Again, Rebekah took a lead in planning this family activity. Jacob would go to visit her brother Laban in Haran. The time needed for the journey, the visit and the return journey would provide Esau and Isaac time to cool down. She provided a convenient excuse that she really didn't like Esau's wives and wanted Jacob to marry someone from their own tribe.

"So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, "You must not marry a Canaanite woman! Leave immediately for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother." Genesis 28:1-2

There are two striking details found here and in verses 6-9. It would appear that Isaac had never before instructed his sons not to marry Canaanite women. In other words, Esau had married in ignorance of his parents' wishes. He tried to correct this by also marrying one of Ishmael's daughters. The second is that marriage was, of course, a secondary reason for Jacob's abrupt departure to Haran. Both indicate that spiritual instruction for his sons was not a high priority for Isaac.

"May the sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation. May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham so that you may possess the land God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident." Genesis 28:3-4

Here we see that Isaac had accepted, however reluctantly, that Jacob held both the birthright and the blessing of the heir. Isaac resigned himself to the reality of God's blessing on Jacob rather than Esau. His words here reflect this acceptance of things as they must be and as God said they would be.

Television and movies wrongly condition us to delight in the destruction of the villain, who gets his just desserts in some way that befits his evil deeds. The good guy wins in most movies, but we all wait with baited breath to find out how he'll pull it off. This cultural training tends to make us think of Esau as the villain in this event. We expect to see his downfall and we plan to savor it when it comes.

Remember, though, that Jacob was not chosen because he was the hero or Esau rejected becaue he was the villain. Genesis 25, expecially in light of Paul's commentary in Romans 9, forces the conclusion that God chose Jacob and rejected Esau withour regard to their deeds (Romans 9:11-12). Esau was no different than any other unbeliever whose spirit has not been quickened and mind enlightened to respond to divine realities. In his unbelief, Esau was no less sensitive to spiritual things than any other sinner (Romans 3:10-12).

But for the grace of God go we. Esau could not comprehend the love of God and was unconvinced about the love of his father. He failed to grasp spiritual realities because his parents had never instructed him in spiritual matters. He'd married the wrong women without even realizing what he'd done and then, upon realizing it, he married a third woman who still was not acceptable to his parents or God. Rather than relish Esau's destruction, we should pity him and pray for those we know like him.

Jacob's journey was a lonely one. He had a lot to think about, so privacy might well have been in order. I think this may well have been his first rock bottom, when he came to realize that he would never prosper from conning people. This was an ideal time for God to break into his life.

"...and the Lord stood at its top. He said, "I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants. I am with you! I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!" Genesis 28:13-15

You can take this vision in several ways and scholars have. It's been pretty well tortured by interpretation. As a simple person, I'm just going to take it at its words because I think that's the way Jacob would have taken it.

God had made similar statements to Abraham and Isaac in the past, so it's clear that Isaac's pronouncement of the Abrahamic blessing on Jacob was now confirmed by God. Jacob immediately perceived the significance of this place of meeting (Bethel); it was a significance that he remembered for the rest of his life (Genesis 31:13; 32:6, 11-12). These statement by God and Jacob fit together nicely in context with the vision. Jacob was about to leave the land of promise and be absent from it for about 20 years. He might be tempted to never return. This dramatic vision assured him of the significance of the land of Canaan. This was the place where heaven and earth met, where God would come down to man and men would find access to God. Jacob called it "the gate of heaven". Canaan was where God's blessings would be poured out upon God's people. Jacob must leave it for a while, but he must return in time.

Imagine! The first readers of this account were inbound to Canaan, not knowing what they would find. What a sense of anticipation the Israelites must have felt as they looked across Jordan, knowing that God's presence was to be revealed in Canaan.

"Then Jacob woke up and thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!" He was afraid and said,

"What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!"

Early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had placed near his head and set it up as a sacred stone. Then he poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, although the former name of the town was Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, and I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will become my God. Then this stone that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely give you back a tenth of everything you give me." Genesis 28:16-22

Jacob's subsequent actions remind me a bit of Isaac's activities upon reaching Beersheba. Isaac built an altar where he felt God's presence. Jacob set up a pillar to mark the location and made a profession of faith, worshipping in that spot. Furthermore, he made a promise to return that was consistent with the vision. He promised to then build an altar and give a tithe to God.

As a parent, I found some sobering lessons in this chapter. Isaac's apathy in spiritual instruction of his children sounds uncomfortably familiar. I am not all that I would or should be in that department. Additionally, Isaac's love for Esau appears contingent upon performance while Rebekah seems to have genuinely loved Jacob. Esau's insecurities in the face of disapproval are heartbreaking. He could never measure up, even as the favored son, in part because there appears to be a gross lack of communication by his father in terms of discipline. How hard would it have been to say "We don't want you to marry Canaanite women. Go to Haran and find a wife from among our people"? I suspect that Jacob noted his parents' reaction to Esau's marriages and that is why he delayed matrimony for a later date.

Both Jacob and Esau illustrate the futility of scheming and self-effort in achieving divine acceptance. Esau’s sincere and diligent efforts to win approval by marrying a daughter of Ishmael were worthless. While his sincerity was evident, his actions did not conform with the requirements of faith. Sincere effort which is not based upon divine revelation is folly.

All of Jacob’s efforts to achieve the blessing of God were also in vain. Only by entering into a relationship with the covenant God of Abraham and Isaac could Jacob experience the blessings of God. Such a relationship is based on the revealed word of God. Ironically, Jacob could not find God by striving, but found Him while sleeping. That speaks volumns to me. The path of blessing from God is in rest in Him and His word. That does not mean a absence of activity, but an avoidance of self-effort.

A profession of faith does not bring an immediate entrance into the Elysian Field. Jacob still had to pay the price for his behavior. Although he "accepted Christ" (so to speak) as he exited Canaan, he would be dosed with his own bitter medicine for the next 20 years. Entering into a relationship with God does not guarantee good times and happy experiences. Christians are not perfected, just forgiven.

"A little lie is like a little pregnancy," C. S. Lewis

How apt! In Genesis 27 Isaac, with Esau's cooperation, conspired to thwart God's purposes to fulfill His covenant through Jacob, while Rebekah, aided by Jacob, sought to outwit and outmanuever Isaac and Esau to maintain Jacob's right of the firstborn purchased from Esau. Amid a web of deceit and double-crosses, the family was split into two factions, each headed by a parent with his/her own agenda. The tragedy of this story should move us, because it strikes us where we live in the 21st century.

"When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son!" "Here I am!" Esau replied. Isaac said, "Since I am so old, I could die at any time. Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game for me. Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die." Genesis 27:1-4

Several overriding themes are interwoven in these four verses. There was a seemingly well-founded urgency to these events. Isaac was about 137 years old, suffering from poor eyesight and clearly nearing death's door (though he would not actually die for 40 more years). Normally the blessing would be given before the entire family because it was, in effect, a living will that legally determined the heir. Distribution of family wealth and headship were best carried out in public to avoid conflict, but now we see all this occuring in secrecy and conspiracy. Isaac intended to confer his blessing on Esau at a clandestine feast, despite the plan and purpose of God for Jacob (Genesis 25:23). There's little doubt that Rebekah had not shared the divine revelation concerning Jacob with Isaac. She favored Jacob. Why wouldn't she let Isaac know that God did also? Certainly, Isaac knew that Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob. Moreover, his two Canaanite wives disqualified him for the spiritual headship of God's chosen family. Despite all these negatives, Isaac sought to overrule the verdict of God that the elder serve the younger. Normally the birthright belonged to the eldest son for it entitled him to a double share of the property in addition to the privilege of assuming the father’s position of headship in the family. For the descendants of Abraham it determined the one through whom the covenant blessings would be given. Under certain circumstances the possessor of this birthright could be dispossessed. Such a change would normally occur at the oral blessing near the time of the father's death. It appears that Isaac intended to manipulate God by reversing the decree of God and the rightful ownership of the rights of the first-born as unethically purchased by Jacob by giving his oral blessing to Esau.

"Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ Now then, my son, do exactly what I tell you! Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies." Genesis 27:5-10

Rebekah was eavesdropping on Isaac and Esau's meeting The Hebrew form of this passage indicates this was a regular habit of hers. As soon as Esau left, Rebekah began plotting to overthrow his plans with an incredible plan of her own. I doubt it was conceived on the spur of the moment; I think she'd been considering it for some time and had already gathered many of the props she and Jacob used to pull it off.

"But Esau my brother is a hairy man," Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, "and I have smooth skin! My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing." So his mother told him, "Any curse against you will fall on me, my son! Just obey me! Go and get them for me!" Genesis 27:11-13

Jacob's protests are interesting because of their utter absence of morality. Jacob did not rebuke his mother at all for what she proposed. His only considerations were how they might pull this off. Situational ethics always seem to boil down to the premise that emergencies override ethics. Pragmatically, if Jacob was to rule over Esau, they must fool Isaac into giving his blessing to Jacob, but how could that be accomplished, considering how different they were from one another? Jacob feared what might happen if they got caught, but neither of them seems to have considered the consequences of their sin if they succeeded. The results of their plan were the opposite of their goal.

Since we are talking about situational ethics, it is reasonable to ask what Rebekah should have done in the situation of discovering that her husband was conspiring to cheat God's purposes. Honesty and forthrightness might have gone a long way toward rectifying the situation. We are supposed to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15), even to those in authority over us (Acts 16:35-40). Having warned her husband of the consequences of his planned evil, Rebekah might have been content to leave the disposition of the matter to God. Her actions betrayed her lack of faith in the sovereignty of God. If God is God, then let Him act on His own behalf, particularly in those times when we are unable to act in a way that is consistent with His word.

I'd like to think Jacob never intended this lie to become as big as it did, but nevertheless, it grew bigger and bigger with every statement he made. It began with the words "I am Esau your first-born" (verse 19). From this, lie began to be piled upon lie: "I have done as you told me" (verse 19); "eat of my game" (verse 19). In response to Isaac’s penetrating question, "Are you really my son Esau?," Jacob replied, "I am" (verse 24). However, the lie that virtually sends chills up my spine as I read it is found in verse 20:

And Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me."

In a movie, there'd have been a bolt of lightning to remove this deceiver from the scene. Chillingly, this is not unlike how Christians today conduct ourselves. Jacob excused his sin by claiming that God was his partner in its performance. We do the same when we say "The Lord led me to" when we're often talking about something we always wanted to do and finally worked up the courage to accomplish. Be careful with such statements. They may be evidence of the same kind of thinking that caused Jacob to tell Isaac that God had prospered him by giving him a goat rather than wild game. Pious words can conceal sin!

His judgment impaired by haste and deception, Isaac rushed to do the very thing he had set out not to do -- bless Jacob. He knew something was wrong, but he kept going forward, despite his misgivings. God's will was accomplished by the very man who attempted to thwart it -- Isaac himself.

The Bible is a wonderful book in that what is true can also be beautiful. While the Scriptures edify and exhort us, they do so with literary eloquence. Note the distinctive sense of drama in this narrative! We are kept in suspense till the very last moment to see if Jacob can survive the interrogation and inspection of his father. The blessing is not pronounced until the last, causing us to fear that at any moment Esau will barge into the room, expose the fraud of his brother, and bring a curse upon him, while he receives the blessing for himself. Jacob had just left when his brother came to his father with his meal. While Isaac loved the taste of Jacob’s "game," Jacob savored the taste of his victory over Esau. He left triumphant and with a sigh of relief. Esau must have arrived at his father’s bedside with an expectant look, knowing the blessing was almost in his grasp, perhaps smugly satisfied.

"He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau said to him, "My father, get up and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me." His father Isaac asked, "Who are you?" "I am your firstborn son," he replied, "Esau!" Isaac began to shake violently and asked, "Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. He will indeed be blessed!" Genesis 27:31-33

Imagine Esau's puzzlement at the terrified look in his father's eyes as he trembled on his bed! A sense of dread must have slowly fallen over Esau as it became more and more clear that his brother had once again gotten the best of him. The irony of it all was that since Isaac had tried to give everything to Esau, there was nothing left that could be considered a blessing to his favorite son. He'd given it all to Jacob.

The consequences for Rebekah and Jacob are recorded in verses 41-45, but the tragic results of the conspiracy of Isaac and Esau are seen sooner. Isaac had sought to give all to his favorite son Esau at Jacob’s expense. Instead, he gave all to Jacob at Esau’s expense. Having set his heart contrary to God's will, Isaac saw his world come crashing down upon him when God’s purposes prevailed. Esau despised spiritual things and thus sold his destiny for a dinner, then attempted to get it back by renouncing his solemn oath and conspired with his father to dishonestly regain what he had lost through his own profanity. Esau learned that there comes a point of no return in every man’s life when regret cannot bring a reversal of past decisions. All who have rejected Christ as Savior will live in eternal regret and remorse, but this will not overturn the consequences of living with their decision to live in independence from God (Luke 16:19-31; Philippians 2:9-11; 2Thessalonians 1:6-10; Revelation 20:11-15).

For Rebekah and Jacob the price tag for their success was as costly as for Isaac and Esau in their defeat. I have never seen anyone come away from the end results of sin with a smile on their face. Sin does not pay. Jacob and Rebekah could tearfully testify to this fact.

Rebekah loved Jacob more than life itself and, seemingly, more than Isaac. She sought his success (which happened to correspond with the revealed will of God) at any price, even deception and deceit. The price she paid was separation from her beloved son, apparently for the rest of her life. As far as the Bible records, Jacob left for Haran and never saw his mother again. Rebekah underestimated the consequences of this sin, for she thought that Jacob would only need to be gone for a short time—until the death of Isaac, but Isaac lived for 40 years after this.

Jacob faced the inevitable results of sin also. Alienated from his father and despised by his brother, he had to leave the mother he loved. Every material thing he had thought to gain was unavailable to him because he had to flee for his life. Jacob learned the hard way that sin does not pay!

Human beings make plans, but God is in complete control of His unverse, even when men attempt to override Him (Proverbs 16:9; 19:21; Psalm 76:10). Man's sin can never frustrate the will of God, but it can fulfill it.

The purpose of God as expressed to Rebekah in Genesis 25:23 was perfectly accomplished without a single alteration. The sins of Isaac, Esau, Rebekah and Jacob did not prevent God's will from being done. It didn't even slow it down. Their sins were used by God to achieve His will. We cannot stand in God's way. God is able to achieve His purposes by employing our sinful acts to further His plans.

This is not to say that God makes us sin in order to achieve His purposes. Don't get the idea that God regards disobedience any less sinful because He turns evil into good. The sins of the four in this chapter are not glossed over or excused. No one has passed the responsibility for their actions on to God. No one can place the burden of guilt on God because of His decree. Their sin was due to their own depravity. Had all acted in obedience, God would have employed some other means to bring about the blessing of Jacob instead of Esau. God did not create a situation in which men had to sin in order for His will to be done. That's not how God works. We never have to sin as Christians (1Corinthians 10:13; James 1:13). While God "causes all things to work together for good" (Romans 8:28), He does not create evil in order to bring resulting good. We are responsible for our sin, not God. He allows it; He uses it; but He does not necessitate it.

How, then, might God have achieved the blessing of Jacob apart from the sins of this patriarchal family? Frankly, I do not know and I don't need to know. I am fully assured that Isaac could no more have pronounced a blessing upon Esau contrary to the will of God than Balaam could have cursed Israel (Numbers 22-24). God would have put a "donkey" in his path. God will not allow men to frustrate His purposes.

Sin always produces separation. It separates men from men, and men from God (John 15:18; 2Thessalonians 1:5-10). Our sinfulness distorts every area of our lives -- intellect, emotions and will. Even science with its grand notions of empirical evidence can twist our thinking so that we take right facts and turn them into wrong conclusions. We can only expect to rightly interpret the facts before us when our true motive is to learn the will of God and do it and our minds have been transformed (Romans 12:2) by the Spirit of God working through the Word of God.

An overwhelming truth screams from Genesis 27. It is possible to practice faith in a way that is inconsistent with faith!

We normally suppose that action based upon faith would be righteous while all things done apart from faith are evil. This is true for the most part, but Hebrews 11:20 identifies that Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau "by faith". How could this ill-conceived mess of deceit and disobedience be an act of faith? Read Hebrews 11:31 for another commentary on this by the writer of Hebrews. Rahab, an ancestoress of Jesus, lied about the two spies (Joshua 2:3-7), believing that God was with them and the nation of Israel. She had faith in the God of Israel (which saved her from destruction), and her lie, while not commended by God and not anything less than sin, stemmed from her faith. The same can be said of Isaac, who believed in God and the covenantal promises of God. He believed that the one he pronounced blessing upon would be blessed indeed. He believed this so confidently that he was willing to deceive and disobey to have those benefits fall upon his favorite son Esau. In faith, he pronounced the blessing so that God would honor it and that its recipient would be blessed. Isaac’s actions stemmed from faith, but they were not appropriate to that faith.

This is all too common for Christians today. Our faith in God may lead us to witness, but often we may use methods inconsistent with the gospel we proclaim. Our faith may cause us to share salvation even as we corrupt the gospel in order to not offtend those with whom we share. We suppose we further the cause of Chrsit, but we corrupt the gospel. Our goal may be Biblical and our motivations pure, but our means may be totally wrong.

This especiall speaks to Christian ethics. Jacob practiced situational ethics, considering his mother's plan from the position of practicality, but but from the vantage point of Biblical principle. He worried if the plan woudl work, but not if it was right. He agonized over the consequences should the plan fail, but not of the morality of such a plan in the first place.

There are parallel in our own times in the matter of sexual conduct and morality. We moderns see sexual conduct mostly in light of availability and opportunity rather than Biblical morality. Sexual immorality is often discouraged because of the consequences of disease and pregnancy, but we now live in a time when that is fairly easy to avoid, so the current generations feel little reluctance to avoid immorality because they see no negative consequences.

Let us study this event in the life of God's patriarchial family and teach our children what is right. Sin always has a price tage that is far too great to justify disobedience to God.