Genesis 25-27 -- On the long trip home, it would have been customary for Eliezer to describe to Rebekah the virtues and exploits of her future husband. He would have also brought out a new gift for her now and then, reminding him of another tale, to help build her anticipation, and to keep her in high spirits. As they approached the Negev, where Isaac had moved the household, she easily guessed his identity. He had been out in the fields mourning his mother, Sarah. His grief was somewhat assuaged by his bride, whom he placed in the position of authority as his mistress of the household. This was signified by giving Rebekah Sarah's accommodations.
The Hebrew scribe inserts a couple of genealogical accounts. The final note in Abraham's life was that he had remarried and had more sons. He also had concubines who had sons. In obedience to Jehovah's plan, these sons were sent away, to become the East Arabian tribes. Ishmael's descendants settled the Sinai Peninsula and northwest Arabia. Then begins afresh the stories of Isaac.
When Isaac was 40 years old, in 2026 BC, his wife gave birth to the twins Esau ("Palpable" due to a rough texture) and Jacob ("Heel Catcher"). They are so named due to the circumstances of their birth. The descriptions portend their personalities. These personalities are established quickly by the story of the birthright. Jacob is smooth in more ways than one. All the more so, since his domestic ways pleased his mother. As the second-born, he would have inherited one-third of his father's estate. Rough and ready Esau was his father's favorite, in spite of his crude sense of values. He would have inherited two-thirds of Isaac's estate. All of this he traded away for a meal of red-bean stew and bread, simply because he was hungry at the moment. It proved he placed no great value on his birthright.
Isaac seems to have learned from some of his father's mistakes. He stayed in the Promised Land in spite of the famine. He simply moved down to the coast, into Abimelech's territory. The Hebrew scribe again uses the term "Philistines" to denote the geographic region. What Isaac failed to learn about was deception. He lied, saying that his wife was his sister, out of fear that the local lords would kill him for her. His father had used this ploy twice, for the same reason. This Abimelech was more cautious than his father had been, and spotted Isaac and Rebekah acting more like a married couple than siblings. We have no way of knowing the nature of Abimelech's fears. They were sufficient to give Isaac strong protection. Under this cover, Isaac reaped Jehovah's promised blessing in the form of a bumper crop, and a dramatic increase in wealth.
Wealth was power, and Isaac's power provoked fear in Abimelech's people. As with Abraham, they drove Isaac out to the edge of the kingdom. It was the same old issue of water rights. Esek ("Push" as in a quarrel) and Sitnah ("Opposition") were names that commemorated their petty insecurity. Rehoboth ("Wide" as in streets) was 20 miles (32 km) south of the upper Gerar Valley, on the edge of the Negev. Here and in Beersheba, Isaac was no longer perceived as a threat to Abimelech's people. In yet another parallel to his father's dealings with these people, Abimelech brings an entourage, including Ahuzzath ("Seized Property") the chief tax collector, to ask for a covenant of non-aggression. Abimelech exaggerated his own goodness, perhaps as a sarcastic reminder of Isaac's deception. They sealed the covenant with a ritual shared meal, the universal symbol of peace. On that same day, Isaac's servants re-excavate Abraham's Well of Sevens (Beersheba), and Isaac gives it the same name.
To further demonstrate that he was not a fit heir of the Covenant, Esau married local Hittite nobility. This was a clear violation of Jehovah's prohibition against mixing with the resident population. In spite of this, Isaac was determined to invest the Covenant blessing in his first-born, something that should have gone with the birthright. The account demonstrates Isaac's foolishness in doting on Esau. Jacob was no hero of righteousness, but he at least had potential. Esau was utterly hopeless. It's hard to judge whether Rebekah was motivated by faith in the prophecy of which son was Jehovah's chosen, or that she simply doted on her own favorite. Perhaps it was both. She clearly knew how to play on her husband's carnal lust for barbecued venison, and his failing senses. She also knew how to keep an eye on Esau, and foil his murderous plans for Jacob. By reminding Isaac of their mutual disgust over Esau's choice of brides, she prompts him to perform his duty to send the new Heir of the Covenant back to her homeland to marry. Furthermore, the only one permitted by custom to execute Jacob for his deception in the matter of the blessing was Isaac himself. Since he was unwilling to take that option, he was obligated to protect his heir by sending him to safety.
It would be unfair to say Isaac was not a good and righteous man. His behavior was more obedient than that of his father, Abraham. Yet he was but a man, and still bore the mark of the Fall. Yet human failings cannot frustrate the will of God. The long thread of redemption continues.
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Ed Hurst
revised 30 January 2004
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