Genesis 27: 1 – 46
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR–You Might Get It!
27 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.” 2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4 And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” 5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. 6 So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 7 ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.” 11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” 13 But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” 14 And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. 18 So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the LORD your God brought it to me.” 21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. 24 Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.” 25 He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.” 27 And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed. 28 Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!” 30 Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.” 32 And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” 36 And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?” 38 And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. 40 By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.” 41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, 45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?” 46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Be careful what you wish for….” This has to be my least-favorite statement in the world. People get their wishes granted, but live to regret it. Making wishes is dangerous business; these stories seem to warn us. You can wish for the most wonderful thing in the world and the powers that be will twist it against you.
When we regret a wish we’ve been granted, it’s often because we unconsciously limited the dream before it left our heart - We down-sized it to increase our chances of getting something. We don’t allow ourselves to dream big. We’re afraid to ask our Holy God for too much.
A rock band put the saying into a song:
So be careful what you wish for
‘Cause you just might get it
And if you get it then you just might not know
What to do wit’ it, ’cause it might just
Come back on you ten-fold.
This phrase serves as a warning: If you wish for something, and the wish comes true, there can be unexpected (negative) consequences. Have you ever seen the prayer request that you wished for turn out to be a bitter disappointment?
In today’s study we are going to see the mess that occurs when you ignorantly make a wish or prayer without connecting your heart with your thinking. As you know our Holy Lord God had told Isaac and Rebekah that the older son will serve the younger son. In their case they had twin boys. The first born was Esau and then Jacob was born. The father favored the oldest boy while the youngest was momma’s favorite. I had shared with you just recently why I believe Isaac initiated his desire to pass out the inheritance to his two sons. It looked like he was going to pass on the greatest of his blessings to Esau. Rebekah heard this and influenced Jacob by deceit to get the father’s primary blessing. A statement that came back to burn her was, ‘Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” 13 But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”
Rebekah would see quickly how the deceit that she used to help Jacob would have dire consequences. After Esau had heard of the deceitful action he was so stirred with rage that he planned and swore that he would kill Jacob in the future. Then to counter this Rebekah instructed her son Jacob to flee to Iraq where her brother and kin lived. Jacob would not return for over 20 years as he would wind up serving Rebekah’s brother Laban.
So - Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it (and find out that you really don't want it.)
27 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.” 2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4 And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
The Holy Spirit informs us that Isaac was old.’ Esau and Jacob were born when Isaac was ‘sixty’. So, Isaac is well over a hundred years old. But sadly he has gone blind.
Isaac has noticed that he is reaching the age in which his half brother Ishmael had died. He then started thinking that perhaps he will die pretty soon as he hits the same age as his brother. So, he wants to give out the inheritance to his boys. This comes in the form of a prophesied blessing. However, before he gives out the blessing he wants to enjoy a good steak dinner which his son Esau will provide since he was the hunter in the family.
5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.
Rebekah overheard Isaac’s and Esau’s conversation. As she saw Esau depart to carry out his father’s wishes her mind was racing. She no doubt remembered the promise made at their birth that the elder would serve the younger, and she wanted the blessing for her favorite son.
When we consider her next actions we should also consider that it seems to her that Isaac has no special blessing for his younger son. Both sons deserved to be blessed, but Isaac apparently thought only of Esau, and he certainly ignored what had been said at their birth. Rebekah feels she cannot allow this to happen.
6 So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 7 ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.”
Rebekah’s plan is to replace Esau with Jacob, and she acts accordingly. She recognized the seriousness of the situation. Something sealed before the Lord God would be binding.
The subterfuge cannot be fully justified. Both Rebekah and Jacob should have trusted YHWH to carry out His plans in His own way. But Jacob certainly feels that the firstborn’s portion is his by right and probably felt that that included the blessing. As the blessing included lordship over the brothers he was probably right. He felt that he was about to be cheated. Rebekah also knew and felt the same. Thus they had at least partial justification and felt they were only doing what was right and preventing an injustice. They would both pay a heavy price in the future as a result of Jacob’s departure from her and Isaac.
On the other hand no attention is reflected on Isaac and Esau attempted scheme. Esau certainly knew that he had sold the first-born’s birth right to Jacob, and even if Isaac did not know (which is unlikely) he should not have shown such blatant favoritism. Also our Holy God had appeared to Isaac personally and told him that the older shall serve the younger. He was defying God’s word. He knew that what he was about to do was -making. Everyone comes out of this badly.
11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” 13 But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”
Jacob is wary. And it would be so easy for Isaac to detect the trickery. But his mother assures him that she will stand between him and the curse. Her words suggest that this was looked on as a genuine possibility. But there is in fact only One Who can stand between us and our just deserts for our actions
In defense of Jacob we must remember here that he was used to obeying his mother. While his father was the patriarch the practical authority had long since fallen upon Rebekah because of Isaac’s health. It was she who was urging him in the light of what both thought of as Isaac’s unfairness and dotage.
14 And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
Rebekah had the charade all thought out. The hairy skin, the distinctive smell of the hunter, the tasty food and the certainty that blind Isaac’s condition was such that he would not be too discerning. She carries the deception through to the end with the single-mindedness of a mother devoted to her favorite son, aware that legally her position is correct.
18 So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
Jacob comes, no doubt trembling, to his father, honing the skills of deception that he will use so effectively later on. His father’s reply reflects doubt. This does not sound like Esau. From this point on our Holy Spirit skillfully builds up the tension for us. Will Isaac see through the deception?
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”
The reply sounds right, but there is something Isaac does not like about the situation. You and I both know that when you nervous your voice is not the same. He is deeply suspicious.
20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the LORD your God brought it to me.” 21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
Isaac is uneasy. The speed with which the venison has been found adds to his already growing doubts. And the reply makes him even more uneasy. It is not like Esau to speak with such piety. He would have expected that of Jacob. He knows he must use his hands and feel the speaker so as to ensure who it is.
22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
His son Jacob approaches and he feels his hands. There can be no doubt that they are hairy like Esau’s. He does not dream that his younger son would dare to deceive him. And how would Jacob know what he had asked Esau to do? But the voice, and the words spoken, they speak so much of Jacob. Yet in the end the hairiness decides it. That is decisive.
23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.
The deception has worked. Isaac has been convinced. If we think he should have suspected we must remember he had no reason to suspect. And with his eyes blind and his illness, with his senses dulled, he accepts the evidence of the hairiness which can really not have any other explanation. The enormity of what Jacob has done is so great that Isaac probably would not have believed it was possible. Surely a son would not deceive his own father?
Isaac is now convinced ‘So he blessed him. ‘We might paraphrase ‘that is the main reason why he now enters the blessing process’.
24 Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.”
Isaac now moves into the blessing process. The question is formal. He is not now voicing suspicion but simply asking for the recipient to confirm his title.
The blessing process goes as follows;
1. Confirmation of the recipient
2. Partaking of the requested offering
3. A sealing kiss
4. The blessing
25 He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
Now he calls on him to do the son’s part, bonding the unity between them. We can only imagine Jacob’s apprehension as he carries through the charade wishing it would end, and probably hating what he was doing, but determined to carry it through so that he could have justice, all the while full of trepidation in case Esau arrives.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.” 27 And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed. 28 Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!”
No longer suspicious he receives his son’s kiss. He then smells his son’s clothes, a further act of bonding. The smelling of the clothing is not done in suspicion but as leading into the blessing. He receives of his son that he may bestow blessing on him connected with the receiving.
The blessing is threefold;
. Fruitfulness,
. Power over peoples
. Authority over all his brethren.
We city folk are not use to farming. The heavy morning dew, largely caused by moist air from the sea, was looked on as a great blessing in a relatively dry country. It was especially abundant in the summer when there was no rain, and was beneficial to summer crops and the vine harvest (corn and wine). It is here looked on as an added blessing, given to the specially favored.
The fatness of the earth refers to plentiful grazing so that his herds and flocks will prosper, as well as to good crops. Thus the earth is to give all that is needed for his prosperity abundantly. The addition of the statement ‘And plenty of corn and wine indicates that it is not just food being declared but provision for full enjoyment.
We also see here that Isaac has not forgotten YHWH’s promises which are to be given to Jacob [Remember he thinks he is blessing Esau though]- ‘Let people serve you and nations bow down to you.’ along with what was said in chapter 22 verse 17. ‘Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies’.
He is to have the pre-eminent place in the family - ‘Be lord over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you’. Perhaps he has in mind the words, ‘Kings shall come from you’ that were spoken in chapter 17.6. His son is to be a ‘king’ over his brothers. In other words Isaac is seeking for his son Esau total pre-eminence. Thus Isaac is seeking to restore the damage done by the sale of the birthright by Esau not realizing that he is in fact confirming it.
It is clear that once the blessing is given it cannot be withdrawn. The authority and promised blessing has been passed on and nothing can change it, ‘yes, and he shall be blessed’ (verse 33). So did Jacob ensure that he received the full benefit of the purchased birthright?
30 Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.”
Jacob left just in time before Esau, confident of the benefits he is about to receive, arrives back at the camp and prepares the food for his father. Then he confidently strides into his father’s tent. He is not too concerned about the fact that the blessing may counteract the oath he had made to Jacob. Once the blessing is given it cannot be taken away. So, in a way he also is playing the deceiving game.
32 And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
Picture being the fly on the tent wall and you see Isaac’s reaction - ‘Who are you?’ Isaac’s mind is frozen with shock. He cannot believe what he is hearing. His previous mild suspicions now come back with full force.
Esau, completely unsuspicious makes the reply that he knows his father will expect. He is the firstborn, he is Esau. This gives away the fact that he knows that he is about to receive the firstborn’s blessing, that he knows he is seeking to take something of what he had sold to Jacob. He is conscious that he is about to receive one of the rights of the firstborn, that birthright that he has sold
33 Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.”
Isaac is distraught. He realizes that he has been deceived. Perhaps he is also shocked to realize that his attempted deceitful action to give Esau the ‘First Born’ blessing was identified and dealt with directly by our Holy God’s intervention. Now he is also aware that what has been given cannot be taken back. The seal has been made personally with Jacob, and the blessing has been given.
34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!”
Esau erupts in a mental melt down. All he had hoped for has come to naught. Surely his father can do something to remedy the situation. In all his time of hunting game he was happily thinking of the blessings he would receive. Now all this is swept away like a bad dream. Can he not have a blessing as well?
35 But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.”
What Isaac should have said was, ‘Your brother’s deceit check mated all of our attempts at deceit.’
36 And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
Esau claims to see birthright and blessing as two separate things, but had he thought it through he would have recognized that he was wrong. For as the wording of Isaac’s blessing made abundantly clear, in the firstborn’s case they are really two parts of the one privilege. While it is true that the birthright centered more on property and official position over the family, and the blessing concentrated more on the giving of something personal, in the case of the firstborn both were interconnected.
The blessing was specially directed in the light of the birthright. Had Esau received the blessing and yet yielded to Jacob the birthright both would have been in an impossible position. And Esau would probably have won, because the blessing would have been seen as empowering him in a way the birthright did not. If Esau did not see the implications behind the situation there can be no doubt that Jacob and Rebekah did.
There is therefore poetic justice in the fact that Esau, who was seeking to supplant his brother in spite of his oath, finds himself supplanted. Later he would in fact recognize the justice of it and be reconciled with his brother.
37 Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?”
Isaac too finds himself helpless. Had he not intended such favor to his elder son that he gave him everything there would have been something left? But he had intended to leave nothing for Jacob. So there is nothing left. It demonstrates what had been the single-mindedness of Isaac’s purpose that he thinks this. He knows what he had intended. Jacob was to be left out of the reckoning.
38 And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
In his disappointment and anguish Esau seeks for some crumb of comfort. Is there nothing that his father can give him? We must recognize that it is some official benefit that he seeks. His father could easily give him a general blessing.
39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.
It seems that Isaac is attempting to give to Esau that which he has already blessed Jacob with but he has not. For when you look at his words -‘from the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling, and from the dew of heaven from above.’ ‘From’ here probably means ‘away from’. The fatness of the earth and the dew of heaven is to be given by God to Jacob in the land of Canaan where he presently dwells but Esau will enjoy the same type of blessing located in a different land.
40 By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
In addition Esau’s future will be in warfare and the spoils of war. He will be a raider at the head of warriors. Isaac has granted to Jacob headship over the family. The position is left in no doubt. Esau must still look to Jacob as the family superior. It was a position that he could never change, and tribal custom was so strong that, wild spirit though he was, he did recognize the fact.
The submission would not be permanent and in the end Esau (and later Edom) would for a time be free of Israel’s yoke. Esau does indeed leave home in accordance with the blessing and establishes himself in the mountainous country of Seir. There he gathers a band of warriors (32.6; 33.1), builds up his own tribe, becomes wealthy in possessions (33.9) and is free to do whatever he wants. We do not know at what point he renounced his submission to the family.
You know interestingly enough Esau was, in fact, a free spirit and he would never have been satisfied leading the family tribe and being beholden to the inhabitants of Canaan. He might well, had he been in control, have turned the family tribe of Abraham into a band of brigands. So in fact he found a future which satisfied him and this helps to account for his willingness to forgive Jacob and treat him as a beloved brother (33.4). It also explains why God, Who foresaw the situation from his birth, allowed what He did.
But that is in the future. For the present things begin to look ugly.
41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
As we have seen earlier, Isaac thought he was near death, and it is clear Esau thought likewise. ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand’ means exactly this. (Probably no one thought that Isaac would linger on another twenty years or more. But he did, and by the time he died all the differences had been settled).
Thus Esau decides to wait until then before carrying out his plan to kill Jacob. He does not want to distress his father. But he clearly lets his thoughts be known, for word gets back to Rebekah and she decides to send Jacob to a place of safety.
42 And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, 45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?” 46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
When Rebekah realizes what Esau intends to do she decides to send Jacob to a place of safety. He must flee to her brother in Haran until Esau’s anger has abated. Please notice that she is thinking that Esau’s anger is only going to last a couple of days, not years. ‘A few days’ is wishful thinking. Even in the best of circumstances it would take quite some time. Haran is not just round the corner. But she is trying to make it sound temporary. Now here is something to remember about getting what you wish for. Think of this point. Neither she nor Jacob realize that they will never meet again.
Rebekah also is aware now of the potential danger if Esau acts out his treat - ‘Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?’ If Esau murders Jacob then he too will become liable to death for murder. She still has love in her heart for Esau.
However Isaac must be told a different story. No one wants him upset by what is happening and he must not learn of his elder son’s evil intent. He does not realize the storm that is growing around him. So Rebekah goes back to scheming and takes a different tack with him. She wants the initiative for Jacob’s departure to seem to come from him as we will see him do in chapter 28.
