Genesis 27:1-45
Dear RTB’ers,
Today, back to Genesis, back to the story of Isaac’s twin boys, Esau and Jacob. First, a bit of review, providing context for today’s reading: When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. (Genesis 25:27-28) Don’t we imagine that parents should love all their children equally? Not in God’s eternal plan…: Isaac loved Esau…, but Rebekah loved Jacob Reminder: God is God, we are not. So here we see a potential problem between these twins. However, Esau creates his own problem by selling his birthright: Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:34) And one more bit of context for today’s passage: When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. (Genesis 26:34-35)
So, today, Rebekah proposes a deceitful plan (Gen 27:6-10, 13); Jacob follows through and lies three times to his father (Gen 27:19, 20, 24) and receives the birthright blessing; Esau learns of the deceit and vows to kill Jacob (Gen 27:30-38, 41); Jacob gets sent away to Rebekah’s brother, Laban (Gen 27:42-43); and Rebekah justifies her actions: 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?” (Gen 27:46 – actually, tomorrow’s reading)
So, what to make of this story? Does the end justify the means…?? Lying or cheating our way to the top is OK? That’s not how we Westerners typically think. What was God thinking in bringing all this together? (See reminder above.) But wait! This Jacob and Esau story continues! Spoiler alert: Jacob becomes the father of the twelve tribes of Israel and is widely recognized as one of Israel’s patriarchs, “Abraham, Isaac. and Jacob…” What was God thinking…??
Blessings!
See also: January 9 (2023) / Genesis 25-27
“What was God thinking?” Where in the text does it suggest that all this conniving and deceit is God’s idea or that He approves of Rebekah’s and Jacob’s schemes? Just because a story appears in the Bible does not mean that God condones all the actions of the participants. But God is indeed sovereign, and He works out His purposes even when the human actors have evil intent. We have, of course, seen this aplenty already: Abraham consistently deceives others about whether Sarah is his wife, yet Abraham is blessed; Isaac does the same with regard to Rebekah as his wife, and he is likewise blessed; Abraham uses Hagar to get a son; Lot’s daughters pursue incestuous relations with their father. None of these actions are at God’s prompting or command, yet He uses them all in His plan.
No, the end does not justify the means. Rebekah’s and Jacob’s schemes are not acts of faith and obedience. If anything, they are just the opposite. But God in His sovereignty works things out anyway and in so doing demonstrates that His love and blessing flow from Himself by His own choice, not because we deserve it in reward for any goodness in ourselves. We are all scoundrels, but He loves us anyway.