GENESIS

JACOB

The Death of Abraham and the Birth of Jacob

Genesis 25:1-34

INTRODUCTION

You should seem a little startled at the title above. It reads "Jacob." That in and of itself is not all the striking. The reason though it is striking is that by naming this section "Jacob," we have jumped over Isaac, Abraham's son and Jacob's father, who came between Abraham and Jacob. Why do we skip over this person?

By skipping over Isaac I am not wanting to imply that he was not significant. He was; it's just that his significance was in relationship to Abraham and to Jacob, the 2 great men of the book of Genesis. Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation, while the Jewish nation got its name from Jacob after God changed his name to "Israel." Isaac though is noted primarily as ABRAHAM'S son and JACOB'S father. Independent of these 2 other men, Isaac's significance is not all that great.

Again, that does not mean that he was not significant. His significance took shape different from Abraham's and Jacob's. For example, God used Isaac in Abraham's life first in order to fulfill His promise to Abraham and second in order to stretch Abraham's faith to the limit by having Abraham sacrifice him on Mt. Moriah. That is pretty significant. (Even when the servant goes and gets a bride for Isaac the focus is on the servant obeying Abraham and not Isaac.)

In the same way your and my significance may take a different shape than others'. That does not make us less significant; it just makes us different. For example, I have never felt led to do anything BIG in my life. I feel like for the most part I have been obedient, but I do not feel like God has called me to do what others would consider big. Rather I feel like He has quietly used me to raise up other spiritual leaders who will do big things for Him. There's absolutely nothing wrong about that. It's just that my significance and your significance may take a different shape than others. My goal is to be significant by obeying Jesus, not to do things which others might consider significant. That can lead to disaster.

Also, there is a shift in emphasis in the move from the stories of Abraham to the stories of Jacob. The main focus in the Abraham stories is on the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham; the main focus in the Jacob stories is on the conflict in Jacob's life. To be sure there was conflict in Abraham's life; however, that conflict paled in comparison to the conflict in Jacob's life. In fact his life seems to be one conflict after another.

Why the focus on Jacob and his conflicts? Whereas Abraham was the father of the people, history shows us that the Jews were more like Abraham's grandson Jacob than like Abraham. Jacob brings much of the conflict in his life upon himself. In the same way the Jew overall has brought much conflict upon himself (this does NOT justify the terrible treatment though he has received at the hands of so many nations). It's just that so many of Jacob's traits seem to have been passed down to his descendants. Moses probably zeroes in on Jacob's life in the hope that his descendants who are like Jacob will one day experience the same transformation that Jacob also experienced when God transformed him from Jacob to Israel.

THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM (25:1-18)

The end of an era occurs in these verses. Abraham has lived for 175 years. God has fulfilled His promise to make of Abraham many nations by giving him sons who will father nations: Ishmael (the Arabs), Midian (the peoples who lived in northwest Arabia), and finally Isaac (the Jewish race). Before dying though Abraham sends away all his sons to the east of Canaan except for Isaac. Canaan is to be reserved for Isaac and HIS descendants in fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham.

Upon the death of Abraham though, a touching scene ensues. Although Ishmael is the son of the slave Hagar and although he has basically been disinherited in Isaac's favor, Ishmael returns once more to the tents of Abraham in order to join with Isaac in burying their father. Although Ishmael is 89 and Isaac is 75, it is still so neat that there is no enmity between them as they join together to bury their father. It appears that Ishmael is reconciled to the special role God has assigned to his brother Isaac.

An overlooked clause appears at this point: "he [Abraham] was gathered to his people." This does not mean he was gathered to his people by being buried with them. Abraham will be buried in the cave at Machpelah. There is only one person in that burial site, Sarah, no "people." Being gathered to his people is meant in a spiritual sense: he rests with his fathers, a reference to immortality. Even though Abraham is physically dead, he yet remains alive because he is with his people in heaven. (Jesus used these kinds of clauses to show that the immortality of the soul is found in the books of Moses.)

INTRODUCTION TO THE JACOB STORIES (25:19-34)

The Birth of Jacob (25:19-26)

Earlier we saw that Rebekah was type of "female" Abraham, in the sense that she like Abraham had to abandon her family to follow God to the Promised Land. Her life resembles Abraham's also in a second way: as Abraham's wife Sarah was barren, so Rebekah is barren. Isaac is 40 years old when he marries Rebekah; she remains childless for the next 20 years.

In one respect though Isaac and Rebekah differ from Isaac's parents: whereas Abraham and Sarah schemed and manipulated in order to get a child (the story of Ishmael and Hagar), Isaac goes directly to the Lord in prayer. (He may have learned from his parents' past mistake.) Because he prayed for his wife, God healed his wife and she conceived.

It is interesting to note that Moses does not say Rebekah prayed and God heard; it says that Isaac prayed and God heard. To be sure God definitely hears the prayers of His daughters; however, I believe that God has established the home in such a way that the husband/father so much sets the tone for the home. To a great extent its success or failure can be laid right at the feet of the husband/father. As a result, whenever the father takes his role seriously, God more likely blesses that home. God is not limited to the prayers of the dad; however, God appears to honor the system He has set up by blessing those homes where the dads are truly active spiritually.

During her pregnancy Rebekah senses that something is wrong within her womb. There appears to be a great conflict going on within her. When she seeks counsel from the Lord, the Lord informs her that there is indeed a conflict going on within her womb. She is not simply pregnant with one child; she has actually conceived 2 sons. The conflict which will go on between them in the future is already going on between them even in her womb. God then informs her that the 2 boys within her represent 2 nations which will war with each other. Whereas normally the younger is weaker than the older, in this case not only will the younger son be stronger than the older, but the older son will actually serve the younger. Whether or not Rebekah ever told Isaac what the Lord said to her, the fact remains that Rebekah knew of this promise from the Lord. It will govern some of her actions after the boys have grown up.

When the boys are actually delivered, they live up to this oracle from God. As the first boy is being birthed, the second younger boy grabs the heel of the older. The first baby is named Esau because he was hairy, while the second boy was named Jacob which means "he who grabs the heel." Before this time the name "Jacob" was actually a positive name. To be at somebody's heel meant that you were actually protecting their rear. The life of Jacob though turns this into a negative name; henceforth "Jacob" means "he who supplants" or "he who overthrows." The first son Esau grows up to be a wild man, a hunter who loved the wide open country; the younger son Jacob on the other hand loves the life of the tent. Esau becomes the apple of his father's eye, whereas Jacob becomes his mother's darling. The favoritism these parents show their children will eventually rip the family apart.

Jacob's First Maneuver (25:27-34)

Right off the bat Jacob lives up to the meaning of his name, the supplanter. One day Esau returns from hunting famished from all his exertions. When he returns, he comes upon Jacob who has concocted some stew, a reddish porridge. Esau, famished, insists that Jacob give him some of that "red, that red stuff." (He's not the most articulate person.) Jacob bargains: Jacob's red porridge for Esau's birthright.

Now just exactly what was the birthright? In the time of Moses the oldest son (in this case Esau) would receive 2/3 of the inheritance, while the other 3rd would be split by the other sons. This insured that the family wealth did not dissipate into thin air, that the family name remained intact. Scholars are uncertain as to what it actually involved here; however, since Moses wrote this book, it most likely had the same meaning here as it did in Moses' day. It was an honor to be the eldest son. Esau's attitude? "What good is that birthright if I'm dead? Give me that red stuff." (Red in Hebrew is 'dm from which Esau then got the name eDoM, Edom.

How does Moses feel about Esau trading his birthright for a meal of red porridge? How does Moses feel about somebody who lives so much for the flesh that he would abandon a great spiritual honor such as the birthright? Moses writes: "And so Esau DESPISED his birthright." Such a man was not worthy to be the chosen one God would use to carry on the promise made to Abraham and to Isaac: "And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed." This great honor will go instead to Jacob, the supplanter, the usurper. Jacob might not have been the best candidate for the job; however, at least one positive thing can be said for him: he honored the birthright. He was at least more worthy and honorable than Esau.

GOD'S PROMISE BASED ON HIS CHOICE AND NOT HUMAN CONVENTION/CUSTOM (Rom. 9:6-13)

It would be easy to claim that God will pass over Esau in favor of Jacob since Esau had proved himself worthy to be the heir of the promise God made to Abraham and to Isaac. The truth though is that God had already passed over Esau in favor of Jacob a lot earlier than the incident of the red porridge. According to Paul, God passed over Esau in favor of Jacob at least while by the time Rebekah had conceived the 2 twins. According to Paul we can see God's choice of Jacob in the statement:

"Two nations are in your womb.
And 2 peoples shall be separated from your body;
And one people shall be stronger than the other;
And the older shall serve the younger" (25:23; see also Rom. 9:6-13).

Esau was not to be weaker than Jacob because Jacob worked out with weights and Esau did not. Esau was not to serve Jacob because Jacob manipulated the situation better than Esau did. Rather, Esau will be weaker than Jacob and will actually serve Jacob because God had chosen Jacob over Esau.

How can that be though since Esau was older than Jacob? Human custom would not allow this. "But," you might insist, "God chose the younger Isaac over the older Ishmael." True, but the reason God chose Isaac over ishmael was that Isaac's mom was the freewoman Sarah, while Ishmael's was the slavewoman Hagar. In the present case though both boys had the same mom because they were identical twins. So why did God choose the younger over the older?

We don't know; however, we do know that at times God in His infinite wisdom just chooses one over the other. One thing this does do this is t show that God is not dictated to by human custom or human ideas. God is God and is therefore free to make whatever choice He desires to make.

This is going to frustrate many Christians. We think that we've got God all figured out. If we do such and such, then God is going to do such and such. We get so frustrated with God though whenever He doesn't quite act the way we think He should act. After all we're in control of this relationship, aren't we? That's the problem: we think we ARE or SHOULD be in control of that relationship. Yet we're not. He is, and as a result we should submit to whatever He chooses to do. Like C. S. Lewis writes in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, He's not a tame lion. The wonderful thing is that even though He isn't "safe," He IS good.

At this point some of my predestination friends will say: "Ah hah!!!! Gotcha! So God DOES choose some people for salvation and the rest for damnation!" This passage and God's choice have NOTHING to do with salvation. God is not choosing Jacob here and damning Esau. Rather, God is choosing who will be the bearer of the promise God made to Abraham. Will God work through Jacob's descendants or through Esau's descendants? That is the choice being made here. God's choice? Jacob and his descendants. God will choose Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob, and finally his son Judah to bring Jesus into the world.