Throughout history men (and women) have often sought to bring the will of God to pass through their own efforts, probably, believing they were submitting themselves, as instruments of God’s will. This would be especially true, if the will of God was to the liking of his servant. This latter idea is proved so in the matter of Jonah, the prophet. He didn’t want to do what the Lord wanted done, so he sought to avoid serving him in that capacity,[1] but God is Almighty, and his gifts (blessings) and calling are without repentance (Romans 11:29). In other words, God will do as he pleases in the world of men, with or without man’s cooperation.
For example, God promised to bless Abram and make him a nation. When Sarai remained barren, Abram or Sarai had the idea that Hagar could produce children for Abram, but Ishmael, Abram’s son by Hagar, was rejected, and the Lord gave Sarah the ability to conceive. In our present context, the Lord told Rebekah that Esau would serve Jacob, the younger of the twins (Genesis 25:23), but Rebekah was concerned over Isaac’s preference for Esau (Genesis 25:28). Therefore, she conspired to help the Lord fulfill his will… her way!
When it came time for Isaac to pass on the blessing of God to one of his sons, he called for Esau and told him he would bless him after he had gone out into the field and slain a deer with his bow and prepared a meal for his father (Genesis 27:1-4). Probably suspecting the momentous occasion, Rebekah listened in on Isaac’s conversation with their son, Esau. No doubt she and Isaac had already discussed the matter of transferring the blessing before, and, probably, each knew the other’s preferences (Genesis 27:5).
So, Rebekah called Jacob and told him of what Isaac had told his brother, Esau, to do, and of Isaac’s plan to bless him afterward (Genesis 27:6-7). No doubt Rebekah had confided in Jacob what the Lord had told her, while Jacob and his brother were yet in her womb (Genesis 25:23, cp. 25:28). Therefore, Rebekah told Jacob to take two young goats among the flocks, slay them and bring them to her. She would prepare them in a manner that Isaac loves, and Jacob would bring the meat to him, disguised as his brother, Esau, and Isaac would bless Jacob, instead of Esau (Genesis 27:8-10).
Nevertheless, Jacob wasn’t happy with his mother’s plan and pointed out several flaws in what she wanted him to do. He told her that not only would her plan fail, but Isaac would curse Jacob for trying to deceive him (Genesis 27:11-12). Yet, Rebekah was persistent in carrying out her conspiracy against Isaac’s desire to bless Esau, saying, if the plan failed and Isaac cursed Jacob, let the curse be upon her (Genesis 27:13). In the end, Jacob submitted to his mother’s demands, and she prepared the meat to satisfy the longing of Isaac’s taste (Genesis 27:14).
Was God’s hand in the matter of Isaac’s deception? Probably not, but the Lord deals with men in choices they make. Free will is the gift the Lord has given men, and, as a rule of thumb, the Lord won’t violate man’s liberty of choice. Without approving of the methods men use, he causes his will to be done, however imperfect the choices men make in their efforts to please the Lord. After all, it seems clear that Rebekah did what she did in order to ensure the word of the Lord would be fulfilled. Nevertheless, in doing what she did, she revealed that her faith was flawed. God is almighty, and he is able to do as he desires without our help.
According to the scholars, it seems as though Esau assisted Isaac as priest of the family, and Rebekah retained his priestly clothes in her tent, vis-à-vis the goodly raiment in the text (Genesis 27:15). In other words, she kept them, rather than have them profaned in the tent of Esau’s idolatrous wives. Moreover, she put the skins of goats upon Jacob’s hands and neck in an effort to imitate the hairy Esau, and gave Jacob the meal she prepared for Isaac (Genesis 27:16-17).
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[1] Jeremiah is another example. He refused to preach, but the words of God were so compelling within him, that he simply had to preach the word of God, in order to have release from the tension his words created in his heart (Jeremiah 20:7-9).
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