All of us are sinners before a Holy G-d. Jacob was a human being with faults like us. But, let’s remember the Lord’s view of this man and look at his story from that perspective.
Gen 25:21-23:
And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.
And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. (KJV)
As you read through the story of Jacob and Esau, you will notice that Rebekah is the spiritual one in her family. She is the one who inquires of the Lord and to whom the Lord reveals His prophecy.
Gen 25:24-28:
And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. (KJV)
Jacob was the younger of the twins and he came out holding onto Esau’s heel. The name “Jacob” is a combination of the Hebrew words for hand (Yad) and heel (Acov) =Yaacov.
We will deal with Esau’s name later.
Notice that Isaac loved Esau because of physical reasons. Rebekah loved Jacob.
Gen 25:29-34:
And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. (KJV)
Did Jacob steal the birthright?
The key to understanding the whole transaction lies in the history of the Middle East as well as what is written in the Bible.
The fact that Abraham died in the previous chapter lets us know something about what Jacob was doing when he was making the red pottage. It was the job of the firstborn to make the red pottage so that the family can go together to visit the gravesite. There they would eat and recount the family heritage. This is ancient history and is still done today in the Middle East by many. The pottage was red (symbolizing blood for the blood lines which would be recounted). To make the pottage for such an event was the spiritual task of the firstborn. It was Esau's job. Jacob was doing it because he was the one interested in spiritual matters. He is the one who spent time with his mother in the tent and Rebekah was the spiritual one in the family. She is the one who inquired of God. Isaac was interested in fleshly matters. He loved Esau because he filled his belly.
Remember this whole family was wealthy, with many servants. If Esau was truly starving, he could have asked any of the servants to make him pita bread which takes about a minute from start to finish. But he wanted the red pottage. Jacob made a LEGAL transaction with him. He was doing the spiritual tasks - Esau was not interested. Jacob purchased the birthright, and the Bible makes it clear that Esau DESPISED his birthright. God calls him a profane person. In fact, the entire camp began calling him Edom because of what he did. It was such an outrageous act that news of it spread far and wide immediately and gave him a new nickname. WHY DOES THE CHURCH CONDEMN JACOB FOR THIS? GOD DOESN'T. Jacob didn't steal anything. Instead, he expressed his desire for the spiritual things of God. In this way, the prophecy of God would be fulfilled. The elder shall serve the younger. (There is a beautiful teaching here on subjugating the flesh to the spiritual) From this point on, the birthright did NOT belong to Esau.
What is the birthright? In the case of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it was the right to be part of the Messianic line – it was their family who would be privileged to bring about the Living Word (the Messiah) as a fulfillment of the Written Word. This was the spiritual assignment for the Jewish People. “Through them the world would be blessed… Gen. 12:3” Any other family on the face of the earth, the birthright was simply a doubling of property for the firstborn, because he had the responsibility of taking care of his parents and being the patriarch of the family as he grew older. But, for Jacob, the spiritual aspect was much greater and Jacob knew it.
Gen 27:1-14
And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. (KJV)
The scriptures tell us that Jacob did not want to deceive Isaac. However, he bowed to the wishes of his mother and in turn received the blessing that went with the birthright. Rebekah did not want her husband to make the huge mistake of giving the blessing to her profane son, Esau, who no longer owned the birthright. Isaac loved his food so much, that even though it was common knowledge that Esau sold the birthright, he still wanted to bless him. Rebekah was even willing to risk a curse falling on her to make sure things turned out right. Was this God's will? No where in Scripture is she condemned for her actions. The prophecy of God was fulfilled and the spiritual birthright and the spiritual blessing were given to Jacob. As we will see in the story that follows, Jacob was willing to give up his home and suffer indignation at the hands of his idol-worshipping, cheating uncle in order to be in the Messianic line.
What did Isaac say when he discovered that he had given Jacob the blessing??? Yea, and he shall be blessed! He didn't have to say that - he could have cursed him for it, but he didn't, because he recognized that God's will was done. However, the blessing he gave Esau was very fitting - it had to do with physical things. Esau was a physical person, living in the world, caring nothing for the spiritual. God knew ahead of time which child would be interested in following HIM.
These two are a perfect example of the spirit of Messiah (Christ) and the spirit of AntiMessiah (AntiChrist). ( Another lesson that is missed when the church condemns Jacob and extols and sympathizes with poor Esau.....) Esau's name comes from the root word "do" and his nickname Edom means red, but comes from the root letters for earth. He is an example of (reddish) fleshly works imitating the blood-bought spiritual works of the true believer. (How many lessons can you get out of that?)
Lura Maiman Beckford, Congregation Yeruel, Israel