Genesis 27:5-13
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.”
Jacob said to Rebekah
his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have 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.”
Comments
This is the story of a troubled family. Jacob and Esau were
the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Esau, a hunter and “a man’s man,” was favored
by his father; Jacob, more of “a mama’s boy,” was favored by his mother.
In the patriarchal world of Genesis, wives were expected to
be submissive to their husbands. It was Eve, though, who first ate the
forbidden fruit and then invited Adam to eat it as well. It was Sarah who told
Abraham to have a child with her servant and who later insisted Abraham get rid
of her. It was Rebekah who deceived her husband in order to gain a blessing for
her favorite son.
These are the stories of powerful women, though not exactly examples
to follow. God doesn’t invite us to revel in our flaws, but to see how he can
work in them, through them and around them to achieve his purposes.
Reflections
How far would you go to get what you want? Would you lie,
cheat and steal if you thought you wouldn’t get caught?
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