Jacob part 2 God has loved Jacob and hated Esau before they were even born by Victor Torres Last time, we saw how Jacob tricked Isaac to get his father's blessings. Gen 27:21 (ESV) Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not." Gen 27:22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." Gen 27:23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him. We also saw last time, that this is what God had intended all along. There was really no chance that Esau would get the blessings intended for the firstborn. Rom 9:11 (MKJV) (for the children had not yet been born, neither had done any good or evil; but that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who called,) Rom 9:12 it was said to her, "The elder shall serve the younger." Rom 9:13 As it is written, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." The verses above are just some of the writings of the apostle Paul that people have a hard time to understand or believe. How could God love or hate people even before they were even born? How could he choose someone over another before they have even done anything? Verses like these seem to tell us that there is no free will. But the religions of this world teach that we do have free will, and out of that free will we either do good or evil. Out of that free will we either go to heaven or go to the lake of fire to burn forever. But that is not what the apostle Paul taught and that is not what our Lord taught. Joh 15:16 (ERV) "You did not choose me. I chose you... The truth is, we don't have free will. We are clay in God's hands. He makes us into whatever He wants us to become. The truth is, we are both Jacob and Esau. We are Esau first, the old man. Then after the Lord judges us, we become the new man.
So that's how we understand Paul's writings, and all of the Bible. It is about what God is doing in our life. It's not about God being loving only to some and being hateful to others. God loves all of His creation and He will save all people, specially those who believes. 1Ti 4:10 (ESV) For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. Let's continue the story of Jacob and Esau: Gen 27:26 (GNB) Then his father said to him, "Come closer and kiss me, son." Gen 27:27 As he came up to kiss him, Isaac smelled his clothes---so he gave him his blessing. He said, "The pleasant smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed. Gen 27:28 May God give you dew from heaven and make your fields fertile! May he give you plenty of grain and wine! So those are the blessings that Jacob got from His father. The dew from heaven is God's words that makes us produce good fruit. Here is what the holy spirit produces in our life: Gal 5:22 (ESV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. If Jesus Christ is in your life, you will have all of the above. As another teacher puts it, it is one package deal. You cannot have love and joy but not have peace and patience at the same time. The blessings of God comes in one package deal. And this one package deal includes rulership to those who are chosen, the elect of God. Gen 27:29 (GNB) May nations be your servants, and may peoples bow down before you. May you rule over all your relatives, and may your mother's descendants bow down before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed." This rulership is given only to those who obey Him until the end: Rev 2:26 (CEV) I will give power over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and keeps on obeying me until the end.
Rev 2:27 I will give each of them the same power that my Father has given me. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash those nations to pieces like clay pots... The elect will be feared by all nations of the earth! This is because Christ will give them the power that God has given Him. Let's continue the story: Gen 27:30 (ERV) Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. Gen 27:31 Esau prepared the food in the special way his father loved. He brought it to his father and said, "Father, I am your son. Get up and eat the meat from the animals that I killed for you. Then you can bless me." Gen 27:32 But Isaac said to him, "Who are you?" He answered, "I am your son--your first son--esau." Gen 27:33 Then Isaac became so upset that he began to shake. He said, "Then who was it that cooked and brought me food before you came? I ate it all, and I blessed him. Now it is too late to take back my blessing." This reaction from Isaac tells us that he didn't know Esau has already sold his birthright (which includes the blessings) to Jacob for a bowl of soup. Gen 27:34 (MKJV) And when Esau heard the voice of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me, me also, O my father! Gen 27:35And he said, Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing. Gen 27:36 And he said, It is because his name is called Jacob? For he has supplanted [replaced] me these two times: he took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me? At first glance, the verse above seems to say that there is a difference between the birthright and the blessing. But as we saw before that, the blessings include rulership and those who will rule the world are the same ones given the spiritual blessings. So what is God trying to show us in these events? Why didn't Jacob just tell his father that Esau sold him his birthright? Why did he have to trick his father in giving him the blessings? This is a parable, a story with hidden lessons in it.
One of the hidden lessons is that the blessings come from the Father. Of course we cannot trick God in giving us His blessings. This is just one way that He hid this truth in the story of Jacob and Esau. Eph 1:3 (MKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ; The Father has chosen to give these blessings to Christ and those who are in Him even before He has created the world. Eph 1:4 (MKJV) according as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, [He chose us to be what?] that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, Rom 8:29 (ERV) God knew them before he made the world. And he decided [before he made the world] that they would be like his Son. Then Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. The birthright or blessings belong to Jesus Christ, the true firstborn of God. Col 1:15 creature: (KJV) Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every The Father knows that there will be people who will twist this teaching and will say that Jesus Christ did not exist before Adam, so He inspired the apostle Paul to write these next verses: Col 1:16 (KJV) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Let's continue the story: Gen 27:37 (MKJV) And Isaac answered and said to Esau, Behold! I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given him for servants. And with grain and wine I have supported him. And what shall I do now to you, my son? Gen 27:38 And Esau said to his father, Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Gen 27:39 And Isaac his father answered and said to him, Behold! Your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above.
This blessing that Esau got from his father has a negative meaning. The fatness of the earth and the dew of heaven, in this case, are symbols of the wonderful works that we do according to our self-righteousness and not according to God's righteousness. Gen 27:40 (MKJV) And by your sword you shall live, and shall serve your brother. And it shall be when you shall have the dominion [rulership over your own flesh], you shall break his yoke from off your neck. The rulership of the elect over the whole world will end after the thousand years (millennium) and after every man, woman and child has come out of the lake of fire purified like the elect. Gen 27:41 (MKJV) And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob. Esau hated Jacob for he doesn't understand that this is the will of God which He revealed to their mother Rebekah: Gen 25:23 (ESV) And the LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger." Esau is now planning to kill Jacob, but God always work out a way to keep His promises. Gen 27:41 (ERV) After that Esau hated Jacob because of this blessing. Esau said to himself, "My father will soon die, and after we are finished with that, I will kill Jacob." Gen 27:42 Rebekah heard about Esau's plan to kill Jacob. She sent for Jacob and said to him, "Listen, your brother Esau is planning to kill you. Gen 27:43 So, son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him and hide. Gen 27:44 Stay with him for a short time until your brother stops being angry. Gen 27:45 When your brother forgets what you did to him, I will send a servant to bring you back. I don't want to lose both of my sons the same day." Gen 27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "Your son Esau married Hittite women. I am very upset about this, because they are not our people. I'll have nothing to live for if Jacob marries one of these women!"