Jacob: How It All Began Series

Introduction: Jacob, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, was one of the most colorful characters in the Bible. He started off by swindling his twin brother of the birthright but at the end of his days, pronounced a blessing and a prophecy about each of his sons.

Every story has a beginning, so let’s begin.

1 Jacob’s heritage (descendant of Abraham)

Text: Genesis 25:19-28, KJV: 19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac: 20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. 21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 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. 23 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. 24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26 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. 27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Moses reminds us about Jacob’s heritage: the son of Isaac, one of the first miracle babies; and grandson of Abraham, one of the few men who followed the True God during his lifetime. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born (see Genesis 17:17 and 21:1-7) and 140 when Isaac married Rebekah. The story how Rebekah left everything she knew, to go to a land about which she knew nothing, to marry a man at first sight whom she didn’t even know is one of the great stories in all literature. For all we know, they seemed to have a happy relationship.

But as time went on, and no children were born, Isaac prayed to the LORD so that he and Rebekah would/could have children. Something that may not be apparent at first glance is that unless Isaac and Rebekah had at least one son, then God’s promise to Abraham (several verses in Genesis 12, 17, 21, etc.) would never be fulfilled. But God did have a plan, and God did answer Isaac’s prayer in a special way.

Sure enough, the news came, that Rebekah was indeed going to have a child! The days went by and Rebekah must have felt something unusual—she felt something “struggling” inside her. To her credit, she “went to inquire of the LORD (verse 22)” so that she could find out what exactly was going on. The message she received must have been a surprise to her!

According to verse 23, the LORD Himself told her “two nations (!) were in her womb” and that, in so many words, the children were going to be very different indeed. Stranger still, she heard the LORD say “the elder shall serve the younger”. Perhaps not knowing everything this meant (she probably pondered these things in her heart, much like the Virgin Mary many years later), she returned and waited for the children (the LORD had told her there were two!) to be born.

Finally the day came when the children were born. Rebekah knew there would be twins but that seems to be all she knew (as any mother of twins could testify). Now the first child was born, and he was “red all over, like a hairy garment” and he received the name “Esau”, meaning “hairy”! Then, the second one was born, and he reached out and grabbed Esau’s heel. This second boy was named “Jacob”, which means “heel holder” or “supplanter (“cheater”, as some have defined it).” Isaac must have wondered to himself, “Here I am, 60 years old, I waited for 20 years and got _this_??”

Moses closed this section by adding (drily?) that Esau was a “cunning hunter” and a man of the field but Jacob was a “plain man, dwelling in tents”. Moses also gave a clue as to something that would burst on the scene many years later: Isaac loved Esau (Isaac loved the “venison—also translated “wild game” in some other versions—which Esau found for him) but Rebekah loved Jacob. Does anybody see a problem here?