I/W: 2024 General
Introduction
This post looks at the continuation of the blessing to Jacob (Israel) that God declared to Abraham’s offspring. It looks at why God continued it with Jacob and not Esau, the nature of the blessing, what role Isaac’s blessing played in it all, the difference between the blessing and the birthright, God’s choice of non-interference in the family drama, and other surrounding components.
Jacob at a later time takes on the name Israel (Ge 32:28).
Esau and Jacob’s birth, Isaac’s blessing, and God’s blessing to Jacob are documented in Genesis chapters 25 to 28.
Esau and Jacob’s Relation
The text says Esau and Jacob were twins (Ge 25:23-24). They would have been fraternal twins. Meaning, one egg fertilized by one sperm, and a different egg fertilized by a different sperm. Both conceived in the womb at the same time and born at the same time. The text says one was hairy and the other smooth (Ge 27:11) which isn’t a trait of identical twins. Esau comes out of the womb first to make him older by what appears as a very short time as they come out of the womb interlinked with Jacob holding Esau’s ankle (Ge 25:26).
The Birthright and the Blessing
The birthright is what Esau sells to his brother Jacob for a bowl of stew. The blessing is what God gave to Abraham to his descendants. The family appears to view these as separate which I’ll explain in this section.
It’s not entirely clear what the birthright is. It can be said it means virtually nothing to Esau as he sells it to Jacob for a bowl of stew (Ge 25:29-34). It could have to do with Esau being the firstborn but the text doesn’t say anything about this so it’s unclear. It could also be possible they each have their own birthright and Jacob has two after Esau’s is sold to him.
The birthright and blessing come across as separate for various reasons. Esau refers to them separately (Ge 27:36). He says “He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Additionally, Esau and Jacob view the birthright as something Esau fully has the ability to sell. In contrast, they view the blessing as something Isaac has the full authority to give and they don’t have authority to give.
The Blessing Backstory
While it’s not clear exactly what the birthright is, there’s quite a lot more available about the blessing. It’s what God declared to Abraham. At its simplest level, it’s about their offspring being a blessing to the earth. More than that surrounds it too. I wrote a much longer post that goes all over it, and in certain respects, this post works in tandem with that one. It can be read here:
God, Abraham, and Sarah’s Child Isaac, Israel, and God’s Plan of What’s to Come
After the blessing is declared to Abraham’s descendants and he’s passed away, God gets in touch with his son Isaac to express the continuation and building of the blessing through him (Ge 25:11, 26:1-5, 23-24). Isaac has two sons, and there’s a fogginess with the blessing in terms of its continuation and building.
Who Gives the Blessing
God gets in contact with Abraham and declares the blessing on him, so it’s clear that God gives the blessing. While there’s more to it than that. The people receiving the blessing play a part too. In this instance, it’s Abraham and Sarah who warrant the blessing, so God passes it to their son Isaac by aiding in his conception. God chooses who gets the blessing but the people who receive it play a part because they have to warrant it.
Fast forward to the narrative at hand, Isaac takes it upon himself to be the one who decides who warrants and receives the blessing. When you go back to Abraham, you see he wanted to give the blessing to Ishmael because Sarah couldn’t have children, but God tells him Sarah will have a son and it will go through him, Isaac (Ge 17:18-19). To the point, God decides who receives this blessing and not the parent. Isaac has a misunderstanding.
It’s clear Isaac believes it’s up to him to give God’s blessing because he parrots to Jacob, thinking he’s Esau, what God said to Abraham: “Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” (Ge 27:28-29). God said to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse” (Ge 12:3).
Isaac also appears to have a bleak understanding of the blessing in several of the things he says, such as “nations bow down to you,” “Be lord over your brothers” and “may your mother’s sons bow down to you.” This isn’t the heart and essence of what the blessing is supposed to be but ideas like this dominate the blessing he gives.
Additionally, there isn’t ever a point where God says the blessing is supposed to go to one child’s descendants and not the other. The closest thing would be God’s prophecy while they’re in Rebekah’s womb, but would be interpretative. “And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”” (Ge 25:23). The younger is Jacob, so off the bat, Isaac is wrongly interpreting this prophecy, showcased in the things he says intended for Esau.
Reading the story, it’s clear this misunderstanding doesn’t lie with Isaac alone but with the entire family. Rebekah and Jacob work in cahoots to trick Isaac into thinking Jacob is Esau to give him the blessing, an idea appearing to build long before this time, troubled by Esau’s conduct (Ge 25:29-34, 26:34-35, 27:46). Their efforts and success are documented in Genesis chapter 27. All the drama surrounding Isaac’s blessing makes you believe it’s really important. But ultimately, it means little to nothing. Isaac can give what he has control over but can’t give what God has control over.
Later, God speaks to Jacob and declares he will continue the blessing through him. More specifically, he says he will give the land to his descendants, and his descendants will bless all the earth (Ge 28:12-16), a continuation of what he declared to Abraham. In this encounter, it becomes clear God wants the blessing he started with Abraham to continue and build through Jacob’s descendants.
The question arises, why would God wait to reveal this after Esau gives the blessing? The answer is in the next section.
Why God Didn’t Interfere and the Great Irony of it All
God speaks to Rebekah about her having twins in her womb and gives a prophecy about them, but then goes silent. Isaac decides that God’s blessing is his to give. Why didn’t God just give some kind of direction?
In God’s inaction, the desired result came about. That is, the circumstances of them all thinking the blessing was Isaac’s to give, led Jacob to be sent to Rebekah’s house in Paddan-aram, where he would marry within the house of Terah to continue God’s orchestration. This was as a result of Esau’s anger of not getting the blessing (Ge 27:41-46). Because the circumstances led to the result God wanted, there wasn’t a point of interfering. I go over the significance of the house of Terah and DNA in the post I linked above. If you look at the family tree below, you’ll see the prevalence of the house of Terah in God’s choosing of Israel. Further illustrated in God’s tribal land allotment he tells to Ezekiel, explained in that above linked post too. The bold line in the family tree signifies the person is both descended from Terah and is part of the chosen line.
Before Isaac was born, God knew the blessing would go with Israel. When telling Abraham of his heir who will receive the land, he prophecies their enslavement which happens later on (Ge 15:13-14, Ex 6:5-6).
A great irony rests in the whole story, that even though Isaac made a mistake, he still identified the correct son. Beyond this, the action of making mistakes can lead people on the right path, such as in Jacob’s leaving to Paddan-aram.
Part of the point of God choosing the lineage is for them to make the right decisions to uphold the blessing and competently carry themselves. Selection and inheritance are one thing but upholding them is another. It’s a collaboration. In the end, God’s inaction showcased their ability to come through on their own. Abraham made the decision to seek a wife for Isaac from his house (Ge 24:2-4), and Isaac did the same for Jacob (Ge 28:1-2) which partly seems inspired by Rebekah’s displeasure of Esau’s wife (Ge 27:46, 28:1-4). Neighboring people to Isaac’s family conducted themselves in a manner not aligned with theirs, which God prefers. This is something Isaac and Rebekah identified on their own accord. The trait of this discretion was passed down from Abraham (and Terah) which displays God’s sound judgment of choosing someone who can make the right decisions on their own. So God just let it ride to have things naturally land in place.
Why God Gave the Blessing to Jacob and Not Esau
God aids in Isaac’s conception which makes him his son too. He later refers to Israel as his firstborn son (Ex 4:22). But if Isaac is born of his spirit making him derive from him, then so would Esau like Israel. But Esau splinters off and is discluded from the chosen people. This section goes over why this happened and the above linked post goes over the surrounding factors more too. Technically, God doesn’t specify if the lineage from Esau is his son. When God refers to Israel as his son, it’s in the context of God telling Moses to tell the Pharaoh to let Israel go free. It wouldn’t have made sense for him to reference Esau or Isaac in this context. So in regard to if he views Esau’s descendants as his son too remains inconclusive. In terms of God keeping the blessing with Jacob (Israel) and not Esau, there is enough information to understand why this happened.
When you look at the family tree picture above you see Esau married women outside of the house of Terah or deviated from it. This is one reason. Additionally, he had problematic traits. He was apathetic that he sold his birthright for a bowl of red stew. Based on this, it’s possible he wouldn’t take the blessing seriously as well. The text says he took Hittite wives “and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.” (Ge 26:34-35). The discretion of marrying from his “country” and “kindred” and avoiding a specific other is something Abraham had (Ge 24:2-4), which Esau didn’t do, and it became an issue for his parents. The text goes on to say Rebekah loathed her life “because of the Hittite women” (Ge 27:46). The text also says “Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him” and that he was planning to kill him (Ge 27:41). It’ll be hard to be a blessing to people, a trait of the chosen people, if you want to kill people who receive a blessing. Looking at these things and contrasting his behaviors with the likes of Abraham and Sarah, who God initially chose (also gone over in the above linked post), you get a clear enough picture of why Esau didn’t receive the blessing from God. His traits were not in alignment with those God prefers.
In terms of Jacob, he married within the house of Terah. He did this at his father’s orders (Ge 28:1-4). He took birthright seriously, in contrast to Esau. Instead of plotting to kill Esau in a defensive measure, he fled at his parent’s direction to allow Esau to cool off. Eventually, they were on good terms again showcased in Genesis chapter 33.
In a hypothetical, if Esau were in alignment, I think he would have been included as he’s Isaac’s son who’s born in part from God’s spirit. The result would have been the Isaacites instead of the Israelites. Because he is born from Isaac isn’t enough though and the blessing has to be warranted. In this case of his falling out, the desired result can still be achieved. Such as, if half of something is lost then the other half still remains, and the whole in this case isn’t required to reach the intended result. Regardless, not to their knowing, God knew the blessing would stay with Israel even before Isaac was born (Ge 15:13-14).
Related Posts
God’s Blessing Through Israel Proven True: A People and Ideology of Great Positive Impact
God’s Status With the House of Israel and the Temple
The Days of Creation in Genesis Are Phases and Light
Genesis 1:26 Is Proof Revelations in the Torah/Genesis Are From a Higher Power