Genesis 25
In this chapter, the Torah writer ends the record on Abraham and Ishmael. Abraham takes another wife, Keturah, and they have six sons together. Abraham sends this family east of Canaan so as not to intermingle with Isaac and his family. Many of these sons become nations as well that we will see again in the Bible text. The Midianites show up several more times in the Hebrew Bible. Abraham died at 175, and both Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the burial ground Abraham bought to bury Sarah. The Bible then records that Ishmael also has several children who will become nations as well. They settle in the wilderness of Shur, closer to Egypt. Ishmael dies at the age of 137.
Jacob and Esau
Isaac and Rebekah have been married twenty years and still no children. Isaac prayed, and she became pregnant. Rebekah notices a lot of movement in the womb, and she inquires to the Lord about what was happening. God’s response to her is written in Genesis 25:23, “The LORD said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” (NIV). The birth showed the struggle. Esau came out first, but Jacob came out clutching Esau’s heel. Jacob’s name means “heel grabber.” Esau was an outdoorsman and loved to hunt. Isaac favored Esau. Jacob preferred to hang around the tents, and Rebekah favored him.
Esau sells his birthright to Jacob
One day Esau came in from hunting and was hungry. Jacob was making stew, and Esau asked him for some. Jacob told him he would give him some if he would sell his birthright to him. Esau let his hunger pangs rule and sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. The Torah writer gave this commentary in Genesis 25:34, “So Esau despised his birthright.” Remember this later when Rebekah and Jacob deceive Isaac to receive the blessing. It was Jacob’s because of Esau’s lack of interest in it.
Genesis 26
Isaac and Rebekah
History repeats itself
In the narrative about Abraham twice there were famines in Canaan. Once he went to Egypt, and another time he went to the land of the Philistines. Both times Abraham asked Sarah to tell others that she was his sister and not his wife. Now Isaac has to move because of a famine. He settles in Gerar, which is by the Mediterranean Sea. Isaac, like his father, requests Rebekah to say she is his sister and not his wife because he was afraid they would harm him to get the beauty, Rebekah. One day, King Abimelek saw Isaac caressing Rebekah and realized that she was his wife and not his sister. Isaac is called before Abimelek and confronted about his life. When Jacob told him that he was fearful that he would be harmed because of his wife’s beauty, King Abimelek promised protection. During Isaac’s stay in this area, his crops were fruitful, and his flocks grew. So much so that Abimelek told Isaac that he was too powerful and significant to stay there and that he had to go.
Water Disputes
Anyone that has visited the ruins in the Holy Land knows that the first thing that had to be done was making sure there was water. Many places went to great lengths to ensure water. For Abraham and Isaac, they dug wells. As Isaac moves away from Gerar, he digs a well, but the herdsman from Gerar disputed over that well. Isaac named the well Esek, which means dispute. He went further and dug another well. Again, the herdsman quarreled over who owned that well. Isaac called the well Sitnah, which means quarrel. Isaac went further away from that territory and dug another well. This time no one disputed the water rights. Isaac named this well Rehoboth, which means room. Isaac found room to live with his family, servants, and flocks. I have known many pastors when building more extensive facilities to provide for more people to call the capital campaign Rehoboth. Isaac finally settles Beersheba, which is just south of Hebron, where Abraham spent most of his time. Both locations are just south of Jerusalem.
Esau’s Wives
Genesis 26:34 records something that will come up again. Esau, at the age of 40, takes two Hittite wives. Verse 35 records, “They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.”These wives will be a sore subject and a reason Jacob is sent to find a wife among Rebekah’s family later.
Genesis 27
Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing
Blessing is a big deal starting with Abraham and flowing down through all the patriarchs. God promises to bless Abraham. He also wants to use Abraham and His descendants to be a blessing. This is different from the primitive religions of Abraham’s day that dealt with a curse.
The Hebrew word for blessing is Berakah. The word for birthright is Beqorah. They sound alike. Walter Bruggemann believes the Torah writer is linking the two words through alliteration. In other words, since Esau despised his birthright, the blessing should not belong to him either. Unfortunately, Isaac doesn’t see it that way. It would not be a stretch to believe that Rebekah had shared God’s word to her that Esau would serve Jacob. Also, Isaac would have known about Esau selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. Yet, Isaac desires to pass the blessing on to Esau and not Jacob.
Genesis 27:1-4
Isaac Prepares to Bless Esau
Isaac is old, sick, and has terrible eyesight. He realizes that he will die soon, and so he calls his son Esau in and tells him to hunt some wild game, prepare it for him, and he will bless him. Isaac hasn’t lost his appetite because he is interested in eating.
Genesis 27:5-17
Rebekah Schemes for Jacob to Steal the Blessing
Rebekah overhears Isaac’s plans and tells Jacob to go pick out some lambs and bring them to her, and she will prepare some food for Isaac. She gets some of Isaac’s clothes for Jacob to wear, and she gets goatskin for Jacob to put on his hands so that they will feel hairy like Esau’s. When Jacob protests deceiving his father, Rebekah tells Jacob to allow all the curses to fall on her.
Genesis 27:18-29
Jacob Deceives Isaac
Jacob brings the food into Isaac. Isaac recognizes that it is Jacob's voice, but the feel of the hands and the smell of the clothes are like Esau. Isaac eats and then blesses Jacob. He blesses him to prosper and that his brother would serve him.
Genesis 27:30-40
Grieves with Esau
Esau comes in with his food. Isaac is shaken that he has made a mistake. He has given the blessing to Jacob that he intended for Esau. Esau is disturbed, and he makes an astute comment to his father and requests that he receive a blessing too! Isaac does bless him. The blessing is that he will be able to throw off the yoke of anger and jealousy of his brother one day.
Some Thoughts on Blessing
Even today, everyone wants to be blessed. It is tragic for one to go through life and never receive recognition, approval, and acceptance. Blessing contains all of these benefits, plus a bright outlook for the future of the one being blessed. Blessings come through words. Words do matter. Our calling is to bless our family members. As God’s people, we are called to bless others.
Genesis 27 – 28
Jacob Sent to Find a Wife at Uncle Laban’s
At the end of chapter 27, Esau is furious that Jacob has taken his blessing. He is telling those around him that his father is dying, and as soon as the mourning period is over, he will kill Jacob. Rebekah overhears this and tells Jacob that she will get him sent to her brother Laban’s house so he can find a wife. She promises to send word to him when it is safe to return. She then goes to Isaac and complains that if Jacob takes a Hittite wife like Esau, her life will not be worth living.
Genesis 28:1-9
Isaac sends Jacob to His Uncle Laban’s
Isaac called for Jacob and told him to go to his uncle Laban’s to find a wife in his household. He then blesses Jacob for his journey. Isaac realizes that Jacob’s blessing was more than a deception of Rebekah and Jacob but that God had a hand in it. Isaac is quick to bless Jacob this time. Esau realizes how much his parents dislike his Hittite wives, and so he goes and gets a wife from Ishmael’s family.
Jacob’s Ladder Dream
On Jacob’s journey to Haran, he stops to spend the night. He lays his head on a rock and has a dream. In this dream, there is a ladder that goes from earth to heaven. Angels are ascending and descending on it. The Lord is above it, and the voice of God pronounces His blessing on Jacob. Jacob will carry the blessing first given to Abraham to the father of many descendants, and they will be given the land he is lying.
Jacob wakes the next morning. He thought, “’ Surely the Lord is in this place, and was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Jacob went on to call the place Bethel, which in Hebrew means house of God. Jacob realizes that he was in a holy place. He was in the house of God. The guide I use to lead our trips to Israel, Eli Shukron, was the chief archeologist in the City of David for over twenty-five years. He thinks he has found the place where this took place. There is a stone that was used for sacrifices. Troughs were built going away from that stone so that the blood of the sacrifices would run away from it. Also, right next to that stone, there is an olive press. On top of the sacrificial stone, another stone has been placed. This fits the story completely.
Eli believes this is where Melchizedek performed sacrifices and where Jacob spent the night. Many would disagree with this site because it is in modern-day Jerusalem. God told Jacob to go back to Bethel, where he had spoken to him. He settles about nine miles outside Jerusalem. This is hard to explain, but if it did happen in Jerusalem, he could not have gone back there with all his herds and family. It was a city area at that time and would not have supported all his livestock. In contrast, the site not far from Jerusalem where he is thought to have settled is still being used by the Bedouins today to herd sheep. I don’t believe a definite decision can be made either way.
Jacob certainly believed that God appeared in certain places. He thought where he slept that night was a portal to heaven. This was God’s way in Genesis. He met with Adam and Eve in the Garden in the cool of the day. He had particular times he walked with Enoch. He met with Abraham at certain places.
It was no accident that hundreds of years later, King David chose to take Jerusalem. It was not taken when the children of Israel first conquered the Promised Land. It was a fortified city, and no one took it on. David was determined to have the city for his capital and the site of the Temple of God. I believe precisely because this was the site of Melchizedek’s the High Priest of the true God that blessed Abraham. It was the place Abraham was called to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, and a ram was substituted instead. This was the beginning of the sacrificial system. David knew this, and it is why he wanted God’s Temple there because God had visited this place. Even though David didn’t get to build the Temple, he selected the location and provided the material for his son Solomon to complete the project.
In Jesus’ day, the people from Galilee three times a year would make the long trip to Jerusalem so that they could pray to God. They would go to pray because that is where God stayed in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. On a hill in Jerusalem that Jesus was offered on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins. This sacrifice was once and for all. At the time of his death, the Holy of Holies' veil was torn from top to bottom. Later the Holy Spirit was given to indwell believers. Paul describes Christ's followers as being the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Unlike Jacob or the believers before Christ that had to go to a particular place to be in God's House. Christians today are the house of God. We have 24/7 access to talk with God. We do not have to fly to Jerusalem and pray at the Western Wall, nor do we have to go to a church. We can pray wherever and whenever we wish.
Genesis 29
Jacob Meets His Match in Uncle Laban
Jacob travels to Haran, where his uncle Laban lives. Providentially, he sees some shepherds by a well waiting for the other shepherds to water their sheep together. The well was covered, and there must have been an agreement that they would water the sheep simultaneously so one group would not use too much water. Jacob asks if they know his Uncle Laban. They know him and point out that his daughter Rachel, a shepherdess, was coming with her sheep to be watered. Jacob helps her water her sheep and tells her that he is her relative. She goes to get her father Laban, and Laban brings him home.
Jacob tells the family his story, and Laban greets him as a relative and welcomes him into his home. This would suggest that Jacob would be considered family and would entitle him to some inheritance. Laban changes that deal a few days later and indicates that it is not suitable for Jacob to work for nothing. Jacob asks to earn money to pay the dowry for his daughter Rachel. They agree upon seven years of work for him to achieve her as his wife. According to the times' wages and customs, this would be twice the average price, but Jacob happily agrees to the terms.
The seven years are up, and they have the wedding feast. Then the wedding couple consummates the marriage that night. Laban had deceived Jacob though and given him his older daughter Leah. The next morning when Jacob discovers the switch, he complains to Laban. Laban uses the excuse that it is not their custom to marry the younger daughter before the older daughter. Laban deals with Jacob that he will give him Rachel for another seven years of work after the wedding week. Jacob, the deceiver, has been deceived and manipulated.
Leah’s Sons
Jacob loved Rachel and favored her. This stressed Leah, but she felt compensated because she was able to have children. Having children brought her false hope that Jacob would be more loving to her. She named her first child Reuben because she thought that the Lord had seen my misery. Reuben in Hebrew means sees. Her second child, Leah, called Simeon and proclaimed, The Lord has heard I am not loved. Simeon means to hears. Her third son, Levi, is attached because she was convinced that Jacob would attach himself more to her after having three sons. The fourth child she called Judah, which means praise. She finally realized that giving Jacob children wasn’t going to change his feelings for her. She is going just to praise God for her children.
Leah finally figures out the best way to live life. Live praising God for what He provides and not worry about things that are outside your control. We allow others' disrespect or the unfairness of life to rob us of our real purpose in life. We were put on this earth to have a relationship with God and to praise Him.