Isaac and Jacob: Wrestling in the Crucible of God's Grace: A Family Struggles

Introduction.

In our time together looking at the lives of Isaac and Jacob, we have seen much wrestling and struggling take place. We have seen the struggle between Jacob and Esau. It began, remember, in the womb when the children were “fighting.” When they were older, we found them wrestling over a “birthright.”

Isaac, and to a lesser degree Rebekah, each had their own struggles. She wrestled and persevered 20 years to become pregnant. Isaac wrestled along with her in prayer for those 20 years. Rebekah also struggled in regard to her pregnancy. As she felt the struggle within, she went to inquire of the Lord as to what was going on inside her. And the Lord was gracious to reveal to her and Isaac his purposes. Isaac, for his part, wrestled against the land, as there was a famine. He also had to struggle against the tyrant, Abimelech. In each case, there was success for God’s people in overcoming. They have shown what it is like to wrestle in the crucible of God’s grace and persevere in faith.

The struggling, however, is not over. And the struggling in which they are about to engage involves the entire family. However, what needs to be kept in mind is there struggles amongst themselves is really centered on the purpose of God. This is something that is fundamental to human existence. As human beings we identify the purpose of God and we wrestle with it throughout our lives as our God tests us and trains us and strengthens us that we might persevere in faith. With that let’s take up…

The Context: Time for a Blessing.

Historical context.

As we approach our thinking about this Scripture, we need to remember some key historical observations. The first thing we need to remember is that Satan is a liar and deceiver. He sets himself against the purpose(s) of the living and true God. He will do whatever he can through the unbelieving world to attack and undermine God’s people and his purposes in them. He seeks to draw God’s people away through any means at his disposal. He seeks to ultimately destroy.

A second thing we need to remember is the theme of enmity. We remember that our God put enmity between the seed of the serpent in the seed of the woman. This conflict or “antithesis” displays itself variously. It is typically on display between the people of God and those who obviously belong to the world. But it can also happen between family members. We observed this with the conflict between Cain and his brother Abel. This type of conflict anticipates what is surely to come throughout redemptive history.

The third thing that we need to remember is that God’s purpose(s) will stand. By this, we mean that God will intervene in one of two ways. He may intervene directly as he did concerning the flood and the Tower of Babel. He may intervene indirectly as his people live their lives and make decisions within their particular life’s context. For instance, during the first famine, Abraham took all that was his and went to Egypt. Another example would be Abraham interceding on behalf of Lot and his family before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now let’s turn our attention to…

Current context.

Now as we have traveled up to this point in redemptive history, we have observed each of these going on. Of course, we acknowledge that Satan is behind “the course of this world.” So everything we see going on through this point by deception and opposition is rooted in the enemy. It doesn’t necessarily have to be overt in order to observe going on.

We certainly have observed conflict going on between the people of God and the world and those in the world. Most clearly we have seen Isaac struggle against Abimelech. We have seen him struggle against the land in which was a famine. Isaac faithfully carried out his responsibilities in the Lord blessed him 100 fold. However, we have also seen this conflict arise between family members. The children fought while in Rebekah’s womb. And the children struggled over birthright. We have also seen in anticipation a possible conflict that would arise between Isaac and Rebekah. The Scriptures clearly state that Isaac loved Esau and the taste of game in his mouth. Rebekah, on the other hand, loved Jacob.

Now, during the events surrounding Isaac and Jacob, we have also seen the purpose of God set forth. When did we see that? We saw it when Rebekah inquired of the Lord as to the children in her womb. The Lord explicitly said to her, “two nations are in your womb; and two people’s will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.” Shirley both Rebekah and Isaac knew of this purpose of God set forth. The question arises, will Rebekah and Isaac embrace the purpose of God for their children?

Immediate context.

This brings us to the text for today. We are told “Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see.” As far as Isaac was concerned, it was time to give the blessing. How old was Isaac at this time? If my genealogical computations are correct, Isaac is about 137 years old. He still has 43 years of life left. But he doesn’t know that. And, he may be at the point of “feeling his age.” Now, blindness certainly speaks of a physical characteristic, but does it portend a moral one as well? We will soon find out.

And so who does Isaac call to himself before he pronounces his blessing? Was it Jacob in whom the purpose of God would be fulfilled? Or, was it Esau of whom it was said, “the older shall serve the younger?” As history unfolds we would expect Isaac to be calling Jacob to himself, but that is not the case. Instead he calls his older son Esau. His charge to his oldest son is to go out into the field and hunt and prepare a meal just the way Isaac loves it. Isaac would then partake of the meal and issue his blessing (wrongly) upon Esau. It is not as though Esau couldn’t receive a blessing, but just not this one.

If this course remains unchanged, God’s purpose will be thwarted and the enemy will have succeeded. The enemy seeks to prevent God’s purpose, remember, from being fulfilled. What better way to have it countered than by inter-family conflict. It seems that the enemy is going to have his way. After all, it was just Isaac and Esau in the tent together discussing these matters. However, we have something else going on at the same time….

The Intervention