Many of you are at least familiar with dysfunctional families if you don’t know one personally. Genesis 25:19-34 is a story of one dysfunctional family-the story of Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Esau. The genealogy of Isaac is the focus of the narrative, so the story follows the lives of Isaac and Rebekah’s two sons, Esau and Jacob. This is the family of promise-a promise that was not fulfilled. Isaac loved Rebekah very much, but she was barren. Isaac prayed to God for a child, and Rebecca conceived.

This story should be treated with reverence because it shows that God is aware of, and concerned about, and involved in, the very existence of those yet unborn. The children were struggling with each other before they were born, and this was a preview of the way they would behave toward each other throughout their lives. Jacob’s name, which described his holding of his twin’s foot at birth, while it was related to the idea of God being at our heels as a guard, came to mean someone who had a tendency to supplant, to trip, or to cheat-which he did later in this passage.

The divine word to Rebekah that the older shall serve the younger not only explained the unusual movements she felt in her womb but also foretold a reversal of patriarchal custom. Esau, the firstborn, would have expected to receive both the birthright and the blessing and have the younger serving him. The word “Jacob” means “he who grasps.” His name also foreshadows the discord that these brothers would bring to the family.

God told Rebekah that the severe jostling in her womb was a precursor of the future antagonism between the two nations represented by her two sons. The two sons were very different. Esau was a rugged man and a headstrong hunter who preferred the outdoors. Jacob was a plain man who preferred the comforts of home. Esau was preferred by his father Isaac because Isaac loved the game Esau brought home. Jacob was preferred by his mother, who helped him to trick his father into giving him a blessing. These were the ingredients for conflict and heartache.

As the oldest son, Esau received the family birthright. The birthright included several privileges:

1. Recognition as the oldest son
2. A double portion of the inheritance upon the father’s death
3. Regard as the leader of the family.

After a long day of hunting, Esau arrived home tired and starving. He asked for some of the stew that Jacob was cooking, and when Jacob offered to trade some for Esau’s birthright, Esau gave it up without a second thought. The birthright could be given away or sold, but the older son would lose the latter two aspects of the birthright. Esau’s choice showed how little he valued these spiritual blessings.

How often in life are we the same as Esau? How often do we have a gnawing sense that we have a hole in our lives that needs to be filled? How often do we long to fill that hole with any number of things and experiences both good and bad? No matter how much money we make or what kinds of pursuits we chase after, that hunger for more still eats away at us. Like Esau giving up his birthright for some bread and stew, we sometimes exchange true joy for a temporary thrill, a blessed future for immediate fulfillment. We carelessly toss aside our imperishable spiritual birthright for a consumable, fleeting fantasy.

Esau showed his true colours early in life. He continued to live the way he had started.  He was considered “profane” because he considered filling his empty stomach more important than the spiritual promises of God to Abraham. Jacob, who had more than his fair share of faults, showed in later years a willingness to learn and a readiness to change. The Esaus of our modern world tread a selfish and self-indulgent path to destruction, while the rocky roads of the Jacobs of this world do at least climb higher, leading on to better things. Jacob took advantage of his brother’s physical weakness. He went on to trick his father and took from his brother again. His mother was so afraid for his life that she sent him away to live with his uncle Laban. After many years, and after he humbled himself before God, God eventually reunited him with his brother Esau, who welcomed Jacob with open arms.

Isaac and Rebekah knew God had chosen Jacob to continue the line of God’s promise that had begun with Abraham, continued through Isaac, and would culminate in the birth of the Messiah. In spite of this knowledge, they didn’t train Jacob for his role or to teach him to wait on God’s perfect timing. They didn’t tell Jacob and Esau that God had different plans for each of them-plans they should seek, obey, and rejoice over. Instead of training their children to know and trust God’s revelation, God’s will, and God’s plans, Isaac and Rebekah followed their own emotions-their own feelings and preferences. Thus, Isaac loved Esau, and Rebekah loved Jacob.

Jacob was transformed, and it was necessary. Those who bear God’s name must show a moral and ethical kinship to Him. The object of the divine electing love must learn to be conformed to righteousness. The transformation of character is the work of God’s grace in the lives of His people.

God gives us freedom to choose. God does not make us receptive nor rejects us when we aren’t receptive. Like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we often are not receptive to God’s love. To them and us, God recklessly keeps coming, sowing His Word in us. Gradually we become more receptive. We become more loving. We are blessed and slowly become a blessing for the whole world.

God sides with the powerless, the weak, the younger brother, the barren woman. God sides with Israel, which is represented by Jacob. The people of Israel were a tiny, powerless people who lived in the midst of much stronger nations, including the nation of Edom (which was represented by Esau). This reality became even more evident in the runup to the exile with superpowers who were able to crush a people like Israel without blinking.

This story is a story of redemption. God does things through the lives of the strangest and most awkward of people. We don’t have to be perfect and have everything figured out and in flawless order before God can visit us and bless us. God blessed Isaac and carried out His plans for human redemption through one of the twin boys-Jacob. Jacob became the father of the nation of Israel. Through four women-the sisters Rachel and Leah, and their slaves Bilhah and Zilpah-Jacob fathered twelve sons who became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel-from whom would come the Christ.

(An audio version of this message can be found by clicking this link: Genesis 25 verses 19-34 God’s Plans for Humanity)

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 37-38)
2. Briscoe, D.S., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 1: Genesis (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987, pp. 206-209)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Juliana Classens, “Commentary on Genesis 25:19-24.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
6. Daniel Clendenin, “Divine Redemption in Our Human Families: Lessons from Jacob and Esau.” Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net
7. Laura Bailey, “Cheering Instead of Competing.” Retrieved from ww.crosswalk.com/devotionals/crosswalk-devo/
8. Br. Luke Ditewig, “Wild Love.” Retrieved from www.ssje.org/author/br-luke-ditewig/
9. Michael Youssef, Ph.D., “Greater Than Our Bad Parenting.” Retrieved from web@ltw.org