Day 11: Genesis 27-28

Today's morning devotion is Genesis 27-28, telling the story of Jacob and Rebekah's deception of Isaac in taking Esau's blessing. Genesis 28 ends with Jacob having seen the gate of heaven in his dream, on the way from Beersheba to Haran.

Personally I find this story to be one of the most difficult to reconcile with what I think is the Christian way of life. What exactly does this story say about how Christians should behave to bring glory to God?

Jacob, the con man

Jacob and Rebekah both know that their deception is bad, evidenced by their discussion about the curse that may come from an unsuccessful con.

But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.” (Genesis 27:11-13 ESV)

Isn't deception an evil practice? Why was Jacob not punished? Moreover, why did God bless the con man?

And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:13-15 ESV)

In my opinion this fraud was of a completely different nature than the deal Jacob struck with Esau for Esau's birthright. In the birthright sale, Jacob was simply asking for the peak-demand market price for bread and stew, a price that Esau was glad to pay. In the case of Isaac's blessing, there was only pre-meditated theft as far as I can tell.

Rebekah's racial prejudice

Rebekah very clearly expresses her dislike for Hittite women.

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?” (Genesis 27:46 ESV)

Isn't the Christian way of life supposed to embrace diversity?

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39 ESV)

And avoid judgment of others?

“Judge not, that you be not judged. (Matthew 7:1 ESV)

Jacob's conditional faith

Yet, the most confusing part of God's preferential treatment of Jacob is the fact that Jacob does not reciprocate unconditionally. In fact, Jacob makes his conditions know to God very clearly.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, (Genesis 28:20-21 ESV)

I thought that Christians are to avoid putting conditions on their faith. Yet Jacob, a figurehead in the faith in his time, explicitly says that only if God does something for Jacob would Jacob declare the LORD as his God.

Or put a different way, Jacob seemed to be saying that if God didn't do everything that was good for Jacob, he would simply denounce God. The way Jacob acted does not strike me as a terribly good example of faith, so again, why did God bless Jacob through all this?

The answer may be to look first in the mirror

Perhaps, the answer is simple: Jacob had flaws but was inherently good and obedient to God. And ultimately, Jacob did spend a good amount of time in anguish and grief before his life on earth came to an end, and Jacob did glorify God and make amends with his brother Esau.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:3-5 ESV)

Yes, I definitely see a speck in Jacob's eye. And is there a log in my own eye? Yes, most definitely. I am far from perfect, a flawed human being who is guilty of hypocrisy. Yet, every day I wake up in good health, in good company, in comfort, in plenty.

So, if I'm going to criticize Jacob, I should also be criticizing myself ten-fold, hundred-fold, or thousand-fold, for I have not done and may never be able to accomplish all that Jacob did in his time,