What went wrong, and who’s to blame? Many Christian preachers have offered sermons on Genesis 27 to underscore the problems of a dysfunctional family. Without meaning to call their perception into question, I’d like to propose that the dysfunctional family didn’t originate with Isaac. If I’ve understood Genesis 11:27-32 properly, Terah, Abraham’s father took his eldest son and slew him as a sacrifice to his god (cp. Joshua 24:2). Then he gave his son’s daughter to his second son, Nahorm for his wife, and his own daughter by another wife to Abram to be his wife (Genesis 11:29; cp. 20:11-12). This was certainly not the model family by any stretch of a Christian imagination (whatever that may be).
What is the model family? Whose family, in scripture, exemplifies the model family for us today, who seeks to obey the word of God? The problem is, there are none. Certainly, some folks succeed in living each day of their lives loving one’s soulmate until death, treasuring each moment of their marriage, and the same could be said for some parental/child relationships and for sibling relationships. Nevertheless, for the most part, at least in as much as I am able to discern, folks struggle in relationships, sometimes getting it right, but often offending one another and getting it wrong. To blame Isaac and/or Rebekah for the problems in their family is like a policeman trying to ticket a man for going through a stop sign, which wasn’t there, until two weeks after he went through the intersection. The Law of Moses didn’t exist during the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So, how are we able to call them sinners in a Christian context? If the definition of sin is “missing the mark” (or target), what was the target during the age of the patriarchs?
It seems to me that, in those days, folks simply sought to live by their own integrity, or what they valued as their worldview. Hence, Terah sacrificed his son, Haran, because in his worldview, that was the greatest offering he could give to his god. He thought he was doing the most profound thing he could ever do. That certainly doesn’t make his act pleasing to God. In fact, the Lord’s asking Abraham to do the same thing was not only a test for Abraham, but it was also a message to him and his descendants that God does not require such a thing. Human sacrifice is an invention of man, according to his wisdom (Romans 1:21-22). God called Abraham out of his country, his kindred and even his family in order to present to him a new worldview, and have him and his descendants practice that new lifestyle, as a witness to others who were in rebellion against God.
Therefore, when we come to Genesis 27 and the transfer of the blessing of God to Isaac’s son, we are presented with unclean relationships, by Mosaic standards. The husband doesn’t believe the wife, and the wife is working against her husband’s wishes, and together they produce a sense of competition and distrust between their twin sons. New worldviews aren’t created overnight. Perhaps, put better, I should say, new worldviews aren’t believed and embraced overnight. There are many previous habits belonging to one’s old worldview that keep cropping up in defiance of the new worldview that one desires to accept, because one realizes that it is better than the old one, but is difficult to grasp and make it a continual practice.
After Esau came to realize what had occurred, he first cried out, weeping in despair, for Isaac to bless him also. Had Isaac only one blessing to pass on to his sons (Genesis 27:38)? Although Isaac was sensitive to Esau’s desire for his blessing, he had to confess that, indeed, there was only one blessing that could be passed on. After all, what could he possibly offer his son, Esau, when he made him the servant of his brother Jacob?
Once Isaac blessed Jacob with the fatness of the earth, he could only tell Esau that he would dwell away from the ‘fatness of the earth’ (Genesis 27:39; cp. Malachi 1:3). If the blessing was truly the Lord’s blessing, which he, Isaac, was only a conduit, it was the Lord, himself, who had authority over the blessing that was already passed to Jacob. What power did Isaac have to take it back and offer it to Esau?
The blessing was the Lord’s to give, and he gave it to Abraham, and to those whomsoever he desired (Exodus 33:19; cp. Romans 9:15). Moreover, not only was this so, but the Lord’s gifts and calling are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Therefore, while Jacob would be characterized as living off the land, Esau would live by the sword, by his cunning (Genesis 27:40). He would have to take what he desired, but he would serve his brother, and only later, after Israel rebelled against the Lord, Esau’s descendants would be able to regain their freedom (1Samuel 14:47; 2Samuel 8:14; 1Kings 22:47; 2Kings 8:22). Therefore, in the true spirit of a man lacking spiritual wisdom, Esau hated his brother, Jacob, because of the blessing/prophecy given him by his father, and he plotted to slay him, as soon as their father, Isaac, died (Genesis 27:41).
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