Opposites cont'd

Opposition between Isaac and Rebekah is perhaps best illustrated in the story of Jacob stealing the blessing. The story is recorded in Genesis chapter 27. I'm using the NKJV, but feel free to follow along in whatever version you like best. :) Genesis, chapter 27, starting at verse 1.



Now it came to pass when Isaac was old- How old? Good question. I don't know off the top of my head. I know that Isaac was 60 when his sons were born. (Gen 25:26) And Genesis 26 ends with Esau taking as wives daughters of the Hittites when he was 40, which would make Isaac 100 by that time. I just don't know how much time elapsed between the end of Genesis 26 and the beginning of Genesis 27. All we can say with certainty was that Isaac was at least 100 years old. Yeah, I'd say that qualifies as old.



and his eyes were so dim that he could not see-Isaac was blind. What caused this blindness? We are not told. When did he become blind? We don't know. The rabbis speculate that Isaac's blindness was caused by the incense that Esau's wives burned for their pagan gods and idols. Let me be clear, that's all speculation. But, be that as it may that's not all that important. Isaac's blindness is mentioned because of what follows.



Isaac then called his firstborn son, Esau. And he said, "my son." And Esau said, "here I am."
Hineni (in Hebrew). This is an appropriate response, but it's sometimes followed by a difficult test. Abraham said hineni and was told to sacrifice his son. Joseph said hineni and went to find his brothers and was thrown into a pit and then sold into slavery. If you say hineni, be ready to be tested.

Why did Isaac call Esau? “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4 And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” (Gen 27:2-4)

How old? Again, we don't know for certain. Isaac was at least 100. Perhaps we can narrow it down still further. I'm jumping ahead quite a bit here, but we know that Jacob spent twenty years in Laban's service after this incident and then returned home. And then he buried his father. And Isaac died at the age of 180. So, Isaac was somewhere between 100 and 160 years old at this time. None of us know the day of our death. But the older we get, the closer we feel it coming. Isaac wanted to bestow his blessing on Esau before Isaac died. Now, Isaac lived for another 80 years (at least), but he had no way of knowing that. Isaac loved the taste of meat. He may have been thinking of having a last meal before he passed on the blessing and died.

Notice that Isaac says "that my soul may bless you before I die." This is an important detail.

Where was Rebekah while this was going on? Where was Jacob? Isaac said, 'my son.' Didn't he have two sons? Wherever Jacob was, he didn't come when Isaac said, 'my son.' Rebekah heard the exchange between Isaac and Esau however.

And Rebekah went and spoke to Jacob. And listen carefully to what she says Isaac said.
“Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 7 ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’ Gen 27:6-7

Is that what Isaac really said? Isaac told Esau to go hunt some game and make him some savory food such as he loves and bring it to him that his soul may bless Esau. What does Rebekah do? She adds that Isaac said "bless you in the presence of the Lord." Why? Didn't Isaac and Rebekah talk to each other? Rebekah knew that Jacob was the one to inherit the covenant, not Esau. Did she convey this to Isaac? Did she try and he not hearken? Did she think that Isaac was going to bestow the blessing of the covenant upon Esau? Is that why she added "in the presence of the Lord?" And what was Isaac's motivation? Did he intend to bestow the covenantal blessing on Esau? He never said as such. But see, this is where conflict arises. Without open communication, we have people working at cross purposes.

Rebekah, fearful that Esau would get the covenantal blessing and not Jacob, persuades Jacob to disguise himself as Esau and get the blessing from Isaac. Jacob protests but is finally convinced. And he goes before his blind father and in effect steals the blessing intended for Esau.

What was this blessing?

“ Surely, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
Which the LORD has blessed.
28 Therefore may God give you
Of the dew of heaven,
Of the fatness of the earth,
And plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brethren,
And let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
And blessed be those who bless you!”
Gen 27:27-29

What is the blessing? Riches and power. "The dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine." The first part of the blessing intended for Esau was that he should never suffer want. He should always have plenty. The second part is political and military power. "Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren and let your mother's sons bow down to you." Isaac intends to give Esau power over his brothers. But didn't the prophecy from the Lord to Rebekah say that the older shall serve the younger? What's going on here? This appears to be opposite what God told Rebekah. Perhaps Rebekah knew Isaac would say something like this and thus urged Jacob to receive this blessing instead of Esau in order to fulfill the prophecy. And lastly, we have an echo of God's call to Abram in Genesis 12.

Interesting! Here we have Isaac intending to say to Esau what God said to Abram! Whoever blesses you will be blessed, whoever curses you will be cursed! Except this is not to Jacob but Esau! Be careful whom you bless and curse. Isaac is saying that whoever blesses Esau will be blessed and whoever curses Esau will be cursed. And yet throughout the centuries, Esau (aka Edom) has been cursed. Edom was synonymous with Rome during the Roman occupation of Canaan. All the horrible things that could be said about Rome, without actually using the word "Rome" were said about Edom. Wow. Has the curse been nullified because it was Jacob and not Esau who in fact who received the blessing? So when Isaac said whoever blesses you will be blessed and whoever curses you will be cursed transferred to Jacob instead of Esau? I don't know. It makes my head spin though. :)

To be continued...