In Part One of this series we saw how Jacob identifies with God’s promise, and now we are going to see an amazing story of a mother’s faith. In Part One I posted the below passages from Genesis chapters 25 and 27. They are posted again here for your convenience.

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, ‘Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished! (That is why he was also called Edom.)
Jacob replied, ‘first sell me your birthright.’
‘Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said. ‘What good is the birthright to me?’

But Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’ So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright.

Now let’s take a look at Chapter 27 where it describes the deception:

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, ‘My son.’

‘Here I am,’ he answered.

Isaac said, ‘I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your weapons – your quiver and bow – and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.’

Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, ‘Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau,’ ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.’

Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘But my brother Esau  is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.’

His mother said to him, ‘ My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.’

So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands ad the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

He went to his father and said, ‘My father.’

‘Yes, my son,’ he answered. ‘Who is it?’

Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.’

The story continues for a few verses, and we pick it up again in starting in verse 30:

After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, ‘My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.’

His father Isaac asked him, ‘Who are you?’

‘I am your son, ‘he answered, ‘your firstborn, Esau.’

Isaac trembled violently and said, ‘Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him — and indeed he will be blessed!’

When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me — me too, my father!’

But he said, ‘Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.’

Esau said, ‘Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?’ He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!’ Then he asked, ‘Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?’

Isaac answered Esau, ‘ I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?’

Esau said to his father, ‘Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!’ Then Esau wept aloud.

There is something very noteworthy occurring here that is easily overlooked — for this is a story of a mother’s faith. If you remember from Part One, Rebekah believed God’s promise that his blessing would be given to the youngest son instead of Esau, and she acted on it by naming him Jacob, which means “one who comes after.” In the story above, she is again faithful to God by acting on his promise. In both stories she does not know how it will all turn out. And if you read Hebrews 11, known as the Heroes of Faith chapter, you will see the same criteria listed for at least a couple of the heroes. For example, Abraham believed God’s promise and left his home for another land, and Noah believed God’s promise and built the ark. Both men did something different with their faith, even though both used the same criteria — they believed God’s promise and acted on it. Also if you notice in Hebrews 11, many of the faith heroes were described as looking forward to better things, and I believe Rebekah was doing the same.

In this story Rebekah must act quickly. She has no instruction manual, which I am sure may resonate with you because I have no doubt there were times in your life when you needed to act but did not know exactly how. God, though he gave us the Bible, does not give us instructions in every situation we encounter. Here we see a mother who has worked hard over the years keeping her family fed and clothed, and now she uses those familiar items in a faithful act. Isn’t that remarkable? She used what she had available and made the most of it.

At this point Rebekah does not know anything about how Jacob’s life will go. She is simply acting on her faith. And although it seems as if she may be contributing to the deception, I believe her motives are pure because she is not doing this for herself. Don’t get me wrong, but sometimes perfect is the enemy of the good, and I have to think of how I might accomplish this if I were in Rebekah’s situation. How would you act? Unless we can come up with a better solution, I do not think we can criticize. Also notice that when Jacob expressed concern that he might be recognized and bring a curse down on himself instead of a blessing, Rebekah said she would take the blame. She did not say she would be willing, she just did it — she said it’s on me. She sacrificed for her son. Isn’t that what mothers do?

Rebekah’s faith is as real as it gets. Now let’s look more closely at this story to see something else very interesting. Notice how Rebekah covered Jacob to hide him from his father, so Jacob could get the blessing. Also notice the animal skins used. In the Mosaic Law, which was in effect for centuries before Christ came, animal sacrifices were used in the temple to atone for the sins of the people. Then Christ arrived and fulfilled scripture by becoming a sacrifice once and for all. And as I am sure you know, God hates sin and it is impossible in our fallen, sinful state to be in his presence — unless we have accepted Christ’s payment, which is his shed blood. Hebrews 9:22 says, “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” The concept is that a sinner is covered by Christ’s shed blood, so when God looks at the sinner he does not see the sin, and the sinner is able to approach the throne of grace.

Now let’s summarize the roles of the three people involved:

• Jacob       –> sinner (as are all of us)
• Isaac       –> grace (unmerited favor)
• Rebekah –> faith (believed God’s promise and acted on it)

Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it  is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.” The gospel of Christ is clearly in view, which is that a sinner is saved by grace through faith. 1 Cor 12:9 states that faith is a spiritual gift, so some bible teachers say the sinner has saving faith. I am not sure I agree with that position, because there is no scriptural support for it. But here in the story of Jacob, we see that faith is present, but it is not Jacob’s, it is his mother’s faith that carries the day. Also notice how Jacob does not present a list of accomplishments to his father — the blessing is simply a birthright and strictly by grace.

Something else is this scene is very important. Notice that once Isaac gave the blessing, nothing Esau says can change Isaac’s mind to take it back. The blessing is permanent and irrevokable. In Romans 8:38-39 Paul says:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I would like to add that Rebekah is not only Jacob’s mother, but she also brings the church into view because she is Isaac’s bride. And just as with Rebekah, churches should be in the business of presenting sinners to the Father for salvation and blessing. (The story of how Rebekah became Isaac’s bride is found in Genesis Chapter 24, where Abraham [the father] sent his chief servant Eliezer [representing the Holy Spirit] to find a bride for Isaac [who represents Jesus].)

I am sure Rebekah knew her actions would cause a rift in the family, but her faith was strong. And if you read the rest of the story, you will see that it has a happy ending because Jacob and Esau made peace with each other and both were extremely successful. Also, according to Paul in Hebrews 11:20, both of the boys were blessed by their father:  “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.” The brothers were together at their mother’s funeral, and I think they must have hugged each other and talked about how remarkable she was.

Rebekah’s story resonates with me because I have seen many times how Christians tend to discount the small things they do, thinking they don’t count as faith because they aren’t big. We are somehow conditioned to think we are not giving in faith unless we give more than we have available, or we may hold jobs in the church that do not seem like much. I have seen members of small groups who do not credit themselves enough for showing up for an hour to encourage others. Rebekah’s story is a prime example that our faith is not measured by how much or how big. She used very little in terms of resources, just food and clothes, which are a basic as you can get. She did the best she could with what she had, but in terms of impact her faith accomplished more than she could have ever imagined.

So what do we make of Jacob’s deception? There is no question that it occurred, but I think it serves the purpose of highlighting God’s grace. The Bible says we are all sinners — for example, Paul said in Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Something else to consider is that Jacob’s deception is not remembered in scripture after this event. It’s as though God has given Jacob a clean slate. Psalm 103:12 says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”