“I don’t understand how to judge the situation in the family of Isaac, Rebekah and Jacob. Please explain.”

October 2019 – Grace & Truth Magazine

QUESTION: I don’t understand how to judge the situation in the family of Isaac, Rebekah and Jacob. For example, God told Rebekah that the older twin would serve the younger, but she was deceitful in how she told Jacob to lie to Isaac. Also, why did Isaac want to bless Esau rather than Jacob, if God had said that the younger would be the leader? One person told me that God did not command Isaac to bless Jacob. I feel Isaac and Rebekah should have understood that Jacob was to receive the blessing. Please explain. Thank you.

ANSWER:May we remember that people in the Bible were human beings subject to the same weaknesses and failures as we are today. It is easy for us, with the whole Bible at our fingertips, to judge and condemn biblical persons for the same mistakes we make now. Let’s not do this.

In this family we see that each parent had their favorite son based not on spirituality but on purely natural tastes. Isaac had initially prayed for his wife to have children during the first 20 years of their marriage (Gen. 25:21 NKJV), a very commendable act. Once the boys were grown, he apparently did not pay much attention to what God had told Rebekah years before when she had inquired about the struggle in her womb. Isaac loved Esau, the macho hunter who brought him game – food he liked to eat – from his hunting. Rebekah favored Jacob, the quiet stay-at-home boy. Perhaps he was a help around the home (vv.23,27-28).

God shows us through this account what a dangerous thing it is for parents to show favoritism among their children based on their own likes and dislikes. Esau is called a profane person in Hebrews 12:16-17 because he despised the birthright, showing no regard for future spiritual values. A hunter, one who enjoys going out to kill animals, is usually viewed negatively in the Bible. By contrast we see the shepherd who cares for and tends his sheep – and especially our Lord Himself, the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep by name, tenderly leads and provides for them, and who has even given His life for His sheep.

We do not see loving fellowship between Isaac and Rebekah as they got old. Isaac was determined to bless Esau, and Rebekah was determined that it would not come about. Rather than trusting God in faith to bring the blessing to Jacob and speaking with her husband, she took things in her own hand, encouraging and helping her favorite son to lie to his father. Similarly, don’t we often attempt by fleshly means to bring God’s purposes to pass? That is wrong. The end does not justify the means!

God shows us people as they are; He does not set His people on pedestals. We can readily see ourselves in the mirror of His Word. The picture is not pretty. We understand how God’s people should have acted, but do we always act the way God wants us to? Is this our prime concern? May God help us to look more at the perfect Example He has given us, His beloved Son, the One who pleased Him every step that He took here on earth! As we look, may we follow Him!

Answered by Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.