Broken Families Series

Richard Blake and his wife, from San Luis, California, were at a wedding where their neighbor’s son, Robert, was one of the ushers. He seemed young to be an usher at a wedding, but a veteran usher gave him some quick pointers. He instructed Robert to ask the person he was escorting, “Are you a guest of the bride or groom?” That way he would know where to seat them.

Robert took the advice, but something got lost in the translation. When the first arrival came, he graciously offered his arm and asked, “Madam, whose side are you on?” (Richard Blake, San Luis Obispo, California, “Rolling Down the Aisle,” Christian Reader; www.PreachingToday.com)

Sad to say: that’s the way many marriages work. Husbands and wives end up taking sides against each other, and the whole family suffers.

The question is: How can husbands and wives learn to get on the same team? How can they learn to come together as one for the glory of God?

Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 27, Genesis 27, where an Old Testament couple shows us how NOT to do it.

Genesis 27:1-4 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” (NIV)

Isaac decides to bless his older son, Esau, in direct contradiction to what God had told his wife in Genesis 25:23. There, God made it very clear that the youngest son should get the blessing, but Isaac determines to bless the oldest son instead. Isaac is defying God, and it puts his wife in a tough spot.

Genesis 27:5-10 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” (NIV)

She is telling her son to lie to his dad! Well, Jacob is not so sure.

Genesis 27:11-17 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.” His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. (NIV)

This is nothing but pure manipulation. Rebekah is deceiving her husband. Oh, she wants God’s will for her son, but she has resorted to deceptive manipulation to get it.

Genesis 27:18-24 He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.” Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God gave me success,” he replied. Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.” Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied. (NIV)