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?
If anybody did see a problem, there would be a long time before the problem became too big to handle. There was another issue about to take place. Esau and Jacob probably saw it first-hand.
2 Jacob’s trick (against Esau)
Text, Genesis 25:29-34, KJV: 29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 30 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. 31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
The Bible does not hide the bad or the good of any person. This was also the case with Jacob: even though he was son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham (and saw Abraham; Jacob was 15 when his grandfather died), he began his career with a “trick” or deceit (swindle, some might call it) of his own twin brother. Moses relates the story briefly but clearly in the text above.
Jacob, wrote Moses, “sod pottage”, which was apparently a kind of vegetable that created a reddish tint or tinge to the product. Several translations render this as “Jacob cooked a stew” or variations on that theme. I used to think Jacob had thrown some tomatoes into the pot, giving the “pottage” that reddish tint. Jacob may have prepared a batch of vegetable soup!
Whatever it was, Esau decided he wanted some of Jacob’s stew! Esau seems to have been exhausted (“faint”, verse 29, KJV) from what may have been an unsuccessful hunt and he’s trudging back to the home site. Seeing, and probably smelling, Jacob’s supper, he made a polite request: “May I have some of that red stuff there? I’m hungry and exhausted (paraphrased)”. Interestingly, notice that because of this, Esau acquired another name, “Edom”, which means “red” and Esau’s descendants would long be known as Edomites. But that’s another story for another day. Here we have Esau at probably his weakest moment, physically, and now he faces his own brother who must have been waiting for this precise moment.
So, when Jacob heard Esau’s request (plea?) for some food, Jacob hit Esau where it hurt. Jacob could have said, “Sure, you’re my brother, so here you go”, or “Bad luck on the hunt, huh? Here’s some stew for you till you get home”, or even “Some of this can be yours if the price. . .” but no, Jacob lived up to his name (the cheater) by demanding Esau’s birthright! (Note: The concept of birthright is not easy to explain briefly. Various Bible study helps would be very helpful in defining and giving examples of birthrights—it’s beyond the scope of these notes.)
Esau now appears to let his hunger overrule his brains and, would you believe it, he gave in to Jacob’s demand! Jacob had not only demanded the birthright from Esau, he demanded Esau sell him the birthright! Esau must not have been thinking clearly because he said, “Well, I’m about to die (Hint: he was still alive over 20 years later!) so what good would the birthright do me if I’m not there to enjoy it (paraphrased)”?
But even that wasn’t enough for Jacob. He insisted, if not demanded, Esau “swear to (Jacob)” and, incredibly, Esau did it! He sold the birthright to Jacob for some bread and “pottage of lentils”—maybe, vegetable soup?—and sure enough, Esau ate and drank, then “rose up (maybe he was sitting down to eat)” and “went his way”, probably back to his tent but we’re never told.
Moses closed this chapter with some very sad words: “thus Esau despised his birthright.”
Conclusion: Esau and Jacob had lived for the last 15 years of Abraham’s life and had plenty of opportunity to learn from him. Once Abraham died, or perhaps even before, these twin brothers grew up together but also grew apart. Isaac and Rebekah played favorites and each son must have learned how to please the one parent and tolerate the other.
The worst thing that happened here is that Jacob began to “gouge” or drive a sharp/hard bargain with others. He got Esau to sell him the birthright—Jacob had no right to do this—and this seems to begin the final split between these brothers. Of course, we can look back and see what happened; they of course had no idea, but we have the story.
So, after this, when for Jacob it all began, what was going to happen next?
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
