Gen. 25:19-34

Bob Weniger

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” So states the opening line of the novel Anna Karenina by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy.

That’s a very interesting statement to ponder. Literary critics, scholars, and others have debated just what Tolstoy meant by that as well as whether or not it’s true. Are happy families all alike? I suppose it may seem that way to some, at least on the surface. Others may wonder whether or not there really are any truly happy families. But the second half of that statement probably is true: each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. While there may be some similarities and common problems, in the end each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. For every family is unique as every member of the family is unique. Each family has its own dynamics.

In Scripture we meet a family that was anything but happy. That’s one of the great things about the Bible. Something that adds to its credibility is the fact that it never sugarcoats anything. The biblical writers never try to make the central characters or their families appear better than they really were. They describe people, even those at the center of God’s plans, just the way they were.

That should be encouraging for us, not only because it testifies to the reliability of Scripture, but also because it tells us that God does not require perfect people. Sometimes we may be tempted to look at our lives – either our past or our present – and conclude that God could never use us in any meaningful way. There is just too much crud, too much sin, too many problems in our lives. We have disqualified ourselves from being used of God in any significant way.

But that way of thinking is simply not consistent with Scripture. Not that we should take our character, our lifestyle, or our obedience to God lightly. Obviously not, for God has wonderful plans for us in these areas. So of course we need to surrender totally to God. But the record of Scripture is that of God taking flawed and sinful people, even obstinate people, and by His grace transforming them into something new. And through that process, which may take many years, God could use them. And so God can also use any of us in amazing ways.

So in Scripture we have this unhappy, very dysfunctional family. And much to our surprise, this flawed family is the most important family in all the Old Testament. It’s a family in which several generations play a central role in God’s plan for the human family. For from this family would come the nation of Israel, called to be a light to the surrounding nations regarding the identity of the true God. And from this nation eventually would come the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

It began with Abraham, whom God called to leave his pagan country and travel hundreds of miles to a new land. In faith and obedience Abraham answered God’s call. But as we read the story of Abraham we see he was a work in progress. He sometimes doubted God and His faithfulness. Because he feared for his life among the inhabitants of this new land, several times he passed his wife Sarah off as his sister, even though that put her virtue at risk. God promised them a son, but after a period of time Abraham and Sarah decided they needed to help God out a little. So Abraham had a son with Sarah’s maidservant Hagar. That obviously led to some severe tension within the family.

Abraham and Sarah eventually had the son God promised, Isaac. He married a woman named Rebekah. For twenty years they were not able to have children. Finally, God answered their prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant. In fact, they would be doubly blessed, for she would give birth to twins. But along with the joy of bearing twins, Rebekah and Isaac would also experience double the pain, double the hardship, and double the tension within their family, for the two boys were at each other from the beginning. They had very different personalities. Instead of encouraging and training the brothers how to get along, Isaac and Rebekah made one of the worst mistakes parents can ever make – they each favored one of the sons. That led to all kinds of problems for their family. So let’s read about this in Gen. 25:19-34.

This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I am famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom [red].)

Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright.

Two sons tangling with each other even from the womb. Their opposite personalities inevitably led to ongoing conflict. Each parent had their favorite. Isaac loved Esau – a kind of “man’s man,” who loved the outdoors, hunting, and probably pro football! He lived for the moment and didn’t bother to think through his actions to see what long-term consequences they might bring.

Jacob could not have been more different from Esau. He didn’t have the adventuresome spirit that Esau had. He preferred to stay close to home, close to the tent, close to his mother – who loved Jacob more than she loved Esau. But he knew what he wanted out of life. He could look ahead and see what would be in his best interest for the long haul. Unfortunately, he was willing to manipulate and deceive in order to get what he wanted. That he was grasping his older brother’s heal as they were born symbolized Jacob’s assertive nature and how he would do anything to overtake and triumph over anyone standing in his way.

Talk about a recipe for disaster! Twin boys so different from each other, each favored by one parent. You can just imagine the arguments and fights that took place within this family. Yet this is the family God chose to work through. It almost seems that God delights in choosing the people with the least potential, then patiently works in them over a period of years until they are refined in character, yielded to God, and obedient to His ways.

In fact, this account of Jacob and his family, as is really true of all of Scripture, is all about God’s grace. Isaac and Rebekah were far from model parents. While they had faith in God, they were hesitant to truly trust God. Jacob was scheming and deceitful, selfishly trying to get his way and unconcerned about how his actions would negatively affect others. In the life of Jacob we see how God can take even the most unlikely candidate for spiritual development and accomplishment, and transform such a person from the inside out so they reflect something of the character of God and help bring about God’s purposes for the world. It’s all about God’s grace, which gives hope to all of us.

So in the coming weeks we are going to look at the life of Jacob with the goal of seeing the transformation that took place in his life by God’s grace, wisdom, and power, and then what that can mean for us. For the life of Jacob is a kind of window through which we can see the transforming power of God’s grace.

The first evidence of God’s grace toward Jacob is foretold when Rebekah inquired of the Lord why there was such turmoil in her womb. God informed her that two nations would come forth from her two sons, and that the older would serve the younger. That had to seem very strange to Rebekah, for it went totally against the cultural norms of the day. The oldest son had the position of honor and prestige. Upon the death of the father, it was the oldest son who would assume responsibility for the family. That included both spiritual and material responsibility. Along with that, the oldest son received a double portion of the inheritance. That is the birthright – a double inheritance and leadership within the family – that Esau traded for nothing more than a meal. Just think – a position of leadership in the family and a double portion of the inheritance, and Esau gave it all away for a bowl of stew. As I said, Esau was not one to plan or think ahead.

But despite the local custom, God told Rebekah that the younger son would have the privileged position. It wasn’t because Jacob earned that honor. Jacob’s selfish character and deceitful behavior makes it clear that He was not chosen by God for this special honor because he was deserving of it. No, it was simply a gift of God’s grace. Sometimes we may want to argue with God because of whom He extends His grace to. Surely not them, we think. There are more deserving people. But that is the nature of grace. It is granted to those who are not deserving of it. If they were deserving of it, it would not be grace.

And that’s good news for all of us. We all have our flaws and weaknesses. We all struggle with particular sins. We all have things in our past we regret. None of us are deserving of God’s kindness. But that doesn’t disqualify us from being chosen, blessed, and used of God. God is a gracious God who accepts us as we are. And then by His grace He works in our lives transforming our hearts. God leads us into situations – sometimes difficult situations – that have the result of producing growth into Christ-likeness. God will bring people into our lives that help facilitate change and development – either because they encourage us or because they challenge us.

The calling of God is not dependent on our qualifications. It depends only on God’s grace. This we will see throughout our study of Jacob. And as we yield our hearts and lives to God and His gracious working in our lives, we will experience how God can make us into new people in Christ, and we will have opportunities to live lives of significance as we respond to the opportunities God gives us.

But while this all by God’s grace, still we must yield to God, for He will not force us to become something we don’t want to become. We must surrender our lives, including intentionally offering to God particular areas of our lives that are out of sync with His purposes for us. If we are easily angered, or we delight in spreading gossip, or we struggle with greed, but must give those habits to God so by His grace and power He can change us.

But the question comes up: isn’t there something unfair about this? I mean, it’s great for Jacob, who even though he was a liar and a schemer, at least he received far more than he ever deserved. But what about Esau? He wasn’t the chosen one. He should have had the privileged position as the older brother, but it was taken from him. Well, first we must acknowledge that while we may not always understand God’s ways, His wisdom far exceeds ours. There is a wise and loving purpose in all God does. Secondly, God’s choosing of Jacob over Esau did not relate to eternal salvation. It only had to do with their particular calling in this life. And third, God did not withhold something from Esau that Esau truly wanted. Esau traded his very valuable birthright simply for some stew. Esau did not value what was in reality so valuable. In fact, the text says that Esau despised his birthright. So God’s choice of Jacob over Esau was not unfair, for God took from Esau something that Esau did not even value, even though it was very valuable.

This should lead us to ask ourselves: how greatly do we value that which is truly and eternally valuable? Do we rightly value the things of God? The calling of God? The gifts of God? The truth of God and His ways? Some years ago Tony Campolo wrote a book entitled Who Switched the Price Tags? The premise of the book is that the world has switched the price tags, taking things that are of great value – such as character, integrity, morality, service to others, and so on and declared they are of little value. So there’s no real point in pursuing such things. At the same time, the world has elevated things that really are of limited value, such as immediate gratification, financial riches, material possessions, popularity, fashion, pleasure, etc., and pronounced these things to be of great value, things to seek after with all you’ve got. The world has switched the price tags.

We all can easily fall into the same trap of valuing the wrong things as Esau did, who valued a simple meal more highly than his esteemed birthright. This can happen so easily to us because of both our own desires as well as the enticing messages of the world. So we need to examine ourselves from time to time – maybe even enlisting the help and insight of others – so we can see ourselves truly. It would be good for all of us to spend some time even this week considering our life and what we truly value – not in theory but in reality. What are the things we give our time to, our energy to? What are our goals? What do we value as it relates to the kind of person we are, our character. What are we doing with our life? For if we value things wrongly, we will live lives marked by poor choices, regrettable decisions, and missed opportunities, as was true for Esau. But again, the good news is that by His grace, God can transform our hearts and our desires, so we come to value that which is truly valuable and give ourselves to that which is truly meaningful

This account also calls us to trust God fully. Jacob was chosen by God to be the one through whom God would work out His purposes for the nation of Israel which would lead to the coming of the Savior. God had revealed that to Rebekah, and no doubt Rebekah shared that with Jacob. But Jacob was unwilling to let God work that out in His way. Instead, Jacob manipulated and deceived and forced things to get his way. He took advantage of Esau’s weakness to lay hold of the birthright, and as we’ll see later, he deceived his own father to claim the blessing that also belonged to Esau. Because of that, Jacob would spend many years separated from his family, living in fear of his brother and being the victim of deceit himself by his future father-in-law, all because he was trying to force things to work out the way he wanted.

And so we need to make sure we don’t try to take matters into our hands. Of course, there is a time to act in response to the will of God; we don’t just sit and do nothing, waiting for God to move us around like pieces on a chessboard. But we need to seek God’s direction, and He will make it clear what we are to do, and when and how we are to do it.

If like Jacob, we try to force things to work out the way we want when we want, if we plot and scheme and manipulate to get our way, then like Jacob we will have to learn some lessons the hard way. But even there, as was true for Jacob, we can experience God’s grace, for He will be with us to help us learn those lessons and to enable us to come to the point where we can trust God fully.

And so today, if you feel inadequate, take heart. Paul writes that God uses simple clay pots to store an incredible treasure – the presence of the living Christ. And we are the pots. There’s nothing special about the pot, but only the treasure inside the pot. But in spite of how plain, fragile, and chipped the clay pot might be, God makes His grace and glory radiate from seemingly insignificant and flawed people. For His strength is made perfect in our weakness (II Cor. 4:7). God’s purposes for our lives and for the world are not brought about through our might or cleverness, but by God’s unlimited grace, which is abundantly available to all of us.

Consider again Paul. He referred to himself as the chief of all sinners, but he was also the greatest missionary in the history of the church and wrote much of the New Testament. How did that turnaround occur? Paul wrote, “By the grace of God I am what is am (I Cor. 15:9-10).” And so there are no limits as to what we can become and what we can accomplish if we open ourselves fully to God’s grace and transforming power. So let’s do just that. Let’s open our hearts to the fullness of God’s grace and His transforming power, and then see what God does in and through us.