceful. He's accustomed to living off the land for days at a time while he stalks a particular prey. His father's blessing ensures that his endeavors will be successful.
The people who descended from Esau, known as the Edomites, dwelt in the hill country. The caves and the tall rock formations of that area provided an easily-defendable fortress for them. They lived off the land and were warlike with the tribes around them. In time Esau's descendants will rebel against Jacob's descendants, and when the children of Israel come out of Egypt and are on their way to the promised land, the people of Edom will forbid them to pass through their territory. Esau will never be as successful as his brother, but his family line won't always be subject to Jacob. Though the descendants of Esau and Jacob will be closely related, they will never be friends. Esau's family line will refuse to be subservient to Jacob's family line or to even show them common human decency, and this is why Isaac says in time Esau (his family line) will throw Jacob's yoke from off his neck.
"Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, 'The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.'" (Genesis 27:41) Esau vows to avenge himself, but not while his father lives. There are a couple of possible reasons for this. He may be reluctant to cause his father grief. He loves his father and doesn't want to bring more misery on him in his old age, so he won't lay hands on Jacob until after Isaac breathes his last. Another reason may be that, if his father is already dead, no one can prove Isaac conferred the blessing of the firstborn upon Jacob. No one will be able to contest Esau's right to be the heir. I don't know how Esau planned to go about killing his brother or whether he has yet formed a plan in our current chapter. Perhaps he intended to make it look like the two of them struggled and he killed Jacob in self defense. Or he might have intended to set it up to look like Jacob was attacked and killed by robbers while off the estate conducting family business.
We don't know whether Esau made this vow out loud to himself or whether he spoke it out loud to someone he trusted, but someone who heard his heated words passes them on to Rebekah. "When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, 'Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?'" (Genesis 27:42-45) If Esau kills Jacob, Rebekah will lose both her sons. She will lose Jacob to death and Esau to justice, because even if human beings don't find out Esau has murdered his brother, the Lord will know what Esau did and will avenge Jacob's blood.
The divided family is expected to be a temporary situation. Esau isn't the type to stick with anything for very long, not even anger and thoughts of revenge. His temper will rage at first but as the days go by he will spend less and less time thinking about how to get back at Jacob. He will go back to doing what he did before and will get back into the groove of daily life. He has more things to do than devise plots against Jacob; he has himself and two wives to support. And speaking of wives, Rebekah is going to use Esau's pagan wives as an excuse for sending Jacob away to her brother Laban. She doesn't want Isaac to know Esau is angry enough right now to kill Jacob and she needs a reason for sending Jacob away. Having Laban arrange a godly marriage for Jacob is going to be the reason she uses for sending Jacob to visit her brother.
"Then Rebekah said to Isaac, 'I'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.'" (Genesis 27:46) The Bible has already told us that both Isaac and Rebekah are deeply grieved by the fact that Esau took not one, but two, heathen wives. Rebekah knows she's going to find a sympathetic ear when she tells Isaac she doesn't think she can live and bear it if Jacob too takes a godless woman for a wife. Isaac feels exactly as she does. He wasn't able to prevent Esau from jumping into bad marriages; Esau has always done as he pleased without asking anyone. But Jacob cares what his parents think. Jacob is very close to his mother and he won't want to displease her by bringing yet another pagan daughter-in-law into the family. But if his parents don't help him meet a nice girl, he'll have no choice but to marry a woman of the land of Canaan. Isaac is going to agree to Rebekah's suggestion and will send Jacob to Harran. Rebekah believes that in the time it takes Jacob to go there, meet and marry a wife and bring her back home, Esau will have abandoned his plot to kill his brother. She pictures herself welcoming her son and new daughter-in-law home with open arms.
But, sadly, Rebekah won't live to see her son again. This may be the mercy of God upon Jacob since he is so easily influenced by her and since her bad advice is what has led to the troubles in Genesis 27. The Lord didn't need her help in making Jacob the heir; God would have seen to it that Jacob became the heir in a way that didn't cause division and anger and murderous plots. She will pass on during Jacob's absence. Isaac, who thinks he is at death's door in Genesis 27, will recover from his current illness and will be the one to welcome Jacob home. Then he too will go on to be with the Lord and will be buried by both his sons who, by the grace of God, have forgiven each other.
No comments:
Post a Comment