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The name of this week’s parasha is Toldot, which means “generations” and covers Genesis 25:19-28:9. Isaac prayed to Adonai for his wife Rebecca to bear children and he got a two-for-one deal! During Rebecca’s pregnancy, the children struggled inside her and she asked the Lord why. God told her that two nations were inside her; one stronger than the other and that the older child will serve the younger. Rebecca gave birth to twin boys and named the firstborn Esau, because of his red and hairy appearance. The second son was named Jacob, because he grasped Esau’s heel as he was born.
As the boys grew up, Esau was an avid hunter, while Jacob was a quiet man who dwelled in tents. Isaac preferred Esau because he enjoyed the meat Esau hunted, but Rebecca preferred Jacob. One day, after returning from hunting, exhausted and hungry, Esau asked Jacob for some of the stew he was cooking. Jacob offered to give him stew in exchange for his birthright. Esau agreed, thereby transferring his birthright to Jacob.
In chapter 26, a famine forced Isaac to travel to Philistia. While there, Adonai told him to remain and not go into Egypt, and that Adonai would bless Isaac according to the oath He swore earlier to Abraham. During his stay with the Philistines, God prospered Isaac with so many animals and servants that the Philistines became jealous and fearful of him and King Abimelech told him to leave. Isaac returned to the valley of Gerar and re-dug the wells dug by Abraham’s servants that the Philistines had closed up after Abraham’s death.
After repeated quarreling with the herdsmen of Gerar over wells that his servants dug, Isaac dug another well that was uncontested by these herdsmen, and named it Rehoboth, or ‘broad places’, thankful that Adonai made room for him and those with him, knowing they would prosper.
Abimelech, after realizing that God was prospering Isaac, came to see him, along with his advisor and military commander, and offered to make a covenant of peace. Isaac made them a feast and they swore oaths of peace with him the next morning before leaving. Isaac’s servants dug another well, which he named Shivah, or ‘oath’.
We are told at the end of the chapter that Esau married two Hittite women, and they caused his parents grief.
Chapter 27 describes Isaac as nearing the end of his life and now blind. He asked Esau to hunt some wild game for him, so that he would bless Esau before he died. Rebecca overheard this, and, wanting Jacob to have that blessing, told Jacob to fetch two young goats that she would prepare so that Isaac would bless Jacob. Jacob feared that this deception might cause Isaac to curse him, since he was smooth-skinned and Esau was hairy. Rebecca replied that she would take the curse, and Jacob did as she asked. She prepared the food, dressed Jacob in Esau’s clothes and placed goat skins on his arms and neck.
Jacob took the food to Isaac and identified himself as Esau when Isaac asked who he was. Isaac asked to feel Jacob to see if he was Esau or not and Jacob obeyed. However, Isaac wasn’t sure, because it was Jacob’s voice he heard, yet he felt like Esau. Satisfied that it was Esau, Isaac allowed him to present the food. After Isaac ate, he asked Jacob to kiss him and when he did, Isaac smelled the clothes and identified an outdoor smell. Isaac blessed Jacob with material blessings, authority over other nations and his relatives, and repeated Adonai’s promise to Abraham, that He would curse those who curse him, and bless those who bless him.
No sooner did Jacob leave than Esau arrived, bringing Isaac the food that he had hunted, and asked for a blessing. Isaac asked who he was and when Esau replied that he was Esau, Isaac was shocked and said that he had blessed someone else. Esau also begged for a blessing, but Isaac said Jacob had taken his blessing. Esau bitterly replied that Jacob’s deception fit his name. Isaac prophesied that Esau’s life would be impoverished, violent and separate from his brother.
Esau plotted to kill Jacob after Isaac’s death, but Rebecca learned of Esau’s plan and told Jacob to go live temporarily with her brother Laban. Meanwhile, Rebecca told Isaac of the irritation Esau’s Hittite wives caused her, so Isaac instructed Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman, but instead to marry one of Laban’s daughters. Jacob left to live with Laban and the parasha ends with Esau marrying an Ishmaelite woman.
Parasha Toldot assures us that Adonai accomplishes His will, even when it defies convention. A similar situation occurs in Genesis 48, where Ephraim was given preeminence over his older brother Manasseh. Though these reversal blessings were in contrast to the normal practice of that time, they were done according to Adonai’s plan and purpose.
There was no need for Jacob to deceive his father. Yes, he received the blessing of the firstborn instead of Esau – but at what cost? Estrangement from his brother, and separation from the family. He would never see his mother again! Had Jacob chosen to wait on the Lord’s timing, he would have eventually received what Adonai intended to give him without using any trickery or deception.
However, we also learn that Adonai loved and gave preference to Jacob over Esau in Malachi 1 and Romans 9. Despite his shortcomings, Jacob eventually obeyed Adonai and became part of His plan to bring salvation to those who accept Yeshua as Lord and Savior, since Messiah Yeshua came through the descendants of Jacob’s son Judah! So don’t let your past define you, but make the needed changes in your life ASAP to serve Adonai through faith in Yeshua!