Thought Jacob was Esau?

I encountered a problem similar to that of Isaac tonight. I've been away from home for 9 days. My oldest boy is 17, and the younger is 15, only 20 months younger. One of them answered the phone when I called home tonight, and I thought it was the older, William, but he pretended to be his brother Davis. Although it sounded like William, it was plausible to me, not being able to see them, that Davis could disguise his voice to be like that of William. Or because he'd been sick this weekend, it was possible his voice had changed. Or he could have matured, causing his voice to change and be more like his brother's. Therefore, I see how blind Isaac could have mistaken one son for the other.

Jacob and Joseph and Joshua

I met a fellow selling computer hardware in the Atlanta airport Friday night. I was walking by three people who were vendors in the airport, one selling videos and I forget what the third was selling. One fellow had confused Joshua, Jacob, and Joseph. He was sure that Jacob had something to do with Moses, but he had confused Joshua, who was Moses' right hand man, successor, and military commander, with Jacob. Being ignorant of the bible, how could he understand God's purposes for man, for Christ who was the greatest and the true Joshua, whose name means salvation. Ignorant of the details and specifics, people in our day are ignorant of Christ Himself. The Jacob, Joseph, and Joshua of the Jewish bible each picture Christ to come in their own unique way. Don't slander any of them.

Grace and Jacob

What did Jacob do that was so great? In John 4, the woman at the well asked Jesus if he was greater than their father Jacob, who had dug the well. Apparently, that was the way to humble someone back then - ask if they're greater than Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel, after which the people of Israel, obviously, were named. So, what made him so great? He withstood the temptation to respond in kind to Laban and cheat to accomplish the injustice he'd been denied. But he didn't respond in kind because he believed God would act on his behalf, which He did. So, Jacob didn't act. He wrestled with the man before he met with Esau in order to be blessed by God. Jacob again didn't act to attack or defend himself against Esau; therefore, he won by not doing something, but by only believing. What about his bargaining with Esau? He did that because he knew God had already given it to him. That's what God had told his mother. So what did Jacob do that was so great?

Jacob simply believed. He believed because God had chosen him to be the chosen patriarch after Abraham and Isaac. Jacob acted or didn't act because he believed that God already had his back before he ever did anything right or wrong. So, are you chosen by God? Then believe it, act like it. It's already accomplished. You can bargain for what you already have been given. You can trust God to take vengeance when you're persecuted. You can trust God to protect you from your enemies. "When a man's ways please the Lord, even his enemies are at peace with him." Proverbs. Jacob's life was amazing only because his God is amazing. He accomplished some of the most amazing miracles in Jacob's life - Joseph's rise from slavery and prison to the chief place in the most powerful nation on earth, the vision of the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of God, and the wrestling with the man when Jacob's hip was disjointed. Believe that the God who sent His own Son for you has already set up the amazing destiny you have, and then live like you believe it.

The importance of not slandering

First, it's wrong to slander.

Second, when we focus on Rebecca and Jacob, finding fault with them, we miss the conduct that the bible clearly condemns - disregard for the holy, the valuable, the gift of God, the authority of God to do as He wills no matter the desire or law/tradition of man.

Third, we miss the exhortation of Christ to do whatever it takes to own the gospel in our hearts and lives - that it's worth it to give up all for the gospel, that we should sell all to buy the piece of land holding its buried treasure within that ground, that it's not our works, our sordid and soiled attempts to please man and to retain what we think is ours; it is God's choice to give, to take away.

Fourth, we also are tempted to think less of that which is most valuable. And what He has given that is most valuable is the gospel of His Son - something that can never be taken away. It is an eternal inheritance to those chosen in Christ for salvation. Scrap with the world in a holy way, when it tries to take it from you, mocks you, even tries to kill you. Boast in your weakness, your failing in righteousness, if you have to. Christ came for the wicked, the sick, not the righteous. Be like Jacob and hold it close, make it yours, face the threats, the accusations that you aren't whom you should be, that you're selfish. Know that He who chose you does not let you go, has an inheritance eternal in the heavens for you, an inheritance worth all the pain, loss, sweat, and tears of this life and the fight involved.

The character of Rebecca II

Rebecca did not marry Isaac for love, nor did she marry him for money. She married him because she believed it the will of God, and she did so quickly, as if she was waiting for God's calling. As I said in the first post on her character, she was like the disciples who willingly left all to follow Christ. Here was her first allegiance, loving God more than husband; therefore, it is hard to imagine her keeping her opinion to herself on the matter of Esau's unfitness as Isaac and Abraham's heir . . . for forty years. She had God's word, most importantly, that should have ended the discussion, and she had the evidence of Esau's character to prove it.

Rebecca was the one committed to God before her own affections, while Isaac had let his affection and love for Esau lead him astray. The story of Isaac and Esau and Rebecca and Jacob is not some Focus on the Family tale about parental favoritism, sibling rivalry, and a difference of opinion about whose son gets the best from the family, except as it demonstrates the nearly disastrous favoritism of Isaac for Esau.

Isaac must have been a tremendously stubborn man, a character flaw not befitting a patriarch. His stubbornness is most clearly demonstrated by Rebecca's actions in advising Jacob to fool him into giving him the Blessing. Rebecca knew this old man (he was sixty when the boys were born) would not listen to reason, or this godly woman would not have considered it necessary to resort to deception.

Consider her tremendous faith. When she advised Jacob to seek the Blessing by dressing up as Esau, he says he fears that he might receive his father's curse, another demonstration of Isaac's stubbornness, btw. Yet, Rebecca, fully confident of what she was doing, her motive for doing it, and the importance of doing it, says, "May his curse rest on me." She knew no such curse could rest on her, for the curse causeless shall not alight, according to Proverbs. And, as it happened, there was no curse. Isaac was fully capable as a patriarch of cursing Rebecca and Jacob after he knew what had happened. Isn't it evil to deceive and steal? Isn't that a sufficient basis for a curse? Yet, Isaac affirms that Jacob will be blessed, and he says not one word to Rebecca. There's only one explanation. He knew he was wrong, that his wife was the one following God, and that God Himself had made a fool of him.

The character of Rebecca I

Rebecca's character gets swallowed up in our opinion of her after she instructs her son to deceive his father, Isaac, and pretend to be Esau to obtain the Blessing. This is an injustice and helps color our view of her in the wrong way. When you understand more of who Rebecca is, then you understand better the Isaac deception. I'll explain some history in this post and will comment on that history in another post.

The first discussion of Rebecca is in Gen. 24, where Abraham instructs his servant to find his son Isaac a wife from among his own people, not the Canaanites. The servant prays for a sign - when the servant asks water from a woman who comes to the well, that she says, "Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink." Rebecca shows up as he finishes the prayer and when the servant asks for water, she says she'll draw for the camels also. It doesn't say how many camels came with the servant, but it must have been a significant number for the watering of them to be a sign from God. This act demonstrated a coincidence with his prayer that was amazing and the servant attitude of the young girl, Rebecca, who had a heart of generosity, service, and hospitality. Hospitality was a most important character quality among the godly people of the middle east. It still is.

The scripture also mentions that Rebecca was very beautiful and a virgin. Abraham's servant pulls out a golden nose ring and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold. It was Laban who was impressed by those gifts. Rebecca's family gave permission for the servant to take her to marry his master's son, but they wanted to delay a few days. The servant was in a hurry because God had prospered his way. When asked the next morning if she would go with the servant, Rebecca said, "I will go." She didn't say, "I'll pray about it."

Rebecca was a servant, but she was also ready to do God's will without hesitation. She was like the disciples who left all upon Christ's command to follow Him.

Rebecca was barren, but Isaac prayed for her and God opened her womb. Then the children within her struggled, and she inquired of the Lord, who told her that the two children would become two nations and that "one people shall be stronger then the other, and the older shall serve the younger." She knew this before either had gained her affection. Isaac was sixty years old when the children were born. What reason would Rebecca have to hide from Isaac the message God had given her about the children.

Was Isaac's preference for Esau partly based upon the fear that Esau would lose his position as the oldest, perhaps?

When Esau was 40, he took two Canaanite wives, which were a grief to both Isaac and Rebecca.

The character of Esau

Let's look at Esau. He liked hunting. His father, Isaac, liked that he liked hunting. It's a man thing. Does that make Esau suspect? I don't think so. Is it somehow a blot on a person's character because they like hunting? How could that be? It's a legitimate method of obtaining food, a demonstration of skill and courage. The fact of hunting is not what casts a shadow on Esau's character. It casts a shadow on Isaac's because he allowed that factor, along with Esau being his firstborn, to prejudice him against the true chosen one - Jacob. It is Isaac's character that is at issue when the bible points out that part of Esau's life.

The more serious issues begin with his sale of the birthright, which I've discussed in length. Then there's his marriage to two Canaanite women,the same Canaanites whom God would instruct the Israelites to utterly annihilate because of their religious, moral, and societal perversity. Again, Esau's ability or refusal to make judgments according to God's standards is demonstrated. Ultimately, Esau doesn't care about God or His standards. Nowhere in the narrative does the reader see Esau seeking anything higher than filling his belly and getting what he thinks is his due - the birth right and the Blessing. Yet, he can sell the birthright and comment on it as if it's not worth his time or concern. When he gets what is his due, that is, what God considers his due, he reacts with the attitude of Cain - kill the brother whom God favored. Actually, Cain is presented as a more admirable character. At least, God warned Cain about not submitting to temptation, as if there was hope for him. With Esau, the status of hunter gains bad press; he's a hunter in the worst sense of the word - he will hunt a human who displeases him.

This is a picture of complete selfishness, self-absorption, narcissism, and and spoiled-brattism. So, why do teachers and preachers accuse Jacob of selfishness and cunning and being spoiled?