Jacob is on his way to stay with his uncle Laban in order to avoid the wrath of Esau and to have a good marriage arranged for himself. On the first day of his journey he apparently travels about forty miles from his father's home at Beersheba, according to some commentaries, ending up in the area that will come to be called Bethel.
"Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep." (Genesis 28:10-11) A relatively fit person can walk about four miles per hour on level ground, so based on that it would take ten hours to travel forty miles, and that's without any rest stops. The ground Jacob has covered is likely not all smooth and level. If he has truly traveled forty miles in one day then he must have set out at first light and kept going until it was too dark to see. The Bible makes no mention of him traveling on a donkey or camel, although he might have, but in Chapter 28 we get the sense that Jacob is utterly alone. And yet he isn't, for the Lord is with him. Sometimes we feel utterly alone, don't we? We'll be going through a hard time and we'll be trying to make it through the long hours of the night all by ourselves. But the Lord is with us, even when in our distress we can't feel His presence. Jacob doesn't feel the Lord's presence when he lies down in exhaustion and loneliness, but the Lord is there.
"He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." (Genesis 28:12) Scholars have differing opinions on what the stairway represents. But the Lord Jesus said something that I feel goes along with this passage: "Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." (John 1:51) In the Lord's statement, He is the stairway. He is the only way to heaven and to the Father. I think perhaps the stairway in Jacob's dream symbolizes Christ. And from the top of the stairway, God the Father speaks to Jacob.
"There above it stood the Lord, and He said: 'I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.'" (Genesis 28:13-15) This is the covenant promise, the same promise God made to Abraham and to Isaac. As far as we know, this is the first time the Lord personally speaks to Jacob, and when He does He makes it clear that no matter how hopeless things may look right now, all is not lost. The covenant has not been broken. God is still going to keep His promise to make a great nation from the family line of Abraham and God still intends for the Redeemer to come from this family line and more specifically from Jacob's line. Jacob hasn't made wise decisions but his puny human mistakes are not powerful enough to thwart the plans of God. As Jacob lies alone in a field in the dark, he must feel like he's irreparably messed up his life. He won the birthright and the blessing but he's now living in exile from the very things the birthright and the blessing should have guaranteed him. He thought he was the son of Isaac through whom God would fulfill the covenant promise, but now he thinks he has negated God's promise by his actions. Sometimes, of course, we can behave in such a way that we cause ourselves to miss out on blessings the Lord wants to give us, but there are some plans and promises of God that are irrevocable. Nothing any man or woman does can change them, and this is an example of an irrevocable promise of God. The Redeemer is coming from the family of Abraham, through his son Isaac, and through Isaac's son Jacob.
"When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.'" (Genesis 28:16) I love this verse! How many times in our lives have we felt alone in our sorrows only to realize later that the Lord was with us the whole time, strengthening us and protecting us? I've been through times of such distress that I couldn't feel the presence of God, but looking back on those times I can see that He was with me every second, giving me the strength to go on day after day.
Jacob has been driven away from all that's familiar to him. Whether or not he ever felt the presence of God in Beersheba, in his mind he accepted that the Lord was there with his family. He knew his father worshiped the Lord and that the Lord had done great things for both his father Isaac and for his grandfather Abraham. But out here in the dark wilderness? Out here so far away from family and friends? Jacob couldn't feel certain in his mind that God was in this place. To his way of thinking, perhaps God stayed behind in Beersheba with Isaac. Perhaps he thought God wasn't big enough to be in more than one place at once. But on this night Jacob gets his first glimpse of the awesome omnipresence of God. God is powerful enough to be everywhere all at once, and God is able to be in Beersheba with Isaac and to be in the wilderness with Jacob at the same time. What a revelation this must have been! Jacob is so overwhelmed by this knowledge that he begins to develop a fear (a holy and healthy reverence) for the Lord.
"He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.'" (Genesis 28:17) As we said earlier in Genesis, the places where God meets with us and speaks with us become holy ground to us. It could be that up til now Jacob thought God only met with His followers at the altars Isaac and Abraham set up. This is similar to the erroneous belief that we can only pray to God and meet with God in church. But God doesn't live at church. God goes home with each of us. God goes with us to work and to school. God goes with us to the doctor or to the hospital. God stands beside us while we grieve over a casket at the funeral home or graveyard. Jacob knows now that God is accessible in more places than at Isaac's altar in Beersheba. God is accessible in the night and in the desert. God is going to be accessible when Jacob arrives in Harran. But to commemorate the first place God spoke personally to him, Jacob sets up a small altar and gives the place where God spoke to him a name.
"Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz." (Genesis 28:18-19) The nearby town was called Luz, which means "almond tree". Jacob may have been trying to reach Luz by nightfall but didn't quite make it there, having to sleep out in the open instead. But if that's the case then I think God intended for Jacob not to reach his destination. Would Jacob have been in the right frame of mind in a noisy, busy Canaanite city to hear the voice of God in the night? Or was the silence of a lonely campsite a better setting? Because the Lord spoke to Jacob in this location, he names it Bethel which means "house of God". There is a great deal of value in going to church, but the house of God can be anywhere we want to talk to God. We can talk to him while we drive in our cars or while we kneel beside our beds or while we bow our heads in church. Wherever we commune with the Lord is sanctified by His presence and becomes holy ground.
"Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that You give me I will give you a tenth.'" (Genesis 28:20-22) Jacob's personal relationship with the Lord is so new that he wants to see the Lord prove Himself. He doesn't yet have experience in walking with the Lord in his daily life and observing how the Lord works things out. He knows what the Lord promised him but at this point he's too new in the faith to wholeheartedly accept that when the Lord says, "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go," He really will be with him every second of every day, providing for him and protecting him. I don't feel the need to criticize Jacob for not yet being able to place all of his trust in the Lord. We all have to start somewhere and this is where Jacob starts his walk with the Lord. When you were a new believer, you didn't quite know what to expect from the Lord, did you? Even the act of praying was new and unfamiliar to you. Studying and memorizing His word was a habit you had to learn. That's where Jacob is right now. He knows what the Lord has said but he hasn't yet seen the Lord in action fulfilling what He's promised. As each day goes on, and as Jacob sees the Lord working in every circumstance that comes his way, Jacob's faith will grow.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 115, Jacob Leaves Town
Esau threatened to kill Jacob just as soon as their father dies. Isaac is kept in the dark about this alarming turn of events. Rebekah knows Jacob must get away from Esau until Esau's anger subsides, so she convinces Isaac to send Jacob away to her brother's house in order to arrange a marriage for him. Neither Isaac nor Rebecca wants Jacob marrying a pagan woman. They are already grieved by the two pagan women Esau has married and they don't want a third idolatrous daughter-in-law.
"So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, 'Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself from there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.'" (Genesis 28:1-2) It's bad enough that Esau already has two heathen wives, but now that Jacob is clearly the heir and future leader of the family it's vital that he not make the same mistake.
The Lord promised Abraham a son and so many descendants through that son that no man can count them. God promised Abraham that through one of his descendants (Christ) all nations would be blessed. Jacob's family line, not Esau's, is the one through which the Lord will fulfill His promise. Isaac has resigned himself to this now. In his heart he always wanted something other than what the Lord wanted: for Esau to be his heir and the possessor of the blessings God promised to Abraham. In spite of what the Lord said about Esau and Jacob before their birth, Isaac was determined to give Esau the birthright even though it wasn't God's will. But now, in spite of everything Isaac did to ensure Esau held onto the top spot as eldest son, Jacob has the birthright and the covenant promises God made to Abraham. There's nothing Isaac can do but accept it and transfer all his hopes to his younger son. The words contained in the blessing he speaks over Jacob prove to us that he's now in step with the Lord in this matter. "May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham." (Genesis 28:3-4)
"Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau." (Genesis 28:5) Jacob is getting away from the rage of his brother but he's about to go to the school of hard knocks. Laban is even craftier than he is, and Jacob will learn what it feels like to be horribly deceived, and he will have to work hard for everything he gets while living in Paddan Aram. While it's true that Jacob is going to become the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, he's not ready at this point to take up such a weighty mantle. The Lord has a lot of work to do on him to make him the man whom He will rename "Israel".
"Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, 'Do not marry a Canaanite woman,' and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram." (Genesis 28:6-7)
At this late date Esau recognizes how much it meant to his parents that he and his brother marry believing wives. I am sure Esau must have been taught about the Lord pretty much from birth and about how important it was for him and his descendants to keep believing in and obeying the Lord. He's been told the story of how Rebekah was obtained for his father so his father wouldn't marry a Canaanite woman. The importance of not marrying a heathen must have been stressed to him time and time again, yet it never sunk in. He's not a spiritually-minded man. All the religious instruction he's been given has sailed right over his head all his life. Godliness hasn't mattered much to him in his own heart and it never occurred to him to seek godliness in a mate. I think he completely ignored any instruction that went against what he wanted to do, which is why the Bible stresses the fact that "Jacob obeyed his father and mother" by going to Paddan Aram. I think the Bible makes this statement about Jacob's obedience because Esau didn't obey his father and mother when they told him to find a believing wife. But now, as the scene of Jacob's leaving plays out right before his eyes, he finally understands how much he disappointed his parents when he married two idolatrous women. He knows he went wrong but thinks he can "fix" it. He gets even further out of the will of God by what he does next.
"Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had." (Genesis 28:8-9) Esau was out of the will of God when he married more than one woman to begin with. God demonstrated the best pattern for marriage when He performed the first wedding ceremony in the Garden of Eden. Adam didn't have two wives. If Adam had needed two wives, God would have given him two wives, but no man needs more than one wife. It's not God's plan for marriage that a man divide his care and affection between two women---or among three or more women. Esau is not "fixing" or "undoing" his previous mistakes simply by making sure his third wife is a believer.
I'm exasperated by Esau but I feel sorry for him at the same time. He's so slow to catch on when it comes to anything pertaining to the Lord and to godliness. He keeps trying to fix things on his own instead of submitting himself to the Lord and asking the Lord what he should do. But the Lord isn't going to leave him where he is now. Just as He must do some work on Jacob, He must do some work on Esau. The next time we see Esau he will have matured into a respectable man. He will have forgiven Jacob and will have learned to make his own way in the world. In Genesis 28 it looks like Esau will never amount to much, but God isn't through with him. And aren't we glad of that? There may have been times in our own lives when it looked like we'd never amount to much, but God didn't give up on us.
"So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, 'Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself from there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.'" (Genesis 28:1-2) It's bad enough that Esau already has two heathen wives, but now that Jacob is clearly the heir and future leader of the family it's vital that he not make the same mistake.
The Lord promised Abraham a son and so many descendants through that son that no man can count them. God promised Abraham that through one of his descendants (Christ) all nations would be blessed. Jacob's family line, not Esau's, is the one through which the Lord will fulfill His promise. Isaac has resigned himself to this now. In his heart he always wanted something other than what the Lord wanted: for Esau to be his heir and the possessor of the blessings God promised to Abraham. In spite of what the Lord said about Esau and Jacob before their birth, Isaac was determined to give Esau the birthright even though it wasn't God's will. But now, in spite of everything Isaac did to ensure Esau held onto the top spot as eldest son, Jacob has the birthright and the covenant promises God made to Abraham. There's nothing Isaac can do but accept it and transfer all his hopes to his younger son. The words contained in the blessing he speaks over Jacob prove to us that he's now in step with the Lord in this matter. "May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham." (Genesis 28:3-4)
"Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau." (Genesis 28:5) Jacob is getting away from the rage of his brother but he's about to go to the school of hard knocks. Laban is even craftier than he is, and Jacob will learn what it feels like to be horribly deceived, and he will have to work hard for everything he gets while living in Paddan Aram. While it's true that Jacob is going to become the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, he's not ready at this point to take up such a weighty mantle. The Lord has a lot of work to do on him to make him the man whom He will rename "Israel".
"Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, 'Do not marry a Canaanite woman,' and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram." (Genesis 28:6-7)
At this late date Esau recognizes how much it meant to his parents that he and his brother marry believing wives. I am sure Esau must have been taught about the Lord pretty much from birth and about how important it was for him and his descendants to keep believing in and obeying the Lord. He's been told the story of how Rebekah was obtained for his father so his father wouldn't marry a Canaanite woman. The importance of not marrying a heathen must have been stressed to him time and time again, yet it never sunk in. He's not a spiritually-minded man. All the religious instruction he's been given has sailed right over his head all his life. Godliness hasn't mattered much to him in his own heart and it never occurred to him to seek godliness in a mate. I think he completely ignored any instruction that went against what he wanted to do, which is why the Bible stresses the fact that "Jacob obeyed his father and mother" by going to Paddan Aram. I think the Bible makes this statement about Jacob's obedience because Esau didn't obey his father and mother when they told him to find a believing wife. But now, as the scene of Jacob's leaving plays out right before his eyes, he finally understands how much he disappointed his parents when he married two idolatrous women. He knows he went wrong but thinks he can "fix" it. He gets even further out of the will of God by what he does next.
"Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had." (Genesis 28:8-9) Esau was out of the will of God when he married more than one woman to begin with. God demonstrated the best pattern for marriage when He performed the first wedding ceremony in the Garden of Eden. Adam didn't have two wives. If Adam had needed two wives, God would have given him two wives, but no man needs more than one wife. It's not God's plan for marriage that a man divide his care and affection between two women---or among three or more women. Esau is not "fixing" or "undoing" his previous mistakes simply by making sure his third wife is a believer.
I'm exasperated by Esau but I feel sorry for him at the same time. He's so slow to catch on when it comes to anything pertaining to the Lord and to godliness. He keeps trying to fix things on his own instead of submitting himself to the Lord and asking the Lord what he should do. But the Lord isn't going to leave him where he is now. Just as He must do some work on Jacob, He must do some work on Esau. The next time we see Esau he will have matured into a respectable man. He will have forgiven Jacob and will have learned to make his own way in the world. In Genesis 28 it looks like Esau will never amount to much, but God isn't through with him. And aren't we glad of that? There may have been times in our own lives when it looked like we'd never amount to much, but God didn't give up on us.
Monday, January 20, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 114, A Family Divided
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.
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.
Sunday, January 19, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 113, Esau Learns Of Jacob's Deception
Esau returns from the hunt and finds out that Jacob stole his blessing.
"After Isaac had finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, 'My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.'" (Genesis 27:30-31) Has anything changed spiritually with Esau since he dismissively sold his birthright for a bowl of stew? I don't think so, but he knows it's the custom for a father to bless his sons before he dies and he believes there's a magical power connected to the blessing. In a sense there is, for in the Bible we find the blessings bestowed by fathers to be prophetic. Jacob, for example, will bless his twelve sons by making prophetic statements about the future of their tribes. But up until now Esau has had little concern for the future and I think the only reason he's concerned with it here in Genesis 27 is because he believes his father will die soon. Isaac's health will improve and he will live on for quite a few more years, but Esau doesn't know that and it's a practical concern that causes him to seek the blessing. He's in his forties with two wives and two families to support. He needs the material blessings that are bestowed by the father. He needs to be financially secure not only for his own sake but for the sake of his children and their descendants.
Isaac is overcome with fear when Esau brings him the food. "His father Isaac asked him, 'Who are you?' 'I am your son,' he answered, 'your firstborn, Esau.' Isaac trembled violently and said, 'Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him---and indeed he will be blessed!'" (Genesis 27:33) In the original language the trembling of Isaac is not the nervous quivering we're picturing in our heads right now. It's the head to toe shaking of a person in abject terror. It's a spasmodic shaking of pretty much every muscle in the body, almost like a seizure. Some commentators believe he shakes so violently because he realizes he's made what is---to him---a grievous mistake. Esau is his favorite son and his intended heir but he has conferred the family fortune and future material and spiritual blessings on the "wrong" son. Other scholars think he shakes like this out of fear of the Lord because the Lord said the elder son would serve the younger, but Isaac tried to impede the will of the Lord by intending to make the eldest son the heir and the family leader anyway. If this is why Isaac shakes in terror, then Isaac knows that the Lord has had the last word and that he has been acting in opposition to a holy and powerful God.
Isaac's blessing cannot be revoked. It is legally binding. Isaac cannot now take it away from Jacob and give it to Esau. The blessing gave Jacob the leadership over the family and it stated that Jacob's brother would bow down to him. What's done is done. Esau knows this but he also knows that his father is able to bless more than one son, so he begs his father to honor him with a blessing as well. "When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, 'Bless me---me too, my father!' But he said, 'Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.'" (Genesis 27:34-35) Isaac will bless Esau, but he can't give him the same blessing he gave Jacob. Only one man can be head of the family.
Esau now fumes over the character of his brother. "Esau said, 'Isn't he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing!' Then he asked, 'Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?'" (Genesis 27:36) Jacob was given his name because he was born grasping the heel of his brother Esau. He was born trying to take the preeminence over his brother and now he has literally done it. But we don't want to miss the fact that Esau is playing the victim here. He sold his birthright for a bowl of stew because that's how little he thought of the spiritual duties that came along with it. He says Jacob "took" his birthright, but that's not the truth. Esau was not actually dying when he came home famished from the hunt and dramatically announced that he was near death from hunger. Jacob's pot of stew wasn't the only available food on the wealthy estate of Isaac. Esau didn't have to promise Jacob anything in order to eat a meal. But he was so carnally minded and so incapable of thinking past the here and now that in his mind nothing but the bowl of stew existed in that moment. All he knew was that he had an immediate physical need that the bowl of stew would fulfill. Nothing else mattered to him right then.
Although Esau has made some bad choices, I feel sorry for him, don't you? His father favored him so obviously and so abundantly above his brother that I wonder whether this contributed to his cavalier attitude about the future. He grew up thinking he'd never have to worry about anything. He knew his father would give him almost everything he had. His every whim was probably catered to by his father, and this in turn may have caused him to become lazy (where estate planning was concerned) and to fail to learn responsibility. Do you know anyone who grew up being so spoiled that they rarely had to experience even the slightest inconvenience? Do you know anyone who grew up completely unfamiliar with being told "no"? Do you know anyone whose parents not only expected little of them, but who also went out of their way to do practically everything for them so that they seldom had to lift a finger? If you do, you've probably observed that when they became adults they lacked the skills to get along very well in college or in the workplace. They are not accustomed to planning ahead or considering consequences. They don't know how to assume responsibility. Someone has always managed things for them while they did as they pleased, and now they are at a loss as to how to obediently take instructions and get along with managers and co-workers. I think part of Esau's problem may be that he grew up as the spoiled favorite son with his every whim satisfied and with no responsibilities given to him. This doesn't mean we can place all of the blame for his shallow character on his father, but I do feel that Isaac contributed to Esau's sense of entitlement and to his lack of care for tomorrow.
I can relate a little bit to how Esau must have grown up. My parents taught me to think for myself and they assigned me some basic chores in the household, but they also behaved as if the sun rose and set on me. I was the baby of the family, born to my parents late in their reproductive lives when their two older children were already grown. Their world basically revolved around me while I was growing up and this put me at a disadvantage when I entered the workforce. Nobody at work thought I was special when I completed the tasks assigned to me. I didn't have any problems with authority and I did what I was told, but to be honest with you I struggled with not being treated as if I were the smartest and most talented person in the place. My parents applauded my every achievement as if I were an absolute genius, but my work managers? Not so much. When I turned in my work they didn't make a fuss over me at all. To them I was just one of the crowd. To them I was just doing my job when I completed a task successfully. And they were right, but it was a difficult adjustment for me, and that's why I wonder if some of the flaws in Esau's character were a result of being fawned over so excessively by his father.
Esau is trying to cope with his new reality. He knows he's lost the blessing that belonged to the elder son. But he also knows that his father is able to materially and spiritually bless more than just one child. "Esau said to his father, 'Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!' Then Esau wept aloud." (Genesis 27:38) Aren't we thankful that our heavenly Father has more than enough blessings to go around? Out of His immeasurable abundance He is able to bless each one of His children. It's not as if He can ever "use up" His blessings before He gets to us. What He blesses you with will be somewhat different than what He blesses me with, and vice versa, but His well of blessing will never run dry. He may not give me the same things He's given you, but I can still go to Him and say, "Bless me too, my Father!"
Esau will receive a blessing from his father. It won't be the blessing he wanted or expected. It won't be the blessing Isaac wanted to give him. But it will be the blessing he needs. God, in His infinite wisdom, chose before their birth which of Isaac's two sons would inherit the blessing of the firstborn. But there is mercy in this choice. By choosing Jacob to lead the family, God chose the man best suited for the job. He chose the man who can provide for and guide the family wisely. But He also shows Esau mercy by not saddling him with responsibilities he can't fulfill.
God doesn't always give us what we want, but He gives us what we need. I've asked Him for things I'm glad He didn't give me, haven't you? Looking back on my life, I can see how disastrous it would have been if He'd said "yes" to my unwise requests. Our Father is capable of blessing each and every one of us, but because He is a wise and loving and merciful Father, He will bless us with what we need and not always with what we want. In many ways He's blessed us above and beyond what we need, and that's because He enjoys bestowing good things on His children, but we have to keep in mind that when God says "no" to a request, it's because He knows what's best for us.
"After Isaac had finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, 'My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.'" (Genesis 27:30-31) Has anything changed spiritually with Esau since he dismissively sold his birthright for a bowl of stew? I don't think so, but he knows it's the custom for a father to bless his sons before he dies and he believes there's a magical power connected to the blessing. In a sense there is, for in the Bible we find the blessings bestowed by fathers to be prophetic. Jacob, for example, will bless his twelve sons by making prophetic statements about the future of their tribes. But up until now Esau has had little concern for the future and I think the only reason he's concerned with it here in Genesis 27 is because he believes his father will die soon. Isaac's health will improve and he will live on for quite a few more years, but Esau doesn't know that and it's a practical concern that causes him to seek the blessing. He's in his forties with two wives and two families to support. He needs the material blessings that are bestowed by the father. He needs to be financially secure not only for his own sake but for the sake of his children and their descendants.
Isaac is overcome with fear when Esau brings him the food. "His father Isaac asked him, 'Who are you?' 'I am your son,' he answered, 'your firstborn, Esau.' Isaac trembled violently and said, 'Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him---and indeed he will be blessed!'" (Genesis 27:33) In the original language the trembling of Isaac is not the nervous quivering we're picturing in our heads right now. It's the head to toe shaking of a person in abject terror. It's a spasmodic shaking of pretty much every muscle in the body, almost like a seizure. Some commentators believe he shakes so violently because he realizes he's made what is---to him---a grievous mistake. Esau is his favorite son and his intended heir but he has conferred the family fortune and future material and spiritual blessings on the "wrong" son. Other scholars think he shakes like this out of fear of the Lord because the Lord said the elder son would serve the younger, but Isaac tried to impede the will of the Lord by intending to make the eldest son the heir and the family leader anyway. If this is why Isaac shakes in terror, then Isaac knows that the Lord has had the last word and that he has been acting in opposition to a holy and powerful God.
Isaac's blessing cannot be revoked. It is legally binding. Isaac cannot now take it away from Jacob and give it to Esau. The blessing gave Jacob the leadership over the family and it stated that Jacob's brother would bow down to him. What's done is done. Esau knows this but he also knows that his father is able to bless more than one son, so he begs his father to honor him with a blessing as well. "When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, 'Bless me---me too, my father!' But he said, 'Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.'" (Genesis 27:34-35) Isaac will bless Esau, but he can't give him the same blessing he gave Jacob. Only one man can be head of the family.
Esau now fumes over the character of his brother. "Esau said, 'Isn't he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing!' Then he asked, 'Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?'" (Genesis 27:36) Jacob was given his name because he was born grasping the heel of his brother Esau. He was born trying to take the preeminence over his brother and now he has literally done it. But we don't want to miss the fact that Esau is playing the victim here. He sold his birthright for a bowl of stew because that's how little he thought of the spiritual duties that came along with it. He says Jacob "took" his birthright, but that's not the truth. Esau was not actually dying when he came home famished from the hunt and dramatically announced that he was near death from hunger. Jacob's pot of stew wasn't the only available food on the wealthy estate of Isaac. Esau didn't have to promise Jacob anything in order to eat a meal. But he was so carnally minded and so incapable of thinking past the here and now that in his mind nothing but the bowl of stew existed in that moment. All he knew was that he had an immediate physical need that the bowl of stew would fulfill. Nothing else mattered to him right then.
Although Esau has made some bad choices, I feel sorry for him, don't you? His father favored him so obviously and so abundantly above his brother that I wonder whether this contributed to his cavalier attitude about the future. He grew up thinking he'd never have to worry about anything. He knew his father would give him almost everything he had. His every whim was probably catered to by his father, and this in turn may have caused him to become lazy (where estate planning was concerned) and to fail to learn responsibility. Do you know anyone who grew up being so spoiled that they rarely had to experience even the slightest inconvenience? Do you know anyone who grew up completely unfamiliar with being told "no"? Do you know anyone whose parents not only expected little of them, but who also went out of their way to do practically everything for them so that they seldom had to lift a finger? If you do, you've probably observed that when they became adults they lacked the skills to get along very well in college or in the workplace. They are not accustomed to planning ahead or considering consequences. They don't know how to assume responsibility. Someone has always managed things for them while they did as they pleased, and now they are at a loss as to how to obediently take instructions and get along with managers and co-workers. I think part of Esau's problem may be that he grew up as the spoiled favorite son with his every whim satisfied and with no responsibilities given to him. This doesn't mean we can place all of the blame for his shallow character on his father, but I do feel that Isaac contributed to Esau's sense of entitlement and to his lack of care for tomorrow.
I can relate a little bit to how Esau must have grown up. My parents taught me to think for myself and they assigned me some basic chores in the household, but they also behaved as if the sun rose and set on me. I was the baby of the family, born to my parents late in their reproductive lives when their two older children were already grown. Their world basically revolved around me while I was growing up and this put me at a disadvantage when I entered the workforce. Nobody at work thought I was special when I completed the tasks assigned to me. I didn't have any problems with authority and I did what I was told, but to be honest with you I struggled with not being treated as if I were the smartest and most talented person in the place. My parents applauded my every achievement as if I were an absolute genius, but my work managers? Not so much. When I turned in my work they didn't make a fuss over me at all. To them I was just one of the crowd. To them I was just doing my job when I completed a task successfully. And they were right, but it was a difficult adjustment for me, and that's why I wonder if some of the flaws in Esau's character were a result of being fawned over so excessively by his father.
Esau is trying to cope with his new reality. He knows he's lost the blessing that belonged to the elder son. But he also knows that his father is able to materially and spiritually bless more than just one child. "Esau said to his father, 'Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!' Then Esau wept aloud." (Genesis 27:38) Aren't we thankful that our heavenly Father has more than enough blessings to go around? Out of His immeasurable abundance He is able to bless each one of His children. It's not as if He can ever "use up" His blessings before He gets to us. What He blesses you with will be somewhat different than what He blesses me with, and vice versa, but His well of blessing will never run dry. He may not give me the same things He's given you, but I can still go to Him and say, "Bless me too, my Father!"
Esau will receive a blessing from his father. It won't be the blessing he wanted or expected. It won't be the blessing Isaac wanted to give him. But it will be the blessing he needs. God, in His infinite wisdom, chose before their birth which of Isaac's two sons would inherit the blessing of the firstborn. But there is mercy in this choice. By choosing Jacob to lead the family, God chose the man best suited for the job. He chose the man who can provide for and guide the family wisely. But He also shows Esau mercy by not saddling him with responsibilities he can't fulfill.
God doesn't always give us what we want, but He gives us what we need. I've asked Him for things I'm glad He didn't give me, haven't you? Looking back on my life, I can see how disastrous it would have been if He'd said "yes" to my unwise requests. Our Father is capable of blessing each and every one of us, but because He is a wise and loving and merciful Father, He will bless us with what we need and not always with what we want. In many ways He's blessed us above and beyond what we need, and that's because He enjoys bestowing good things on His children, but we have to keep in mind that when God says "no" to a request, it's because He knows what's best for us.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 112, Jacob Takes Esau's Blessing, Part Three
When we concluded yesterday, Isaac asked Jacob for the third time if he was Esau. For the third time he claimed he was, so now Isaac will eat the food and bestow the blessing.
"Then he said, 'My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.' Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank." (Genesis 27:25) I bet Jacob and Rebekah are on pins and needles right now wondering whether Isaac will figure out he's being served goat instead of wild game. But his sense of taste, like his eyesight, is mostly gone. Rebekah simmered the meat in all kinds of savory spices in the same way she would cook wild game. He doesn't know the difference, but I picture Jacob standing nervously by the bed, glancing occasionally to his mother who is lurking in the doorway. I don't know that Rebekah is lurking there, but that's where she was earlier in the day when she eavesdropped on Isaac's conversation with Esau, and it's hard for me to imagine she wouldn't be close by right now while the charade is being carried out.
The food passes the test as far as Isaac can tell. He conducts one more test and then feels satisfied to pronounce the blessing. "Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Come here, my son, and kiss me.' So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, 'Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.'" (Genesis 27:26-27) Each person has his or her own individual smell. Those of you who have more than one child, I bet you could tell their laundry items apart just by smell alone. Even each animal has its own particular smell. I've had quite a few dogs in my life and if somebody blindfolded me and had me to sniff them I'd be able to name each dog just by its smell. We aren't really all that conscious of memorizing the smell of our loved ones but that information is stored in our brains. Isaac uses this information to reassure himself that the one who speaks with the voice of Jacob is actually Esau.
He continues, "'May God give you heaven's dew and earth's riches---an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.'" (Genesis 27:28-29) This is a powerful statement. It confers upon Jacob both spiritual and material blessings. It puts him in position as primary heir and the head of the family.
God intended all along for Jacob to receive the blessing of the firstborn, but this is not how He intended Jacob to receive it. A father could bestow the birthright on a younger son if the eldest son disqualified himself to lead the family, and I think in time Isaac would have realized Esau was not the man to lead the family. I don't know exactly what Esau would have done to displease his father, but he's already displeased him by marrying two pagan women of Canaan. No doubt he would have done more irreverent things until Isaac concluded that he couldn't be trusted to be the leader, priest, and judge over the clan. In the days before the Levitical priesthood was established, the Lord spoke directly to the family leader. It was the family leader who interceded with the Lord on behalf of his people. Esau has no regard for such things. If he did, he would have married a godly wife who would have helped him raise godly children. But that's not a priority for him, and since Isaac will live on for quite some time in spite of his belief in Chapter 27 that death is near, he would have come to see that Jacob was a better choice than Esau.
Jacob doesn't set a good example for us to follow in Chapter 27. He knows the Lord's will for his life but he goes about obtaining it in the wrong way---in his own timing and by his own methods. David of Bethlehem is the one who sets a godly example for us. He was anointed by Samuel the priest as king of Israel about fifteen years before he actually assumed the throne. During those years he was hunted and persecuted by King Saul. David had several opportunities to kill Saul and take the crown but he was willing to wait for the Lord to give him the crown at the right time and in the right way. Instead of taking matters into his own hands, David said, "I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord's anointed." (1 Samuel 24:10) In David's opinion, King Saul was still the anointed king until the Lord deposed him. He left it up to the Lord to choose the time and place to take the throne from Saul and give it to David. Jacob would have been better off if he'd had the same attitude. Because he didn't, the next several years are going to be very rough for him.
Join us tomorrow when Esau returns from the hunt and finds out what has happened. Fearing his wrath, Jacob will have to flee the estate he loves and wants to manage. For a time he will be separated from the very thing he schemed to gain.
"Then he said, 'My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.' Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank." (Genesis 27:25) I bet Jacob and Rebekah are on pins and needles right now wondering whether Isaac will figure out he's being served goat instead of wild game. But his sense of taste, like his eyesight, is mostly gone. Rebekah simmered the meat in all kinds of savory spices in the same way she would cook wild game. He doesn't know the difference, but I picture Jacob standing nervously by the bed, glancing occasionally to his mother who is lurking in the doorway. I don't know that Rebekah is lurking there, but that's where she was earlier in the day when she eavesdropped on Isaac's conversation with Esau, and it's hard for me to imagine she wouldn't be close by right now while the charade is being carried out.
The food passes the test as far as Isaac can tell. He conducts one more test and then feels satisfied to pronounce the blessing. "Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Come here, my son, and kiss me.' So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, 'Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.'" (Genesis 27:26-27) Each person has his or her own individual smell. Those of you who have more than one child, I bet you could tell their laundry items apart just by smell alone. Even each animal has its own particular smell. I've had quite a few dogs in my life and if somebody blindfolded me and had me to sniff them I'd be able to name each dog just by its smell. We aren't really all that conscious of memorizing the smell of our loved ones but that information is stored in our brains. Isaac uses this information to reassure himself that the one who speaks with the voice of Jacob is actually Esau.
He continues, "'May God give you heaven's dew and earth's riches---an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.'" (Genesis 27:28-29) This is a powerful statement. It confers upon Jacob both spiritual and material blessings. It puts him in position as primary heir and the head of the family.
God intended all along for Jacob to receive the blessing of the firstborn, but this is not how He intended Jacob to receive it. A father could bestow the birthright on a younger son if the eldest son disqualified himself to lead the family, and I think in time Isaac would have realized Esau was not the man to lead the family. I don't know exactly what Esau would have done to displease his father, but he's already displeased him by marrying two pagan women of Canaan. No doubt he would have done more irreverent things until Isaac concluded that he couldn't be trusted to be the leader, priest, and judge over the clan. In the days before the Levitical priesthood was established, the Lord spoke directly to the family leader. It was the family leader who interceded with the Lord on behalf of his people. Esau has no regard for such things. If he did, he would have married a godly wife who would have helped him raise godly children. But that's not a priority for him, and since Isaac will live on for quite some time in spite of his belief in Chapter 27 that death is near, he would have come to see that Jacob was a better choice than Esau.
Jacob doesn't set a good example for us to follow in Chapter 27. He knows the Lord's will for his life but he goes about obtaining it in the wrong way---in his own timing and by his own methods. David of Bethlehem is the one who sets a godly example for us. He was anointed by Samuel the priest as king of Israel about fifteen years before he actually assumed the throne. During those years he was hunted and persecuted by King Saul. David had several opportunities to kill Saul and take the crown but he was willing to wait for the Lord to give him the crown at the right time and in the right way. Instead of taking matters into his own hands, David said, "I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord's anointed." (1 Samuel 24:10) In David's opinion, King Saul was still the anointed king until the Lord deposed him. He left it up to the Lord to choose the time and place to take the throne from Saul and give it to David. Jacob would have been better off if he'd had the same attitude. Because he didn't, the next several years are going to be very rough for him.
Join us tomorrow when Esau returns from the hunt and finds out what has happened. Fearing his wrath, Jacob will have to flee the estate he loves and wants to manage. For a time he will be separated from the very thing he schemed to gain.
Friday, January 17, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 111, Jacob Takes Esau's Blessing, Part Two
Jacob doesn't mind deceiving his father, but he's afraid of getting caught. We concluded our study yesterday with Jacob telling Rebekah that his father would curse him instead of blessing him if he realizes he's being deceived. "His mother said to him, 'My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.'" (Genesis 27:13) "Them" is the two young goats she's going to pass off as wild game hunted by Esau.
"So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made." (Genesis 27:14-17) Esau is an extremely hairy man, so hairy that if the blind Isaac touches the goat skins on Jacob he will think he's touching Esau.
"He went to his father and said, 'My father.' 'Yes, my son,' he answered. 'Who is it?' Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.'" (Genesis 27:18-19) It's not necessary for Jacob to add "your firstborn" when he claims to be Esau. Isaac knows Esau is his firstborn. But I think Jacob adds that detail to keep his father's mind on what (to Jacob) is the main event of this day, which is bestowing the blessing of the firstborn.
It would have taken some time for Jacob and Rebekah to get everything ready to pull off this ruse, but not as long as it would normally take Esau to hunt and kill wild game, field dress it, bring it home, and cook it. But they didn't dare drag out the process very long for fear Esau would find game too quickly and return before Jacob obtained the blessing. This little detail of the timing almost trips Rebekah and Jacob up. Isaac is suspicious about how swiftly food was brought to him. "Isaac asked his son, 'How did you find it so quickly, my son?' 'The Lord your God gave me success,' he replied." (Genesis 27:20) I cringe a little when I hear Jacob lying about the Lord. But what's really interesting to me is that he doesn't say, "My Lord gave me success," or, "My God gave me success." Instead he says, "The Lord your God gave me success." Jacob doesn't claim God as his own at this point in time. He believes in God, and something in his heart yearns to know God well enough to become the spiritual leader of his family, but he doesn't yet have a personal relationship with God. He's still depending on himself to get things done, but God is going to work on that. Jacob isn't always going to be the way we see him here in Chapter 27. Aren't we thankful the Lord keeps working on us? He sees who we can be. He doesn't see who we are right now and give up on us. Instead He works toward helping us fulfill our spiritual potential. He isn't put off by who Jacob is in Chapter 27 because He sees who Jacob can be.
Isaac isn't placated by his son's statement that the Lord gave him immediate success while hunting game. Something doesn't feel right. He isn't sure this is Esau. "Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.'" (Genesis 27:21) Does Isaac suspect that his son Jacob has it in him to be a deceiver? Maybe. We know Jacob and Esau are at least forty years old by now. (Genesis 26:34) Isaac has had plenty of time to observe the character of his sons. However, I'm not sure how much discernment Isaac has when it comes to judging character. He intends to make Esau his heir even though the Lord said Jacob would be the leader of the family. Isaac either doesn't recognize Esau's inability to carry out the duties of family leader or else he is blinded to Esau's faults because Esau is his favorite child. If it's true that he's turned a blind eye all these years toward Esau's shortcomings, then it's ironic that he's now literally blind, for it's that very blindness that allows him to make his less-favorite son his heir.
I am not sure if Isaac is aware of Jacob's willingness to deceive or whether, since he is blind and is becoming old and feeble, he simply fears being taken advantage of by others. On top of that, something doesn't sound right to him about the voice he's listening to. It sounds like Jacob's voice and not Esau's. "Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 'Are you really my son Esau?' he asked. 'I am,' he replied." (Genesis 27:22-24) Isaac is confused and frustrated. He feels very uncomfortable with the situation. On the surface, everything seems right. The food smells like the food he asked Esau to get for him. The voice speaking to him claims to be Esau. The person claiming to be Esau has hairy hands. The person claiming to be Esau is wearing Esau's robes. But the voice sounds like Jacob, so Isaac asks one more time if this is really Esau. This time he accepts the answer, maybe because he thinks to himself, "My hearing is going now too, as well as my sight."
The lack of respect Jacob shows his father is sad, but his father's extreme favoritism toward Esau is sad too. There is dysfunction in this family. Was it Isaac's obvious preference for Esau that caused Rebekah to love Jacob more than her other son? Did she see the lack of attention and affection directed toward Jacob and decide to make up for it by lavishing him with love and by promising him he was chosen by God to be the heir and family leader? On the one hand we can see why Isaac might have had to show more attention to Esau in order to groom him to take over the estate someday, but that's no excuse for not loving his sons equally. On the one hand we can understand Rebekah focusing more on Jacob since the Lord told her personally that Jacob would have the preeminence over his brother, but that's no excuse for not loving her sons equally. In any family the children are going to have different personalities and different talents. Some personality traits may be more pleasant than others. Some talents and skills may seem more likely to make the child successful in their career later on. Some children are easy to raise and some are more difficult to raise. But most parents love all their children equally and are as willing to work hard and sacrifice and even die for any of their children if necessary. In families where the love is not equal, there is going to be dysfunction. There is going to be resentment. There is going to be disrespect and deception. And that's what we see in the family we're studying in the Bible right now.
We can't place all of the blame on Jacob for what's happening here. He's somewhat a product of his upbringing. That doesn't excuse his sin of lying, but it helps us to understand where he's coming from. I don't think the Lord glosses over his sin, for Jacob himself will be deceived in a similar manner later on so that he will understand how terrible it is to deceive and so that he will learn the lesson not to do it again, but the Lord certainly extends mercy to him even though in Genesis 27 he's quite the liar. Jacob will reap what he sows but the Lord is not going to change His mind about which of Isaac's sons He has chosen to lead the family and to become the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. God understands where we're coming from and He understands why we do the things we do. Although He doesn't excuse our sin, and although we might have to learn some hard lessons from our mistakes, He offers mercy and forgiveness to us. Just as He did with Jacob, He keeps working on us if we'll let Him.
"So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made." (Genesis 27:14-17) Esau is an extremely hairy man, so hairy that if the blind Isaac touches the goat skins on Jacob he will think he's touching Esau.
"He went to his father and said, 'My father.' 'Yes, my son,' he answered. 'Who is it?' Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.'" (Genesis 27:18-19) It's not necessary for Jacob to add "your firstborn" when he claims to be Esau. Isaac knows Esau is his firstborn. But I think Jacob adds that detail to keep his father's mind on what (to Jacob) is the main event of this day, which is bestowing the blessing of the firstborn.
It would have taken some time for Jacob and Rebekah to get everything ready to pull off this ruse, but not as long as it would normally take Esau to hunt and kill wild game, field dress it, bring it home, and cook it. But they didn't dare drag out the process very long for fear Esau would find game too quickly and return before Jacob obtained the blessing. This little detail of the timing almost trips Rebekah and Jacob up. Isaac is suspicious about how swiftly food was brought to him. "Isaac asked his son, 'How did you find it so quickly, my son?' 'The Lord your God gave me success,' he replied." (Genesis 27:20) I cringe a little when I hear Jacob lying about the Lord. But what's really interesting to me is that he doesn't say, "My Lord gave me success," or, "My God gave me success." Instead he says, "The Lord your God gave me success." Jacob doesn't claim God as his own at this point in time. He believes in God, and something in his heart yearns to know God well enough to become the spiritual leader of his family, but he doesn't yet have a personal relationship with God. He's still depending on himself to get things done, but God is going to work on that. Jacob isn't always going to be the way we see him here in Chapter 27. Aren't we thankful the Lord keeps working on us? He sees who we can be. He doesn't see who we are right now and give up on us. Instead He works toward helping us fulfill our spiritual potential. He isn't put off by who Jacob is in Chapter 27 because He sees who Jacob can be.
Isaac isn't placated by his son's statement that the Lord gave him immediate success while hunting game. Something doesn't feel right. He isn't sure this is Esau. "Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.'" (Genesis 27:21) Does Isaac suspect that his son Jacob has it in him to be a deceiver? Maybe. We know Jacob and Esau are at least forty years old by now. (Genesis 26:34) Isaac has had plenty of time to observe the character of his sons. However, I'm not sure how much discernment Isaac has when it comes to judging character. He intends to make Esau his heir even though the Lord said Jacob would be the leader of the family. Isaac either doesn't recognize Esau's inability to carry out the duties of family leader or else he is blinded to Esau's faults because Esau is his favorite child. If it's true that he's turned a blind eye all these years toward Esau's shortcomings, then it's ironic that he's now literally blind, for it's that very blindness that allows him to make his less-favorite son his heir.
I am not sure if Isaac is aware of Jacob's willingness to deceive or whether, since he is blind and is becoming old and feeble, he simply fears being taken advantage of by others. On top of that, something doesn't sound right to him about the voice he's listening to. It sounds like Jacob's voice and not Esau's. "Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 'Are you really my son Esau?' he asked. 'I am,' he replied." (Genesis 27:22-24) Isaac is confused and frustrated. He feels very uncomfortable with the situation. On the surface, everything seems right. The food smells like the food he asked Esau to get for him. The voice speaking to him claims to be Esau. The person claiming to be Esau has hairy hands. The person claiming to be Esau is wearing Esau's robes. But the voice sounds like Jacob, so Isaac asks one more time if this is really Esau. This time he accepts the answer, maybe because he thinks to himself, "My hearing is going now too, as well as my sight."
The lack of respect Jacob shows his father is sad, but his father's extreme favoritism toward Esau is sad too. There is dysfunction in this family. Was it Isaac's obvious preference for Esau that caused Rebekah to love Jacob more than her other son? Did she see the lack of attention and affection directed toward Jacob and decide to make up for it by lavishing him with love and by promising him he was chosen by God to be the heir and family leader? On the one hand we can see why Isaac might have had to show more attention to Esau in order to groom him to take over the estate someday, but that's no excuse for not loving his sons equally. On the one hand we can understand Rebekah focusing more on Jacob since the Lord told her personally that Jacob would have the preeminence over his brother, but that's no excuse for not loving her sons equally. In any family the children are going to have different personalities and different talents. Some personality traits may be more pleasant than others. Some talents and skills may seem more likely to make the child successful in their career later on. Some children are easy to raise and some are more difficult to raise. But most parents love all their children equally and are as willing to work hard and sacrifice and even die for any of their children if necessary. In families where the love is not equal, there is going to be dysfunction. There is going to be resentment. There is going to be disrespect and deception. And that's what we see in the family we're studying in the Bible right now.
We can't place all of the blame on Jacob for what's happening here. He's somewhat a product of his upbringing. That doesn't excuse his sin of lying, but it helps us to understand where he's coming from. I don't think the Lord glosses over his sin, for Jacob himself will be deceived in a similar manner later on so that he will understand how terrible it is to deceive and so that he will learn the lesson not to do it again, but the Lord certainly extends mercy to him even though in Genesis 27 he's quite the liar. Jacob will reap what he sows but the Lord is not going to change His mind about which of Isaac's sons He has chosen to lead the family and to become the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. God understands where we're coming from and He understands why we do the things we do. Although He doesn't excuse our sin, and although we might have to learn some hard lessons from our mistakes, He offers mercy and forgiveness to us. Just as He did with Jacob, He keeps working on us if we'll let Him.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
In The Beginning. Day 110, Jacob Takes Esau's Blessing, Part One
For the past couple of days we've been checking back in with Isaac and Rebekah. Now the Bible changes focus back to Jacob and Esau.
"When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah." (Genesis 26:34-35) Esau marries not one but two pagan women. He knows his grandfather Abraham obtained a believing wife for Isaac, but he doesn't follow this example. The Bible has already told us he despised his birthright, which means he despised all the responsibilities---including being the spiritual leader of the family---that came along with it. He's been brought up in the faith but thinks it unimportant to find a wife who shares his faith. I don't know whether this means that he thinks so little of God that he doesn't care if his wife and children worship the same God or whether he marries two pagan women because he has a rebellious attitude toward all things godly. I think maybe he's his own worst enemy and that he (either consciously or subconciously) wants to disqualify himself as head of the family. Whatever his motives, his parents are grieved that he's chosen this path for himself. If you have a believing child or grandchild who married an unbeliever, you can relate to how they feel.
But Esau is still Isaac's favorite son. "When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, 'My son.' 'Here I am,' he answered. Isaac said, 'I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. Now then, get your equipment---your quiver and bow---and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.'" (Genesis 27:2-4)
Isaac isn't feeling well and the only person who can cheer him up is Esau. I'm not sure why he believes he's near death, since he lives on for quite some time. I think maybe his biggest problem is that he's down in the dumps and feels like giving up. There's not a lot he can find to occupy his time now that his sight is gone and he's disappointed and stressed by some of the choices his favored son has made. It could be he's thinking to himself, "I might as well just go ahead and die. I'd be better off dead than being saddled with all these problems I can't do anything about." Have you ever gone through such a bad time that you wished the Lord would just go ahead and take you home to be with Him? I've had some days like that. I've had some days when so many things were horribly wrong and when I didn't feel like I could take one more step under the burden of all my problems. I didn't want to take my own life or come down with a terrible illness; I just sort of wished the Lord would suddenly call me out of this life so I could be finished with all my troubles. Isaac would just as soon go on to be with the Lord here in Chapter 27, but just as the Lord revived me spiritually and mentally and physically instead of taking me to heaven, the Lord revives Isaac and leaves him in the world for many more years with his family.
But right now Isaac thinks death isn't far off, and the only thing he has an appetite for is the wild game that he loves, so he urges Esau to hurry and get it and then he will give him the blessing of the firstborn. Rebekah overhears this conversation and decides it's time to promote Jacob into the position she feels is rightfully his. The Lord told her before these sons were born that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). She knows the Lord has chosen Jacob to be the head of the family, but instead of waiting for the Lord to bring this about, she takes charge of the situation. Remember, Jacob is her favorite child in the same way Esau is Isaac's favorite child. She wants him to obtain the blessing of the firstborn and become the primary heir of Isaac even if she has to drag Jacob there kicking and screaming. She's what we would call in today's slang a "mama bear", a fiercely overprotective mom who is highly ambitious for her child and who will tear to shreds anyone who prevents her child from getting what he wants and what she feels he deserves.
"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.'" (Genesis 27:5-10)
Isaac's eyesight isn't the only thing that's failing. His sense of taste isn't what it used to be either, not if he can't tell the difference between a goat of his own herd and wild game from the fields. Rebekah has been married to Isaac for a long time and she's well aware that he can hardly tell one food from another anymore. She also knows his favorite spices and flavorings, so she's going to use plenty of them so he can enjoy the food and feel pleased with it. This will make him feel generous and ready to bless, and Jacob will be masquerading as Esau and will receive the blessing.
There's more going on here than unhealthy favoritism. Although Rebekah is handling things the wrong way, she knows Jacob's destiny is to be the leader of the family. The Lord told her so. The Lord doesn't need her help but since Isaac is so certain he's near death she wants to get the matter settled immediately. And there are practical reasons for wanting to see this come about. Esau is not at all suited to the position, but Jacob is. I am sure she loves her son Esau and wants good things to happen to him, but she's aware that he's spiritually and morally unfit to receive the birthright. He would need to be able to manage the money, the estate, the livestock, the servants, and the farming. He has no knack for this and would likely have bankrupted the family within a few years. He would be the person responsible for settling disputes among his descendants and extended family, but as a man who lacks people skills and who spends little time thinking about moral matters, this job would be impossible for him to handle successfully . He would be the person responsible for arranging and/or approving marriages in the family. Since he himself thinks it's unimportant to marry a godly wife, he can hardly be expected to think it's important for his family members to marry believers. More and more pagan marriages would have taken place in the family if Esau were in charge. Within just a few generations the family would have turned from the living God to idolatry.
Jacob doesn't object to his mother's deceptive plot. He's only concerned about carrying it out without getting caught. "Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, 'But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have 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.'" (Genesis 27:11-12) There's an oft-quoted saying of Thomas Babington Macaulay, a British historian and politician and writer, that goes: "The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out." The measure of Jacob's character at this point in his life is not very impressive. He's willing to deceive his father if he can be sure he won't be found out. He's willing to steal the blessing from his brother without waiting for things to play out naturally in God's timing and in God's way.
Chapter 27 is quite lengthy so we will stop here and pick back up with verse 13 tomorrow. But it wouldn't hurt any of us to occasionally take stock of the condition of our hearts by asking ourselves, "What would I do if I knew I'd never get caught? What would I do if I thought God would never discipline me for it?" That tells us a lot about ourselves. Would we lie and deceive? Would we steal? Would we be unfaithful to our spouses? Would we plot against a co-worker to get a promotion that was meant for them? If we examine our hearts in this way and realize there are some ungodly things we'd do if we knew we'd never have to answer for them, it's time for us to draw even closer to the Lord and let Him mend the places where we're broken. If we have a teachable and willing heart, the Lord can light up what once was darkness in us. The Lord is going to light up the darkness in Jacob. Jacob has a teachable and willing heart, but right now he's just listening to the wrong person. He's listening to his mother, who is an authority figure but whose advice isn't godly at this particular time. He will learn to listen to the Lord and to rely on Him, and then he will be able to become the man his family needs him to be.
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