Genesis 27:1-40

Confession: today I had a hard time doing my reading.  So many other things came up, that I didn't sit down and make it a priority.  To be honest, if I didn't have this blog, I might not have done.  So I'm glad I did.  As a side note, though, I will likely be publishing late at night for sometime.  It's easier to get the internet, everyone is in bed asleep, and it's easier to sit down and write.  Perhaps until we move out (likely in September) and get our own internet hooked up, I'll be publishing late at night.

Again, here is a familiar story: Jacob steals Esau's blessing.  It's a story you hear so many times you think you might not be able to understand or garner anything new from it.  But I did today.  I kept thinking over and over about Rebekah's relationship with her son, Esau.  How bad must it have been between them that she would be willing to steal away his blessing from him?  Granted, many have commented on the fact that she knew before he was born that Jacob would be the greater son, and therefore she would assume he should have the blessing, not Esau.  Very likely, this was her way of ensuring that Jacob would indeed be greatest.  Instead of seeing how the Lord might work through Jacob to make him great even without the blessing, or if the Lord would contrive another way for Jacob to be blessed, Rebekah took matters into her own hands.

Which is "well and good" (good?) if you were to account for the fact that this is for her favored son, Jacob.  It would likely make even more sense if Esau was not that close a relative.  But he's her son.  Wouldn't she want good and blessings for Esau as well?  I try to imagine what my feelings towards my child would be that I would be willing to actively swindle her, and I can't: I can only imagine that distaste and a lack of concern for her well-being would be there.  Would that be true of Rebekah?  And what would that be like?  Had they become so distant because he spent all of his time out in the fields, that her kinship for him was diminished?  Were his wives so distasteful and bitter towards Isaac and Rebekah that she would gladly cheat Esau to spite his wives?  What was the cause for the breach and did she not feel the slightest pang for Esau?  Surely she heard him weeping when he found his blessing was gone!  How did she feel?  Again, I can't imagine cheating my daughter in such a manner, for having a disregard for her future.  I can't at this time put myself in Rebekah's shoes.

The truth is, that all of this works to God's purpose.  Or, we should say, God uses this to work to His purpose, though God would not have condoned Rebekah's behavior or Jacob's falsehood. Still, because of Jacob's actions, we see the heat of Esau's anger and reaction.  We also see Jacob travel to Laban and work for his wives, whose children become the progenitors of Israel.  God may not have condoned the situation, but He certainly used it!

Tomorrow's Reading: Genesis 27:41-29:13