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The p’rasha
for this week is entitled Tol’dot, which means
“generations” because the passage begins, v’eileh
tol’dot - Now these are the generations. There
are nine passages in Genesis that begin this way
- but this is the only one of the weekly readings
in the Torah that bears the name Tol’dot.
Why is that? I suggest it is because this particular
genealogy follows the line of Isaac, rather than
Ishmael, which is the direction the Scriptures
are wanting us to go. Remember, we are following
an increasingly selective lineage that will eventually
lead us from Adam to Noah to Abraham to David,
and ultimately to a specific descendant
of David - Yeshua the Messiah.
Isaac
and Rebekah are happily married, but have now
gone twenty years unable to bear children. Does
this mean Rebekah was inconceivable? Impregnable?
Unbearable? No - it means that God is the Eternal
Sovereign with the prerogative to open or close
the womb. Maybe it’s a good thing in-vitro fertilization
was not available in those days. There is a lesson
here. Isaac prayed for his wife, he relied upon
God, and God was moved by his prayers and allowed
her to conceive - twins, no less! Now if you think
you’ve got problems with your little darlings
fighting at home - let me tell you these two were
fighting before they were born! But more on that
in a minute.
In chapter
26 God reconfirms to Isaac (not Ishmael) the promises
He had made to Abraham. That covenant promise
included descendants as numerous as the stars,
possession of the entire land of Canaan in perpetuity,
and the blessing that would flow from him to all
the nations of the earth. What is especially interesting
is the basis for this promise: God says He will
do these things because Abraham obeyed Me and
kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and
My laws (26:5). We know about Abraham keeping
God’s charge and obeying His commands, but the
mention of statutes and laws is interesting, given
the fact that the Torah would not be revealed
for another 400+ years! Abraham’s faith was evidenced
in his obeying God in everything: when God summoned
him out of Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham obeyed.
When God commanded him to be circumcised and circumcise
the males in his household, Abraham obeyed. But
it was in believing God’s promise (chapter 15)
that Abraham was declared righteous by God. This
is a reminder that the righteous have always lived
by faith, and that faith produces visible evidence.
We also
read in these chapters of Isaac moving the family
to Philistia for a time on account of a famine.
Instead of trusting God to protect them, Isaac
lies to the locals, saying that Rebekah was his
sister rather than his wife, and Abimelech the
king rebukes him for it, but commands everyone
there to leave him alone. While sojourning there
Isaac becomes very prosperous and powerful, and
eventually the king asks him, out of fear, to
leave. Later Isaac and Abimelech pledge peace
to each other. Isaac then brings the family to
Be’er Sheva, where they will settle.
But back
to the twins. Rebekah naturally wants to know
why all the commotion in her womb and inquires
of God, who declares to her that not merely two
children, but two nations, rivals, were present
in her womb, and God specifically says that the
older will serve the younger. When the twins were
born, the first one out was all red and hairy,
and he was named Eisav (Esau). The next
one wasn’t far behind. In fact, he came out immediately
after, clutching to the heel of his older brother,
and for that reason, he was named Ya’akov
(Jacob) - the one who follows closely.
We’re
told that as they grew up, they also grew apart.
Jacob was a peaceful, tent-dweller and Esau the
rough-and-tumble “when does hunting season start?”
kind of guy. But their differences went much deeper;
and it began with parental favoritism. Isaac loved
Esau and Rebekah loved Jacob. Maybe it was God’s
promise that the younger would have preeminence
that drew her to Jacob more than to Esau, but
whatever the cause, the seeds of sibling rivalry
were sown early.
But these
two men clearly made their own choices.
Jacob
treasured the idea of the birthright, and of spiritual
headship, but didn’t trust God to bring
it about, resorting instead to deceit and manipulation
to be certain he got what he wanted. Esau couldn’t
be bothered about spiritual responsibilities until
after lunch. Thus we have in this p’rasha
the lentil stew incident: Esau trading Jacob his
rights as a firstborn for a bowl of soup. Then,
in Genesis 27 we have the great deception. The
elderly and now blind patriarch Isaac, either
unaware or, more likely, heedless of the prophecy
God had given about the younger being given the
inheritance, sends Esau out to hunt game and cook
him a delicious dinner so he can give him the
blessing before he dies. Rebekah overhears this
and conspires with Jacob to go in and present
a prepared meat dish for his father and receive
the blessing before Esau could get back. He lies
several times to his father Isaac, who is suspicious
that something isn’t right, but goes along
with it, eating and drinking and then pronouncing
the all-important patriarchal blessing.
Jacob
stole the blessing - or did he? Hadn’t God
foretold that he would be the heir in spite of
not being the first-born? Hadn’t Esau sold
him that birthright? So how can you steal what
is yours by right? You can’t. But let’s
not play down the fact that Jacob lied repeatedly,
and took what Isaac wasn’t planning to give
him. This has provoked many spirited discussions
over the centuries. We learn a painful lesson
here about what happens when we fail to trust
God to bring about what He promises, and take
matters into our own hands. When Esau returned,
only to find out that Jacob had tricked his way
into receiving the blessing, he became furious,
and planned to kill him. Jacob had to be sent
away for his own protection. Rebekah thought it
would only be for a few days, until Esau calmed
down. She was wrong. She would never see Jacob
again.
Esau,
for his part, had years earlier caused his parents
consternation by marrying Hittite women. To his
credit, despite his anger, when he hears of his
father’s disapproval of marriage with Canaanite
women, Esau takes his next wife from his uncle,
Ishmael. But Esau will eventually fade from the
scene, as the focus again selectively turns to
Jacob and his descendants, though Esau’s
descendants will become the Edomite nation.
There
is one other important issue that emerges from
these chapters; namely, the binding nature of
a verbal oath. Esau swore an oath to give his
birthright to Jacob, but when the day came for
their father Isaac to pass on that mantle, Esau
intended to take it anyway; And again when Isaac
pronounced his prophetic blessing over Jacob,
it was final, much to Esau’s dismay. An
oath is a serious matter! But we who follow Yeshua
are called to an even higher standard. We are
to be so reliable to our word as to negate even
the need of oaths. Our “yes” must
be yes, and our “no” no. That is what
Yeshua commanded. Our conduct will bring either
glory or disgrace to His Name.
Shalom,
Rabbi Glenn
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