Genesis 27: When a Bowl of Soup Costs You Everything

Journey through the Book of Genesis with me.  The plan is simple. Read ONE chapter a day. Blog or journal 5* things you learned that you previously didn't know and ask 5* questions about the chapter that you'll ponder all week. Let's go!

** You'll probably learn way more than 5 things and have more than 5 questions about each chapter. That's totally fine. The more the merrier! 

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GENESIS 27:1-46

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1: Did Rebekah ever convey to Isaac what God spoke to her about Esau someday serving Jacob? (Genesis 25:23). 

QUESTION 2: Is Isaac's old age and dimming eyes mentioned in verse 1 an indicator that his spiritual antenna was not tuned in to God so that he could not see that the Abrahamic promise was for his younger son and not the older?

QUESTION 3: Why is it not more explicitly clear to Isaac that Jacob was the one to inherit the blessing? Or perhaps it WAS clear and Jacob was simply blinded by his personal preference for his more masculine son (who made great goat and lentil soup!)?

QUESTION 4: How in the world did Jacob think he could get away with this? How did he justify in his mind that this was at all okay to do? (Evidence that he was desperate for dad's approval and would go to any lengths to secure it?)

QUESTION 5: Why could Isaac not simply have pronounced a new blessing on Esau? Why go to an extreme of almost cursing him? Verse 39-40, “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

WHAT I LEARNED

INSIGHT 1: Dysfunction really runs in this family!

• Sarah asks Abraham to "bed" her servant Hagar, then blames him for treating her (Sarah) unjustly.
• Isaac plays favorites with his kids, potentially creating a conflict between Esau and Jacob.
• Rebekah manipulates Jacob to secure a blessing intended for her older son, Esau.
• Isaac tricks Esau into selling him his birthright.
• Esau comforts himself by plotting his brother's murder.
• Later on, Jacob's wives (Rachel and Leah) will compete in child birthing WWF to win Jacob's affection, not to mention Laban's dubious actions in the following chapter!

If God could use this household to bless the nations (sending Christ), then there hope for our broken families! 

INSIGHT 2: Though Rebekah is the originator of this deception (v.5-13), Jacob is still culpable because he went along with it. 

INSIGHT 3: Jacob may have rationalized in his mind that since Esau already sold him his birthright and  "despised" it (Genesis 25:29-34), he was in the right to falsely take it away from him.

INSIGHT 4: Rebekah, as shrewd as ever, uses the "Hittite women" as an excuse to send Jacob far away from his older brother Esau, who comforted himself with plans of killing Jacob. 

INSIGHT 5: In hindsight, (and in spite of his deceptive actions), it would seem that Jacob was ALWAYS the chosen one to receive the Abrahamic promise. But perhaps due to Isaac's old age and dimming eyes (a sign of inner spiritual blindness?), he couldn't discern God's leading?

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