Genesis 25:19-28:9, Toldot, Generations
At the same time, when I think about “generations” I think about all those things that pictures do not capture. It is amazing how children repeat the patterns of our parents, how we struggle with the same things, and how we tend to be strong in the same areas of strength. From this we get the phrase that an “apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree the produced it”. At the same time, there are those that are different, who just don’t seem to fit in, and who seem to have fallen from a tree totally unlike the parents from whom they came.
This week’s Torah portion covers all of this and so much more. In this parsha we find Isaac repeating the same pattern as his father Abraham in telling Abimelech that Rebekah, his wife, was merely his sister. Not only does he tell the same king the same lie, he does it for the same reasons; he was fearful that if he told them she was his wife, they would kill him. In the same way that God used Abraham’s fear and trusting in his own ways to bless him, so too does God bless Isaac when he makes the same mistakes.
Interestingly, Rebekah was barren just like Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren. Ultimately, just like Sarah, God intervened and Rebekah became pregnant. In this, and in so many other ways, we can see how in spite of Isaac’s flaws, just like Abraham, God was with Him. Several times, through the course of the reading, we are reminded of that relationship. For me, this is what this parsha really comes down to and from a spiritual perspective, what I think about when I think of “generations”.
So often we believe that we need to make the right decisions, do the right things, say the right things, and make all the right moves. It is so easy to believe that if we mess up and do something wrong, everything is going to fall apart and the end result will be a catastrophe. What we see in this parsha is something very different. What we see in Abraham’s life, and in what gets extended into Isaac’s is a pattern of action/reaction that simply does not make sense. It is a pattern of action/reaction this is founded on the divine intervention of God and not simply based on the patterns of life that we would tend to see and expect.
As we continue reading in this week’s study, we find that God tells Rebekah that the younger of the two sons will be the one to rule over the older of the two. Later we come to learn a little about the two boys. The older is a manly man by today’s standards. He is the kind of boy most fathers would tend to favor, you know the athlete, the one who knows how to hunt, fish, play football, throw a baseball, and work on cars. At the same time, the younger son, by today’s standards, is one of those kids that just doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the boys. He is the one who hangs out inside all the time. He cooks, and reads, and hangs out with the girls. When it comes to hunting, fishing, and the “guy” stuff, he just falls short.
Just like most parents, Isaac tends to favor the older son while Rebekah tends to favor the younger. Their names are Esau and Jacob. As the story unfolds, we read about Jacob taking advantage of Esau’s hunger and using the moment to barter the birthright away from him. In this we see Esau’s lack of spirituality and/or appreciation of the birthright. A little later in the story we find Esau taking on two Hitite women as wives.
When I think of “birthright” I tend to think of the double portion of the family inheritance and all the blessings that come with being the “favored” son. As I read how Esau’s selection of wives brought grief to Rebekah and Isaac, I started to see something different. I started thinking about the responsibility that comes with the one who is to be “favored”. Ultimately, it is the son who carries the birth-right, that is also the one who carries the responsibility to ensure the right-births, and to ensure the proper extension of the “generations” and the family name into the future.
In spite of everything Isaac was seeing, he was still set to bless Esau with the blessing due the favored son. The story picks up when Isaac is old and believing he is near death. In this moment, Isaac asks Esau to hunt fresh game and prepare him a meal whereby upon the delivery he would bless him. Rebekah takes the opportunity to convince Jacob to deceive his father, Isaac is deceived, and Jacob gets the blessing of the favored son.
A little bit later Esau returns, Isaac discovers that he has been deceived, Esau becomes very angry, he asks his father to bless him, and Isaac offers Esau a token blessing.
In the heat of all this Rebekah tells Jacob to go to her brother’s land to stay for a time to allow the anger of Esau to subside. But then she adds something very important. In referring to Esau’s Hitite wives, Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?” (Genesis 27:46 NASB).
Following that, Isaac does something that I find very interesting. He extends the blessing that he had already given Jacob under deception with an even greater blessing under full disclosure. It is a blessing that he knew he had to offer and did not extend to Esau. It is given to is in Genesis 28:1-4 as follows.
“So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. "Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. "May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. "May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham." (Genesis 28:1-4 NASB)
In this, not only has Isaac given Jacob the blessing of his own family, but he is passing on the blessings that God made to Abraham.
The parsha ends with Esau seeing all these things take place. He sees his mother speak of the pain his choices have brought into the family dynamic, he sees his father extend this greater blessing to his younger brother, he sees his younger brother accept the directions of his parents, and more importantly, he sees the error of his own ways. He sees that his choice in wives had brought grief to his parents and seeks out what he perceives to be a proper wife from the descendants of Abraham and marries her.
There are so many things that I like about this story. I like how the son who never really got the father’s favor, ultimately got it. I like how the father who never really saw the value in the younger son, finally saw it, and did right by it. I like how the father was able to hear the pain of his wife and understand why she did what she did. I like how the wife had the courage to share her emotions in spite of the risk of being rejected. I like how the older son was finally at least starting to take some responsibility for his own choices and moving beyond a victim mind set. And I like how this is a story of redemption where a highly dysfunctional family made some really good moves and in that process God opened up their eyes and they started seeing things that they had never seen. It is a story that reminds me of the thief on the cross next to Yeshua. In the man’s acceptance of his fate, Yeshua looked at him and said, “today you will be with me in paradise.”
This truly is what it is to be blessed to be chosen by God to be of the “generations” of Abraham. Through accepting Yeshua all those who believe are freely grafted into his “generations” just as those who are of direct descent. It is a family where action/reaction just doesn’t always make sense, where things change in the blink of an eye, and where in the end, God’s will be done. In being a part of the “generations” of Abraham we will not be free of fear, being led by our emotions, or making choices based on the physical principles of this world. But in the end, we will be blessed knowing that He will use all things for good, and that our part is simply growing in humility and always being open to change.
To me this is what this story is all about. It is a story that we can all relate to. It is simply a story of life. Through life things happen. Sometimes we are the victims. Sometime we are the ones taking advantage of others. Ultimately, God’s plan will work its way out, and in the process, we will be given the opportunity to grow, to take responsibility for or own actions, and maybe have the chance to make things right. I pray that when those moments come, we all have the eyes to “see” and the ears to “hear” and that as we see and hear, we ultimately have the strength to do what Isaac did, to do the right thing, to turn back from what we have done in the past, and to do a new thing moving forward. Who knows what might come of it? I bet Isaac and Rebekah were shocked to see Esau’s response and his change of heart.
I pray that this has been a blessing to you and that if you are seeing some things that you need to set “right” that you have the strength to do so. If there are some things to let go of, that you let go. I pray that your generations be blessed, and that your generations are a blessing to you. Amen
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