Jacob and Esau

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Welcome! To Our Ancient Future Story: Navigating Scripture Through the Eyes of Family. Where I share with you, Biblical stories, as a family member would tell a story around the dinner table. As children of God, we are a part of God’s family, and His family story has a lot of history. Each week, we will take one story and talk about it, the cultural, historical, geographical, and sociological impacts. We will be looking at these stories from the perspective of our ancestors, through the lens of ancient times, in hopes of learning more about our family. This is Our Ancient Future Story.

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WELCOME: 

Welcome back to Our Ancient Future Story, I’m Vic, and I am so excited to share with you another story today! I know it has been a long while since I have posted content and I do apologize! I promise to get on a Schedule so that you will have consistent content. My goal is to do every other week, but It may be more like once a month for now. I am back in the office now, and creating intentional time to research has proved difficult. But I am not letting up, because I do believe understanding God’s family will bring the Bible to life like never before. So, bear with me as I put these podcasts together for all of you! I am so grateful that you have chosen to listen to me tell Biblical Stories! So, Let’s get into today’s episode! 

Last time we discussed the arranged marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. But today we are going to move 20 years into the future. When Isaac and Rebekah finally have children. So, grab your cup of coffee or something to drink and get ready to hear the story of Jacob and Esau.

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TELL THE STORY:

We open our story today with Isaac and Rebekah. They have now been married for 20 years, but Rebekah is baren, unable to have children. Isaac spent many nights praying that Yahweh would give them a child. Remember to have a child in the Ancient world was the key to leaving a legacy. Yahweh heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah conceived. However, her pregnancy was anything but ordinary. The children in her womb struggled with one another. So much so, Rebekah became very concerned and asked God, “Why is this happening to me?” And Yahweh answered her saying, “You have two nations in your womb, and they will live divided, one is stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger” 

[Historical Fun Fact: I love that Yahweh spoke directly to Rebekah because at this time deity did not speak to women, normally they only spoke to men. And it’s especially interesting that Yahweh speaks to her because he is a personal God, he typically only spoke to one person, it had been Abraham but now it is Isaac. But here we see Yahweh reaching out to a woman and telling HER what is going on. God doesn’t address Isaac, and tell him to tell Rebekah, instead he addresses Rebekah’s concerns directly with her. And I love that! Yahweh is a personal God! Not like how the ancients assumed with only interacting with one person but being involved one on one in someone’s life.]

When it came time for her do give birth it was revealed that she had twins. The first one born was red and full of hair, so they named him Esau which means hairy. Afterward his brother was born grasping the heel of Esau, so they named him Jacob, which means he grasp his heel. 

[Historical Fun Fact: the phrase “To grasp his heel” is a Hebrew idiom meaning “he deceives” and throughout his life Jacob is often referred to as the deceiver.]

Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob and Esau are born. Now, (Sidenote) our Bibles don’t go into details about Jacob and Esau’s circumcision, but we know they must’ve had one to remain in line with the covenant Abraham had made. 

As the boys grew up there were some pretty obvious differences between them. Besides their looks, Esau being hairy and Jacob being clean shaven, they also had different interest. Esau was a skilled hunter an outdoorsman, while Jacob was a quieter man, preferring to dwell inside the tents. Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field completely exhausted, and he asked his brother for some stew. Jacob’s reply was so cunning, he said, “Sell me your Birthright and I will give you some stew.” Esau, confused and starving replies, “I am dying, what good is a birthright to me?” But Jacob presses him to swear an oath to sell his birthright! Esau swears, and Jacob gives him a bowl of the lentil stew. Then every day after that, Esau despises his birthright. 

Fast forward, another 40 years, Jacob is now around 100 years old, his eyes are not what they used to be and he cannot see. 

[Historical Fun Fact: At this time Glasses did not exist, so when one got older and their eye sight started to degrade there was not a way for them to correct their eye sight, they just had to use their other senses to survive]

One day he tells his eldest son, “My son, I am now old, and I don’t know the day of my death, take your weapons and go out and hunt some game, to prepare for me delicious food before I die.” Esau heads out to the fields to do what his father has asked. 

Now, Rebekah heard Isaac talking with Esau, so when he went out to hunt, Rebkeah took her son Jacob and devised a plan. She told him, “Go to the flock and bring me two goats and I will prepare them for your Father, and then you will bring it to your father so that he may bless you before he dies. Jacob, thinking about his brother, asks, “Esau is a very hairy man and I am smooth skinned. Perhaps father will feel my arms and know that I am lying and bring down a curse on me instead of a blessing.” Rebekah then replied, “let you curse be on me, only obey my voice.” So, Jacob went to the flock and brought two goats to his mother to prepare a meal that Isaac would love. 

Then Rebekah took some of Esau’s clothes and put them on Jacob. She covered his hands, neck, and smooth skin with the skin of the goats she had prepared. She gave Jacob the food she had prepared, and told him to go see his father. 

As Jacob, entered his father’s presence, he said, “My father.” Isaac unable to see who it is that entered his room asked, “Who are you my son?” Jacob replied, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done what you have asked, now sit up eat my game, so that your soul may bless me.” Isaac asks, “How did you find and prepare it so quickly my son?” Jacob replied, “The LORD your God granted me success.” Then Isaac asks his son to come near to him, because he is confused as to which son he is speaking with. As Jacob comes closer to Isaac, Isaac touches the skin of the goats which confuses him further. He says, “The voice is Jacob, but the hands are Esau’s. Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob replies, “I am.” So, Isaac asked for the game to be brought near to him so that he may eat and bless him. 

After eating and drinking, Isaac asked his son to come near to him, when he did, Isaac could smell Esau’s clothes and blessed him saying, “See the smell of my son is the smell of the field that the LORD has blessed, may God give you dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”  

As soon as Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had gone out of the presence of Isaac, did Esau show up from his hunting trip, with delicious food prepared for his father. Esau enters his father’s presence saying, “Arise my father and eat of your sons game.” To which Isaac replies, “Who are you?” Esau says, “I am Esau, your firstborn.” Then Isaac realizes what has happened and he begins to shake violently because he had given away the firstborn blessing to another. And there is no undoing a blessing. As soon as Esau heard of the deception of his father, he began to cry out with great bitterness saying, “Oh father, Bless me, also!” Isaac, replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken your blessing.”  Esau exclaims, “Of Course his name is Jacob? For he has cheated me twice! He took my birthright and now he has taken my blessing! Do you not have any blessings for me father?” Heartbroken, Isaac replies, “I have made your brother lord over you, I have given him the authority over all his brothers and with wine and grain I have sustained him. What then do I have left for you, my son?” Still crying, Esau asks, “Have you but one blessing my father? Bless me! Please!”  Then Isaac answered, “Away from the fatness of earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live and shall serve your brother, but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.” 

Now, Esau hated Jacob because he had stolen the blessing from their father, and Esau promised himself that after the death of his father, he would kill Jacob. However, word of Esau’s plan got back to Rebekah so she sent Jacob away to her brother Laban’s house in Haran, to stay until Esau’s anger subsided. Rebekah then told Isaac, “We cannot let Jacob marry a Hittite woman, around whom we are living, but find a wife from my son, from my family.” Isaac calls in Jacob and tells him, to go find a wife for himself from Laban, his uncle. Isaac sends off Jacob with this blessing, the one that has been handed down for generations: “May El Shaddai, God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. My he give the blessings of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojourning’s that God gave to Abraham!”

Thus, Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Haran, and stayed with Laban, his uncle. And that is where our story for today ends. With brothers at war with one another, fleeing for their life, because of the deception of Jacob. But don’t worry next time we will discover how Jacob gets burned by the birthright he deceptively stole. 

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What a great story! If you grew up in church you probably have heard this story a few times, or at least parts of this story a few times. As we dig into this story, I am adding in some segments to help guide us through the context of this story. Together we will dive into the Location, a few highlighted Points, and I am going to share with you a few Questions I had while reading and preparing this story. So let’s dig in! Starting with a Location Breakdown. 

LOCATION: WHERE ARE WE? 

Our story today starts in Beer-lah-roi and then moves to Beersheba. But to understand why Isaac and Rebecca decided to move and settle in Beersheba, we have to read Genesis 26. 

As Newlyweds, Isaac and Rebekah lived in Beer-lahi-roi. If you recall, Beer-lahi-roi means “The Well of the Living One who Sees Me.” This was the place that Hagar named after God met her and told her to go back to Sarah. It is in the Negev and was among the land that Abraham had sojourned. While living in this land, Rebecca becomes pregnant with twins, they grow up here, and Jacob steals the birthright here. But then a famine hits the land, so Isaac picks up his family and moves into Philistine territory. 

Yahweh comes to Isaac and says, “Do not go down to Egypt but stay here as a foreigner in this land.” 

[Historical Fun Fact: Egypt was the natural place to go. Due to the Nile River, Egypt always had food when the rest of the world did not. It was not uncommon for foreigners to come down to Egypt to find food to survive the famine in their home countries.] 

So, Isaac remained in Philistine Territory. And Yahweh was with Isaac. He blessed him and his family. That year, Isaac planted seeds and his harvest was 100 times more than what he had planted, and he became a very rich man. So rich, that the locals became very jealous of Isaac. So, they started finding ways to sabotage him. By filling his wells with dirt, and claiming they had ownership of new wells that he dug. The Philistine King then told Isaac he had to move, he was too powerful and too numerous to stay in the land. 

So, once again, Isaac picked up his family and moved to Beersheba. And that is where He and Rebecca would live out the rest of their days. And it is here that Isaac is deceived by Jacob and Esau robbed of the family Blessing. 

Beersheba will become very prominent in the story of Israel moving forward, because the city of Beersheba will become the southern border of Israel. 

MAIN POINTS

Our next segment is Main points. There are four main points that I think are interesting and help shape the context of this story. We are going to take a closer look at them in this new segment called, Main Points.  I will list them first and then we will go through them one by one. 

1.    Isaac and Rebecca Baren, theme of waiting

2.    Two Nations in Rebekah’s Womb (Israel and Edom) 

3.    Birthright-What is it? And why is it Important?

4.    Blessings-What is it? And why is it Important?

Number One: Isaac and Rebecca are baren, and again we see this theme of Waiting! I don’t know that I have ever noticed how often and long people in ancient times had to wait for something. Like I knew that David had to wait to be King and I knew that the nation of Israel had to wait to get out of bondage in Egypt, and how all who believe in Yahweh were waiting for the Messiah. But as we have been going through this, the theme of waiting, and waiting for many years is shining through. 

First off, Isaac was 40 years old when he and Rebekah were married. FORTY! Which is a lot older than the norm. As we discussed last time men were often in their early twenties when they married a woman in her teens. But to be an unmarried man at forty in the Bible is quite unheard of. But the waiting doesn’t stop there. Once he and Rebekah are married, it is another TWENTY years before they have children.  20 more years! They tried and tried and tried to have a child and they were unable to do so. No wonder Rebekah was worried when they were struggling against one another in her womb. In this time, there was no modern medicine, no ultrasound machines…They had no way to check if the baby or babies were okay. It is truly a testament to their faithfulness to Yahweh. Believing that he really will come through for them, even if it takes 20 years to see it happen. 

NUMBER TWO: Two Nations in Rebecca’s Womb. Yahweh Answered Rebekah’s prayer and told her “she has two nations in her womb. One will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger.” In doing so he prophecies the rest of the story, because there were indeed 2 boys in her womb who grow up to be two different nations, Jacob became the Nation of Israel and Esau became the nation of Edom, which live at war with one another. Jacob gets the blessing and Esau does indeed serve Jacob. Now you may be asking the question how does Jacob and Esau become Israel and Edom? And that is a good question. We will find out later that Jacob’s name is changed to Israel after he wrestles with God in Genesis 35. As for Esau, he was sometimes called Edom because Edom means “Red” Which could be referring to the color of his hair or some even say it is reference to the red lentil stew that he traded his birthright for. But in any case, his nickname stuck and his descendants are referred to as the nation of Edom today. 

NUMBER THREE: The Birthright. The Birthright is the right naturally given to the first-born son as heir to his father’s name, status, and fortune. After the father’s death, the firstborn son would receive the right as Patriarch of the family. He would take over the Beth-Av and be responsible for the welfare of his mother and younger siblings. He would also have the responsibility of taking over the family business, managing his father’s land, arranging the marriages of his sisters, leading the family in religious customs, and most importantly the legacy of his father’s name. 

So, when Esau comes in from the field and asks Jacob for a bowl of Lentil stew, and Jacob says, “sell me your birthright and I’ll give you some”, this is what Esau is giving up. Therefore, it begs the question, why? Why would Esau give up everything, his entire future for a bowl of stew? That seems so trivial in the grand scheme of things. Like how hungry do you have to be to throw away or trade away your rightful place in the family? 

Well, that is a fair question, and there are many differing opinions on the matter. Some have argued that Esau was willing to give up his birthright because he was “Exhausted.” This word in Hebrew is “ah-yeep” which means exertion and hunger. But this term is almost solely used to describe battle, or hunting. 

Now we have to remember that Esau was a man of the field. He hunted game and spent most of his time outdoors. So, when he comes into the house, he is feeling the kind of exhaustion after a long battle. He has used a lot of energy and has not eaten much. So, when he comes in and says to Jacob, “Hey brother, give me some stew.” He is STARVING! All he wants to do is eat and go to sleep. I have been there, Maybe you have too. 

But when he walks into the house he has a run-in with his cunning brother. Jacob sees the weakness in Esau’s exhaustion and uses it to exploit his brother, and gain the birthright. Esau would trade anything for food at this point. He has no energy to put up a fight against Jacob, so he swears to trade the only thing of value he possessed in order to eat the stew. 

Today, in 2021 if parents of siblings fighting over something big like let’s say a new car, and the boys made a lopsided deal, where the older brother would trade his car to the younger brother for a bowl of cereal. The parents would step in and reverse the trade. No way that kind of deal would stand. But in the Ancient Near East, when two people swear an oath, that verbal oath is a strong as a covenant and cannot be reversed or broken. So, Esau had to live with the choice he made, to sell his Birthright for a bowl of stew. 

NUMBER FOUR: Blessings

Now Blessings are separate from the Birthright, though they work hand in hand. As we just discussed the Birthright had to do with passing down legacy of a father to their oldest son. But the Blessing is about the physical well-being as well as the seal of the birthright for the oldest son. But to understand the weight of the blessing, we first have to know what Blessings and Curses meant to the Ancient World. Blessings were considered to be given to someone who received full favor of the gods. So, the gods would bless someone with land, wealth, descendants, status, and religious favor. 

Whereas Curses were seen as given to someone who received full judgement from the gods. So, someone who had gone against the gods, or hurt the gods or the gods’ image in some way. Perhaps they were caught manipulating the gods or offended the gods somehow. This person or group of people would be cursed to live in deserted places, they would be barren, and they would lack wealth for the rest of their days. So, blessings being passed down from patriarch to patriarch was a big deal! It would officially name the son the new patriarch of the family.

Blessings were all or nothing, and like oaths they were binding. So, once they were made they could not be undone. They could, however, be divided among all the siblings, like Israel did with his 12 sons in Genesis 49. But even then, the oldest received the highest blessing.

            So, when Esau comes in after Isaac had fully blessed Jacob there was nothing left for Esau. So, what does Isaac do? He says the opposite of everything he just said to Jacob. Which makes Esau’s “Blessing” look more like a curse. It does make us as the reader feel for Esau, but also it makes us feel for Isaac. He was deceived, and now his favorite son comes in and he has nothing left to offer him. The pain of a Father knowing anything he says now will never measure up to the blessing he could have given. And this act of blessing Jacob over Esau will cause a rift between the brothers for many generations. 

QUESTIONS: 

Okay, so now I want to go through some questions I had while preparing. Maybe you had some of the same questions. Hopefully we can answer them together. 

1.    Why does Isaac and Rebekah have favorites? 

This one is a little difficult to answer, but I think it comes down to human nature, and who shares your interest. Esau was a man’s man, he was outdoors-y, he hunted, he protected the home and Isaac loved him. But Jacob, was softer, he liked to stay near the tents. He liked to cook and help his mom with things around the camp. And because of all the time Rebekah and Jacob spent together they built this bond, that She and Esau didn’t have. Likewise Isaac and Esau had a bond that Isaac and Jacob never shared. 

2.    Why is Jacob making stew in the first place? Is this a normal meal for them to be making? 

Typically, lentil stew or bean stew was made for the family or family members of someone who has died. Today we would bring casseroles or fried chicken or spaghetti, or something that would be easy to cook. In Jewish tradition it is customary to serve round foods like lentils to symbolize the circle of life. Lentils were vital to the Ancient Jewish’s diet; it was thought that bread was the staff of life, but lentils were the pulse. So, Jacob was making stew for his family after the death of his grandfather Abraham. 

3.    Can the Birthright be transferred? 

Technically yes, there was never a law stating the Birthright would go to the oldest son. It was more of an unwritten rule. But there are a few cases where the birthright was given to another. Like in the case of Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, David over his seven brothers. So, yes it could be given to someone else if the oldest was unfit to receive the birthright. 

4.    Why Jacob uses the phrase, “The LORD your God”

This answer goes back to the understanding of a “Personal God”. Where a god would only speak to one person. No one else could claim that god as their own because he was not their personal god. So, at this point Yahweh is Isaac’s personal God, and Jacob doesn’t have a personal claim to Yahweh. So, when speaking to his father Isaac he says, Yahweh YOUR God. Because Yahweh was quite litereally Isaac’s personal God. 

5.    Why does Rebekah suggest deceiving Isaac?

There are some great debates over this question. Because it feels wrong to have God’s plan include deception. But, as we said with the Birthright, that it could be transferred if the oldest was unfit to take over the Beth-av, giving the Blessing to the son who could sustain the family line is logical. So, though scholars agree that Jacob was the rightful heir to the Blessing, they are divided on how Rebekah went about it. 

On one hand, some feel that Rebekah was right to step in and trick Isaac into giving the blessing to Jacob, because she saw the tendency in Isaac to give it to his favorite son, instead of the rightful or sustainable heir. 

Whereas other scholars think that Rebekah was overstepping God in this situation. Much like Sarah had, in taking matters into her own hands, because she was afraid 

that God wasn’t going to come through. 

Those were my questions, maybe some of them were yours too. If you have questions about the stories, I am telling feel free to ask on the Facebook Page or DM me on Facebook or Instagram at OurAncientFutureStory. I would love to hear from you. And maybe answer your question on the Podcast! 

POINTS TO JESUS

Our last segment is called “Point to Jesus”. As we have discussed in previous episodes, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament, Through covenants, prophecies, and the law. So, each time we meet together we will discuss how our story points to Jesus. 

Our story today is about two brothers, Jacob and Esau. Jacob name will later be changed to Israel. Israel’s descendants become the Nation of Israel. Judah, the 4th son of Israel, is the patriarch of Jesus’ family Tree. And 39 generations later according to Matthew chapter 1, Jesus the Messiah as born. 

READ THE PASSAGE

Before we go, I want to close our time together by reading the scripture from which our story comes from today in Genesis 25 and 27 . I hope that as you listen to these chapter being read that you will embrace all that we have learned, and that this passage will be illuminated for you. Let’s Read.

This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel. Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. he babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. he boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. )

Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

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

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.” 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,

Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘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.’  Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:

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.

Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin.

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.”

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

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. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?” 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.” Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God gave me success,” he replied. 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.”

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.”

He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him.  “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied.

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. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

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.

May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. 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.”

After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.

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.” His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.” 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!”  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!”

But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

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?” 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?” Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud. His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.

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.”

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.” 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. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 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?” 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.”

Thank you for listening to today’s episode of Our Ancient Future Story, I hope that you really enjoyed it! This episode was written and produced by Vic Harmon. Executive Produced by Amanda Gilliam. Music is Embarking on Adventure by Evan MacDonald. Please Subport the show by subscribing and Rating us. And Be sure follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ourancientfuturestory.

See you next time! Bye!