Arise, go

Genesis 28: 1-5: “And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.”

The best way for Jacob to escape from Esau’s anger was for him to go away to another country. Rebekah had already done the preparation and so Isaac called his younger so and sent him away to his mother’s homeland to find a wife for himself. Isaac, probably, never knew the real reason why he sent his son away but that didn’t really matter. The Lord was in control and Jacob had some very hard lessons to learn. When Isaac sent his son away he invoked the blessing that God first gave to Adam and then passed on to other people in history, he told him to be fruitful and multiply and raise up a large crowd of children. This may seem somewhat incongruous after Abraham’s experiences but God’s plan was for Abraham’s descendants to be fruitful and to be a source of blessing for all the families of the earth. The more fruitful those descendants became the more likelihood of the blessing reaching all the families of the earth. Of course, looking back after four thousand years it is easy to see that that has happened and that God was faithful to his promise.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Go to my brother

Genesis 27: 41-46: “And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away; Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day? And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?”

Poor Esau, he had lost both the birthright and the blessing and he was angry. He wasn’t too concerned about the spiritual meaning of what he had lost but he was concerned about the fact that his younger brother had cheated him twice. He knew that Isaac was old and preparing to die and he decided that he would kill Jacob so that he could get both the birthright and the blessing. After all, how could he serve his brother if his brother was dead? He didn’t really understand what the blessing was all about and that it had come from God. Rebekah heard that Esau was planning to kill Jacob and decided that she would have to do something to help her younger son. She didn’t want to just come out and say that she favoured the younger son over the older son so she had to have a good excuse. Esau had already married some local women and they brought grief to both his parents. This was a good excuse so she told Isaac that she didn’t want Jacob to marry a local women, that is, a daughter of Heth. She sent Jacob to her brother in Haran so that he could stay there until Esau forgot about his plan to kill his younger brother.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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The blessing that was left

Genesis 27: 30-40: “And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.” 

There is evidence of the Lord’s timing in this section even though Rebekah and Jacob had schemed and planned to steal Esau’s blessing. Image what might have happened if Esau arrived home before Isaac had blessed Jacob? However, the blessing was completed and Isaac had all the benefits that followed from having this blessing. When Esau finally arrived, trusting in the food that he had made, there was very little left for him. Jacob had been given the rule over his brother’s descendants. This came about when King David conquered the Edomites and the Jews conquered the Idumeans. However, King Herod was an Idumean pretending to be a Jew so for a while his descendants did rule over the Jews. However, the Idumeans were lost to history after that. Esau was blessed to enjoy the fatness of the earth and he was to enjoy the dew of heaven. This was fulfilled when the Idumeans controlled an important road going down to Egypt and they became prosperous producing olive oil. However, Jacob lived up to his name and the nature that he displayed when he was born and took all the benefits that belonged to his twin brother by right of birth.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Plenty of corn and wine

Genesis 27: 28, 29: “Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.”

We can see that this is an ancient piece of writing as the blessing are about things to do with the earth rather than things to do with commerce or trading. The dew of heaven was important because it came down from God and watered the earth on a daily basis. Isaac had to fight hard for water during his life and his blessing was that his son would receive water from heaven from day to day so that he wouldn’t have to fight so hard for the water. He also asked that his would know the fatness of the earth. Fatness of the earth deals with the extras rather than just with the basics. Isaac wanted his son to have the basics as represented by the dew but he also wanted him to have more than just the basics, he wanted him to know abundance as well. This was further expounded when he prayed that his son would have plenty of corn and wine. In a society where there were no international treaties or international courts of law it was important for a person to rule other nations rather than to belong to a nation that part of an empire belonging to someone else. If your nation was ruled by another nation you would have to work hard but you would never really see the benefits of your hard work for someone else would take it all away. This blessing also refers back to the promise that God first made to Abraham when He called him to the life of a wanderer. Isaac, and Jacob, both knew the importance of this blessing. Isaac was given this blessing as Abraham’s only legitimate son but Jacob had to scheme and plot with his mother to get it. However, this part of the blessing was the most important part.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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One story or two?

Genesis 27: 15-27: “And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:”

Some scholars say that this passage has evidence of two different stories mixed together. In the first story Isaac feels Jacob’s hands covered with goat skins and in the second story Isaac asked Jacob to kiss him. Somehow or other the redactor (editor) mixed the two stories together. However, there is a much better explanation that that. This is one story of an old man who is blind and has trouble hearing. He knows that Jacob wants to take Esau’s place as the eldest son but he still wants to bless Esau. He knows that if he blesses the wrong son he won’t be able to take it back so he is being very careful. He thinks that he might be hearing Jacob’s voice but he is not sure so he checks twice just to make sure that he is blessing the right son. However, Rebekah knew him better than anyone else so she had established a careful plan and that plan worked. There is no evidence of two different stories here there is just evidence of an old man who is blind, a bit deaf and slightly confused.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Problems or opportunities?

Genesis 27: 11-14: “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.”

Jacob saw problems while Rebekah saw an opportunity. She was determined to ensure that Jacob received the blessing while Jacob was concerned that he be discovered for his part in the plot and be cursed. In our modern society we don’t believe in blessings and curses too much because we are far to rational for that. However, we all believe in the importance of having the right mentor to help us find our way through the maze of success, don’t we? This is essentially the same as looking for a successful senior person to give us a blessing along the way. If we manage to alienate someone who is important to the progress of our careers then we will find it very hard to succeed and this is similar to a curse. The middle verse in the English Bible is Psalm 118: 8 “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” This is essentially what Rebekah was doing here. She remembered the promise that the Lord gave her and trusted in the Lord to bring that promise to pass. However, she had a small crisis in hope when she heard Isaac call Esau and set out to give the Lord a hand in keeping His promise. Should we just trust in the Lord and do nothing or should we be proactive and give the Lord some help as we seek to achieve our goals? First we have to be very sure that the goals we have set come from the Lord and not from our own desires and secondly we have to remember that the Lord works in His own time according to His own plan. It is also wise to remember the counsel given by Gamaliel in Acts 5: 38, 39 “And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” It is important to make sure that we remember that God is God and we don’t tell Him what to do. But we all know that if you aim at nothing you are sure to hit it, don’t we? Tell that to Ahab (see 1 Kings 22: 34, 35 “And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded. And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.”)

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Fetch me two good kids

Genesis 27: 6-10: “And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. 

At first sight we see that there is evidence of a huge family conflict here as the mother preferred one son while the father preferred the other son. However, Rebekah remembered the promise which, the Lord made to her while she was still carrying the twins while Isaac, it seems, was more concerned about the food than he was about the word of the Lord. In Gen 25: 23 the Lord told Rebekah “And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” Isaac wanted to bless Esau in spite of the fact that the Lord said that the blessing should go to Jacob. It would seem as though Isaac would have blessed the wrong son without Rebekah’s involvement. We know that Jacob desired the blessing but probably not for pure reasons. He had spent his life, to date, trying to get ahead of his older brother anyway. Rebekah knew exactly what Isaac liked and she prepared everything just the way he desired. This plan may have gone very wrong for both Rebekah and Jacob but the Lord was involved and the plan prospered in the long term. Eventually this led to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The other issue that we can remember when we consider this section is the fact that at the end of chapter 26 we read that Esau’s marriage brought grief of mind to his parents so we should question if he was worthy of the blessing anyway.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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