Genesis 27.5-17-The Counter Conspiracy of Rebekah and Jacob
Wednesday May 31, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 27:5-17-The Counter Conspiracy of Rebekah and Jacob
Lesson # 154
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 27:1.
This evening we will continue with our studies of Genesis 27, which we began last evening.
Last evening we studied Genesis 27:1-4, which records the conspiracy of Isaac and Esau to secretly secure the blessing of the birthright for Esau rather than Jacob, which was against the will of God.
In the family of Abraham and Isaac, the birthright included the privilege of carrying on the line of Christ that would bring salvation and therefore blessing to the entire world.
The birthright was transferable so under certain circumstances the possessor of this birthright could be dispossessed.
The youngest can displace the eldest as in the cases of Joseph and Judah, Reuben, and Ephraim and Manasseh, Moses and Aaron, David and his six older brothers, Solomon and Adonijah.
Since the birthright concerns the future, its value is appropriated by faith.
Jacob desired the birthright because of his faith in the promises and prophecy of the Lord whereas Esau did not have faith in the promises of the Lord.
Esau was rejected because he did not have faith in the Lord and His promises contained in the Abrahamic Covenant as demonstrated by the exchanging of the birthright for a bowl of lintel soup.
The “blessing” of the birthright and the birthright itself were inseparable since Hebrews 12:17 records that after Esau sold his birthright he wanted to inherit the blessing but was rejected by God.
Genesis 27:1, “Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, ‘My son.’ And he said to him, ‘Here I am.’”
Genesis 27:2, “Isaac said, ‘Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death.’”
Isaac was one hundred years of age at this point in the narrative since Genesis 25:26 records that Isaac was sixty years of age when he had Esau and Jacob and Genesis 26:34 records that Esau got married at forty years of age.
He would live to one hundred eighty years of age according to Genesis 35:28.
Genesis 27:1 records that Isaac was already blind as indicated by the phrase “his eyes were too dim to see.”
It appears that Isaac’s blindness caused him to erroneously think that he might be dying soon.
Therefore, as was the custom in his day, he desires to give his blessing before he died.
Genesis 27:3-4, “Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”
Normally the blessing would have been a public affair, given before the entire family because it was, in reality, an oral will which legally determined the disposition of all that the father possessed (See Genesis 49:1, 28; 50:24-25; Deuteronomy 33:1).
The fact that neither Jacob nor Rebekah was present was hardly an oversight but rather Isaac conspiring to give the blessing to Esau who was his favorite and not Jacob who was Rebekah’s favorite and more importantly, the Lord’s choice.
Therefore, we have a conspiracy and secrecy where Isaac intended at this clandestine dinner to convey his blessings upon Esau rather than Jacob, which is why Isaac had no blessing left to convey upon Esau, cf. Genesis 27:37 38.
The fact that Isaac sought to give Esau rather than Jacob the blessing after Esau demonstrated his disdained for the plan of God reveals that at this time in his life, Isaac was putting his personal love and affection for Esau ahead of doing God’s will.
Isaac’s love for fine foods and Esau has superseded his love for doing the will of God and has regressed spiritually in that he has in fact become like Esau who exchanged his birthright for a bowl of lintel soup!
The fact that Isaac determined to give the blessing to Esau without his wife and Jacob’s knowledge demonstrates that he knows that he is doing something wrong and knew that Rebekah would not approve.
He hoped to give the blessing to Esau before Rebekah could interfere.
This evening we will study Genesis 27:5-17, which records for us the conspiracy of Rebekah and Jacob to deceive Isaac and secure the blessing of the birthright, which would thwart the conspiracy of Isaac and Esau from succeeding.
In this passage, we see that Isaac’s wife, Rebekah is a master of deception and superior to him in clandestine operations.
Also in this passage, we see the third round of Jacob’s battle with Esau.
The first round was at their birth (See Genesis 25:21-28) and the second round was Jacob securing the birthright from Esau (See Genesis 25:27-34).
Genesis 27:5-7, “Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, ‘Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’”
Little did Esau and Isaac know that Rebekah was eavesdropping in on their entire conversation in which they had conspired to secure the blessing of the birthright for Esau rather than Jacob who was Rebekah’s favorite.
Rebekah is functioning here as a counter spy in the service of her son Jacob.
Here we see Rebekah eavesdropping in on the conversation between Isaac and Esau.
She tells Jacob of the conspiracy between Isaac and Esau and their plot to secure the blessing of the birthright for Esau rather than Jacob.
The family rivalry and parental favoritism is pointed out by Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by designating Esau as Isaac’s son and Jacob as Rebekah’s son.
The blessing that Rebekah is referring to was given at departures or imminent death in patriarchal times and could not be altered.
Rebekah adds to Isaac’s statement, the phrase “in the presence of the Lord” in order to impress upon Jacob the significance of this critical moment in the family’s history and that it was essential that they act immediately to thwart Isaac’s attempt to give Esau the family blessing.
She also uses this phrase to manipulate Jacob to take part in a counter conspiracy, which would thwart the conspiracy launched by Isaac and Esau.
Isaac never used this prepositional phrase since Isaac was going against the will of the Lord by attempting to give Esau the blessing rather than Jacob.
Rebekah and Jacob erroneously believed that by their own human power that Jacob could come into possession of the birthright.
They erroneously thought Jacob could “merit” the blessings when in reality he could only receive them according to God’s grace meaning that he could not earn or deserve the blessings since they would be freely given to him by God when he exercised faith in Him.
Jacob and Rebekah were on a works program and thought God needed their help but they were ignorant of God’s method and thus inserted their own way of doing things.
This demonstrated in Jacob and Rebekah that self-confident attitude rather than a dependence upon the Lord and His provisions and His plan and methods.
Rebekah desired a right thing for his son but she chose to attain it for him in a wrong way.
Genesis 25:23 teaches that God did not need their help since He had chosen Jacob over Esau from eternity past based upon His sovereign grace and mercy to carry on the line of Christ and inherit the blessings and privileges and responsibility of the Abrahamic Covenant.
Genesis 25:23, “The LORD said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.’”
Genesis 27:8, “Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you.”
Rebekah commands Jacob and does not suggest for him to do something since she is using her maternal authority to manipulate Jacob to carry out her plan of deception.
Genesis 27:9, “Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.”
Genesis 27:10, “Then you shall bring it to your father that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”
Rebekah knows her husband too well and commands Jacob to get two young goats from the flock, which would have a similar taste to wild game, which Isaac loved.
She had lived long enough with Isaac to know what kind of food that he loved and how to prepare it.
Notice that Rebekah, like Isaac, believes that Isaac is about to die.
Genesis 27:11, “Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, ‘Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man.’”
Genesis 27:12, “Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”
Jacob does not complain that his mother’s plan of deceiving his father and her husband is wrong and is sin but rather he was afraid he would be caught in this deception and bring down a curse upon himself.
Therefore, we see that Jacob has no reservations about the morality of the plan but only the feasibility of such a plan.
Jacob could not see how their plan could overcome the fact that he was smooth skinned and his brother was very hairy.
But Rebekah was prepared for this problem and had undoubtedly thought about it for quite some time and devised a plan.
Genesis 27:13, “But his mother said to him, ‘Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.’”
Gordon J. Wenham, “Rebekah’s reply is as remarkable for what it does not contains as for what it does. She says nothing about dressing up Jacob in goatskin and his brother’s clothes. That might have alarmed Jacob even more. Instead she focuses on the most serious point, that Jacob may be cursed for his efforts. The word order, ‘let the curse on you fall on me,’ emphasizes that Rebekah is the one, not Jacob, who will suffer should Isaac pronounce a curse instead of a blessing. Her remark is hypothetical, for Isaac does not curse Jacob, but it is doubtful whether she could have diverted any curse onto herself by simply saying so. The blessing is not transferable even to Esau for whom Isaac intended it, so who could a curse be diverted? Presumably Rebekah realized this, for her plan depends on the irrevocability of the blessing, so her remark, ‘let the curse…on me,’ expresses the ferocity of her desire to make Jacob carry out the plan. Probably, Jacob realized curses could not be transferred either and his submission to his mother’s will again underlines his complicity in the scheme. But her closing words, ‘Just obey me. Go and get it for me,’ repeating her opening injunction (vv 8-9) somewhat more brusquely, reveal her impatience and urgency. It is a naked appeal to maternal authority” (Word Biblical Commentary, volume 2, 16-50, page 207).
Genesis 27:14, “So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.”
Moses under the inspiration uses the phrase “his father” rather than “her husband” to bring out the rift between Rebekah and Isaac.
Genesis 27:15, “Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.”
Genesis 27:16, “And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.”
Genesis 27:17, “She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.”
Notice that Jacob just brings her the materials needed to pull off her scheme and she does all the preparation of the materials.
Rebekah’s plan reveals that she was not only devious but that her plan was well thought out in advance.
There is no way that her plan was conceived on the spur of the moment but rather it was a plan conceived well in advance since she though out every minute detail, using goatskin gloves and neck coverings.
Also, in a few moments time, she fashioned a costume for Jacob that fooled Isaac, which also indicates a premeditated plan.
Rebekah was too shrewd to leave these matters to chance or to last minute accomplishment.
This production had been staged far in advance of its performance.
Rebekah promised to assume the negative consequences personally if anything were to go wrong since she did not consider that there would be any negative consequences for her scheme since she thought the ends justified the means.
She did not consider the Lord’s attitude towards her insubordination to her husband and her deception for if she did she would not have attempted the deception.
Rebekah did suffer greatly for the part she played in this scheme.
What neither Rebekah nor her son considered, however, were the consequences for their sin even if they did succeed, which they did.
Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
Galatians 6:8, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Hosea 8:7, “For they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind.”
Their plan went off without a hitch, but the results were the opposite of what they had hoped for.
There can be no doubt that Rebekah’s desire to secure the blessing of the birthright for Jacob was according to the will of the Lord (see Genesis 25:23, 29-34; 26:35; 27:46) but the means by which she sought to secure it for him, namely, by deception was wrong.
For Rebekah, the ends justified the means.
In this passage, we see Rebekah exploiting her husband’s blindness, which was against the Word of the Lord.
Leviticus 19:14, “You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.”
Deuteronomy 27:18, “Cursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road.' And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
Undoubtedly, Rebekah felt justified in deceiving Isaac since the Lord had told her that Jacob was His choice.
But because of a lack of faith she failed to understand that God’s purposes for Jacob would be accomplished whether or not Isaac cooperated or not.
She failed to understand that Isaac’s blessing of Esau could not overrule God’s will, which was decreed from eternity past (See Genesis 25:23).
She evidently thought that the Lord needed her help.
The family of Isaac and Rebekah is not communicating with each other and working with each other but conspiring against one another.
The reason for this is that Isaac who according to the Word of God is the head of the marriage and family is not leading his family according to the will of the Lord.
The Lord’s will is that Jacob receive not only the birthright but also the blessing of the birthright since the Lord declared to Rebekah prior to the birth of the twins that Jacob would be the heir of the Abrahamic Covenant and carry on the line of the Messiah.
He goes against the will of the Lord and secretly conspires to give Esau the blessing even though Esau has demonstrated that he is indeed not the one to receive the inheritance since he married Hittite women and exchanged his birthright with Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup.
So the problem in the family is the result of poor leadership by Isaac.
Isaac has failed to exercise his authority in accordance with the will of the Lord and will reap the consequences of his failure as the husband of Rebekah and playing favorites with his twin sons.
Rebekah has failed as Isaac’s wife in that she doesn’t respect her husband’s authority, which is against the Word of the Lord.
Ephesians 5:22, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.”
Rebekah fails as a mother in that like her husband, she plays favorites with her twin sons, choosing Jacob over Esau.
The marriage of Rebekah and Isaac is a mess because of no communication and terrible leadership from Isaac.
Unlike Abraham and Sarah who communicated with one another and sought each other’s spiritual counsel regarding the inheritance (See Genesis 15:5-6; 21:8-14), Isaac and Rebekah are not communicating with each other.
Isaac was wrong in what he conspired to do.
Jacob was the son whom God chose to be the “heir of promise.”
Nevertheless, evil must not be resisted with evil and it must be overcome by good (Romans 12:21).
Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
The first thing Rebekah should have done was to confront Isaac respectfully in love about his contemplated sin.
Submission to authority never includes silence toward evil.
We are to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), even to those in authority over us (cf. Acts 16:35 40).
Ephesians 4:15, “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”
Having fulfilled her responsibility to warn her husband of the conse¬quences of the evil he had planned, Rebekah should have been content to leave the disposition of the matter to God, Who is all powerful and all wise.
Her actions betrayed her lack of faith in the sovereignty of God.