A new section is introduced in Genesis 25:19 (this is the 8th) with the sentence, These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son (25:19). This section of text stretches all the way through Genesis 35:29. The generations of Isaac turn out to be primarily the story of Jacob. Though Isaac lived 180 years, his story is largely untold. All the characters from chapter 25:19 to 35:29 are supporting actors to Jacob, the star of the story.
There is, however, one oddly placed chapter about Isaac (Genesis 26). It is sandwiched between the story of the despised birthright (Genesis 25) and the stolen blessing (Genesis 27). It is out of chronological sequence and seemingly interrupts what would be a seamless story. The story, then, is there to support the author’s purpose in writing.
The writer’s purpose in the Jacob narratives is to show that the God who created all things and established his covenant with Abraham cannot be thwarted in His purpose to bless all peoples. In God’s purpose of blessing, He is interested in His people knowing and walking with Him. He transformed Abraham, He will transform Jacob, and He will transform us.
We can be at one of two extremes spiritually. First, we can be so spiritually cold that we are numb to means of grace surrounding us. For one reason or another, we slip into a state of spiritual insensitivity, lacking the discernment to evaluate ourselves by the Word. To the extent we are spiritually tuned out, we are tune-in to this world. We still maintain we are Christians and attend church, but we are simply going through the motions. There is no application of the truth to our lives. We become judgmental, somewhat antagonistic, and perhaps, bitter toward the church.
Second, we can become so passionate about our vision of the church and how God’s work should be carried out that anything other than absolute surrender to our will and way is unacceptable. We cease to love our brothers and sisters, and see them only as means to fulfill our agenda that we have transposed onto God. We have the, perhaps unstated, idea that God needs us and can’t accomplish His purpose without us. We, in our eyes, are indispensable to the mission of God in the world.
This perhaps is the picture of Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob and Esau in this text. One the one side, there is complete disregard for the purpose of God. On the other side, the end justified the means in securing the promise. God in His mercy, however, would transform Jacob through a banquet of consequences and an encounter with God that would leave him with a limp for the rest of his life. This text shows that upholding the promise is God’s work and explores the ways God works to uphold His promise.
This text assures us that God’s purpose of blessing reaches through the messiness of our lives and will ultimately transform us.
To be sure, we are impacted by our culture and family and experiences in life, but by God’s grace we don’t have to be defined by or victim to those things. In fact, God is able to take the most ghastly situations and use them as means of His grace to form us into people who are His treasures.
In the first paragraph, we are told that Rebekah was barren, Isaac prayed for her, and she conceived. It is almost as if the writer downplays their childlessness with the brevity with which he mentions it. Yet, when we see the paragraph is bounded by references to Isaac’s age (vv20,26), we understand they dealt with this for 20 years. That’s only 5 years less than Abraham and Sarah faced this problem. Unlike Abraham and Sarah, they did not scheme to fix the problem, but Isaac prayed and trusted God’s promise. Through eyes of faith, Isaac could see that it was impossible that they would not conceive. This was the highpoint in Isaac and Rebekah’s faith.
The obstacle of conceiving overcome, you would think problems are solved. Pregnancy, however, did not fix their problems but, simply, gave them two more problems, Jacob and Esau. The in utero violence of the twins moved Rebekah inquire of the LORD. This portended things to come.
God’s declaration clarified the issue (v 23). God had set His favor on the younger. There would be strife between the two nations emerging from these brothers, but the older would serve the younger. How can this be? It overturns the law of primogeniture. Blessing, however, is not a natural right but a gift of God’s sovereign grace. To be an heir of the promise is to be one on whom God has set His affection and called to faith in His Son.
God set His affection on Jacob, a more rotten and undeserving person could never be, and overturned the conventions of culture, the good order of society, and, even, the deception of Jacob’s own heart to make him heir to the promise.
At last the twins were born, Esau then Jacob, Hairy and Heel. An observation here is worth noting. Since God had chosen Jacob, would it not have solved every forthcoming problem simply to have purposed Jacob to be born first? God not only ordained Jacob to believe, He created the circumstances in his birth order that He would use lead Jacob to faith.
Birth order does not determine blessing. We see that thinking overruled again and again in the OT (Judah, Ephraim, David). Someone may think that the blessing is purely a genetic thing. Jacob and Esau explode that thinking. They have the same father, the same mother, and they are twins. As Paul argued in Romans 9, In order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Rom 9:11-13).
The twins could not have been more different. Esau was born first and was all red and as hairy as a cloak. Jacob was born holding Esau’s heel. Esau was a hunter and favored by his father because of the tasty game he provided. Jacob was a pastoralist and tent dweller (not a sissy or softy) whom Rebekah favored. (25:28)
So, here is the happy family now divided in their affection for the children God had given them. Oddly enough, Isaac, the miracle child, favored Esau. Disregarding the prophetic oracle, Isaac had every intention of blessing Esau, all motivated by an appetite for wild game (25:28; 27:1-4). Isaac was prepared to turn a blind eye to the known will of God because of his appetite.
Rebekah favored Jacob. Though a reason is not given in 25:8, she seems to be motivated by the prophetic word. However, it becomes obvious that her motivation is not so much a promise-centered life but self-preservation. She is unwilling to rest her future well-being in the hands of Esau and his Hittite wives (26:35; 27:46).
So divided is the family of Isaac, the biblical writer explains their thinking in terms of “his son” and “her son” (27:5-6). How did they get here? This is the same couple of whom the text says, “She became his wife, and he loved her” (24;67b).
What a way to raise kids! This is the seedbed of sibling rivalry that will lead one brother to defraud the other and one to plot the murder of the other. Dysfunction! That’s not a strong enough word. This is a family filled with treachery. One brother never thought about the birthright and the other was consumed with nothing but thoughts about how to obtain it.
Let the scandal begin. Esau had exhausted himself and needed nourishment immediately. He found his brother’s tent at mealtime and asked him for food. Jacob saw his opportunity. “Not so fast, sell me your birthright.” Thinking of nothing but his stomach, Esau said, “Sure, what good is that to me?” Jacob said, “Swear, make an irrevocable oath.” Esau swore and like Adam and Eve at the tree in fast succession, “He ate and drank and rose and went his way” (25:34).
In unusual style, the writer interprets his narrative for us with the words, “Thus Esau despised his birthright” (26:34b). That the son of a patriarch would despise his birthright is unthinkable. That a son would act with such callousness to obtain it is unconscionable. They both act in total disregard for God as if there is no God in heaven.
As readers, we may look at this text and say, “There is no way. The promise fails.” The greatest enemy to the promise was, oddly enough, the family of promise themselves.
God, however, overrules the conventions of culture and the dysfunction of families to accomplish His redemptive purpose in the world. We offer labels and excuses to try and normalize our dysfunction. Instead of working on ourselves, we want to keep our dysfunction and be at peace with it. Our gripe is not that we are messed up but that we can’t live without experiencing the consequences of our sin. Consequences are God’s witnesses. So society tells you, “You’re fine, just embrace who you are.” We’ve bought in as well. We think, “There are some problems you just can’t fix. But in reality, if your life is not redeemed, it’s not because it can’t be; it’s because you don’t want it to be redeemed. You, like Esau, like your sin.
God, however, can overrule your mess and redeem your life. You may say, “I was abused physically, verbally, emotionally. I was degraded and told I would never amount to anything. I was abandoned by my parents or my father or my mother. I am sexually confused and even unsure of my gender. I was despised and my sibling was loved. I was the favored sibling. I am angry and hate everything even myself.”
Take your mess every bit of it and hold it up to God and say, “Oh, God redeem my life. Take my hurt and my wounds and transform them to work good and grace in my life and in others.” God overrules the conventions of society and culture and dysfunction to work His redeeming grace in the hopeless places of our lives and world.
The family of Isaac is such a shocking disaster that the reader may think, “Ok, even God can’t preserve the promise with this group of people. You know. You can’t fix crazy.” Into that response to the story of the birthright fiasco, chapter 26 is inserted to take us on a walk down memory lane before the story is resumed, and we hear about the theft of the blessing.
Chapter 26 lets us explore the ways God works through circumstances to overcome every obstacle to accomplish of His purpose. 1) He works through special revelation (26:2-5, 24), and 2) He works behind the scenes (26:8). Whatever the means, God is intimately involved in all the details of life. He works openly and secretly.
Each of the brief narratives that make up chapter 26 portrays Isaac in a situation that has a parallel to the life of Abraham. The writer shows how the whole of Isaac’s life was a rehearsal of what happened to Abraham, like 12 chapters condensed into 1. Thus God’s faithfulness to His promise in the past can be counted on in the present, and future. Even the family of Isaac is no obstacle to God’s fulfilling His promise.
In summary form 26:1-5 parallels the call of Abraham (v2b), the flight from famine to Egypt, and settling in Gerar of the Philistines. Isaac is shown to be an obedient son, like Abraham.
In verses 6-11, like the two sister-wife episodes of Abraham, Isaac, fearing for his life, said Rebekah was his sister. And likewise the ruse was discovered by the king. The difference is God warned Abimelech not to touch Sarah. Here the king saw Isaac “isaacking” with Rebekah (26:8).
Because the text says regarding Abraham and Sarah, “God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Behold you are dead man’” (20:3), we readily call that divine intervention. We don’t know quite what to do with Isaac’s situation. He is getting fresh with Rebekah and is seen by the king. Is this also divine intervention? Yes. Both are divine intervention. We think wrongly if we draw a hard line between what we do and what God does.
In verses 12-22, like God prospered Abraham, God prospered Isaac (26:12), so much so, the Philistines envied him (26:14b). Conflict ensued over water rights and grazing rights just as Abraham had experienced. At last, Isaac found room at Rehoboth (26:22).
From there Isaac returned to Beersheba and God reaffirmed his promise (26:24-25). Like Abraham, Isaac built an altar and called in the name of the LORD.
In verses 26-33, like with Abraham, the Philistines sought a treaty with Isaac at Beersheba because God was with him (26:28). Isaac was blessed both in the land and outside the land. From his position of blessing, he became a blessing to the Philistines.
The point of this chapter is to remind the reader that God is able to uphold His promise regardless of the circumstances. In the land, outside the land, even among hostile powers, God’s purpose cannot be negated or overcome. This prepares us for the story of Jacob stealing the blessing.
In chapter 26, we see God work both behind the scenes and by special revelation. In chapter 27, God is presented as One working behind the scenes. If God was working behind the scenes by protecting Isaac and Rebekah from the men of Gerar, He is also working behind the scenes in Jacob’s deception and stealing of Esau’s blessing.
To set the scene, we have a disintegrating family. First, there is a son who has not only sold his birthright for beans, but also, married Canaanite wives, who have only added to the dysfunction of the family (26:34-35; 27:46; 28:6-9). Chapter 27 is bounded by marriage, which is integral to the promise. The wife of the son of promise will be the mother of the future son of promise. Unbelievers don’t qualify. Marriage, even OT marriage, is a microcosm of the gospel, the picture of Christ’s love for his church. Esau’s marriages are a bad representation of God’s love for his people; they testify that God is stepping out on His bride! It will never be!
Esau just can’t get it right. When he finally figured out that his marriages displeased “his father” (28:8 c.f. 27:46), he married Ishmael’s daughter. He didn’t even get that His own father was the son of promise! Living for his appetites, He had no idea what he was giving up. When he realized the blessing was lost as well as the birthright, he begged for a blessing, but there was no blessing for him, only an anti-blessing (27:30-40). He had lived for his appetites and, in so doing, lost everything, even the opportunity to repent (Heb.12:16-17).
Isn’t he like the person who has lived close to holy things, is aware of the gospel, the church, salvation, but just doesn’t get the point and gives himself over to sin. There is a day when repentance is not possible. You think you are in control. Maybe you are enjoying the attention you get because of your sin. God was working in the details of Esau’s life, and He is working in the details of your life. And you will repent if and when God gives repentance. I would exhort you today to turn from your self-seeking, self-exalting, pride and plead with God to give you the sweet mercy of Christ.
Second, there is Isaac, the son of promise, who has determined against the Word of God to give the blessing to the son whom He knows is not the son of promise (27:1-4). He set up a private affair to do a very public thing, confer the patriarchal blessing to his son. He claimed he was near death, but he will live another 20 years. His desire is for a little wild game. The text is right, “His eyes were dim so that he could not see” (27:1). Yes, we are to make the comparison of Esau losing the birthright for beans and Isaac blessing the unintended son for game. Little did he realize, God was working in his obstinacy and appetite and physical limitations to bring him to bless the son whom he was determined not to bless.
Then, there is Rebekah, omniscient Rebekah, who overheard Isaac’s plan to bless Esau (27:5). She is the force behind Jacob’s ruse (27:8). As much of a trickster as Jacob was, he would have never done on his own what his mother was putting him up to. He was afraid of the patriarch’s curse (27:13). Little did Rebekah know God was working in her scheming mind not to secure her future but the future His redemptive purpose.
Last, there is Jacob, seeking to advance himself complied with the ill-conceived plan of his scheming mother and received the blessing (27:18-29). Little did he know that God was behind the scenes giving him success (c.f. 27:20) in his deception in order to send him to Paddan-Aram for a wife who would give birth to Judah whose tribe would give birth of Christ, who would take our sin upon himself and bless the nations.
Here we may cry foul! Does God work this way? Is He involved in the details of our lives or is he not? We are prone to draw a hard fast line between what humans do and what God does and never the two shall meet. No, no. God is at work in every detail in history. He worked in this deception to cause the blessing to go to Jacob. We want to reply against that and say, “No, it doesn’t count. Jacob got the blessing by deception.” Yes, he did get it by deception. And it does count. Our complaint has a lot in common with Esau’s complaint, but Isaac’s words ring over our objection, Who was it … I have blessed? Yes, and he shall be blessed” (27:33). The blessing was powerful, initiated by God, and irrevocable.
God works in the self-same events in which men freely engage in order to accomplish His will, yet He is not culpable in their sin, and he holds them accountable for their sin. This is redemption. Genesis 27 is terrible. Yet, God redeemed it by working powerfully in the free actions of His creature to secure our redemption, and He held every actor accountable for the part he or she played. We will hear nothing further from Isaac, except his death notice. We will hear nothing further from Rebekah, not even a death notice. Contra her plans, she would never see Jacob again (27:43-45). Esau is turned over to his own pursuits. Yes, God held them accountable for their sin.
Jacob in some ways has the harder life. Every way he turns he is met with hardship. His estimate of his own life was, Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life (Genesis 47:9). Jacob reaped the consequences of his ways. The difference between Esau and Jacob is that by God’s mercy the consequences for Jacob’s sin were productive in his life. God set his affection on Jacob and put him in the sanctifying school of learning to trust God and walk with God and not depend on his own schemes and plans. God will make the trickster, con-man into a prince and change his name to Israel.
God works in the free actions of His creatures to accomplish his redemptive purpose. It was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God that Jesus was delivered up, but he was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God, however, raised him up (Acts 2:23). He now calls on all men to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the receiving of the Spirit of God (Acts 2:38).
God has worked in your life even behind the scenes and over-ruled the circumstances and experiences of your life to bring you to see your need of Christ. He is at work in your history to bring you to rely only on Him and abandon your own schemes and plans and plots.