Favoritism and Discord - Genesis 27

 

Genesis 27 – Favoritism and Discord

 

Isaac and Rebekah had a fairy tale courtship.  They were brought together by God’s power and loved each other from the first encounter.  But it seems that they failed to work at their relationship with the diligence that true loves practice, for in the end, we find them invalidating each other instead of loving and honoring each other.  Granted, there were some unusual stresses in the early years of marriage.  Rebekah was infertile for a long time.  When she did get pregnant, twins were born, Jacob and Esau had distinctly different characters right from birth.  Unfortunately, each parent chose a favorite.  Isaac favored Esau and Rebekah favored Jacob. It was only a matter of time before the home would start to self-destruct, and it all began with Isaac. He knew that God had chosen Jacob for the blessing, but he announced that he would give it to Esau. He was not the spiritual person he had once been.  Rebekah knew what God’s promise was to Jacob and she should have let God work it out in His own way. “Faith is living without scheming” and who can hinder the Lord from accomplishing His purposes. Dan. 4:35. Playing favorites can only disrupt a marriage.  There is division, dishonesty, divided loyalties, and manipulation.  Each parent becomes selfish.  Isaac showed this when he claimed Rebekah to be his sister to save his own life.  Rebekah showed selfishness when she manipulated her favorite son, Jacob to receive the blessing.  Esau made it clear years before that he had no interest in spiritual things and certainly he knew about God’s word about the blessing. This selfishness trickled down to Esau when he married two Hittite women without his parent’s approval.  Rebekah conspired with Jacob to lie to her husband.  Jacob lied because of his mom’s deceit.  Esau sold his birthright which he regretted and resulted in Jacob’s blessing.  Rebekah’s “a few days” became over twenty years! Despite all her scheming she never saw her son on earth again.

Have you ever heard the saying, “if in doubt, don’t do it”? If Isaac had waited just a few more minutes longer, giving Esau time to get there he would have known for sure it was not Esau he was about to bless.  Then again, if he had waited, Jacob would have been cursed for his deceit and not been blessed as God had planned and the blood line of David and Jesus Christ would not have turned out like it did.

Conflict can happen in many situations and can be resolved when handled in a respectful manner.  Open, honest communication between two people is always helpful.