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A Blessing by Deception Jacob Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto
Isaac; The complicated life of Jacob, patriarch of the Jewish nation, has been studied and commented upon for centuries. The Abrahamic promise, so essential to the ultimate future of the entire human race, rested on Jacob; yet the means by which he secured this promise included cunning, deception, and an outright lie to his father Isaac. What lessons can be drawn from the story of Jacob concerning the manner with which God deals with his human creation? What lessons can we as Christians learn from the life of Jacob? Genesis chapters 25 to 35 are devoted to the life of Jacob. God’s promise to bless his human creation had been given to Abraham many years before, passed on to Isaac, and would next rest on Jacob. In God’s providence, Jacob would become Israel and his twelve sons would form the foundation of “God’s chosen people,” the nation of Israel. A Study in Contrasts Conflict and struggle were associated with Jacob even before he was born. His mother, Rebekah, was told that she was carrying twins and that they represented two nations destined to struggle with each other. She was told that the elder would serve the younger. As Jacob and Esau grew, it was easy to see why they were destined to struggle. The fraternal twins differed in every way. Esau was rugged, sensual, an outdoors man and hunter. Jacob was “plain,” preferring to remain at home. Rebekah favored Jacob while Isaac loved Esau. A notable flaw in this ancient family seems to be the obvious favoritism each parent had for one of the twins. Rebekah was a woman of faith. God had answered her prayer to become the mother of Esau and Jacob. God had given her the weighty prophecy concerning the two nations of which her two sons would be the progenitors. God had told her that the promised blessing would rest on the younger son, Jacob. We are not told why Rebekah loved Jacob more than Esau, but it is not unreasonable to assume that it was because of God’s promise (Genesis 25:23). Isaac was certainly mindful of the great promise and the wonderful direct experiences he had with God during his life. Yet Isaac seemed to be enamored of his “manly” son, Esau. Perhaps he was thinking in terms of that son being more able to provide for the day-to-day needs of the family (Genesis 25:28). As the twins grew, their contrasting natures also matured. Jacob was preoccupied with obtaining the birthright blessing and waited for an opportunity to present itself (Genesis 25:29-33). We are all familiar with the story that recounts Esau selling his birthright for a simple meal of lentil soup. This event illustrates the lack of respect Esau had for his firstborn status and the weighty blessing associated with it. The Scripture says that he “despised” his birthright (Genesis 25:34). Esau further despised his heritage by marrying two Canaanite wives from “the daughters of Heth” (Genesis 27:46); they were daughters of Hittites (Genesis 26:34). When the time came for Isaac to confer his final blessings on his sons before what he erroneously thought was his imminent death, Rebekah determined that she must force the circumstances for God’s will to be done. She devises the deception and told Jacob that if there were to be any negative consequences, they would fall upon her (Genesis 27:12,13). The Failure of Rebekah The Old Testament scholar, Daniel Elazar, states: “If Rebekah, when she heard Isaac promise the blessing to Esau, had gone to him, and with humility and seriousness put him in remembrance of that which God had said concerning their sons, if she had further showed him how Esau had forfeited the blessing, both by selling his birthright, and by marrying strange wives, it is probable Isaac would have been prevailed with to confer the blessing upon Jacob, and needed not thus to have been cheated into it. This had been honorable and laudable, and would have looked well in history; but God left her to herself to take this indirect course, that he might have the glory of bringing good out of evil.” Rebekah paid a high price for her scheming. After Esau discovered that he had lost the blessing and been left with a much inferior one, he determined to murder Jacob. Rebekah convinced Isaac to send Jacob away to find a wife from her relatives, thus preserving the heritage of the promised blessing. Her beloved son Jacob was sent away for more than twenty years. Rebekah suffered the mother’s pain of never seeing him again. She is not the only one to pay because of this deception. Jacob himself is deceived seven years later when Rebekah’s brother Laban switches Leah for Rachel on Jacob’s wedding night (Genesis 29:25). Years later it is Laban who is deceived by Rachel after she steals his images and lies about it (Genesis 31:34,35). Standing before Pharaoh after being brought to Egypt by Joseph, Rachel’s firstborn son, Jacob sums up his life in these words: “Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained the days of the years of my fathers in their days of sojourning” (Genesis 47:9, Alter translation). Isaac restates the blessing promised to Jacob only when he sends him away to find a wife in Haran, from Rebekah’s family (Genesis 28:1-5). This reveals that Isaac accepted God’s choice and understood that this important blessing would now rest with the descendants of Jacob. But Isaac also shows his personal displeasure by sending Jacob away without giving him any material possessions with which he can “purchase” his bride. Jacob must make his own way, and he does so without complaint. God himself confirms his choice of Jacob in the form of a dream on the way to Haran (Genesis 28:10-15). Struggle, conflict, and deception follow Jacob throughout his long life. His experiences with Laban, Rachel, and Leah as well as the many adventures and heartaches associated with raising his large family all developed his character and increased his faith in God. What lessons can be drawn from the experiences of Jacob concerning how God deals with his human creation? Certainly one of the outstanding claims of the Bible’s authenticity as the word of God is the fact that its characters are presented true to life. Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau are flawed human beings with strained family relationships. God overlooked this imperfection to accomplish his will. The players in this drama do suffer the natural consequences of their behavior. God’s principles outlined in Proverbs 12:22 are not violated: “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are his delight” (NAS). But God does not alter his intention to pass the blessing along the line of Abraham because of the absence of a more suitable family: “The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29, NAS). The conflict between the nation of Israel and the children of Esau, also known as Edom, fills much of the history of the Old Testament and continues into the conflict between Jews and Arabs today. Lessons for the Christian What lessons can Christians learn from the life of Jacob? It is important for all God’s children to refrain from condemning that which God does not condemn. While we can certainly agree that the actions of Rebekah and Jacob were wrong regarding the deception of Isaac, we also note the “goodness and severity of God” (Romans 11:22) by allowing only the natural course of life to provide the needed chastisements and lessons without direct condemnation. By applying this principle in our own lives where appropriate, valuable Christian development will result. “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world in order to shame its wise men: and God has chosen the weak things of the world in order to shame what is strong: and the mean and despised things of the world—things that are nothing—God has chosen in order to bring to nothing things that are; to prevent any mortal man from boasting before God. But thanks to Him you are in Christ Jesus: he has become our wisdom from God, which is righteousness and sanctification and redemption that it may be as Scripture says, He who boasts, let his boast be in the LORD.”—1 Corinthians 1:27-31, Weymouth translation. |