Relationships that include deception, betrayal, hate, envy, jealousy, and arrogance do not fare well and can lead to avenging thoughts of getting even.  In fact, all unhealthy relationships consistently “keep score” of wrong doings and the stuff accumulated by deceptive means.  The score card of sins between people is hard to overcome unless God steps in to bring an end to the foolishness with His Love, teaching His character traits that are opposite of all the traits of the Enemy. 

Relationships between humans are not perfect.  The sin of selfishness, wanting to have our own way in all things, gets in the way. It is in our nature to grab all we can and possess it for as long as we are can—no matter who it hurts or hinders.  Just watch toddlers at play for a demonstration!

We are born with this generational sin in our DNA. It is in our “nature” which drives our first thought and first response.  This “born into sin” nature began with Adam and Eve, the first humans created “in the image and likeness of God” by God, the Creator of all.  Sin entered into them when they fell for the deception of the Enemy of God. Sin became a part of them when they disobeyed God.  The enemy manipulated their thinking about who God is and convinced them that what God says wasn’t true.  The Enemy still uses the same tricks to deceive us today.  His goal is death.  His scheme is to distract and deceive us so that our relationship with God and others are destroyed.   

From birth, this condition is displayed in Jacob, whose very name means “he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.”  From the womb, Jacob, the twin of Esau, was determined to be the “blessed one” who would lord over his brothers.  It didn’t help that his mom showed him favor and helped him accomplish his goal through deception.  God is sovereign. God knows our hearts. God knows.

We must keep in mind that this is the story of God working through the imperfect relationships of His imperfect people to demonstrate His unchanging, relentless, loving relationship that does not change, does not take advantage, does not deceive or manipulate.  God is Love who compassionately loved the world so much He sent His Son to save us.  So, observe how God works through all these tedious, challenging relationships to achieve His goal of salvation for His Chosen people.  Our God is amazing!

Genesis 27

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”

“Here I am,” he answered.

² Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. ³ Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. ⁴ Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”

⁵ 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, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘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.’ ⁸ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. ¹² 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.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”

¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. ¹⁷ Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

¹⁸ He went to his father and said, “My father.”

“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

²⁰ Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”

“The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. ²⁴ “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.

“I am,” he replied.

²⁵ Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

²⁷ So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,

“Ah, the smell of my son
    is like the smell of a field
    that the Lord has blessed.
²⁸ May God give you heaven’s dew
    and earth’s richness—
    an abundance of grain and new wine.
²⁹ May nations serve you
    and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
    and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
    and those who bless you be blessed.”

³⁰ After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

³² His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”

“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

³³ Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

³⁴ When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”

³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,

“Your dwelling will be
    away from the earth’s richness,
    away from the dew of heaven above.
⁴⁰ You will live by the sword
    and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
    you will throw his yoke
    from off your neck.”

⁴¹ Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. ⁴³ Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Deception and betrayal are not the makings of a healthy relationship.  Manipulation of emotions and taking advantage of the weak is not of God either.  Rebekah manipulated and Jacob deceived.  Now, Jacob must run away and hide from his father and his brother for fear of retribution.  Relationship severed and lost until God is heard and obeyed.  This certainly isn’t the end of the story, there is so much more. 

We learn is that we humans will go to ridiculous measures to get what we want and think we deserve. We even use “righteous reasoning” when we go ahead of God, thinking we need to help God out. Interesting to note—Isaac was about to disobey God’s command. Before the boys were born, God had told Rebekah that Jacob, the younger son, was to receive the covenant blessing (Genesis 25:19–23); yet Isaac planned to give the blessing to Esau.

Knowing that Jacob was chosen to receive the covenant blessing, Rebekah immediately took matters into her own hands to make sure her favorite son got what the Lord had promised him. Had she and Jacob talked with Isaac while Esau was out hunting, perhaps he would have seen the light and agreed with them. Instead, however, Rebekah chose to control Jacob and deceive her husband.  Isaac’s philosophy was “if it feels good, it is good,” but Rebekah’s philosophy was “the end justifies the means.” She couldn’t trust God to fulfill His plan; she had to “help” God out because it was for a good cause. But there’s no place for deception in the life of the believer, for Satan is the deceiver (2 Corinthians 11:3), but Jesus Christ is the truth (John 14:6). “Blessed is the man . . . in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psalm 32:2).

How do we avoid this flaw in our sin nature?  Run to God, ask what He wants, really believe what He says, repent, then trust and obey Him!  When we choose to hurt others, God disciplines. God seeks, through his discipline, to save his children from eternal harm. God rescues us and helps get us back on track.  Listen to Him!  Sometimes we head our own way and God disciplines us by allowing us to face the consequences of our actions. We need to look to him for help to find our way back to where he wants us.  This will occur in the life of Jacob and Esau.

Rebekah’s fear, “Why should I lose both of you in one day?” It turned out that Jacob was gone twenty years, and she never saw him again on earth.

Instead of ruling, Esau would live by his sword. The Edomites who descended from Esau (Edom) built their nation at Mount Seir (Genesis 36:5–8) at the southern end of the Dead Sea, and were constant enemies of the Israelites.

Trust and obey for there’s no other way to healthy relationships with God and each other.

Lord,

Thank you for your story as it unfolds through the lives of your people.  May we lean into the love you have for us, the goodness your provide, and the rescue you sent to save us!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  There is no need for deception and manipulation.

In Jesus Name, Amen