"And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob." Genesis 25:28
"Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, 'If all is well, why am I like this?' So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her: 'Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.'...so the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob." (Genesis 25:21-28)
"Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old...that he called Esau his older son...then he said, 'Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And 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.'" (Genesis 27:1-4) From this passage of scripture, we can learn how unfairly favoring those who benefit us can lead us away from God's plan for our lives. Despite what the word of the Lord said about the blessing going the younger Isaac wanted to bless Esau and loved him because he benefited from the meat that he provided.
Now it wasn't as if Esau and Jacob were both fit to receive the birthright and God was just arbitrary favoring another for no reason. So blinded was Isaac to his favoritism that although in Genesis 25:34 we learn "...Esau despised his birthright" and in the very next chapter "When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah." Genesis 26:34-35 he still wanted to go against God's will and pass the role God wanted to go to another, to someone who clearly wasn't qualified for it. Rebekah wasn't guiltless either. While she wanted the right son to be blessed which was good, she went about it the wrong way by using deceit and encouraged Jacob to sin. When he protested the idea "...his mother said to him, 'Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice...'" Genesis 27:13
This story is good lesson for us today and has some serious some thoughts for us to consider. Do you favor someone above God's word? Do you love people more than the God who created the people? Do you give someone a role in your life that only God should determine? Do you try to place yourself in a role that only belongs to God? Would you ever allow sin to go on uncorrected or even support it because of the benefits you gain from those involved in it it? Using your personal preferences as the standard by which you determine the approval and honor due to someone (or something) rather than what God actually says spiritually blinds us to God's standards. By rejecting the plain words of God eventually we can get to the point where we can fool ourselves into thinking wrong is good and encourage others to get involved in wrong or stay involved in sin by neglecting to honor the truth of God's words while justifying ourselves by claiming to have God's will in mind. Let's not get so focused on our wants we close our eyes to God's law.
Picture riginally found here
