INTRODUCTION
Here is a man who received the promise of blessing from God even before his birth.
Genesis 25:23 – “The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger”.
But now he is on the verge of his death and trying to escape death by fleeing and has little hope of remaining alive.
Genesis 27:43 – “Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban!”
Genesis 28:10 – “Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.”
What a pitiful situation to be in! To be blessed by God even before your birth and then coming to a situation where you see no blessing but only impending death!
1. THE SITUATION
There are some important characters in this narrative
Let us begin by understanding the main characters in this narrative.
1. Isaac – Old Man; physically weak; no discernment; interested in hunting and eating; loves Esau more than Jacob; he is prayerful.
2. Rebekah – Despaired because of lack of children; loves Jacob more than Esau; prayerful; shrewd; cunning; deceptive
3. Esau – Aggressive; active; impatient; gluttonous; disrespect for birth right; desperate; angry; revengeful; disobedient; no consideration for parents and their happiness;
4. Jacob – peaceful; not active; obedient to mother; taking advantage of others’ weaknesses; deceitful; cunning; liar.
5. LORD – Prayer-answering; Purpose-revealing; Instructing; Guiding; Covenant-making; Promising; blessing; Emboldening;
God’s intention to bless in His dialogue with Rebekah (Genesis 25:23)
Genesis 25:23 - “The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger”.
We see the family here, Isaac, with his wife Rebekah, and his twin sons, Esau and Jacob. We also see God who imparts a promise of blessing. This is the situation.
2. THE STRESS
First conflict between Jacob and Esau
Genesis 25:22 – “But the children struggled within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?”
Second Conflict between Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:29-34)
Genesis 25:29-34 – “When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright”.
Third conflict between Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27:19; 27:35)
Genesis 27:19 – Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your first born; I have done as you told me. Get up, please sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me.”
Genesis 27:35 – And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing”.
Isaac’s realization of the actual situation (Genesis 27:35)
Esau’s desire for revenge (Genesis 27:41)
Genesis 27:41 – So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
The flight of Jacob (Genesis 27:43)
Genesis – “Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban!”
The conflict between Jacob and Esau is paralleled in other characters elsewhere in the Bible
The conflict between Jacob and Esau
The conflict between the Seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent
The conflict between Cain and Abel
The conflict between Isaac and Ishmael
The conflict between Abraham and Lot
The conflict between Israelites and the Canaanites
There is always a battle for blessing going on in the Bible.
There are some character parallels and pre-figurations of Jacob in the Bible
Jacob Parallels Adam
Jacob tries to gain blessing but fails and as result falls into crisis and flees to save himself from Esau.
In this sense Jacob parallels Adam in that even Adam tried to gain blessing but fails and falls into crisis and flees to save himself from God when He hears the voice of God calling him.
Jacob Prefigures Moses
In the same sense Jacob prefigures Moses in that even Moses tried to gain blessing but fails and falls in crisis and flees to save himself from Pharaoh.
There is a continuous failure in obtaining blessing and then fleeing to save one’s own life.
With the third conflict the tension rises to its peak. Jacob indulges in shameless deception, inspired and guided by Rebekah. He steals the blessing of Esau. Esau at last decides to kill Jacob after the death of Isaac. Now Jacob is in a life-threatening situation. He is thinking like this: “Who now cares for the blessing of God. It is sufficient for now if I escape death from the hands of Esau.”
Here we see God who revealed His intention to bless Jacob. We see a kind of battle between Esau and Jacob for gaining blessing. We also see Jacob on the verge of death and lose the blessing of God due to his deception of Esau.
So the stress presented in this narrative is that Jacob is on the verge of losing his blessing from God due to his deceptive approach to gain blessing.
Let us now enter into a search for the solution for this crisis.
3. SEARCH FOR THE SOLUTION
The first thing to be noticed in our search for the solution is that there is a curious silence on the part of the Narrator in evaluating or judging Jacob for his deceitful behaviour.
The narrator does not judge Jacob for his deceitful behaviour in the entire narrative. Only Isaac says once that Jacob took away the blessings of Esau by deception (Genesis 27:35).
Genesis 27:35 – And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.”
But later Isaac overlooks this deceitful behaviour of Jacob and blesses him willfully (Genesis 28:1-4).
Genesis 28:1-4 – So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”
After this event, even God blesses Jacob as though Jacob did not do any wrong.
God’s blessing (Genesis 28:13-15)
Genesis 28:13-15 – And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
This is surprising. The entire narrative seems to be unjust and biased towards Jacob. The narrator does not condemn Jacob. Rebekah supports Jacob. Isaac blesses Jacob in spite of deceiving him. At last, even God blesses Jacob as though nothing is wrong with what Jacob did. When we examine Jacob’s reply to God’s blessing, the narrative seems even more unjust and worse in its unabashed bias towards Jacob.
Jacob despises God’s blessing (Genesis 28:20-22)
Genesis 28:20-22 – Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
If we notice Jacob’s reply to God, it can be observed that it is similar to Esau’s reply to Jacob when he said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” (Genesis 25:32).
Esau despised his birthright. He is saying, “Who wants this birthright when I am about to die. I just want to eat something. That is all that I want”.
But Jacob is worse. He is despising the blessing of God even after God Himself announced this blessing. On the one hand, God’s blessing seems universal and grand. But, on the other hand, it is as if Jacob is saying to God: “Who wants this great blessing? It is enough if you protect me from my brother and save my life and give me food to eat. If you do this you will be my God. I will give you a tenth of all that You give me”.
Jacob is trying to choose God.
(“the LORD will be my God” – Genesis 28:21)
Jacob sees his relationship with God as conditional.
(“If God will be….then the LORD” – Genesis 28:20-21. A statement in an “If…then” format showing the conditional nature of Jacob’s words.)
Jacob wants a blessing which is private, individualistic, and selfish.
(“If God will be with “ME” and will keep “ME” on this journey that “I” take, and will give “ME” food to eat and garments to wear, and “I” return to “MY” father’s house in safety” – Genesis 28:20-21)
God knows what reply Jacob is going to give even before Jacob gave this reply. In spite of knowing this, God decides to bless Jacob.
Jacob’s sin is two-fold. Firstly, he deceives Esau. Secondly, he despises God by making light of God’s blessing. God could have easily rejected Jacob for his sinful behaviour and elected someone else who is more worthy than Jacob to impart His blessing.
It looks ironical. God has decided to bless Jacob in spite of all this.
What is the Narrator up to? What is the Narrator trying to convey to his audience? What is the real plot underlying the whole narrative?
What is the real plot?
The real plot of this narrative is about how and why God can remain faithful to His promise of blessing even though Jacob deceives Esau and despises God, which threatens the very fulfilment of that promise.
We have to understand that the narrator is not narrating from the Point of View of Isaac or Rebekah or Esau or Jacob. The narrator is narrating from the Point of View of GOD. If we do not understand this, then we will miss the real plot of this narrative.
The plot is not about how Jacob gains God’s blessing by escaping death from Esau. This would be an anthropocentric view of the narrative. Then we could carve out a beautiful seven-point sermon on how we can escape death and receive blessing like Jacob did. But the plot of the narrative does not allow us to preach like that. The plot is about how and why God can remain faithful to His promise of blessing in spite of Jacob’s deceitful and despising behaviour, which threatens the very fulfilment of that promise. This is the theocentric view of this narrative.
Since we have understood the real plot, we are now in a position to look for the solution.
4. SOLUTION
Now we come to the climax of this story. Now we come to the solution of the crisis. Now we are going to find the answer for how and why God remains faithful to his promise of blessing, in spite of Jacob’s two-fold sin.
The solution can be explored in two parts:
How is God Faithful?
Why is God Faithful?
HOW IS GOD FAITHFUL?
How can God be faithful? The answer lies in the nature of the blessing itself. If we analyze the blessing of God we see that it is a three-fold blessing.
God’s blessing includes Eternal Election, Unconditional Covenant, and Universal Plan.
God’s Eternal Election
“I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants” – Genesis 28:13
God’s eternal election implies that God did not choose us to bless because we are holy. It also implies that He did not choose others because they are unholy. Even before we did good or bad, even before we were born, God has elected us.
God’s Unconditional Covenant
The fact that God overlooked Jacob’s sins and blessed him implies that God’s covenant with Jacob is unconditional.
God’s unconditional covenant implies that He does not withdraw His promise of blessing because of our sins. It also implies that He does not continue to hold that promise of blessing because of our good works. It is an unconditional covenant regardless of our sins or good works.
God’s Universal Plan
“Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed” – Genesis 28:14
God’s universal plan indicates that His promise of blessing is not individualistic and that it should not be utilized for mere private goals. It indicates that God’s promise of blessing is not only for an individual but to the community through the individual.
In other words, it is through the true nature of blessing itself that God remained faithful in His promise of blessing to Jacob in spite of Jacob’s sin; the true nature of this blessing being eternal, unconditional, and universal.
We can see this point repeated again and again in the Book of Genesis. Adam, People at Babel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s children, all the major characters in the book of Genesis have at one time or the other and in one way or the other have been deceitful and unfaithful and conditional, and rebellious towards God but God has been consistently faithful in fulfilling His unconditional promise of deliverance and blessing to them.
But, still another question arises which is more crucial than the first one.
WHY IS GOD FAITHFUL?
Why did God overlook the deceitfulness and irreverence of Jacob and impart eternal, unconditional, and universal blessing to him? Does it not violate the Justice and Righteousness of God?
Does the narrative seem unfair? It seems so. But, did we miss something in the narrative, which gives answer to this crucial question? Yes we have not yet considered the most crucial part of the narrative. The best is saved for the last.
The narrative seems unfair until and unless we consider the ladder in the dream of Jacob very carefully.
Genesis 28:12-13 – “He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said,”
The narrator is dying to say that this is the most important part of the whole narrative on which everything else hinges. Three times in this short sentence does the narrator use the word “BEHOLD” (הינה - Hinneh). The narrator never says, “Behold, the twins in the womb were quarreling.” He never says, “Behold, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a meal.” He never says, “Behold, Rebekah and Jacob conspired together to receive blessing by deception.” He never says, “Behold, Jacob came to Isaac in the guise of Esau and stole the blessing.” He never says, “Behold, Jacob fled from Esau.”
But, within the span of a single sentence, he uses the word “Behold” three times. The narrator is begging the readers for their attention to this part of the narrative. There is something very important for the audience to know in this small part of the narrative.
A Ladder linking earth and heaven
A Ladder on which the angels of God are ascending and descending
A Ladder above which stood the Lord proclaiming His three-fold blessing of Unconditional Covenant, Eternal
Election, and Universal Plan
To understand its significance, we have to turn to the New Testament.
John 1:51 – And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Ladder is none other than Jesus, the Son of Man.
The title “Son of Man” sees Jesus as a representative of humanity who is vindicated and glorified through suffering.
God imparts the three-fold blessing of eternal election, unconditional covenant and universal plan to Jacob because of Jesus, the Son of Man, who, as the representative of humanity, suffered and entered into glory.
Jesus is the One who links heaven and earth.
Jesus is the One on whom, is based the blessing of God.
Jesus deliberately uses the word “deceit” in John 1:47 (δόλος, dolos) – singular masculine noun in the nominative case). The word δόλος literally means to bait for a fish.
John 1:47 – Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit.”
Isaac uses the word “deceit” referring to the manner in which Jacob takes away the blessing of Esau (Genesis 27:35).
Genesis 27:35 – And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing”.
The Hebrew word used for deceit here is מרמה (mirmah) which is a common feminine singular noun. More important for our purpose is the fact that the Septuagint translates מרמה as δόλος, the same Greek word which Jesus used in John 1:47 for deceit. The allusion is unmistakable. In the narrative of Genesis we find that Jacob’s (meaning of Jacob is “to supplant”) deceitfulness is overlooked. In the narrative of John, Nathanael (meaning of Nathanael is “given by God”) is seen as one in whom there is not deceit. We know that all humans are sinners. But Nathanael is deliberately pronounced by Jesus as one without deceit. Even if Nathanael had deceit in him, because of Jesus and in and through Jesus, he is seen as one with no deceit. In Jesus there is no attribution of sins to us. Without Jesus we are sinners. Even though we are sinners, we are justified by the atonement of Jesus. Now we can understand why God blessed Jacob in spite of his sins. In spite of being a deceiver and despiser, Jacob is justified by God on the basis of the future work of atonement accomplished by the Son of Man on the Cross. Therefore, even though Jacob did not deserve any blessing because of his sins, he nevertheless received it from God because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus which would be accomplished in the future. This is the Christological meaning of this passage.
Therefore the whole point of the narrative is this:
God remains faithful to His promise of blessing in spite of human unfaithfulness because of Jesus Christ.
Therefore the title of my sermon today is this:
GOD’S FAITHFUL PROMISE OF BLESSING IN CHRIST IN SPITE OF HUMAN UNFAITHFULNESS
5. THE NEW SITUATION
Whether Jacob fully understood this truth or not is left for examination in the later passages. We might expect Jacob to change after this wonderful experience. But only later will we know that God has to break his bones indicating that Jacob has not yet completely changed. But that is a completely different story deserving another sermon.
CONCLUSION
We have to now ask the question: What does the truth of this narrative mean to us?
Before knowing what it can possibly mean to us, first we have to know what this narrative meant to the original audience.
Hearing as the Original Audience
We have to realize that this narrative is written by Moses (assuming Mosaic authorship) to Israelites who came out of Egypt and to those Israelites who are about to enter the land of Canaan to conquer it.
Assuming Mosaic Authorship, the occasion of writing of Genesis is the preparation of Israelites to possess the land of Canaan after their exodus and during their wilderness wanderings in the desert of Sinai. As can be seen from the narrative details in the other books of the Pentateuch, Israelites were unbelieving, unfaithful towards God’s promises, frequently complaining about lack of food, drink and other resources for living, and fearful of the enemies they face both in the wilderness and in the land of Canaan.
They are in need of reassurance of the fulfilment of the promises of God. They are in need of assurance about God’s supply of all their needs. They are in need of boldness and encouragement to fight their enemies. They have to be reminded that God is going to fulfill His promises not because of the righteousness of Israelites but because of God’s unchanging and constant faithfulness towards His unconditional covenant of deliverance and blessing for Israel.
The narrative of Jacob might have spoken to the original audience in a powerful way. The narrative of Jacob encourages the original audience by reminding them that God is going to fulfill his promise of giving the land to the Israelites. It reminds them that God fulfills His promise to them not because of their faithfulness but because of His faithfulness in spite of their unfaithfulness.
The Context of the Kingdom History
God is in the process of establishing His Kingdom. Jesus is the one who manifested the Kingdom of God and began its establishment. The entire time prior to the birth of Jesus can be viewed as the preparation for the coming of the Kingdom. In view of this, the present narrative can be seen as a threat to the coming of the Kingdom by destroying the lineage which was promised to bring forth the King who is going to establish the Kingdom. Thus Jacob is caught in this great battle of the Kingdom, in which Satan is trying to stop the coming of the Kingdom on the one hand, and God is trying to bring the manifestation of the Kingdom on the other hand. The present is a time in which the Kingdom has already been manifested and under the process of construction. But the forces of evil are working now to stop the ongoing process of the building of the Kingdom just as they tried to stop the coming of the manifestation of the Kingdom.
We are reminded from all this that God will remain faithful to us as the church of Christ in spite of all our shortcomings because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross. This is because He wants His Kingdom to come on this earth. It is not because of our faithfulness or our good works, but it is because of God’s faithfulness based on Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross.
Application of the Sermon
- We should always keep in mind that we did not choose God, but that God has chosen us, because we know that God’s election is eternal.
- We should be careful not to put conditions to God to serve Him because He has made an unconditional covenant with us.
- We should be careful not to misunderstand the blessing of God to be only personal and individualistic, thus becoming self-centered and narcissistic. We should always keep in mind our instrumental roles in imparting the blessing of God to others.
- Above all, we should remember that God will ever remain faithful to His promise of blessing to us in spite of our repeated unfaithfulness toward Him because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. This is the reason for our faith and boldness. This is the reason for our hope. This is the reason for our worship.
