Summer
Sermon Series: Wrestling with Jacob
Genesis
27:1-45
This morning we continue our summer
sermon series, “Wrestling with Jacob.”
Last week I introduced the series by introducing Jacob and his
family. Before his birth, Jacob’s mother
Rebekah received an oracle from the Lord.
At that time God told her “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples
born of you shall be divided: the one shall be stronger than the other, and the
elder shall serve the younger.” As they
grew the differences between Jacob and his brother were made clear. So too, was parental preference, as the
author tells us Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Last week we saw the beginning of
lasting division as Jacob convinced Esau to trade his birthright, the right to
the greater share of inheritance, for a bowl of lentil stew. We were left to wonder if God’s blessings
could really come from such trickery.
Today we find that in fact does appear to be the truth. In the story of Jacob, the blessings of God
are often the result of deception and bad behavior.
The story for this morning is one of
the most wonderfully written and dramatic texts in our scripture, so I am going
to read it in sections throughout the sermon instead of all at once. This gives us a chance to look at each part
of the drama separately. The author
begins by setting the scene:
(Read Genesis 27:1-4)
Isaac senses that he is nearing the
end of his life and so he asks his beloved child Esau to prepare for the
blessing ritual. In the culture, the
blessing ritual is an important part of passing on the family line. It is a combination of both spoken word and
promise of the father, as well as a theologically significant holy event. It is a spoken word that is also binding with
holy power as an act of God. It is
something both in Isaac’s control as a father and out of his control as
well. Esau is the eldest, he is the
chosen son, and he is Isaac’s favorite child.
The blessing of the father rightfully belongs to him. The meal is part of the ritual of the
blessing and so Isaac sends Esau out to prepare the meal.
(Read Genesis 27:5-17)
Now the deception begins. Rebekah overhears Isaac and Esau planning the
blessing ceremony and she decides to take action. The author does not tell us what her
motivation is. Perhaps she is just
trying to provide a path forward for her favorite son. The mother has no blessing to give, so this
would be her only way to offer something like that to him. Or, in what I imagine to be the case, perhaps
she is attempting to fulfill the words of God’s oracle herself. If Jacob receives the blessing instead of
Esau, then that certainly is a way to insure that “the elder shall serve the
younger.”
No matter her motivation, Rebekah
takes action. She calls Jacob to her and
explains the plan. She will prepare a
savory meal, and Jacob will take the meal in and receive the blessing instead
of Esau. Jacob immediately senses a flaw
in the plan; even though Isaac can’t see, he will certainly attempt to touch
Esau during the blessing ritual and Jacob will be given away. Jacob fears he will receive a curse instead
of a blessing, but Rebekah declares her willingness to take the curse instead. No matter what might happen, she is
determined to secure this blessing for her beloved son.
The two devise a plan to cover Jacob
with the skins of the baby goats so he will feel hairy like Esau and smell of
the field. They dress Jacob in Esau’s
clothing so the costume will be complete.
While the real Esau is out hunting fresh game for his father, Rebekah
and Jacob move forward with their planned deception.
(Read Genesis 27:18-29)
Jacob goes into his father’s room and
the deception begins. Isaac right away
seems suspicious, asking over and over again which son it is that stands before
him. Over and over again, Jacob lies
claiming to be his brother Esau. Isaac
tests the man, feeling him and smelling him.
As he says “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of
Esau.” Even after the blessing ritual
begins he asks “Are you really my son Esau?” and again Jacob lies “I am”.
After the meal is consumed Isaac pulls
his son toward him for a kiss. He smells
and feels the garments of Esau and so he offers his blessing. With holy and binding power, he confers the
blessing of the first born son, the blessing that belongs to Esau, onto his son
Jacob. The language of the fertile earth
implies both a material blessing and a large family. Jacob is given the blessing of leadership; he
will be lord over his brothers. He is
given the blessing of divine favor “cursed be those who curse you, and blessed
be those who bless you.” The deception
is complete, the blessing has been stolen, and Jacob departs.
(Read Genesis 27:30-40)
This is truly a heartbreaking
scene. Esau comes back from the field
and prepares the ritual meal for his father.
As he presents himself and his meal for the blessing Isaac is immediately
aware that something terrible has happened.
He asks which son this is, and upon recognizing Esau’s voice Isaac is so
angry that he begins to shake. He
explains in his exasperation that he has already given the blessing, and Esau
is crushed.
He cries out for his own blessing but
they both know it is too late. The
blessing is a holy power, and it is an act of God. It cannot be changed, it cannot be altered,
and it certainly cannot be taken back.
Esau is very angry. Of course
Jacob, his heel and jerk of a brother, has done this to him. He stole the birthright and now he has stolen
the blessing.
Esau was supposed to be the chosen
one, he was supposed to be the father of the nations, and now he is
nothing. Both Esau and Isaac are heart
broken. They mourn the loss of the
future they had dreamed together, this is not the way things were supposed to
be. In grief Esau cries out “Have you
only one blessing father? Bless me, me
also, father!”
Any parent who has wanted to “make it
right” for their child, can relate to Isaac’s frustration and pain, as well as
his helplessness. He knows that the
power of blessing is already gone, but he still manages to make a small
offering to Esau. He will not be rich and
will be forced to live on the fringes of the land. He will survive by the power of the sword,
and he will be forced to serve Jacob.
But, at some point, at some time, the yoke of servitude to Jacob will be
broken and Esau will be free. This is
his only hope for the future.
(Read Genesis 27:41-45)
Esau is understandably upset and so he
consoles himself with visions of violence. After Isaac dies Esau will kill
Jacob. That way he will be free from his
meddlesome brother. The blessing is
forever lost, but with Jacob out of the way, Esau might have access to the
inheritance that was rightfully his.
Once again Rebekah intervenes. She cannot bear to lose her beloved son Jacob,
and so she sends him away to live with her brother Laban. The one who received the blessing of power
and promise, is now a fugitive.
Well, this certainly isn’t a happy
story for Father’s Day. When we read a
text like this we can only marvel at how dysfunctional this family is. Who are these people we ask? Who would do this to their own family? And yet we can all think of examples of
dysfunction like this in our own time and place.
The question from last week still
lingers in the air . . . “where is God?”
The only mention of God in the text is in the actual blessing
itself. And it does appear that God will
bless Jacob, even if the blessing was stolen.
That is what is so interesting about this story. The writer has deliberately swayed our
hearts. We are drawn to the characters
of Isaac and Esau. We admire their
honesty and the love they share together.
We are moved by their heartache and shared grief at their betrayal.
By contrast, we are repelled by the
characters of Rebekah and Jacob. They
seem heartless and cruel. They
deliberately hurt and trick their own family members for what appears to be
personal gain. And yet, Rebekah feels
that she is bringing about the will of God, even the kingdom of God. This act will fulfill the words of the
oracle, “the elder shall serve the younger.”
We will find that as we move through
the Jacob cycle this summer, that this is the persistent rub of the story. God does bless Jacob, God will bless Jacob,
and Jacob never, ever seems deserving of that blessing. The point of the writer of Genesis is that
God chooses the one whom God will choose, whether we like that guy or not. When we look at the story thus far, we could
argue that all this has come about because of the oracle that Rebekah received. It appears that God has evoked this conflict
and this conflict has caused pain to all involved. But God just goes right ahead with it,
because God has bigger plans. In the
book of Genesis, the ways of God will not be explained. And as readers we are left to wrestle with
the character of Jacob.
Join us next week, as the story of this
blessed fugitive continues . . .
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