Genesis 27:1-45

Shakespeare called deception a tangled web and I think that is an appropriate description of this passage.  The plot of deception thickens between Jacob and Esau and Isaac and Rebekah.  It, quite frankly, is sad to see the striving and conniving that takes place within this family.  However, I think that it is important to remember that God came to Rebekah and reveled to her that Jacob would be the person through whom the promise would be carried forward.  God’s will was for Jacob to be blessed above Esau.  It is just sad to see that she felt like she had to use these tactics to try to “help” God in the fulfillment of His plan.

THE DANGER OF FAVORITISM: Everyone who has a sibling at some time or the other has suspected favoritism by their parents.  Good parents recognize that there are differences in their children and learn to appreciate and encourage those differences without playing favorites.  Unfortunately, Isaac and Rebekah did not demonstrate this wisdom and ability.  Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob and Rebekah loved Jacob more than Esau.  They knew it; their children knew it and it brought about a division in the family that became the source of much pain and suffering.  Isaac wanted to give a special blessing to Esau even though he had sold his birthright.  Rebekah overheard the plan and went into action in hopes of gaining that blessing for Jacob.  I would have hoped that they would have been able to sit down as a couple and discus what God had revealed and together decide which child should receive what blessing based on God’s revelation and what they could observe in their children’s character.  Unfortunately manipulation took the place of communication and relationships were broken because of it.

THE DECEPTION OF FALSE IDENTITY: Isaac asked Esau to hunt and prepare food prior to the giving of the blessing so while Esau was out hunting Rebekah hatched up the plan to kill a couple of goats, pretend that they were hunted and send Jacob in with goat hair on his hands and claim to be Esau.  It seems like Isaac knew something was not right but went ahead and ignored the questions he had and gave Jacob the blessing he had intended for Esau.  Jacob had to lie several times in the process but eventually got what he wanted.  This is a classic case of mother and son believing that the end justified the means.  This is a wicked trick of our enemy Satan.  God in His wisdom is able to use our sin to accomplish His will, but it is never His desire to do so.  We must be able to trust God and His Word and when we see others who seem to be going against our understanding of God’s will we must have the courage to confront them directly and not try to gain what we believe to be right through sin and deception.  Rebekah and Jacob were able to pull off their “trick” but the cost of doing so was very high.

THE DESTRUCTION OF FRAUD: When Esau found out what Jacob had done he was broken hearted and very quickly became angry and bitter to the point wanting to kill his brother.  This is no way for a family to live and interact, but it is the consequence of sin.  Jacob ends up having to flee for fear of his life and brings further pain to the family.  We can choose to sin, but we cannot choose the consequences of our sin.  All of these problems and conflicts could have been resolved with direct communication, loving confrontation and humble consideration of one another.  We must never think that we need to take matters into our own hands and try to resolve matters ourselves. God is plenty capable of accomplishing His will in the world without us having to step in and try to resolve matters in our own way.  When we do this we open ourselves up to broken relationships, bitterness and strife that we may never be able to overcome in this life.  We must learn to trust God and not our own schemes.