And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may proceed to bless me. And Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have found the game so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God caused it to come to me. (19-20)
It is hard to understand how the sweet story of Isaac and Rebekah in chapter 26 disintegrated into the sordid details found in chapter 27. In chapter 26, Moses recounts how Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for his son and how God guided that servant to the very place he needed to go. Chapter 26 is filled with worship of God, a recognition of His sovereignty, and people like Isaac and Rebekah who courageously leave home and trust God to bless them, even in an arranged marriage. Yet, when we meet this couple again in the next chapter, we find stories of deception and manipulation of God and each other. Both Isaac and Rebekah have unwisely shown favoritism to different children and are determined to love one more than the other. Rebekah concocts a plan to steal the blessing away from her firstborn, Esau, to promote Jacob. The same woman who courageously trusted God and followed Him in chapter 26 now calls down a curse on herself in 27:13 to get her way. Then Jacob goes so far in the verses above to even bring God into his deception. It is one thing to lie, but to see Jacob include God in His lie makes the whole affair feel even more abhorrent. In short, it seems that this family has no fear of God. Like many today, they view Him as a faraway entity unconcerned with our actions and who exists to serve us when we want Him but who does not deserve our daily obedience.
When people take God’s name in vain, call down curses on themselves, or even say they will “party in hell,” it shows you how little they actually understand about God’s nature. People who believe God is real and have a biblical worldview of His attributes and nature are much more careful in how they live and talk. How you live your life, the choices you make, and the things you say reveal what you believe about God. We often say He is omnipresent, but live like He’s a million miles away. We say He is omnipotent, but we trust more in our own wisdom and machinations than in prayer and His intervention. We say we “know” Him but have no reverent “fear” of Him. Instead, we treat Him like a talisman to be used when it suits us and then ignored when we do not need Him. I wonder how many Christians today are modern-day Rebekahs and Jacobs and what happened to us along the way. At what point after your conversion did He stop being your “everything” and become just an addendum to the rest of your life?
