Genesis 25:19-26
The
theme of a woman being barren; unable to conceive children is a familiar one in
the Bible. We see it with Rebekah’s own
mother-in-law Sarah, who in God’s timing bore Isaac. A similar circumstance would play out with Jacob’s
wife Rachel before she finally bore Joseph.
We read yet another similar story from ancient Israel about a woman
named Hannah, who also prayed for a son, and was answered with the birth of
Samuel the prophet. Finally, we read in the New Testament how a woman named
Elizabeth was barren, but in her old age bore a son who we know as John the
Baptist.
One
common element that we see in all of these situations is how these mothers were
instrumental in carrying out Jehovah’s plans for the nation of Israel. With some of them such as Hannah and
Elizabeth we hear only of their obedience and faithfulness. In contrast, both Sarah and Rachel, in their
impatience, tried to help God out in the area of providing offspring for their
respective husbands. Of course God used their
interference for his own purpose despite what we might see as their wavering
faith. Rebekah, on the other hand,
played her part as a mother in a manner that is a little more difficult to
label. What I am referring to, of
course, is how Rebekah was instrumental in Jacob obtaining his father’s
blessing. To understand all of that, we
need to remember a few things about Esau.
When
we read on in scripture we find that at one point Esau sold his birthright,
that is the benefits he would have as the first born son, to his brother
Jacob. In doing so, the Bible says that
he despised his birthright. Later Esau
went against the wishes of his grandfather Abraham who specifically commanded
his son not to take a wife from among the Canaanites who were known for their
idolatry. This admonition seems to have been passed down by Isaac because
Genesis 26:35 tells us that Esau’s marriages to two Hittite women were a “grief
of mind” to Isaac and Rebekah. It is
very likely that Esau joined his wives in their idolatry, since it is clear
that he did not worship Jehovah. Those
things, along with God’s promise at the time of their birth that the elder
would serve the younger would seem to be enough to clearly make Esau the black
sheep of the family.
And
yet, when Isaac was old and thought he may die soon, he still loved Esau enough
that he attempted to bestow the ceremonial blessing on him, though Jacob had
purchased the birthright. This may have
been a case of Isaac’s natural affection getting the better of him. After all, what father doesn’t want his son
to be a manly man, and Esau certainly was that.
As the Bible tells us, Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field;
and Jacob was a plain man, or as some translations make it a “simple” or
“quiet” man. So, despite all of the
strikes against Esau, his father Isaac called him in to bestow the blessing on
him. But first, he requested that Esau
would bring him a meal of his famous wild game pot roast.
That
is where Rebekah stepped in. Knowing
God’s words concerning the two boys that Esau would serve Jacob, knowing the
contempt Esau had shown for his birthright in selling it, and also knowing
Esau’s worldliness in marrying idolaters, she decided to make sure her son
Jacob received the blessing which Jehovah had declared he would receive.
Rebekah, simply put, engineered a way for Jacob to obtain the blessing by
deceiving his father Isaac. She
instructed Jacob to bring her two young goats which she prepared so that they
would taste just like the dish that Esau was known for. No surprise there; who else but his mother
would have taught Esau how to cook? Then
Rebekah helped Jacob to disguise himself as his brother and instructed him to
go in to his father pretending to be Esau and receive the blessing. The trickery was successful, and Jacob
obtained the blessing, fulfilling the words of Jehovah at the birth of the two
boys.
The
question then comes up: was Rebekah justified in using deceit in this
instance? Some propose that she should
have gone in to her husband and reminded him of God’s promise concerning his
two sons; reminded him that Esau sold his birthright; remind him that Esau
turned his back on them to marry idolaters.
Certainly she should have been able to reason with him to make him
understand that the blessing should go to Jacob!
Well,
maybe that would have been the right approach, but if we are to give Rebekah
the benefit of the doubt we might consider that she probably knew her husband’s
disposition better than we do. Scholars
seem to agree that Isaac was likely 137 years old at the time of the giving of
the blessing. Since the Bible tells us
that Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, that means they were soon
coming up on their 100th wedding anniversary!
I think by that time Rebekah probably had a pretty good handle on what
she could or could not convince her husband to do!
So,
since our theme is Mother’s Day, rather than speculate on whether Rebekah could
have, or should have done some things differently, let’s celebrate her faithfulness. Rebekah received Jehovah’s promise that her
son Jacob would be blessed. She held on
to that promise and did not let natural affection for her other son get in the
way of her love for God and respect for his decree. In fact, Rebekah not only respected what God
had told her, she did what she could to carry out Jehovah’s decree.
Now, if
you have been blessed to have had a God-fearing mother or even to have known
one or more, you can probably see some similarities between them and Rebekah. They
too probably did their best to follow Jehovah’s decrees. No doubt they practiced what it says in
Ephesians about bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord (Ephesians 6:4). I am sure that
they took heed to the teaching in Proverbs and attempted to train up their
children in the way they should go, so that when they are old, they will not
depart from it (Proverbs 22:6)
Certainly,
some of those mothers have done what they could to make sure that it could be
said of their children what was said of Timothy; that from a child they knew
the holy scripture which was able to make them wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:15).
These
are the things which cause us to honor those who are mothers. And all of these things are based in
love. Love for your children, but even
more important, love for God.