Children's Bible Ministry of Connecticut, USA
Boomerang!
They were twins, but the two boys were quite different. Esau was the
firstborn. His skin was reddish in tone and like a hairy garment
(Genesis
25:25). Jacob was the second son. As he was born he took hold of his
brother's heel. The boys were also different in the things they liked.
Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a mild man,
an indoor kind of man.
(God made us all different. Some are tall, some are short; some have brown hair, some have blond or red; some have brown eyes, some have blue or green or hazel; some have darker skin, some are lighter; some can work with their hands, some cannot. We differ in hundreds of ways, but this is alright.
1 Corinthians 4:7 "who makes you to differ from another? What do you have that you did not receive?" 1 Corinthians 15:10 "by the grace of God I am what I am . . ." You are special to God. God has a purpose and plan for you. God doesn't make junk! Trust Him to make you what He created you to be.)
Usually the firstborn son would have the privilege as the head of the
family. He would inherit a double portion, twice as much as the others.
He would be the family leader. But God told Rebekah and Isaac that
(verse 23) the older would serve the
younger. This meant that in God's purpose and plan Esau would serve Jacob. Jacob
would be the head of the family.
(God is Sovereign. He rules. He does whatever He wants, whenever He wants, however He wants. He does not follow the rules of men. His thoughts and His ways are higher than the heavens. His ways are right. God is good, always good, only good.)
Esau
came home hungry one day and saw Jacob making pottage (a lentil stew). Esau
asked for some. Jacob saw this as an opportunity to take the birthright from
Esau. Esau saw little value in his birthright and willingly sold it to Jacob for
a bowl of pottage. The birthright should have been a very special privilege.
Later, Esau would cry hard because he lost it (Hebrews
12:17).
The time came when Isaac should pass the birthright blessing on to his son. Isaac loved his son Esau and wanted the birthright blessing to go to Esau though he knew what God had said. Rebekah loved Jacob and knew that he should have it. Isaac asked Esau to hunt some venison for him and fix it the way he liked it. He intended to give him the family blessing at that time. Rebekah overheard Isaac's plans and schemed with Jacob to deceive Isaac and get the blessing that rightly was to belong to Jacob.
Rebekah
fixed the meal the way Isaac liked it and she disguised Jacob, putting Esau's
clothing on him along with goat skin on his hands to make them hairy like
Esau's. And Jacob went in to his father who was nearly blind, and pretending to
be Esau, lied to his father and even used God's name in his lie. Isaac was
suspicious, but alas gave him the blessing (see
Genesis 27:28-29).
Thus, Jacob deceived and tricked his father. He had already tricked his brother. Jacob's name means schemer, tricker, deceiver, one who takes the heel of another. Jacob lived up to his name or perhaps we should say Jacob lived down to his name. He was not a honest man. He was not kind and fair. Jacob was selfish, wanting his own way, getting his own even by cheating. Jacob received the blessing, but he was not ready for it. God had much work to do on Jacob.
When Esau discovered that Jacob had deceived his father and stolen the blessing he determined to kill Jacob, but Rebekah and Isaac sent Jacob away to stay with relatives. Jacob ended up staying away for twenty years and found himself tricked and cheated by his uncle. Later he would be deceived and tricked by his own children.
A boomerang is a tool that spins when thrown and returns to the thrower.
Very often the things we do, good or bad, come back to us.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked;
for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Galatians 6:7
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