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.