Gen 27-28

Gen 27

1 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. 2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 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.”

5 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, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau,7 '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.' 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 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. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12 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.”

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

14 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. 15  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.16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.

17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

18 He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?” 19 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.”

20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God gave me success,” he replied. 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied. 25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” 27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. 28 May God give you heaven's dew and earth's richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.” 32. His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

33 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!”  34 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!”  35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Isn't he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?”

37 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?”

38Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

39 His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of heaven above. 40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”

41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”

Gen 28

1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.

4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

13 There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.  20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father's household, then the LORD will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

SS 40

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

This segment brought way too many questions to mind and too few answers (mostly regarding the legal/cultural implication of the "blessing"). I think there is a bit of a disconnect for me and the lawyer in me sees too many loopholes. I also keep circling back to how dysfunctional this family is. I guess I should take GREAT comfort in the fact that God can use dysfunctional people and families as part of His plan.  


Disfunction:
DAD: Isaac waited until he was old and blind to pass the baton. That bothered me because, if he could not even recognize his own son, he was in no shape to lead. Also, he no doubt knew of the word his wife had received saying that Jacob was the chosen son. He was going to sneak and give it to his favorite anyway. He is honored for his faith later in the Bible, but his faith was patchy in places – like my own. 

MOM:  Rebekah was so sneaky. She disguises her son, forms the plan, makes the food just right, and even thinks of an escape strategy for Jacob after the fact. Ok, I kind of like her gumption but she is totally conniving. 

ELDEST SON:  Esau had already sold his birthright for beans. But when the time comes, he plans to take it anyway. He plans to kill his brother.  Has horrible wives who annoy the whole family. 

YOUNGER SON: Jacob cons his brother out of his birthright.  Jacob tricks his father into giving the blessing to him. Runs away afterward. 

This whole family is a mess.  But God uses them anyway!  There is hope for my messed-up family.  

About the blessing:  

The blessing, from what I can glean, was a contract passing on wealth and leadership. It is more than the birthright, which passed automatically to the firstborn.  The meal must be ceremonial because he insists on it. Since it was a contract, it could not just be revoked by one party. The lawyer in me says that the trickery should invalidate the contract. I wonder if Isaac kind of realized it was Jacob and gave in to God’s plan.  He sure acts suspicious with all of the questions.  He also gives his blessing again after knowing the truth.    

Jacob being the next leader was part of God’s plan. Even running from Esau is a way to get Jacob to go back and marry a nice Jewish girl rather than a Canaanite hussy like the girls his brother married.

I like that Esau realized the local girls annoy his dad and married a cousin to set things straight.  I doubt a third wife ever solved any problem.  I almost feel sorry for this guy.  I know this is horrible, but I keep envisioning Prince Harry.  Probably because he is in the news right now, his hair is red and his name is Harry.  

I also want to point out that I keep reading Paddan as Padawan mentally –  I am not even a Star Wars enthusiast!  But then, my brain has its own agenda most days.    

Also, on the trip to Padawan ;), Jacob falls asleep on a rock – good sleeper!  Jacob dreams of the stairway to heaven. And he’s buuying a…wait, nice Christians do not know that song.  Clears throat.  God gives Jacob his blessing (and does not mention the bad methods used).  Jacob has an interesting reaction to meeting God. He tells God that if He provides for Jacob, Jacob will worship Him and tithe. So this is where the tithe is first mentioned.  There is also a contract-like relationship – take care of me and I will worship you.  

I was wondering exactly when the first Temple was built (550ish BC). I am sure you are wondering where I am headed, but it was linked to where Jacob promises to tithe. So where does Jacob tithe? There is no priest class and no temple. Were there prayer and worship services? Does he just burn all of it on the alter? Does he use it in Godly purposes? Save it? I did some research to see what Bibleheads thought and was surprised to see a lively interest in this topic. The summary is that it was a promise Jacob imposed on future generations and God later incorporated the promise into Mosiac law.  So, tithing was our idea, not God's idea.   See additional materials for more details.

Bonus Material:

This is what the Bibleheads said about the idea of tithing before the temple:  


Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the passage: “Jacob seems to make this vow rather for his posterity than for himself, as we may learn from Genesis 28:13-15; for he particularly refers to the promises which God had made to him, which concerned the multiplication of his offspring, and their establishment in that land. If, then, God shall fulfill these promises, he binds his posterity to build God a house, and to devote for the maintenance of his worship the tenth of all their earthly goods. This mode of interpretation removes that appearance of self-interest which almost any other view of the subject presents. Jacob had certainly, long ere this, taken Jehovah for his God; and so thoroughly had he been instructed in the knowledge of Jehovah, that we may rest satisfied no reverses of fortune could have induced him to apostatize: but as his taking refuge with Laban was probably typical of the sojourning of his descendants in Egypt, his persecution, so as to be obliged to depart from Laban, the bad treatment of his posterity by the Egyptians, his rescue from death, preservation on his journey, re-establishment in his own country, &c., were all typical of the exodus of his descendants, their travels in the desert, and establishment in the promised land, where they built a house to God, and where, for the support and maintenance of the pure worship of God, they gave to the priests and Levites the tenth of all their worldly produce. If all this be understood as referring to Jacob only, the Scripture gives us no information how he performed his vow.” (source)


Adam Clarke connects a bunch of dots in his text above. He understands that there is a correlation between Jacob’s vow and the tithing laws that the Israelites were asked to obey. Notice how Clarke even shows how Jacob’s journey mirrors the journey of the Israelites out of Egypt and into the promised land.


Leonard C. Bupanda : “Now, since Jacob failed to deliver on his promise, God made him pay the tithe through his children who had emerged as a nation after his God-given name-Israel. Thus God’s promise to Jacob was fulfilled”


Also, Rabbi Moshe Alshich, in “The Book of Mishlei” wrote, “Scripture says, Jacob vowed a vow to say. . .All that you give me I will doubly tithe to You (Genesis 28:20,22). Our sages say (midrash Bereshith Rabbah 70:1) that with these words Jacob was instructing future generations to pledge money to charity in times of distress the word אָמַר, to say, in the clause, Jacob vowed a vow to say, indicates that Jacob had something to say to others, namely, he wanted to teach all his descendants the importance of tithing to charity.” 

The Book of Jubilees (an ancient Jewish work written around the 2nd century) states this, “And Levi discharged the priestly office at Bethel before Jacob his father in preference to his ten brothers, and he was a priest there, and Jacob gave his vow: thus he tithed again the tithe to the Lord and sanctified it, and it became holy unto Him. And for this reason it is ordained on the heavenly tables as a law for the tithing again the tithe to eat before the Lord from year to year, in the place where it is chosen that His name should dwell, and to this law there is no limit of days forever.”

The next reference to Jacob’s vow is in Genesis 31:11-14 “Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.'”