Rebekah – Part three

Rebekah was a woman who knew what she wanted and was very businesslike in the pursuit of her goals.

As the mother of Esau and Jacob, she carried in her mind the prophecy of the angel at their birth and, in her businesslike manner, went about ensuring that the prophecy was fulfilled. Like her mother-in-law, Sarah, she overlooked the fact that this was God’s purpose and that He would bring it to pass. Our part is to worship Him and follow His commands; He will take care of His part of His promises.

Rebekah causes grievous trouble

It seems that upon observing Isaac’s preference for Esau, Rebekah decided to take matters into her own hands. In her characteristically diligent manner, she made sure she was listening when Isaac spoke of impor­tant matters to Esau. When one day she heard of Isaac’s intent to bless Esau, she began plotting to deceive her husband. In doing so, Rebekah was setting a bad example for the whole family and was pursuing a course that was bound to cause trouble. Far better to confront the problem directly.

We can imagine the turmoil into which this family was thrown by Rebekah’s plot. Jacob, even though he got the blessing, could not have felt good about himself having deceived his aging and blind father. Isaac, having realized Rebekah and Jacob teamed up to deceive him, would have been disappointed and greatly saddened. Esau was very bitter and angry to the point of threatening to murder Jacob.

Rebekah loses Jacob

Rebekah had no alternative but to persuade Isaac to send Jacob away. In so doing, she sent her favorite son into a life of hardship he never would have experienced in his parent’s home. And from what we can tell, Rebekah never saw her beloved son again.

The deception was not necessary

By carefully reading Genesis 28:3­,4 we see an interesting point: In blessing Jacob and Esau in the earlier incident, Isaac did not give the blessing of the land to either one of them. This was not done until Jacob was about to leave home. Perhaps Rebekah’s plotting was not necessary after all.

Isaac said to Jacob: “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful…and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham” (Gen. 28:3-4).

Evidently Rebekah had misread the intent of Isaac who “by faith blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come” (Heb. 11:20). Since Isaac withheld from Jacob (whom he thought was Esau) and from Esau the vital blessing, it would appear that Isaac was all along reserving the most important blessing for Jacob. As Hebrews says, his faith was right.

Rebekah’s concern for a right marriage

Both Isaac and Rebekah knew of Abraham’s great concern for not marrying the daughters of the land and the lengths he went to avoid this. It is to Rebekah’s good account that this is the point of her argument to Isaac persuading him to send Jacob away. In all of this we see how a woman can have great influence upon her household.