Reading Genesis 25-28 in Family Worship
Genesis 25:19-37:1 (The Generations of Isaac)
Why do we hear so little about Isaac? No sooner does the story of Abraham end (the Generations of Terah), then we move on to the story of Jacob (the Generations of Isaac). There is no section called “the generations of Abraham.” Why? Because Isaac faces very little conflict — very few challenges to the land and the seed. Isaac serves as a picture of the resurrected son of God (remember Genesis 22, where Abraham was about to sacrifice his son?), and Isaac lives a peaceful life in the Land of Promise.
The “Generations of Isaac” can be seen in three basic movements:
1) Genesis 25:19-28:22 — Jacob and Esau
2) Genesis 29:1-31:55 — Jacob in Paddan-Aram
3) Genesis 32:1-37:1 — Jacob and Esau
Genesis 25:19-34
The generations of Isaac begin with Isaac praying for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer. God quickly grants the prayer of the resurrected son! But Rebekah can feel the children struggling inside her, and so she inquires of the LORD, and the LORD tells her that there are two nations in her womb — and “the older shall serve the younger.”
If you would understand the story of Jacob and Esau, then you need to pay attention to Rebekah. She knows what God has promised — and she acts on those promises. Before the twins were born, God chooses the younger brother as the heir of the promises. While ancient cultures prized the firstborn, God regularly chooses the younger brother in order to demonstrate his purposes in election.
Also, pay attention to Jacob. Our modern translators often have a negative view of Jacob — but I will suggest that the book of Genesis does not.
We see this in verse 27, which calls Esau a “skillful hunter,” and Jacob “a quiet man.” The word translated “quiet man” is the same word used of Noah (6:9) and Abraham (17:1) — where it was translated “blameless.” The text connects Jacob with Noah and Abraham as the sort of man who believes God’s promises and acts accordingly.
Thus when Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew in verses 29-34, we should see Jacob as a blameless man whose heart desires God’s promise — and Esau as a worldly man whose God is his belly.
Song: Psalm 26, 101
Genesis 26
The story of Isaac and Abimelech sounds eerily familiar. Rather than go to Egypt during the famine, Isaac goes to Abimelech. God tells Isaac to remain in the Promised Land (he is the only one of the patriarchs who never leaves the Promised Land). But Isaac takes the same strategy as Abraham in calling his wife “my sister” — which nearly gets him in trouble. And again God protects the Promised Seed, and blesses Isaac with provision in the Promised Land (the wells of verses 12-25), with the result that the blessing of Isaac results in the blessing of the nations (Abimelech and the covenant with Isaac).
But Esau. Verses 34-35 make it clear that Esau’s Hittite wives make life “bitter” for Isaac and Rebekah, because they demonstrate that Esau does not believe the promise. What’s the point of a promise that says that you get to suffer, and only after hundreds of years, your descendants get the land? What’s in it for me? Esau thinks that these Hittite women offer a whole lot more — and in terms of this life, he may have a point. Remember that as you read about Jacob: he has his heart set on a blessing that will give him nothing personally. As Paul will say in 1 Corinthians 15, “If it is only for this life that we have hope, we are the most miserable of men.”
Song: PHSS 209 “Hail, O Daystar”; PHSS 212 “O Christ, Redeemer of Our Race”
Genesis 27
The story of the Blessing of Jacob shows us how Rebekah and Jacob believe the promises of God. Did Isaac know about God’s promise to Rebekah? (“The older shall serve the younger”). If so, then perhaps the symbolism of verse 1 (“his eyes were dim”) refers to his spiritual condition. Certainly we know that Isaac is wrong to seek to bless Esau — and especially since Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, which means that Jacob is now the firstborn son.
So when your husband flagrantly disobeys God and when your brother breaks his sworn oath, what should you do? Maybe in small things you humbly submit — but when the blessing of God is at stake, you take action. Rebekah believes God’s promises and acts accordingly. Jacob seeks the promised inheritance and acts accordingly. You could even say that in one sense he speaks the truth when he says, “I am Esau your firstborn” — since Esau had surrendered the birthright.
Isaac’s blessing of Jacob speaks of the richness of God’s blessing — of plenty of grain and wine. God’s blessing includes abundant life.
At the end of the book of Genesis Jacob will bless all twelve sons. So why does Isaac say that he has only one blessing to give? The blessing of the firstborn conveys the covenant blessing — the blessing of the Land and the Seed. And when you look at the blessing of the 12 sons in Genesis 49, only the blessing of Joseph uses the language of the blessing of God. The other 11 receive similar blessings to the one that Isaac gives to Esau. They are ordinary parental blessings — not the covenant blessing of the LORD.
Song: PHSS 162 “The Tender Love”; PHSS 205 “Sound a Trumpet in Zion”; PHSS 210 “How Like a Cypress Evergreen”
Genesis 28
Having alienated Esau, Rebekah persuades Isaac to send Jacob to Paddan-Aram, to her family, where Jacob can find a wife. She points out that they do not want Jacob to marry one of the Canaanite women, and so Isaac sends Jacob to marry one of the daughters of Laban (Jacob will be first cousins with Rachel and Leah). Esau recognizes that his intermarriage with the Hittites has alienated his parents, so he adds an Ishmaelite wife (his first cousin on his father’s side).
Jacob, meanwhile, has a vision of a ladder reaching to heaven, and the voice of the LORD speaks to him, renewing the promise of the Land, the Seed, and the Blessing to the Nations — and renewing the promise of God’s presence. And so Jacob calls the place “Bethel” — which means, “House of God.” This is also the first reference to the tithe as an act of religious devotion.
PHSS 203 “O God of Bethel”
