Saturday 04 July 2009

Background

This passage sees the Covenant blessing passed on to the nextgeneration. Isaac (the son of Abraham) has married Rebekah and shehas given birth to twin boys: Jacob, and his slightly elderbrother, Esau. As Isaac approaches the end of his life, he wishesto pass the blessing on to Esau - older, stronger and hairier thanthis brother!

The transmission of the inheritance to the firstborn son was anormal part of family life in those days, but this was somethingspecial... Contained within it was the promise of God - theCovenant - to be passed on by Isaac: the child of thepromise.

In chapter25 a famished Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowlof stew. A fair transaction, although morally dubious! Today'sstory from chapter 27 seems altogether more sinister (and highlycomic). And yet it comes about at the behest of the twins'mother!

Those wanting to defend Jacob here might say he was simplyhonouring his mother (unfortunately not his 'father and mother' asin the commandment - Exodus 20:12).Isaac has requested a feast to be presented to him by his eldest.So, while Esau is out hunting game, Jacob takes a short cut andgets two goats for his mum to prepare! Of course, Esau and Jacobwere like chalk and cheese, so a cunning disguise was also needed.Some of Esau's clothes would do, and the skin from the kids Rebekahhas just cooked would cover his smooth skin and give him thecomplexion of... a goat!

In an almost pantomime-like conversation, Isaac recognises Jacob'svoice, but the hairy hands mean it must be Esau! But then theaction becomes less comic and more moving as Jacob kisses hisfather in this betrayal of trust. (The Christian reader may seelinks with Gethsemane here - Mark14:43-46.)

And then the blessing: the crowning glory for Jacob who has nowtaken everything from his brother. Notice that the words of Isaac'sblessing to his son are inspired by the smell of the land on Esau'sclothing. Isaac, and social convention, had determined one outcome,but the Covenant blessing seems to have a life of its own. Onecommentator, Walter Brueggemann (an American Old Testamentscholar), notes that "the blessing will work in spite of humancharacter and quality and in spite of our inclinations in anotherdirection." Jacob did appear keener to receive the blessing, andacted shrewdly on his mother's prompting, but, as Brueggemannstates, "the blessing so passionately sought is a burden," as Jacobwould soon find out.

Whether the outcome was planned by God or not, the story does notmake light of the consequences of the deceit. It would plague Jacoband Esau for the next 20 years. Deception came at a price.

To Ponder

Read on in thestory and you will see how Isaac could not take back hiswords (no matter how much he might have wanted to). The blessinghad been spoken, and his words had a deeper meaning. Isaacunderstood the significance, and could not stand in the way of thedestination of the blessing. Words were not cheap. How different isthat from today?

Birthrights and blessings? Jacob did his best tosubvert the convention that it was the 'right' of the elder toinherit. Our natural inclination is to cry 'cheat' in outrage! Butwhy? Is it actually fair that one should inherit so much moresimply because of the random fact that he happened to appear firstfrom the womb? To what extent do we tend to think of people as moreimportant (more 'entitled' to things) simply because of the placeand condition of their birth?

How do we see Jesus opening up God's blessing tothose whom society sees as having very few rights or privileges?How can you do the same?