Title Genesis 25:21-26
Jacob occupies a very special place among the patriarchs of Israel. Because he not only inherited the covenant that God had given to his grandfather Abraham and passed on to his father, Isaac, but also reaffirmed that he was called Israel by God (Genesis 32:28). The fact that "Israel" given his name became the name of the covenant people means that God's covenant was fulfilled in him.
When most people think of Jacob, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the fact that he bought the birthright for a bowl of red bean soup from his brother Esau, and that he and his mother Rebekah and Isaac deceived his father, who was blind in old age, to steal the blessing he would give to the firstborn. is. What is the birthright? According to the thinking of the time, the first born had special meaning not only for humans but also for animals and crops. The position of the firstborn was so special that God said, “You will give me your firstborn sons” (Exodus 22:29). The eldest son automatically became the head of the family, along with the responsibility to continue the family, and enjoyed the privilege of receiving twice as much money as others when inheriting the inheritance (Deuteronomy 2:15-17). Although Jacob was a younger brother, he was very interested in the cause and rights of this firstborn.
The story of Jacob's purchase of the birthright for a bowl of red bean soup from his brother Esau is found in Genesis 25:29-34, just after today's text. One day Esau, returning from a hunt, came back very tired and hungry, and saw that Jacob was making porridge, and asked Jacob to eat some of the porridge. Then Jacob said, "Sell your brother's birthright" instead, as if waiting. When Esau heard this, he said, "I am dying of hunger, so what good is the birthright to me?" He swore to Jacob and gave him the birthright. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil soup to eat.
In Genesis 27, we see Jacob's marriage with his mother Rebekah, and deceiving his father, Isaac, who was blind due to his age, and seized the blessing from his firstborn son. Isaac, who was fond of the meat Esau had hunted (Genesis 25:28), called Esau one day and told him that he would give Esau a last meal and bless him as much as he could before he died. But Rebekah overheard this, and while Esau went out to the field to hunt, he took Esau's fine garments and put them on his younger son Jacob, and his father Isaac tried to stroke Jacob with his hand to make sure he was the firstborn. In this case, he covered Jacob's smooth skinned Jacob with the smooth skin of his hands and neck so that he could be mistaken for Esau's hair. . In this way, Isaac was deceived and blessed Jacob, and Jacob stole the blessing of the firstborn that would go to his brother Esau.
However, today's text tells us that it was according to God's will and predestination that Jacob took the birthright and the blessing despite Jacob's cruelty and cunning deceit. Turn our eyes to today's text.
But the important thing is what God said when Rebekah became so worried about her sons fighting with each other in her womb and asked God what to do. Look at verse 23: "And the LORD said to him, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be divided from within you, and one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." Here we need to pay attention to God's words, "The older shall serve the younger." Regardless of the fight in his mother's womb, Esau's frivolity, or Jacob's cunning, it is a fact that Jacob has already been appointed by God from the time of his mother's womb.
From this fact, we can draw two important lessons. The first is that no matter how much people fight and fight, everything will happen as God has ordained. Even though Esau defeated Jacob by force after a fierce battle and was born first and became the firstborn, the result is the fact that Jacob obtained the birthright and the blessing as God had ordained.
Second, even if a person is chosen according to the will of God, not all of his actions are justified. In other words, in the end, even if what Jacob wanted to achieve by mobilizing his cruelty, cunning, and viciousness was accomplished in the same direction as God intended and ordained, his mean behavior deserves reproach and must be paid the price. . We must see the fact that God made Jacob come to realize this stark fact by experiencing it desperately throughout his life. Growing up like grass in a greenhouse, lovingly loved by his mother Rebekah, Jacob lived a life of trouble from the moment he stole his firstborn blessing with cunning and deceit. Later, when Jacob went down to Egypt, where his son Joseph was prime minister, and stood before Pharaoh, when Pharaoh asked how old Jacob was, Jacob replied, "The days of my sojourn are a hundred and thirty years. We fell short of the age of our ancestors' sojourners, but they lived a short and difficult time” (Genesis 47:9). Jacob had to live a life that he would recall as having had “a rough year” for himself.