Episode 296 "Jacob flees from Laban" - Genesis 31:17-42

Gen. 31:17 So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels. 18 He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. 19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods. 20 And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee. 21 He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

Gen. 31:22 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23 he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

Gen. 31:25 And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword? 27 Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? 28 And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. 29 It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 30 And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” 31 Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

Gen. 31:33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.

Gen. 31:36 Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? 37 For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38 These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. 39 What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40 There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”

With his wives on board with his plans to leave and return to his homeland, Jacob made a secretive exit with all his family and possessions. He would have to know that Laban would ultimately find out and catch up with them. Laban found out after three days. The reader should expect this to create a conflict, and that Laban is not going to let them go without some kind of interaction.

To heighten the conflict even more, the reader is informed that Rachael stole her father’s “household gods” (Gen 31:19), but Jacob did not know that (v. 32). This is problematic on multiple levels. First, it actually is something that belongs to Laban, and Jacob has neither the desire nor the right to have them. In fact, as we’ll read later in Genesis, idols have no business among God’s people.

Sure enough, Laban took off in pursuit, taking kinsmen with him. I’m suspecting that Laban feared that an armed conflict might occur. He pursued after them for seven days, and as he got close to Jacob’s caravan, the LORD spoke to Laban and told him not to say anything good or bad to him (v. 24).

When Laban finally caught up to Jacob, his words were almost laughable. “Why did you trick me?” “Why have you driven away my daughters like captives of the sword?” “I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre.” (vv. 26-27) What a great guy and father, Laban is! (As his daughters roll their eyes.) The fact is, Laban would never have willingly let them go.

Laban finally turns to some truth-speaking when he confesses that “the God of your father” gave me a message last night that I should not “say anything to Jacob, either good or bad” (v. 29). He then asks the question, “Why did you steal my gods” (v.30)? Jacob certainly has no clue that Rachael stole and has the gods because he responds that the one who has them “will not live” (v. 31). He would not say that about the wife that he loves.

Jacob tells Laban to search his group and take whatever belongs to him. But Rachael had hidden them in the camel’s saddle on which she sat, and told her father that it was her time of the month, and to excuse her for not getting off the camel.

When Laban could not find them, it was Jacob’s turn to rail against Laban. He recounts how he had served Laban all these years and how Laban has benefited from his service. He reminds Laban that he’d served him for fourteen years in exchange for the right to marry his daughters. He reminds Laban that in spite of all that he’s done for Laban, Laban had changed his wages ten times. Finally, Jacob’s confession comes down to verse 42: “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”

The important thing about this history between Laban and Jacob is not Laban or Jacob. It is about the God of Abraham and Isaac, who has graciously blessed and protected Jacob and has chosen to reveal himself to Laban. Laban needs to forget about his household gods and trust in the God of Abraham and Isaac. He is becoming the God of Jacob as well.

I think there’s an important truth revealed in this story that God doesn’t wait for us to come to him to bestow blessing upon people. God is a patient God who reveals himself in various ways and show his kindness in order to get our attention so that we will turn to him. This story is a picture of God’s grace to both Laban and Jacob.

Episode 294 - "Laban's tricks and Jacob's faithfulness" - Genesis 30:25-43

Gen. 30:25 As soon as Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, that I may go, for you know the service that I have given you.” 27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you. 28 Name your wages, and I will give it.” 29 Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your livestock has fared with me. 30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31 He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it: 32 let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. 33 So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” 34 Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” 35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in the charge of his sons. 36 And he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the rest of Laban’s flock.

Gen. 30:37 Then Jacob took fresh sticks of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the sticks. 38 He set the sticks that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the sticks and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban. He put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. 41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob would lay the sticks in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the sticks, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he would not lay them there. So the feebler would be Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. 43 Thus the man increased greatly and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

The first thing I notice in this story is that Jacob is ready to go home. Clearly, he’s had “success” while working for his uncle Laban. He had eleven sons and a daughter by his two wives and their servants. By what transpires with Laban attempting to do whatever he can to keep Jacob and his family from leaving, we know that he has been successful in shepherding Laban’s sheep and goats. Furthermore, it seems clear to everyone in the story that this success is from the LORD. It would be so easy to just keep on keeping on.

But it appears to me that Jacob, having completed his commitment of service to Laban in return for his two wives, understands that he belongs back in the land of Canaan, which will be his inheritance by virtue of the covenant that God made with his grandfather Abraham and has recommitted to Isaac and to Jacob as he fled from his home in fear of his brother Esau. Yet, at this point, Jacob seems to have no concern about Esau. He simply wants to go back home and take his family and earnings with him. I believe this inclination to return home is not Jacob wanting a change of scenery. It’s the LORD’s sovereign work in Jacob’s life that is leading him to the fulfillment of the blessings that the LORD has promised Jacob.

Now we learn something about Laban. First, Laban learned from “divination” that the LORD had blessed him because of Jacob (v. 27). From “divination?” Why did Laban not understand this from revelation and from observation? Laban had some understanding of the LORD’s blessing upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when Abraham sent his servant to his family to find a wife for Isaac. Laban’s family was blessed by Abraham through that interaction, and now, for these past fourteen years, Laban has had plenty of opportunity to see the LORD’s blessing upon him by having Jacob marry his daughters and work for him. He doesn’t need divination to understand that. This suggests that while Laban knows who the LORD is, it is not evident that he trusts the LORD.

The next thing that we learn about Laban, which has already appeared before, is that Laban is concerned about nothing but Laban. When Jacob agrees to work longer for him, Laban agrees in word, but promptly attempts to cheat the arrangement.

Let’s talk about this arrangement for a minute. If I understand the scholars correctly, sheep in that part of the world are normally white, and goats are normally black. If this is the case, Jacob, through his proposed arrangement, tells Laban that he will keep the unusual sheep and goats. While Laban agrees to this, Laban promptly removes all the unusual sheep and goats from the herd with the assumption that the all white sheep and the all black goats will continue to breed and bring forth offspring that are solid in their respective colors. In other words, he does everything in his power to minimize the number of sheep and goats Jacob would keep, thereby making it necessary for Jacob to continue working for him.

But Jacob does two things. First, as he was shepherding Laban’s flocks, he put peeled sticks (that would appear striped) in front of the flocks in the anticipation that the breeding animals would see them and that, in turn, would cause their offspring to not have a solid color wool according to their breed. Now, I grew up in an area with sheep, goats, and other livestock. I have never heard of anyone doing this, and I have no evidence that this would work for anyone. But the point is that Jacob did believe this would work because he believed the LORD would bless him. The second thing that Jacob did was he only put the sticks in front of the breeding animals who were the strongest and healthiest. That makes sense.

Verse 43 informs the reader that his flocks became great and he was very successful.

This story is really about the contrast between a man (Laban) who recognizes who the LORD is but does not trust him and only works to serve himself, and a man (Jacob) whom the LORD is leading to a life of faith and blessing as he demonstrates his trust in the LORD.

I am not a “prosperity gospel” person. I don’t read the Scriptures in such a way that the interpretation means that God will provide me with wealth in this life. In fact, Jesus told the disciples that the poor would still be among them and that they themselves would suffer for his name’s sake. But the Scriptures do tell us that God cares for the flowers and the birds, and cares for us even more so. The Scriptures also affirm an eternal life of abundance in all our needs. In this life and this time, the followers of Jesus must not focus on ourselves. We must trust the LORD and be instruments of God’s blessing to others.

Episode 293 - "Family drama for Jacob" - Genesis 30:1-24

Last week’s episode was the story of how Jacob got two wives when he only wanted one. He loved his uncle Laban’s youngest daughter, Rachel, and readily agreed to work seven years for his uncle in order to marry her. But on the night of the wedding, Laban brought his older, less attractive, daughter Leah to the bridal chamber, and Jacob consummated the marriage without knowledge of the deceptive switch until the next day. Laban argued that it was customary to marry off the oldest daughter first. It’s interesting that he failed to mention that to Jacob when Jacob first agreed to work for Laban for seven years. But out of the kindness of Laban’s heart, he suggested that he would allow Jacob to also marry Rachel the following week, provided that Jacob would work another seven years for Laban. Jacob agreed.

We concluded the episode after reading that the LORD opened Leah’s womb and she had four sons with Jacob, but Rachel was barren. Understand the significance of that. The unloved wife had four sons, and the one Jacob loved had none. You can only imagine the tension that would develop between the sisters. So, as we pick up the story this week where we left off, we no longer have to imagine. The conflicts come to a head.

Let’s read the Scripture. Note: As sons are born, Leah and Rachel appear to give a reason why they gave their sons the names we see. Each of those reasons contains a word which, in the Hebrew language, the name of the son sounds like that word.

Gen. 30:1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” 2 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.” 4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. 7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.

Gen. 30:9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad. 12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.

Gen. 30:14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.

Gen. 30:19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun. 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

Gen. 30:22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”

We’d finished the last episode after Leah had given Jacob his fourth son, and Rachel was still barren. What is already evident is that Leah is distraught over the fact that Jacob doesn’t love her like he loves Rachel, and she thinks that her success in bearing him sons will draw his affections to her. Rachel is distraught over the fact that she has not had any children, and she essentially blames it on Jacob. Jacob, who has not had a history of strong faith in God, responds, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” (Gen 30:2). I must admit that Jacob’s response reminded me of how easy it is for us to put ourselves in the place of God when it’s convenient, but we quickly absolve ourselves of that when things aren’t working out as we would like. The fact of the matter is that Jacob’s response is spot on. He is not in the place of God, and neither is Rachel. I think there’s a truth there that Jacob and Rachel need to learn to seek the LORD and trust in him.

The drama builds when Rachel gives her servant Bilhah to Jacob to have children by her. We saw how Sarah’s plan to do this to provide offspring for Abraham backfired, and the reader should probably be thinking, “Oh . . not again.” Bilhad gives Jacob two sons. But now Leah, who had stopped conceiving, was not going to be outmaneuvered by her sister; she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob, and two more sons were born.

Just when you thought the drama couldn’t get any hotter, Rachel agreed to let Jacob sleep with Leah one night in exchange for some mandrakes that Leah’s son Reuben had gathered. Apparently, these are roots and may have been believed to help with fertility, which would explain why Rachel was so eager to get some. We’re not sure why Reuben would have gathered them. Anyway, how pathetic that Jacob’s attention was the object of a barter. Moses wrote that God heard Leah and opened her womb, and she conceived a fifth and sixth son. Leah then had a daughter named Dinah. She will be the center of another story soon to come.

Finally, in verse 22, we read that God remembered Rachel, heard her prayers, and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son, whom she named Joseph. She gave thanks to the LORD and asked for another one.

The count of the sons between Leah, Rachel, and their servants is eleven. The story of Jacob’s children pauses there. But we’ll soon read about the next family drama.

As always, I believe the important question we should answer is, “Why is this here?” Since Moses is writing this specifically to the descendants of these children born to Jacob and his wives, and he’s writing it at a time when they are about to enter the Promised Land, Moses is writing this story to remind them that the LORD is in control. They can make decisions and go about their lives. But reflecting back to Jacob’s words to Rachel that he was not in the place of God to control things. Yet, God was present and he heard Rachel and was compassionate to her inability to have children. He did what no human could do and made it possible for her to have a son. The LORD was also empathetic to Leah’s grief that Jacob did not love her like he loved Rachel. These truths are essential for all of us to learn. The LORD is compassionate, and he is in control. May we learn to trust him in all things.

Episode 289 - "Jacob steals the blessing" - Genesis 27

Gen. 27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

Gen. 27:5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the LORD before I die.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. 10 And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”

Gen. 27:14 So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

Gen. 27:18 So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

Gen. 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said,

“See, the smell of my son

is as the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed!

28 May God give you of the dew of heaven

and of the fatness of the earth

and plenty of grain and wine.

29 Let peoples serve you,

and nations bow down to you.

Be lord over your brothers,

and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

Cursed be everyone who curses you,

and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

Gen. 27:30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” 32 His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34 As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

Gen. 27:39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

“Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,

and away from the dew of heaven on high.

40 By your sword you shall live,

and you shall serve your brother;

but when you grow restless

you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

Gen. 27:41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 But the words of Esau, her older son, were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran 44 and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— 45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”

Gen. 27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

There is so much tension and drama in this short story that it almost seems wrong to say anything about it because it just speaks for itself. However, there are some valuable insights we can glean from observing how this story relates to the broader narrative of Genesis and the Bible.

First, do you remember when Rebekah was expecting twins and they fought within her womb, and the LORD revealed to her that the older would serve the younger? Secondly, do you recall that Jacob received that name because he was grabbing Esau’s heel when they were born? The significance of those details becomes more apparent here.

The scene begins when Isaac, who had become very old and had lost his sight, called Esau to go out and get him the meat that he liked and prepare it so that he would bless him, bequeathing to him the leadership of the family and the majority of the inheritance. Rebekah heard of Isaac’s plan and quickly took action to have Jacob receive the blessing instead of Esau. Why would she do this? For one, we’ve already been informed that Esau was Isaac’s favorite son because Esau was a hunter and Isaac enjoyed the food he brought home. On the other hand, Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite. More importantly, I think Rebekah did this because of what the LORD had revealed to her. She knew before they were born that Jacob would be the leader and the one who would carry the seed. I think she’s acting upon that revelation from God. While Rebekah’s actions were deceptive, we could argue that she was acting out of faith.

Rebekah laid out the plan to Jacob and addressed his concerns, and he agreed to go along with it. This detail bothered me for years. Why should he receive the blessing when he is gaining it through deception? That doesn’t seem fair. Then, a few years ago, I saw something in the dialogue between Isaac and Jacob after Jacob gave him the meat Rebekah had prepared. Isaac, thinking that Esau is standing near him, asks how he got the meat so quickly. Jacob’s response was, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.” Do you see that? The LORD is not Jacob’s God. The LORD is his father’s God. The blessing will only be beneficial if the LORD is Jacob’s God, and this moment in the story creates a new conflict that will prompt the reader to wonder, “How will the LORD become Jacob’s God?” The LORD revealed to Rebekah what would happen with Jacob and Esau. So, in light of Jacob's statement, we must wonder how the Lord will work this all out.

No sooner had Jacob pulled off the deception and received the blessing than Esau came home with the meat from his hunt, and Isaac and Esau realized what had happened. The significance of Jacob grabbing Esau’s heel is revealed through Esau’s comment about Jacob’s name and his actions. The picture here is that one who grabs a heel is a cheater. I think it’s amusing that Esau uses the sale of his birthright as an accusation against Jacob, since it was Esau who had no regard whatsoever for his birthright. Jacob didn’t deceive him. He was just opportunistic, and Esau now regretted it, blaming Jacob for his poor decision. The bottom line is that Esau was so angry and planned to kill Jacob once Isaac died.

Rebekah learned of Esau’s plan and found a good reason to have Isaac send Jacob away to her brother Laban’s place. The misery caused by their Hittite daughters-in-law, whom Esau had married, was the justification she used to convince Isaac that she didn’t want Jacob to take a wife like them. That was good enough for Isaac.

What I draw from this story is that God doesn’t wait for people to get all their stuff right before he will work in their lives. What will follow this story is the journey of Jacob to his uncle Laban’s place, the LORD’s self-revelation to Jacob, and the promises he makes to him, and Jacob’s resolution.

This is a picture of God’s grace and patience with people.

Episode 286 - "Esau despised his birthright" - Genesis 25

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5 Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. 6 But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.

Gen. 25:7 These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9 Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10 the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. 11 After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.

Gen. 25:12 These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. 17 (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.

Gen. 25:19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other,

the older shall serve the younger.”

Gen. 25:24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

Gen. 25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Gen. 25:29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

I am not one inclined to believe that the Bible has filler, information that has no purpose. Genesis 25 has plenty of information that, on the surface, may seem irrelevant filler. Let me see if I can remind us of a few facts that might help us understand the purpose of some of this information.

First of all, we need to remember God’s promise to Abraham to give him a vast land and innumerable descendants. The LORD told Abraham that he would use him and his descendants to be a blessing to all nations. The problem for some time was that Abraham and his wife Sarah had no children and were getting old. They tried to help God by Abraham having sexual relations with Sarah’s servant Hagar. She conceived and had a son named Ishmael. But this wasn’t God’s plan. Ultimately, the LORD gave Abraham and Sarah Isaac. Isaac was the son of promise and the one through whom a descendant (the seed of the woman) would ultimately come to defeat the serpent (devil) and restore life and remove the curse upon the ground.

At this point in the story Sarah has died and Isaac has a wife through whom the reader should expect more descendants. But Moses tells us that Abraham took another wife and had multiple sons by her. The point of Genesis 25:1-6 is to explain that the LORD is fulfilling his promise by giving Abraham multiple descendants. However, they are not the children of the promise. So, they will not share the inheritance with Isaac. Therefore, Abraham sends them away from Isaac as he had done to Ishmael.

Genesis 25:7-11 clarifies that Abraham died and the LORD blessed Isaac. God’s plan of redemption and hope will come through Isaac.

Genesis 25:12-18 shows how even though Ishmael was not the son of the promise, the LORD still blessed him because of his relationship with Abraham.

Genesis 25:19-23 is interesting because now the focus is on Isaac. There is a brief mention that Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, was barren. But this detail is not dragged out and repeated as it was for Sarah. The resolution was simply that Isaac prayed for her and she conceived. It emphasizes Isaac’s relationship with the LORD and that the LORD answered his prayer. In verse 22, a conflict in this story develops when we learn that Rebekah has conceived twins and they are struggling within her. She inquired of the LORD why this was, and she received the answer that there are two nations within her, they will be divided, and the older will serve the younger. This is an important detail to remember for later. When they were born, the older was named Esau and the younger Jacob. Jacob was grabbing Esau’s heel. Bible interpreters have often suggested this as a foreshadowing of Jacob “tripping” his brother.

We know nothing about their childhood because the next thing we read about is what they are like as young men. Esau became a hunter, and Jacob was a “quiet man, dwelling in tents” (Gen 25:27). Esau was Isaac’s favorite because of the meat he brought home, but Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite. Already, we sense another conflict coming, right?

Genesis 25:25-34 is the core part of the story in this chapter. Esau had been out hunting and came home very hungry. Remember that he was the older son and therefore possessed the birthright, which would have entitled him to a greater inheritance and authority from his father. Jacob had made some stew, and Esau wanted some. Jacob would only give some to him in exchange for the birthright. Esau seemed to have no problem with that and, as Moses puts it, “Esau despised his birthright” (Gen 25:34). This is the first incident in which we see how the older would serve the younger.

Even in the less exciting details of chapter 25, there is evidence that the LORD fulfills his promises and that his word is true. I like to be reminded of that. It encourages me to be thankful and trust in him.