Crisis! Redemption or Stagnation?

Jacob, the youngest son of Rebekah and Isaac spent decades honing his skills in manipulating, deceiving, and being a fraud. Jacob needed redemption but was reluctant to accept it. He would have to experience severe crises to make the transition. Genesis 28 presents his first major crisis. With his mother’s help, he stole his brother’s blessing.

 

To escape Esau’s plan to kill him, Jacob’s mother sent him to Haran to live with her brother. On the way he stopped for the night, lay down to sleep and had a dream that proved to be the beginning of his redemption. It was his first personal encounter with the Lord God. A severe crisis can weaken a person’s resistance to God’s intervention.

 

The issue is that God intervenes even when we’re undeserving and have severely messed up our lives. As Jacob slept, he dreamed God spoke a message of reassurance and hope to him, a chance for a new beginning with a clear conscience. God gave him the opportunity to build a bridge to a different lifestyle, and he will do that for you.

Crisis! Hope for Positive Change

On the way to visit with his uncle, Jacob stopped for a night’s rest at sundown. He was not on a leisurely vacation, but fleeing the wrath or his brother, who intended to kill him. In life’s journey, there are times when it seems things can’t get worse. Jacob no longer had the provisions and protection of his mother Rebekah and would never have her support again.

A crisis comes when appropriate changes have been disregarded. In Jacob’s case greed overrode a moral code that would have prevented him from cheating and stealing from his brother. Deception had become a way of life for him, so now he was isolated and facing the impact of a full-blown crisis without the support of his family.

It’s at these moments when we can choose the positive direction a crisis presents because God never fails in providing that decision. Even in deepest despair God provides hope for the future by shinning His light on the path we must take. He presents an alternative that is acceptable.

Crisis! Opportunity for Failure or Success

Acceptance is a critical issue for everyone. Although Esau was the older brother, it seems he was always following in Jacob’s footsteps. His father sent Jacob to relatives hundreds of miles away so he would be safe but also to find an acceptable wife. Esau felt compelled to strike out on his own to find a wife who would fit in with the family.

 

What he didn’t know was the aspect of Jacob’s values and personality that permitted him to practice deceit and betrayal on such a grand scale. In denouncing Jacob, Esau would say, “No wonder they call him a grabber and cheater, for he stole my birthright and blessing.”

 

Under the guise of finding a wife, Jacob was forced to leave the family to escape being killed by Esau. In a crisis we are forced to choose a negative or positive turn in life, and our choice reflects our values and character strengths. The Lord God intends that we choose what reflects his plan and will for us, and he stands ready to help us do just that.  

Sin --> Grief and Loss

Those individuals who practice deception as a means of satisfying their ego demands eventually push their tactics too far and consequently end up in harm’s way. When Rebekah and Jacob used their manipulative skills to steal Esau’s blessing, they were shocked and panicked to learn of Esau’s intent to kill Jacob as an act of revenge.

  

In the panic, Rebekah managed for Jacob to be sent to her brother’s home hundreds of miles away and carried out her plan under the cover of lies. Rebekah and Jacob would not confess their deceit or seek forgiveness, but continued building a bridge to grief and loss. Jacob would never again see his mother or father alive.

  

From Esau’s perspective, he lost out in every way imaginable. Earlier he had married two Canaanite women who were unacceptable. Now he would go to his uncle Ishmael to find a wife who was acceptable. At times it seems that redemption is out of reach, but God is patient and will wait for His perfect plan to be activated. Is God waiting for you? 

Mankind's Waywardness vs. God's Tolerance

Deception causes pain not only to the victims, but eventually to the perpetrators as well. It’s especially disturbing to be deceived by family members because it destroys trust. Think how Isaac and his son Esau felt when they realized Rebekah the mother and Jacob the younger son conspired to steal Esau’s blessing.

Genesis 27:41 records Esau’s reaction: So, Esau hated Jacob because of what he had done to him. He said to himself, "My father will soon die and then I will kill Jacob.” Have you ever been hurt so deeply? Were Rebekah and Jacob so naive to think Esau would shrug it off and life would continue as usual?

Remember this: God hates sin and never turns his back on it. Esau’s hatred of Jacob created a crisis within the family, so once again Rebekah’s scheming and conniving personality acted to save Jacob. God’s tolerance for our waywardness seems never-ending, but his plans for us will not be sidetracked by sin. He waits patiently for our cooperation. 

Inextinguishable Hope

Have you noticed how some folks can be contented with just about anything life places upon them? Then there are individuals who have everything but cannot be contented, especially if someone has something more desirable. Jacob and his mother were obsessed with stealing the blessing that belonged to his brother Esau.

They were so obsessed with their plan of deception that they could not understand how hurtful their sinful act would be to Isaac the father and to Esau. Suppose you were stripped of all your power, finances and joy. In addition, you would forever be subject to a younger sibling’s control with no hope for change.

 

Isaac did give Esau one small blessing, but it seemed negative and absent of hope. However, even a small flicker of hope that the Lord Jesus Christ gives can never be extinguished, no matter how dark life becomes.  Ephesians 1:18 is encouraging. “I pray that your heart will be flooded with hope so you can see the future Christ Jesus has called you to share.”  

  

Unending Grief

When Isaac summoned his son Esau to the family tent, his purpose was to confer upon him a special blessing of honor and prestige. However, his mother Rebekah was determined the blessing would go to her favorite son Jacob. This unfolding drama has all the trappings of intrigue, deception, betrayal, impending homicide and unending grief.

Can you just imagine the heartbreak this aging, dying father suffered knowing his wife and son betrayed him? Genesis 27:33 tells us he trembled violently, simulating a stroke or seizure. When Isaac informed Esau of their betrayal, he cried out to his father with bitter tears, “Bless me; bless me, too, my father.”

         

 

What follows this grief-laden, heart-breaking scene prompted by favoritism was anger and resentment that could last a lifetime. Recovery from grief that produces extreme hatred is difficult, but not impossible. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great physician, the healer who knows our sorrows and yearns to comfort and heal us.

Deception + Fraud = Failure

Rebekah and Jacob are not the kind of people you would choose as role models. Have you ever questioned why God allows such characters to be included in Holy Scripture? This mother and son combination is the epitome of deception and fraud driven by greed to get the best of what belongs to someone else.

The blessing Isaac was to give Esau was a prize that’s hard for us to comprehend. What would be the most exceptional gift you could receive? The blessing was an honorable, prestigious gift that set you apart from others in your family. No one else could rise above you. Rebekah and Jacob stole that prize from Esau.

God gave us this story for a purpose. God wants us build bridges of integrity as strongholds to prevent lusting after what belongs to others and using deception to get what we want. God enlightens our conscience with the Holy Spirit to guide us in setting boundaries to keep us within God’s approval. Be thankful for God’s faithfulness.  

Confronting Unhealthy Pressure

Proverbs 22 challenges parents to “teach their children to choose the right path because when they are older they will remain upon it.” What did Rebekah teach Jacob as a child and adolescent that allowed him to defraud his brother Esau of their father’s blessing? Fear of discovery was overwhelmed by Rebekah’s convincing words of deception.

What prevented Jacob from standing up to the pressure his mother was putting on him to commit this heinous sin? His mother’s values prevented her from teaching him appropriate boundaries and God’s rules for living. Little did he know this act of deception and fraud would permanently separate him from his mother.

Rebekah apparently felt it’s okay to be deceitful provided you don’t get caught. Jacob must have been driven by greed and lust for power and prestige. He would have to learn time and again that God neither sleeps nor slumbers. God knows our deeds and our heart, yet consistently desires to create in us a clean heart through our repentance if we will but seek it.

Beware of Good Intentions

Good intentions covered over with DECEPTION never produce a

godly outcome but open the door to pain and suffering. Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau, was determined that Jacob would receive their father Isaac’s blessing. She was willing to deceive her husband to make sure it happened.

Where there is lack of faith and trust, there is fear. Fear then gives rise to extreme self-centeredness and a fiery self-determination. There is no evidence Rebekah consulted God concerning her plan of deception. Isn’t it like us to act independently, setting our own plans in motion, only to experience the worse possible consequences?

When Rebekah informed Jacob of her scheme, he was initially reluctant, but her persuasive skills were too precisely honed to resist. So, he became a full participant in her deception, unaware of what it would cost him. Psalm 119 identifies the character strength of resistance we need. “I refuse to walk in the paths of evil.” This can be your choice. God will bless you.  

Craving Godly Blessing

When Isaac sent Esau, his eldest son, into the country to hunt game for a special meal to celebrate Isaac’s giving Esau his blessing, guess who was secretly listening to the conversation? Esau’s mother Rebekah was concerned that Jacob, her favorite son, would miss out on God’s promise to her.

Just think about it. God had promised Rebekah that Jacob would become patriarch of the family, but God’s plan was to supersede Rebekah’s. Guess what? She couldn’t wait for God, so she devised her own plan. She didn’t realize that taking matters into her own hands was an invitation to disaster, especially when it negated God’s purpose.

God wants us to wait for his plan even when it appears impossible to acknowledge delays of any kind. God’s purpose is for us to develop endurance, the capacity to hold onto faith, especially where fear abounds. Endurance includes trusting God even as the impulse to run forward is overwhelming. God is the Lord of all hope so stay fixated on that hope.  

Personal Treasures to Pass On

Soon after Jacob and Esau’s fortieth birthday, their father Isaac decided to give Esau his blessing as the firstborn son. This blessing would give Esau his special approval by asking for God’s favor to make sure good things were in his son’s future. Isaac’s blessing would pronounce unique powers and privileges upon Esau.

 

Genesis 27 alludes to this power. “May nations serve you and people bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.” Can you imagine the excitement and anticipation Esau felt knowing he would have an importance above all the others in the family?

 

What do you treasure most at this moment that you can pass on to those you love the most? Isaiah 33:6 points you to Christ who is a “sure foundation for your days, a rich store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge.”  It goes on to say, “the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” You can bless those you love with this treasure.  

What We Can't Discard

A complete timeline for Esau doesn’t exist after he traded his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup and when he married two Hittite women at age forty. Judith and Basemath became a source of grief for Isaac and Rebekah, probably reflecting the influence of the women’s cultural and spiritual heritage they brought into the family.

 

The conflict supports the fact that a person’s family of origin and the influence of their values are a powerful force. Esau’s parents were afraid he would discard their values and faith to please his wives. Esau easily gave up his birthright to appease his hunger. Rebekah would do her best to make sure Jacob did not follow his brother’s lead.

    

Desperate parents sometimes take desperate actions. However, this desperation is not a license to sin or to act impulsively, but an invitation to pray for God’s guidance, provision and protection. We’re encouraged to make our requests known to God with praise and thanksgiving so the Lord of all hope can meet our needs.