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5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. 6 So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 7 'Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.' 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death." 11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing." 13 But his mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me." ~ Genesis 27:5-13
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 27. When Moses wrote this narrative, he highlighted, not only the good qualities of Issac and his family, but also, their faults and their failings. This is not typically how histories are written. Normally histories are written in such a way that everything good is shown. Clearly the objective of the book of Genesis was to make it clear that these were people just like you and me. They were people who struggled to walk by faith in the God of the Bible, people who were flawed and prone to failure. This is good because until we see that our way will never produce the wise results that we really want, we will not turn to the Lord to be our Savior and Lord.
In v.6-7 of today's passage we read, "So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, 'Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 7 'Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.'"
Earlier when Isaac spoke with Esau alone in his tent, Rebekah was eavesdropping, even though she was not invited. In v.4 we read, "Isaac said to Esau, 'Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.'" But here we read Rebekah quoting Isaac, "Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death."
The words "before my death" are different than the words "before I die" even in the Hebrew. When Isaac spoke to Esau, he used the word "before" as in time. But when Rebekah used it, she used it to mean "before" as in the presence of something or someone. When she used it, she literally meant, "in the face of." She also said "in the presence of the Lord" rather than "that my soul may bless you." Rebekah through her words was operating out of her faith in the Messianic blessing that she knew belonged to Jacob because the Lord had told her earlier in Genesis 25:23 that Jacob would be the son of the promise. Much like others of faith in the Bible like Rahab the harlot, Rebekah was acting on her faith in the promise of God, even though it was deceptive.
In v.8-10 of today's passage we read, "8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. 9 Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death."
Rebekah knew exactly what her husband wanted so she had Jacob gather two kid goats. The kid goat was three to five months of age. These goats were chosen because of their taste. Rebekah chose two of them so that she could cut out the choicest pieces from both to make the whole meal appear like it was from one deer which is what Isaac thought he got.
Throughout the Bible the number two signifies enmity. There are two testaments, one based on law and one on grace. One shows fallen man, the other man restored. There is day and there is night. There is Jesus and there is Barabbas. All of this underscores our need for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the end the will of the Lord was accomplished even though the deception of Rebekah was involved. God's will was fulfilled through fallen people. Jacob’s son, Joseph, explains this immensely well in Genesis 50:20 which reads, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."
In v.11-12 of today's passage we read, "11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, 'Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.'"
I find it rather instructive that similar to the way that Jacob took on the likeness of Esau, the Lord Jesus took on our likeness, our sin and our curse so that we could be forgiven and made presentable before God the Father. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, became the perfect man in order to be the Savior of sinful man. In becoming man, the Lord Jesus did not forsake His divine nature, as if that were even an option. Rather, He became a man by taking on human nature in addition to His divine nature. It is essential to recognize that divinity and humanity are not mutually exclusive. The Son of God didn’t have to pick between being God and being man. He could be both at the same time. The eternal Word became human so that He, the Holy God, could make atonement for our sin.
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "But his mother said to him, 'Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.'"
At this point, Rebekah was well over 100 years old and she had known since her pregnancy that Jacob would be the son of the promise. She was so certain that what she was doing was in line with the will of God that she said to Jacob, "Let your curse be on me." The assurance of God’s decree made Rebekah bold. Rebekah knew that Isaac was God's choice to receive the blessing. Also, since she knew that Esau had repeatedly shown the greatest contempt for the blessing, she knew it had to go to Jacob. Rebekah was therefore intent on preventing her husband from acting contrary to God's will. History has clearly born this out.
Due to Rebekah's actions, her son of the promise was in the lineage of THE Son of the Promise, the Lord Jesus Christ. It was He that allowed the curse of our sin to be laid upon Himself. In Deuteronomy 21:22-23 we read, "22 If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God." Even though the Lord Jesus never sinned, He took our curse upon Himself. By doing this, He redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.
