Genesis 26-33
The story of Jacob and Esau. We will be focusing on chapter 27.
Jacob is loved by his mother and Isaac loves Esau, the strong, hunter type. The name Jacob means to grab the heel, to cheat. Rebekah has been barren for 20 years and now that she is finally pregnant she asks the Lord why do I have this struggle? While the focus today is on mothers and sons, the principles behind the challenges Rebekah faced apply also to men. Reading chapter 27 we would conclude that she is a terrible mother. But the reality is motherhood is difficult. Her boys will have difficulties. It’s hard to be a Hannah, to pray for a son only to have to give him as a sacrifice to serve the Lord.
Rebekah feels the need to help God to fulfill her son’s destiny. She knows how this will play out, that one will serve the other. Yet she still feels this desire to protect her boy, the one she loves the most, and make sure it happens as it is supposed to. That is a failure.
Family dysfunction in Genesis 27:
⁃ Isaac thinks he is going to die and wants to bless Esau
⁃ Rebekah schemes to deceive her husband
⁃ Jacob listens to his mother and deceives Isaac
⁃ Esau is undermined by Jacob and Rebekah
⁃ Esau wants to kill Jacob
⁃ Rebekah schemes to save Jacob from Esau
This is a very difficult situation. Rebekah doesn’t know how it will play out and feels she needs to step in and do what she can to get the outcome she desires. “Obey my voice” – a phrase she uses often. Some may think Jacob is the evil one in this story,and yes, he does make unfortunate choices, lying repeatedly, but Rebekah is the one behind it all. She watches her grown son cry out in pain and shows no remorse. She is apathetic to both Isaac and Esau’s agony. It’s all about the next step in her plan. She ends up fading into oblivion and is never mentioned again.
Ever heard the motto “happy wife, happy life”? Rubbish. What families need is a man who leads as God would have him.
Lessons:
1. See the ripple effects of sin. “I will kill my brother Jacob” Gen. 27:41. We need to be gracious with one another. Sometimes people are influenced by events they do not understand. We need to realize that sometimes people are influenced by things we don’t know about.
2. The consequences of my actions are on me. “Let your curse be on me, my son”, Gen. 27:13. Mothers, you cannot take your child’s curse. Let them figure out their path toward God. It’s not your parents fault if you are abusive towards your spouse, or easily angered. Blaming someone else is never the answer.
3. God can work in my mess. “Esau ran to meet him and embraced him…and they wept”. Gen. 33:4. The boys resolve this themselves. That is the power of God who can fix broken situations. Mary is the antithesis of Rebekah. She is everything Rebekah is not. She keeps things in her heart and let’s her son make his own choices.
When Jacob was on his own, he discovered God through the pain. That is what we want from our children. We must let them go, fight and struggle and develop their own faith.
