Day 9

Genesis 25-27-28:5

The tail of two brothers vying for the family legacy. Two brothers that will stop at nothing to get what they want. The story of Jacob and Esau continues, now we are deep into Isaacs last years of life and is increasing in blindness. Isaac had fondness for Esau and Rebekah had a fondness for Jacob but birthrights and blessings are for the oldest in the family (Esau). Isaac is at the point where he wants to give his blessing to Esau and sends him out to the wilderness to hunt and bring back some wild game. Some scheming and deceiving comes from Rebekah, she overhears the conversation between Isaac and Esau. She prompts and promotes Jacob to kill some lambs, wear his brother’s clothes, put the lamb skin on his hands and go lie to his blind aging father. All to receive a blessing. 

Remember in Genesis 25:23 God tells Rebekah 

“And the Lord said to her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning , the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other and your older son will serve the younger son.””

Do you think Isaac is blind to this? I am going out on a limb here and thinking that Rebekah and Isaac had a conversation about God telling her this minute detail. What stands out there is that the older son(Esau) will serve the younger son(Jacob). Who does Isaac favor? Esau the older son. Who does Rebekah favor? Jacob the younger son. 

Isaac is blind!! He is blinded by his favoritism to his older son. He is blinded by the fact God has told him what is going to happen in the future with his sons. Is there more to this story? Absolutely.. In Genesis 26 we are told that Esau has married two pagen Hittite women. Rebekah sees that this is an issue and is bothered by it which inturn helps with her deceiving Isaac and helping Jacob receive the  blessing.

There is a bit of election happening here as well. We read later in Romans 9 about how God loved Jacob, but Esau he hated, before they were born before they could do good or evil he had already selected who was going to carry the line and the blessing that was given to Abraham. 

One side note is they are nomads, they live in tents and move around, the only land they own is where Sarah was buried. Even though they have been promised this land.

Take aways….. Always consult the Lord through prayer when a major decision is to be made. There is a way bigger game plan for our lives than what we can see. Not once did Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, or Esau consult with the Lord before they made any plans.