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of Isaac and Rebekah had remained unblessed with children, to indicate that here also
the heir to the promises must be a gift from God granted to expectant faith. At last
Jehovah listened to Isaac's "entreaty," "for his wife," or rather, literally, "over against
his wife," for, as Luther strikingly remarks: "When I pray for any one, I place him
right in view of my heart, and neither see nor think of anything else, but look at him
alone with my soul;" and this is true of all intercessory prayer. Rebekah was now to
become the mother of twin sons.
But even before their birth a sign occurred which distressed her, and induced her "to
inquire of Jehovah" its meaning, though we know not in what precise manner she did
this. The answer of God indicated this at least quite clearly, that of her children "the
elder shall serve the younger;" that is, that, contrary to all usual expectation, the
firstborn should not possess the birthright which the Divine promise had conveyed to
the family of Abraham. The substitution of the younger for the elder son was indeed
in accordance with God's previous dealings, but it seemed strange where the two
were sons of the same parents. It is not only reasonable, but quite necessary for the
understanding of the subsequent history, to believe that Rebekah communicated the
result of her inquiry to her husband, and that afterwards both Esau and Jacob were
also made acquainted with the fact.
This alone fully accounts for the conduct of Jacob and of his mother in seeking to
appropriate the birthright, contrary to what would otherwise have been the natural
arrangement. When the two children were born, the red and hairy appearance of the
elder procured for him the name of Esau, or "hairy;" while the younger was called
Jacob, or he "who takes hold by the heel," because "his hand took hold by Esau's
heel" - a name which afterwards was adapted to mean "a supplanter,"(Genesis 27:36)
since he who takes hold by the heel "trips up" the other.
The appearance of the children did not belie their character when they grew up. The
wild disposition of Esau, which found occupation in the roaming life of a hunter,
reminds us of Ishmael; while Jacob, gentle and domestic, sought his pleasures at
home. As is so often the case, Isaac and Rebekah made favorites of the sons who had
the opposite of their own disposition. The quiet, retiring Isaac preferred his bold,
daring, strong, roaming elder son; while Rebekah, who was naturally energetic, felt
chiefly drawn to her gentle son Jacob. Yet at bottom Esau also was weak and easily
depressed, as appeared in his tears and impotent reproaches when he found himself
really deprived of the blessing; while Jacob, too, like his mother, impetuous, was ever
ready to take matters into his own hands. We repeat it, that all parties must at the time
have been aware that, even before the birth of the children, the word of God had
designated Jacob as heir of the promises. But Isaac's preference for Esau made him
reluctant to fall in with the Divine arrangement; while the impetuosity of Rebekah
and of Jacob prompted them to bring about in their own way the fulfillment of God's
(^)