Jacob Saw a Stairway
with the Angels of God Ascending and Descending
28: 10-22

Jacob saw a stairway with the Angels of God ascending and descending DIG: What is so remarkable in ADONAI’s display of grace? Why does God meet Jacob unsolicited and without criticism?

REFLECT: Do you think God still speaks through dreams? What are the inherent dangers of relying on dreams for guidance? Do you believe, beyond any doubt, that the Lord will care for you?

Parashah 7: vaYetze (He went out) 28:10-32:2
(see my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

The Key People include Jacob, Rachel, Laban, Leah, handmaids and sons. The main character of parashah vaYetze is Jacob. This portion begins as Jacob is busy packing his bags to flee from his angry brother, Esau; and closes with Jacob fleeing again, but this time from his angry father-in-law and uncle, Laban. Amid his journeys, we see Jacob pitted in a battle of wits with his father-in-law Laban in whom there is much guile.

The Scenes include Beersheba, Bethel, Haran, Galeed, and Mahanaim.

The Main Events include Jacob’s escape, his dream of angels ascending and descending on a stairway to heaven, God’s promise of family and land, Jacob’s response to build an altar and tithe, 20 years of work (7 for Leah, 7 for Rachel, and 6 for livestock), 11 sons born to him, livestock increase, dream warning Jacob to return home, a fast getaway while Laban chases, the family gods stolen by Rachel, the covenant between Jacob and Laban at Galeed, and angels greeting Jacob at Mahanaim.

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran with only a staff in his hand (28:10). He had spent most of his life in Beersheba (22:19, 26:33, 28:10). It was five hundred miles to Haran, and even though he probably had a camel or a donkey to ride on, it would take him weeks to get there. Bethel is twelve miles north of Jerusalem and Beersheba, which is thirty miles south of Jerusalem. So Jacob (Hebrew: Ya’akov) covered about forty miles his first day. Wow, he really wanted to get away from Esau in a hurry!

When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. It almost sounds like Jacob reached this certain place by chance. But nothing could be further from the truth. The LORD led him there, whether Ya’akov knew it or not. He called the place, Beit-El or Bethel, which means the house of God. Many years earlier his grandfather Abraham had built an altar to ADONAI there as an act of public worship (12:8). It is twelve hundred feet above sea level in the hills, and it is a bleak and desolate place. Yet this would become the high point in his spiritual life.

Taking one of the stones there, he put it near his head and lay down to sleep (28:11). He didn’t really use it as a pillow; the Hebrew literally reads near his head. The same terminology is used in 1 Samuel 26:7, where Saul fell asleep with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. What do you think Jacob was feeling? He was probably lonely and homesick. As far as we know, this was his first night away from home and Jacob thought he was all alone. How wrong he was. The point of the account is that God was present with him wherever he went, and chose this place to make Himself known to Jacob. The means He used was a stairway.

It was only when he was asleep, needy and helpless, that God revealed Himself.⁴⁵¹ He had a dream in which he saw a stairway (28:12a), asullam, which appears only here in the Hebrew text. Ya’akov trusted the promises of the LORD all his life. He worshiped ADONAI and prayed to Him regularly. But God had never actually appeared and spoken to him as He had to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. But on this night Jacob would meet ADONAI as a theophany, in the form of a dream. A theophany is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. It was obvious that this was no ordinary staircase.

This stairway was resting on the earth, where Jacob was, with its top, literally head, reaching to heaven, where ADONAI was. So the dream pictures Ya’akov having access to heaven. And the angels of God were there with him (28:12b). In the book of Genesis, the phrase, the angels of God, is found in only two places, here and 32:1. What is significant in both instances is the timing. Here, the angels of God are mentioned as Jacob departs from the Land, and in 32:1 they are mentioned again as he is returning to the Land. These angels of God are pictured as ascending and descending on a stairway (28:12c).

Almost two thousand years in the future from Jacob’s day, a devout Israelite named Nathanael was meditating under a fig tree on God’s word. In those days it was impossible for everyone to have a copy of the Scriptures so they spent a lot of time memorizing it, and then meditating on it. The rabbis said that the best place to meditate and receive a blessing from the LORD was under a fig tree. In fact, some rabbis would teach under a fig tree because they said the Scriptures could be better understood there.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said to him: Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false. Nathanael wanted to know how Yeshua knew him. He answered: I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. Then Nathanael said a very curious thing. He said: Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel (Yochanan 1:47-49). Nathanael did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God simply because He knew that he was mediating under a fig tree. Today, if someone said, “I saw in a vision that you were at Temple on Shabbat,” you wouldn’t think he was a prophet, because Temple is where you would expect to find the righteous of the TaNaKh on Shabbat.

So during the time of Christ you would have expected to find a Jew meditating under a fig tree. So what made Nathanael believe in Yeshua? It was the first statement: Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false. Jesus knew the exact chapter Nathanael was meditating on. It was Genesis 28. But if Nathanael was a true Israelite in whom there was nothing false, by implication, who was the Israelite in whom there was much guile (NKJ)? It was Laban, Jacob’s deceitful uncle (28:2-5). How can we be sure Yeshua knew Nathanael was meditating on Genesis 28? Jesus then said: You shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51). This was the exact vision that Jacob had seen in his dream. In other words, Jesus claimed to be the stairway, the only means to get from earth to heaven: For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Yeshua the Messiah (First Timothy 2:5).

Then ADONAI reconfirms the provisions of God’s covenant with Jacob’s grandfather Abraham. There above it stood the LORD, and He said to Ya’akov, “I am ADONAI the God of your father, or descendant, Abraham and the God of Isaac” (28:13a). There were four aspects of the Covenant. First, I will give you, Jacob, and your descendants the land on which you are lying (28:13b). The mere mention of descendants means that Jacob will succeed in finding a wife.

Second, Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south (28:14a). He and his future wife will be very fruitful and will have so many descendants, that they will be as numerous as the dust of the earth. Third, he had the promise of Gentile blessing: All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring (28:14b).

Fourth, there are personal promises to Jacob. ADONAI’s presence: I am with you. El Shaddai’s protection: I will watch over you wherever you go. The LORD’s promise: I will bring you back to this land. And finally, God’s personal commitment: I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you (28:15). Notice that ADONAI did not say anything negative to him at all because Jacob was a righteous man (25:27). If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the fact that He will not leave you until He has done what He has promised you is probably the most precious promise that you can get out of the Bible.

Ya’akov, the man, may not have understood the full implications of his remarkable dream, but he surely could understand that there was communication between man and God, and that the LORD would provide the means by which man could be restored to Him. Personally, he learned that beyond any doubt, ADONAI would care for him and that regardless of future circumstances, El Shaddai would lead him and fulfill all His promises.⁴⁵²

After ADONAI had finished speaking, Jacob awoke from his sleep, although it seemed to him to be much more than an dream. Jacob’s reaction was such that he believed that YHVH had actually appeared and spoken to him. When he ran away from home, he had had a limited view of the LORD. He thought that when he ran away from home, he was running away from God. But he found that he had not left God back home. Jacob exclaimed: Surely ADONAI is in this place, and I was not aware of it (28:16).⁴⁵³ He was afraid in the sense that he started to understand the power of Elohim. Jacob was growing in his faith because the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). He said: How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven (28:17).

This was Jacob’s first encounter with God. His was not a mature faith like Abraham’s, but nonetheless, it was a step in the right direction for Jacob. After all, Abraham had several lapses of faith before he became a mature believer. The LORD had taught him as he matured, and He would do the same with Ya’akov. He does the same with us.

Jacob established several motifs pertaining to Jewish worship here at Bethel. The most notable is the memorial. Early the next morning Ya’akov took the stone he had placed near his head and set it up, literally stood it up, as a pillar. He did not have an animal to sacrifice, but he did make a drink offering (Exodus 29:40-41; Leviticus 23:13 and 18) by pouring oil on top, literally the head, of it (28:18). This was the first use of a drink offering in the Scriptures. Later, under the Torah, the drink offering would always be made of wine and would symbolize joy. It would not be offered alone, but always in conjunction with the sweet-savor offerings (Numbers 15:1-13), especially the burnt offering and its accompanying meal offering. It was never to be offered with the sin or guilt offerings because there would be no joy for ADONAI in Messiah’s sufferings when He was made sin upon the cross (see my commentary on Exodus, to see link click Fb – The Five Offerings of the Tabernacle: Christ, Our Sacrificial Offering).

Setting up stones as a pillar also became important from this time on. Memorials are different from altars. They were set up to recall where God had dealt with man, so that people would learn about Him when they asked: What do these stones mean (Joshua 4:6)? Moses would set up twelve stone pillars (Exodus 24:4). Jacob called the place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz (28:19). Luz, its original name, meant separation, while Beit-El or Bethel (its new name), means the House of God. ADONAI calls us to be separate from the world, but in leaving the world we enter His house.⁴⁵⁴

Jacob’s vow was another motif. Then Ya’akov made a vow, the first recorded in Scripture, saying: since God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then ADONAI will be my God. And this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house; in other words, this will be the place where Jacob will return to worship the LORD (28:20-22a). About twenty years later, the LORD would tell Jacob to return to Bethel (see Ih – Jacob’s Journey to Bethel).

Tithing was another motif. In addition to setting up stones as a pillar, Jacob responded to the appearance of ADONAI by making a vow of service to Him, saying: And of all that you give me, I will give you a tenth (28:22b). Like his grandfather Abraham, who had given tithes to Melchizedek (14:40), Jacob acknowledged that everything he had belonged to God. These were both voluntary gifts. God did not command them. Later, tithing would become an obligation under the Torah (Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:21-24). Today, believers should tithe and it should be done cheerfully and gratefully, not grudgingly or with a selfish attitude (Second Corinthians 9:7). The New Covenant contains no command for specified amounts or percentages of giving. We need to support those who feed us spiritually (Matthew 10:5-11; Luke 9:1-5; John 12:6 and 13:29; First Timothy 5:17-18), but after that the percentage we give will be determined by the love of our own hearts and the needs of others (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Do – When You Give to the Needy, Do Not Do It to be Honored by Others). We do not have to take on the yoke of the Torah.

It seems, then, the main reason for this dream was to encourage Jacob in his journey out of the Promised Land. It assured him that the LORD was to be with him in his time in Haran and that, by His sovereign grace, He would bring him back home to Canaan. Judging from what Jacob would experience in Haran, he would need all the encouragement he could get!

In Jacob’s dream, ADONAI came to earth. Indeed, the Bible often repeats this refrain. But God comes to other runaways as well. This is, in fact, the LORD’s defining purpose; He comes to rebellious people to be with them and to save them. When El Shaddai finally decided to become a Person to seek and save the lost, He was given the name: God with us (Mt 1:23). Jacob was forced to respond to ADONAI’s coming, and so are we.⁴⁵⁵

Esau Married the Daughter of Ishmael,
in Addition to the Wives He Already Had
28: 6-9

Esau married the daughter of Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had DIG: Upon hearing of his father’s preferences for a suitable mate, what does Esau do here? Do two wrong wives make a third one right? What does the Bible continue to point out about Esav and his decisions? What does this tell us about the relationship between Ishmael and Isaac?

REFLECT: Do you renounce sin in your life when you find it? Or do you pacify it with symbolic gestures? How can you restore a relationship with a family member that was once strained?

Esau now makes another attempt to regain the blessing. Now Esav learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Padan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him not to marry a Canaanite woman, and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Padan Aram (28:6-7).

Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac (28:8). He consequently thought that by not marrying another Canaanite woman, he would win back his father’s favor and possibly the blessing. So he went to Ishmael, the son of Abraham, and married his daughter Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth, in addition to the wives he already had (28:9). This is the classic case of closing the barn door after the horse is gone. Although Esau did not marry any more women of Canaan, he was not willing to send away those he already had, in spite of their unsuitability and wickedness. Basically, he married his cousin because he thought it would please his father Isaac. She was a descendant of Avraham through Ishmael. But this just magnifies Esau’s lack of spiritual perception. The Ishmaelites were just as rejected as the Canaanites or the Philistines. Ironically, the rejected son of Isaac married into the rejected line of Ishmael. At any rate, he failed to impress his parents and the marriage goes unnoticed by his father and mother.

But however clueless Esau might have been about his birthright, it is interesting to note what this says to us about the relationship between Ishmael and Isaac. Marriages at that time only took place with the consent of both fathers. If the father was incapable or dead, the oldest son took his place. Ishmael had died at least fifteen years before Esau approached his family. Had Ishmael’s son Nebaioth been resentful about the fact that Isaac was the full heir, even though his father had been the firstborn, then he would not have given his sister to Esau. Instead, he trusted her completely to his cousin. It seems that Ishmael had experienced healing through the blessing of his twelve sons (to see link click Gi – The Twelve Sons of Ishmael).

All this only furnished further proof that Esav had absolutely no understanding of the blessing and what it meant. Once again, he was proven unfit to receive it. He tried to act godly in the futile hope that somehow or other it would be pleasing to ADONAI. There are many like that today. They will not do exactly what God requires, but something like it. They will not give up the world entirely and put the LORD first in their life, but merely rearrange the deck furniture on the Titanic! They will not renounce sin, but pacify it with symbolic gestures.

While Esau was occupied with the “honey-do’s” of his three wives, Jacob was off to Paddan Aram in search of a bride.

Haftarah Tol’dot: Mal’akhi (Malachi) 1:1-2:7
(see my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

Priests were charged with the calling to honor the name of ADONAI (Malachi 2:1-2). But Malachi tells us that they turned away from the path, caused many to fail in the Torah, and corrupted the covenant of Levi (Malachi 1:8), offering blemished sacrifices (Malachi 1:13; Leviticus 22:18-20). YHVH was so repulsed by this that He cursed the priestly privilege of bestowing the blessings of life and peace to the people (Malachi 2:2). The curse would affect the seed of the coming generations of Levi (Malachi 2:3). In fact, the covenant with Levi may not pass from this generation. High standards are required of priests (Malachi 2:4). Godly priests walk in awe of ADONAI-Tzva’ot (Malachi 2:5-6). They were supposed to be teachers and guardians of moral life, warning the people to live uprightly as messengers of righteousness (Malach 2:7). Omitted from the Haftarah reading are the next two verses, which judge that generation and threaten to halt the passing of the covenant to the sons of Levi (Malachi 2:8-9).

B’rit Chadashah suggested readings for Parashah Tol’dot:
Romans 9:6-16; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 11:20 and 12:14-17

Again, ADONAI uses a man’s name for his descendants. Tol’dot describes generations that follow. In the Toarh, Isaac’s generations are Jacob (who will live through his sons). In the Haftarah, Levi’s covenant describes the priests to come. Here Rabbi Sha’ul reviews that his countrymen according to the flesh, gave birth to Messiah according to the flesh (Romans 9:3 and 5). Not all of Abraham’s descendants, however, will inherit the seed of promise (Romans 9:7-8). Rather, Jacob is chosen – not on the basis of works (for he had not yet done good or evil), but solely on the basis of calling (Romans 9:11). God’s choice was made while the twins were in the womb! God called Jacob prior to his being born. The principle that the older shall serve the younger (Romans 9:12) sets the stage for YHVH’s plan of redemption. Isaac will pass on his birthright to Isra’el (Jacob), father of a nation. The Jewish people are the beneficiaries of this everlasting inheritance.

Then Isaac Sent Jacob to Laban,
the Brother of Rebekah
27:46 to 28:5

Then Isaac sent Jacob to Laban, the brother of Rebekah DIG: Why didn’t Isaac want Jacob marrying a Hittite woman? What did Rebekah really want? What did she get? What does El Shaddai mean? Why is it mentioned here again (see 17:1a)? What does the absence of any trace of Isaac in the remainder of the book of Genesis imply?

REFLECT: Do you have any sense that you are like Jacob, running from your past, and fearing revenge? Have you ever been protected from harm by a family member? In what way(s) have you been blessed by your family?

Then Rebekah, once again deceiving her husband for the sake of her son, said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land (as Esau had), from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living” (27:46). No doubt they were a source of grief to both Isaac and Rebekah (26:34-35), but she used this situation to trick Isaac in order to allow Jacob to get a wife from her own people. In that way she could get Jacob to flee with Isaac’s blessing, and at the same time, protect him from Esau. Humanly speaking, this was a brilliant plan. She got two birds with one stone. But the problem was that she outsmarted herself. By the time Jacob returned home again she will have died. Rebekah will never see her son again. In this sense, the resulting curse did fall on her (27:13). There are two curses in life. One is that you don’t get what you want. The other is that you get what you want.

So Isaac was persuaded by Rebekah’s logic and called for Jacob (Hebrew: Ya’akov), blessed him again and commanded him not to marry a Canaanite woman. This introduces the motif of Ya’akov taking a wife from Rebekah’s relatives in Mesopotamia. Jacob was around seventy-five years old. He received the same instructions as Abraham gave to his servant almost a hundred years earlier when Isaac himself was ready to marry.⁴⁴⁹ Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother (28:1-2).

Throughout the Bible we find that God does not want the godly to marry the ungodly. In Genesis 6 the result of the fallen angels, or sons of God, marrying the daughters of men resulted in the judgment of the Flood and only eight godly people left on the earth. Such intermarriage always leads to godlessness and ADONAI forbids it (Second Corinthians 6:14). If you are thinking about marrying an unbeliever, let me say this. If you cannot win him or her to Jesus before you get married, you will not win him or her to the Lord after you are married. Missionary dating does not work. You might say, “They will change,” and you are right. They will get worse after you say, “I do.”

Then, in order that neither Rebekah nor Jacob could have any more doubt that he fully desired and intended that Jacob should have the full blessing, Isaac repeated the blessing in terms much more like those which he himself had received from God (26:3-5).⁴⁵⁰ He said: May El Shaddai bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples (28:3). Isaac reiterated the blessing from God Almighty (17:1a). This name comes from the idea that all might and power is expressed in the term God or El. The word Almighty comes from a root word meaning strong, powerful or to do violence, especially in the sense of one who is so powerful, He is able to set aside the laws of nature. As El Shaddai, He is able; nothing is impossible for Him. He was wholly capable of fulfilling all the promises that He had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Isaac said to his son, “May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land that God gave to Abraham” (28:4).

Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way from Beersheba, and he went to Paddan Aram around the age of seventy-five to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Ya’akov and Esav (28:5). Isaac knew how El Shaddai had protected him, and he was confident that He would do the same for his son Jacob.

Except for his death (35:27-29), this is the last we hear of the life of Isaac in Genesis. It is remarkable that Isaac lived over fifty years after this and nothing is recorded of him. His life was generally much quieter than his father or his son. But it seems as though the utter silence of these fifty years was intended to remind us of the sin of Isaac after his deliberate attempt to avoid the blessing of his son Jacob.

Your Brother Esau Wants to Kill You,
Flee at Once to My Brother Laban in Haran
27: 41-45

Your brother Esau wants to kill you, flee at once at my brother Laban in Haran DIG: What was Rebekah afraid of? Were her fears justified? What was her plan? What would have happened to Esau if he would have killed his brother? When would she see Jacob again? Why?

REFLECT: When have you held a long-term grudge? If that person is a believer are you taking communion in an unworthy manner (First Corinthians 11:18)? Are you still holding on to it? How has it affected you? How has it affected those around you?

Esau’s complaints and tears had then turned into hatred for his brother. There was no genuine repentance in him. Therefore, he held a grudge against Jacob (Hebrew: Ya’akov) because of the blessing his father had given him. Then he made a resolution. Expecting his father to die soon, he said to himself: The days of mourning for my father are near (27:2), although Isaac would live for another forty-three years. Then, he vowed, I will kill my brother Jacob. To him, life was not worth living if he could not get rid of Jacob. His threatening words were overheard and brought to his mother’s attention. When Rebekah was told what her older son Esav had said, she once again took action (27:5-13). She sent for her younger son Ya’akov and said to him:Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you (27:41-42).

Here again, we see Rebekah quickly taking things into her own hands when she said: Now then, my son, do what I say to you: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran (27:43). This is a distance of four hundred and fifty miles, a very long distance by camel in those days. So she would have to lose Jacob to save him. She instructed: Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides (27:44). Knowing what a hothead Esav was, she assumed his anger would quickly pass away and Ya’akov could soon return.

When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him . . . indicates that she knew it would take time for the wound to heal. She was correct in assuming that eventually Esau would prosper materially and would be forgiving toward his brother Jacob (33:1-16). I’ll send for you to come back from there. But this will never happen because she will die before this could take place. Her fear was this: Why should I lose both of you in one day (27:45)? If Esav had killed his brother, he would have had to be executed according to God’s covenant with Noah. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of Elohim had God made man (Genesis 9:6, and also see Second Samuel 14:6-7).

Jacob’s Flight to Haran
27:41 to 28:22

Jacob’s grandfather Abraham had set out on a long journey; now Ya’akov makes his way through the wilderness alone. There, the similarity ends. Avraham traveled with the assurance that ADONAI was with him and was guiding him. Jacob had no such assurance as he started out. But Jacob does meet God at Bethel, and is assured of His continuing love and protection.⁴⁴⁸

After Isaac Finished Blessing Jacob,
His Brother Esau Came In
27: 30-40

After Isaac finished blessing Jacob, his brother Esau came in DIG: Which member of the family, Isaac, Rebekah, Esau or Jacob was wrong here? Who was most culpable? What could they have done differently? How did God show mercy to Esau instead of giving him what he deserved?

REFLECT: Does the family blessing apply to us today? Or was it just during Isaac’s lifetime? When did you make your life much more difficult by playing Holy Spirit? Do you have any spiritual regrets? Are there any you can address today? How can you be a blessing and also bless those in your family?

It was not a long wait until the truth came to light. In fact, the bottom line of this entire episode is this: And you may be sure that your sin will find you out (Numbers 32:23b). If only Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak) had realized this at the beginning, perhaps he might have done something different. But God’s will would still have prevailed! The suspense continued as Esau arrived right on the heels of Jacob.⁴⁴²

Although he must have been bursting inside, Jacob (Hebrew: Ya’akov) made no response. After Isaac finished blessing him (blessing occurs seventeen times in the chapter) and Ya’akov had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting (27:30). This was a close call; if Esav had come in a moment sooner, Jacob would not have received the blessing and might have been killed.

Esau, too, prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.” His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” He answered: I, using ani he emphasized the person, am your son, your firstborn, Esau (27:31-32). The fact that Esau had sold his birthright, the fact that he was the firstborn had become meaningless.

Yitz’chak trembled violently. Literally, in the Hebrew it reads: Isaac trembled and great trembling most exceedingly. This is the turning point of the incident, the point where, for the first time, light breaks in on this dark scene. This was not anger; it was fear. It was the horror that was awakened in his soul as he now fully realized that he had been tampering with God’s plan and there was nothing he could do to change it. He had tried, but the LORD had stopped him.⁴⁴³ He blurted out: Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him. Finally, when Isaac said: and indeed he will be blessed, he recognized that the blessing he gave Ya’akov was indeed final (27:33). He knew then that ADONAI had been securing what He had declared before the sons were born. It was this, which the Ruach ha-Kodesh declares when He says: By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future (see the commentary on Hebrews, to see link click Cq – The Faith of Isaac).⁴⁴⁴  This would continue the pattern in Genesis, where the firstborn is passed over in favor of the younger brother.

Esau’s response is no surprise. When Esav heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry. There is a play on words in the Hebrew that is difficult to bring out in English. The closest we can come is this: And he cried a cry, a great one and a bitter one most exceedingly. So even though Esav did not care much for the spiritual ramifications and benefits of the patriarchal blessing, he did want its material blessings and promise of military superiority.

Many Gentiles mistakenly call Jacob “a deceiver” (the Bible calls Jacob tam, or blameless in 25:27) because he and his mother Rebekah plotted to have Isaac bless him rather than Esau. However, the two were merely trying to carry out God’s wishes, for ADONAI had told Rebekah, “the older will serve the younger” (25:22-23). It was really Esau who was “the deceiver” because he had already given up his birthright to Jacob for some lentil stew (see Gn – Then Jacob Gave Esau Some Lentil Stew and Esau Despised His Birthright). It was Esau who was deceiving his father when he said: “My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing (27:31b)

When Esau learned what had happened, he was devastated and said: Bless me – me too, my father (27:34)! You can just feel the anguish in his cry! This same painful cry and unfulfilled longing is being echoed today by many people who are searching for their family’s blessing, men and women whose parents, for whatever reason, have failed to bless them with words and actions of love and acceptance.⁴⁴⁵

Hardly knowing how to explain this to Esau, Isaac momentarily reverted to his emotional feeling for Esau and blamed Jacob saying: Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing (27:35).

Esav was confused and angry as he complained: Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times. Now Jacob’s name comes from the Hebrew root akav, meaning heel; it also has the meaning in verbal form to hold the heel, or to get before which is its usage in Jeremiah 9:4. It has the meaning of heel grabber, one who trips another by the heel, or overtakes and supplants him in the race. The meaning here is that twice Jacob overcame Esau, tripping him and overcomming him in the race. Esau just didn’t get it. The reason that he was deceived two times was not in the name, it was in the divine will of God. The first time, as Esav tells it, was when Ya’akov took his birthright, but that was a lie because he had sold his birthright to his younger brother. Secondly, as described by Esau, was when Jacob took away his blessing. This was also a lie because the one with the blessing was the one who would receive the birthright. In the end, ADONAI had elected Jacob over Esau (Romans 9:12-13; Malachi 1:2-3).

It is important to realize that the only two people who criticize Jacob in the Bible are Esau and Laban. These two are hardly honest witnesses. But most importantly, God Himself never condemns Jacob, and in fact he is called righteous (25:27). Whenever God speaks to him, it is always a message of blessing and of promise.

Then Esau makes a request: Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me? Isaac would bless him, but compared to the blessing he had given Ya’akov it was to be regarded as somewhat of a curse. Isaac prophesied: I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son (27:36-37)? In short, Jacob’s blessing was final.

Nonetheless, Esau said: Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father! Then Esav wept aloud (27:38). At this point, we do learn of a blessing for Esau, but it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit his blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears (Hebrews 12:17). Esau is perhaps the saddest and most godless person in the Bible outside of Judas. They both had great light. They had every possible opportunity, as much as any person in their times, of knowing and following ADONAI. They knew His word, had heard His promises, had seen His miracles and they had fellowship with His people. Yet, with determined willingness they turned their backs on Him. Here, Esav bitterly regretted selling his birthright to Ya’akov, but he did not repent. He selfishly wanted God’s blessings, but he did not want God.⁴⁴⁶

In response to his pitiful cries, Esau did receive a blessing of sorts from his father Yitz’chak, but it was not the words of value and acceptance that he had longed to hear. He was blessed in the opposite way as Jacob when Isaac said: Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above (27:39). Esau would not inherit the land. Then he speaks of Esau’s nation of Edom. You will live by the sword (Numbers 20:14-21), and you will serve your brother. The Edomites were first defeated by King Saul (First Samuel 14:47), and then subjugated by King David (Second Samuel 8:14). There was also a failed revolt under Solomon (First Kings 11: 14-22). Finally, they rebelled from Joram, but were re-subdued by Amaziah (Second Kings 14:7 and Second Chronicles 25:11-19). In the last part of Isaac’s blessing to Esau, he said: But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck (27:40). This happened under Jehoram (Second Chronicles 21:8-10), and then secondly, under Ahaz (Second Kings 16:6 and Second Chronicles 28:16-17). So the words of Isaac to his two sons were fulfilled.

What we have here, deeply hidden, is a beautiful foreshadowing of the gospel. Jacob found the acceptance of his father and received his blessing because he sheltered behind the name of his father’s firstborn beloved son, and was clothed with garments, which were a sweet-smelling aroma to his father. In like manner, we, as sinners, find acceptance before God and receive His blessing as we shelter behind the name of His beloved firstborn. We are clothed with garments of salvation (Isaiah 61:10), which we receive from Him, thus coming before the Father on the merits of His Son who has given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice of God for a sweet-smelling aroma (Ephesians 5:2).⁴⁴⁷

Edom’s subsequent history was that when Isra’el went into the Babylonian captivity, the Edomites left their territory at Mount Seir in the Transjordan and moved into the southern part of Judah, where they became known as Edomeans. Later, these Edomeans were conquered by one of the descendants of the Maccabees, known as John Hyrcanos in 129 BC who forcibly converted them to Judaism. He then incorporated Edomea as a part of Judah. Eventually, these Edomeans produced the dynastic rule of the house of Herod.

Though ultimately ADONAI was faithful to His Word and accomplished His purposes through this family, they made their lives much more difficult by not exercising faith. First, Yitz’chak was punished by the deception he suffered, since he knew of the prophecy of 25:23. Therefore, his preference for Esau caused him to go contrary to God’s choice of Jacob. Second, Rebekah was punished because of her deception. Jacob would have to leave the land to keep from getting killed by Esau and she would never see him again. By the time he came back, she had died. Third, losing the patriarchal blessing, with all its material benefits as well punished Esau. And fourth, Jacob remained blessed by both his earthly father and his heavenly Father because the older was to serve the younger; but the deception by which he secured the blessing was never approved. Jacob had to pay for his sin by suffering a long life of hardships and struggles. He was not able to settle down in one place. He lived in Beersheba for sixty years, then in Haran for twenty years, the land of Canaan for fifty years, and then Egypt for seventeen years. And lastly, he, too, will be deceived two times, first by Laban and secondly by his own sons on two occasions. In this way the will of the LORD prevailed in spite of the actions of sinful men and women.

Jacob Went Close to Isaac Who said:
The Voice is Jacob’s, but the Hands are Esau’s
27: 18-29

Jacob went close to Isaac who said: the voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s DIG: Sin is sin, but who is more at fault here? What makes Isaac suspicious? How many times did Jacob lie? In what were Jacob’s lies similar or dissimilar to the lies of the Hebrew midwives (see my commentary on Exodus, to see link click Ah – So God Was Kind to the Midwives). Did Jacob earn the blessing? Did he merit the blessing?

REFLECT: Does the family blessing apply to us today? Or was it just something for the ancients? Who have you been a blessing to lately? What does this account teach us about the way God carries out His plans? Do you think Jacob was deceitful or obedient to God? Why is it that God never condemns Jacob for his actions?

Jacob, no doubt with considerable hesitation, went to his father and said: My father (27:18). Already being suspicious, Isaac asked: Who is it? Then Jacob (Hebrew: Ya’akov) told his first lie when he said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.” In Hebrew there are two ways of saying I. The first way is saying ani, and the second way is saying anochi. The difference is telling. When Jacob said I, he used anochi in place of ani. The word anochi when used with a predicate noun emphasizes the pronominal subject. However, the word ani is used to emphasize the predicate nominative, as will be the case later in 27:32, which emphasizes the person. So here, Ya’akov must lie, but he used anochi instead of ani so he didn’t have to emphasize the person.

But he quickly tried to draw attention away from himself, and to the issue at hand by saying: I have done as you told me. The sin lies in the deception of the father, not in the taking of the patriarchal blessing, but what Isaac and Esau were trying to do was even more sinful because they were trying to thwart the very purpose of God. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he changed the subject: Please sit up and eat some of my venison so that you may give me your blessing (27:19).

Jacob had no easy task to perform before his father. Isaac asked his son suspiciously: How did you find it so quickly, my son? Then Jacob lied for a second time when he said: ADONAI your God gave me success. And when he uses the name of God, he makes it all the worse. Then Isaac said to Jacob still in doubt: Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not (27:20-21). Isaac conducted four tests to see if this was really his son. He used logic (27:21-22), then he used sound (27:22), he used words (27:24), and finally he used scent (27:27).⁴³⁸

Ya’akov went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said: The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. He did not recognize him for who he really was, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esav; so he blessed him (27:22-23). So Isaac allowed his sense of touch more weight than his sense of hearing.

I am sure Jacob had hoped that Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak) would not question him at all. But now all he could do was to be as persuasive as possible. Then his father asked him a direct question: Are you really my son Esau? Then Ya’akov lied the third time when he replied: I am (27:24). This time Jacob uses the word ani, so he will not arouse the suspicion that he did earlier when he used the word anochi.

Jacob’s actions demonstrated his immaturity in the LORD. In his zeal to follow God’s revealed will, he had sinned. He did the wrong thing for the right reason. In this regard, he wasn’t that much different than his grandfather Abraham. Abraham demonstrated a lack of faith four times; he stayed in Hebron when he should have gone to the Promised Land (11:31b), he left Palestine and went to Egypt (12:10-20), he listened to his wife instead of waiting on ADONAI, which resulted in the birth of Ishmael and untold problems (16:1-16), and he refused to trust the LORD for his and his wife’s safekeeping when he lied to Abimelech (20:1-18). However, He used those failures to build Abraham’s faith before his ultimate test on Mount Moriah (22:1-19). And the same was true for Ya’akov. God would use this failure to build Jacob’s faith before his ultimate test at Peniel (32:22-32).

Then finally assured in his own mind that it was really Esau, Isaac said: My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing. Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank (27:25). There were five parts to Abraham’s blessing. These continue to serve as a model for us today.

First, meaningful touch was part of the blessing. Then, trying one last time to remove any lingering doubts, his father Yitz’chak said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me” (27:26). So Ya’akov went to him and kissed him. For anyone, whether it is a child, a spouse or a friend, meaningful touch is an essential part of the blessing.

Secondly, the spoken message was part of the blessing. When Isaac caught the smell of Jacob’s clothes he blessed him and said to him: Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that ADONAI has blessed (27:27b). The rabbis teach that according to tradition, the garment that Yitz’chak smelled had belonged to Adam, and had passed from him to Nimrod, and then on to Esau. Just being physically present is not enough. For a child in search of the blessing, the major thing silence communicates is confusion. Children who are left to fill in the blanks when it comes to what their parents think about them will often fail the test when it comes to feeling valuable and secure. To see the blessing grow in the life of a child, spouse or friend, we need to verbalize our message. Good intentions aside, good words are necessary to provide genuine acceptance.⁴³⁹

Thirdly, meaningful words of value were part of the blessing. Meaningful words convey the thought that the person is valuable and has redeeming qualities. Isaac uses a word picture to describe his son’s value to him. He said: May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness, an abundance of grain and new wine (27:28). In Eastern countries, where there is so little rain, the dew is the most important prerequisite for the growth of the fruits of the earth and is often mentioned as a source of blessing (Deuteronomy 33:13 and 28; Hosea 14:6; Zechariah 8:12).⁴⁴⁰  The rabbis have interpreted this symbolically. They believe that the heaven’s dew is Scripture, the earth’s richness is the Mishnah or the Oral Law (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law), the abundance of grain is the Talmud, and the new wine is the Passover Haggadab.

Fourthly, meaningful goals were part of the blessing. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. In Hebrew, the word bless literally means to bow the knee. Be lord over your brothers is a direct contradiction of what God had told Rebekah. And may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed (27:29). This blessing is thus connected with the Abrahamic Covenant of 12:3, which will now be carried on through Ya’akov and not Esav. Therefore, what we have here is divine intervention in spite of Yitz’chak and Jacob’s sin. Many are the plans of a man’s heart, but it is ADONAI’s purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21). Isaac ends up blessing Jacob against his own will. We can encourage our children to set personal, spiritual and work-related goals. The picture of a promising future is very powerful. It can shape the way they think about themselves and give them purpose in life.

And lastly, an active commitment was part of the blessing. The LORD spoke directly to Abraham (12:1-3, 15:7-21, 17:1-8, 22:15-18), to Isaac (26:1-5,23-24) and to Ya’akov (35:9-12), confirming His active commitment to their family line. ADONAI provided for them, protected them, reaffirmed them and periodically reminded them of His faithfulness to them. His commitment to them was active, not passive. This is the example we have to bless our children, spouses, parents and friends.

Today, as in centuries past, orthodox Jewish homes bestow a special family blessing on their children. Each child in the family was given a general blessing as well as a special blessing for the firstborn. It has been an important part of providing a sense of acceptance for generations of children. But recently, it has also provided an important source of protection to those children.

All across our country, cults are holding out a counterfeit blessing to our children. Cult leaders have mastered the elements of the blessing. Providing a sense of family and offering (at least initially) the promise of personal attention, affection and affirmation is an important drawing card for many of these cults. Children who grow up without a sense of parental acceptance are especially susceptible to being drawn in. In fact, thousands are every year. However, the aroma, just like the smell of Esau, may draw them to the table, but after eating they are left hungrier than before.

If you are a parent, learning about the family blessing can help you provide your child or children with a protective tool. The best defense against a child’s longing for imaginary acceptance is to provide genuine acceptance. This is not a spiritual formula and there are no guarantees, but you can greatly reduce the likelihood that he or she will seek acceptance in the arms of a cult member or with someone in an immoral relationship. Genuine acceptance radiates from the concept of the blessing.

However, the blessing is not just an important tool for parents to use. The blessing is also of critical importance for anyone who desires to draw close to another person in an intimate relationship.⁴⁴¹

Rebekah Took the Best Clothes of Esau
and Put Them on Her Younger Son Jacob
27: 5-17

Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau and put them on her younger son Jacob DIG: What was Rebekah’s alternative? Did ADONAI need Rebekah’s help? Would God’s purposes have been thwarted if Rebekah and Jacob had kept their human hands off the situation? Why did Jacob follow his mother into this conspiracy? What were they trying to do? Who were they trying to please?

REFLECT: How far would you go if you really believed you were doing the LORD’s will? When have you taken matters into your own hands with disastrous results? Does the end justify the means?

Like her mother-in-law Sarah, listening to the visitors from within the tent (18:10), Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his favorite son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, she hatched her plan (27:5). Rebekah, indeed, had always been a woman of quick decision and action, as was evident from the time she immediately followed Abraham’s chief servant to marry Isaac. Probably, she and Jacob had had plenty of time to discuss this problem because he was over sixty years old at the time, and perhaps she had foreseen this development and already decided what she must do if the time should ever present itself.⁴³⁵

Rebekah said to her favorite son Jacob (Hebrew: Ya’akov), “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, “Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of ADONAI before I die” (27:6-7). A blessing in the presence of the LORD would be irrevocable, and if given to Esav, Jacob would never receive it.

Then Rebekah issued her order: My son, listen carefully and do what I tell you (27:8). Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it, then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies (27:9-10).

Many people point to this episode in Jacob’s life and label him a deceiver and a liar for the rest of his life, when in fact he lived a life of honesty and righteousness (Hebrew: tam, see 25:27). Most of us would not like a single moment of weakness to define our entire lives. The problem, of course, is that he did lie here, even associating God’s name with his lie (27:20). But why did the LORD not rebuke Ya’akov and withhold His blessing from him? Or, even after Isaac had blessed him, why did ADONAI later confirm the blessing (28:13-15)? Because the rebuke was solely for Esau, and the repentance was Isaac’s, not Jacob’s.

Jacob took matters into his own hands here knowing that God had told his mother that the older will serve the younger (25:23c) and is generally criticized for it; and he also took matters into his own hands trying to achieve the known will of God when he separated himself from Laban and went back to Bethel and is generally praised for it. For God had told him, “Return to the land of your father’s and to your relatives, and I will be with you” (31:3). His motivation was the same in both instances. He was trying to achieve the will of God.

Behind the scenes, however, ADONAI was causing His sovereign will to be accomplished despite the actions of fallen human beings. His plan was for Jacob to inherit the birthright. On the human level, this was impossible because Jacob was not the firstborn. But since it was in the LORD’s eternal plan for Jacob to receive the blessing, He sovereignly arranged for it to be so as we can see in the B’rit Chadashah (see the commentary on Romans Cq – The Explanation of Isra’el’s Past Paradox). It seems that the only way to understand this situation is to conclude that even though the way in which Jacob and Rebekah went about obtaining the blessing from Isaac was wrong, the sin of Isaac and Esau was greater.

The LORD does not approve of lying; Jacob and Rebekah knew this. They were sensitive and spiritual people, but they had decided that, as bad as deception might be in the sight of ADONAI, it had become necessary in this case in order to prevent a greater sin, that of conveying the most holy of God’s promises to a man who neither wanted it nor would honor it. This was as much of a lapse of faith as when Abraham went to Egypt in Chapter 12, and when Sarah suggested that they have a child through her handmaiden Hagar in Chapter 16. Rebekah had already received the revelation from the LORD that the older would serve the younger (25:23b). Here, then, Rebekah needed to trust that in ADONAI’s timing Ya’akov would receive the patriarchal blessing. But because of a lack of faith she felt that she needed to take matters into her own hands because it seemed that nothing could stop Isaac. Esau could have come back at any moment! We can only imagine how hopeless they felt. This was a desperate situation, but it wasn’t the first time that someone had lied to preserve God’s people.

The Hebrew midwives deliberately disobeyed Pharaoh and lied to him. Why? Because they feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do (Exodus 1:15-16 and 22). To do otherwise would have resulted in the deaths of countless Hebrew boys. Did the LORD punish these midwives for lying? No, Elohim was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own (Exodus 1:20-21). Jacob was an upright man (Hebrew: tam) and he lived his entire life that way and was blessed as a result.

Another example of ADONAI’s blessing on a lie was in the life of Rahab. She and her family and all that belonged to her were saved because she hid two Israelite spies and lied about it to the king of Jericho (Joshua 2:4-7 and 6:25). There are a number of other instances in the Bible in which godly men, in order to accomplish the will of God and to glorify Him, had to break another of His commandments. These are rare exceptions and can only be justified in very special and unusual circumstances as we have here with Isaac and the patriarchal blessing. Furthermore, the people in these examples never gain any financial advantage for themselves. In fact, Rahab and the Hebrew midwives risked their lives because of the lies they told.

Similarly, Jacob and Rebekah, in order to do what they thought was necessary to accomplish God’s will, were willing to risk the wrath and hatred of their own loved ones, and Jacob even to risk his life at the hands of his angry brother. Because Jacob was righteous, he only cared about the spiritual ramifications of the blessing.⁴³⁶

Nevertheless, Ya’akov had some doubts, and he said to his mother, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin” (27:11). Isaac might have lost his eyesight, but his sense of touch remained intact.

Because Jacob was a righteous man, and he knew that not honoring his father was a sin in the sight of God. He asked: What if my father touches me? I would appear to be mocking him because of his blindness and would bring down a curse upon myself rather than a blessing. But his mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall upon me. I take full responsibility, just do what I say; go and get them for me” (27:12-13). She was so confident that this was the LORD’s will that she believed the ends justified the means and did not fear the possibility of a curse. Jacob also believed it was God’s will for him to receive the birthright and it didn’t take much convincing for him to follow his mother’s lead. After all, hadn’t ADONAI told her, “the older will serve the younger”(25:23c)?

So Ya’akov went and got the two choice young goats and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. While the food was cooking Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob (27:14-15). It would appear that Rebekah had kept these specific clothes in her house for this very purpose. Esau’s wives had been a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah (26:35) and were probably living somewhere else. These clothes would smell like Esav and the outdoors. This was clearly a very tense situation.

Rebekah also covered Jacob’s hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins to provide the feeling of hairiness, so Esau’s clothes would provide the proper smell, and the goatskins would provide the proper feel. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made (27:16-17). The flesh of a young goat tastes like venison, and Isaac would not know the difference. Then she got Jacob dressed up and turned the food over to her son Ya’akov. Rebekah really thought she could pull the wool over Isaac’s eyes.⁴³⁷

So all the senses were taken care of. Isaac was blind, so Rebekah didn’t have to worry about that. Jacob wore Esau’s clothing to take care of the sense of smell. She cooked the young goats because they tasted like venison and used the goatskins to make Jacob appear hairy. The only sense she could not cover was Isaac’s sense of hearing, and there was a point where this almost blew their cover (27:21-24).

Prepare Me the Kind of Tasty Food I Like
and Bring It to Me so that I May Give You My Blessing
27: 1-4

Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me so that I may give you my blessing DIG: What did Isaac know about God’s will concerning the son of promise? What was Isaac’s intent? Why didn’t Esau object if he had already sold his birthright to Jacob? Why didn’t Isaac tell Rebekah?

REFLECT: How effective is the father’s spiritual leadership in your family? Are you and your spouse on the same page? What can happen when you favor one child over another? What happens when we deliberately go against God’s will, as Isaac was apparently prepared to do?

There is one more area in which the sovereignty of God can be seen in this parashah. This is in the area of passing the blessing and the inheritance from Isaac to Jacob. There is, perhaps no greater contrast between the sovereignty of God and human dealings than in this part of the narrative. It is so easy to get stuck in the mire of the human mess we see here that it is easy to miss the workings of the Eternal One. Let us see if we can catch sight of the sovereign hand of ADONAI.

We have seen that Isaac was an outstanding man, a great man. Abimelech and the Philistines came to make a treaty with him because they feared him (26:26-33). He was a peace loving man, and he was also very powerful. However, Isaac was still human and here he reveals his weakness of the flesh. Esau had always been his favorite son, while Jacob had been the favorite of Rebekah. Esav was a mighty hunter who would go out and bring home venison and cook it just the way Isaac liked it. Now that Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak) was very old he thought it was time to bless his favorite son. It was perfectly clear that he knew of the purposes of ADONAI concerning his younger son (25:3b), but his heart overruled his conscience. So he told Esav to go out and quickly bring back some wild game and he would give him the patriarchal blessing.⁴³²

Finally, we get to the end of Isaac’s life. He is on his deathbed. And, as customary before one dies, he is about to dispense appropriate blessings, which are really prophecies. This is what Jacob will do before he dies, and what Moshe will do before he dies. When Isaac was about one hundred and thirty five years old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called Esau, his older son. Rather than call both his sons to receive the blessing as was customary, he summoned only his favorite son and said to him, “My son.” Esav answered: Here I am (27:1).⁴³³

Yitz’chak reminisced: I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death (27:2). His half brother Ishmael had died fourteen years earlier, and they were fourteen years apart. Therefore, he probably thought that his day of death was close. However, he lived until he was a hundred and eighty, so he wasn’t as close to death as he assumed. If Isaac’s eyesight was failing, his appetite was not. He said: Now then, get your weapons, your quiver and bow, and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me (27:3). Esau was quite willing to go along with his father’s suggestion. It was expected to mark the giving of the patriarchal blessing with some kind of a feast. And since Yitz’chak had decided to bless Esau, it seemed appropriate that Esau’s hunting ability would provide the meat for the celebration.

Therefore, Isaac said: Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat so that I may give you my patriarchal blessing before I die (27:4). This was in clear violation of the revelation given to Rebekah (to see link click Gm – Two Nations, One Womb). There, ADONAI revealed that Jacob was the son of promise who would carry on the line – not Esau. After all, hadn’t Esau married two Canaanite women? Isaac most likely knew that Esav had already sold his birthright to Jacob, and whoever had the birthright was supposed to get the patriarchal blessing. Perhaps he was so angry at what he perceived to be Jacob’s deception that he just decided to bless his favorite son, and ignore God’s plan. But it seems that Isaac’s eyes were weak spiritually as well as physically. He did not have his Father’s eyes.

It is significant that Yitz’chak was not doing this with Rebekah’s knowledge. Which meant that he knew he was doing something against the wishes of the wife and God.  She only happened to overhear the conversation. This secretive nature of Isaac’s plans can only be explained by the assumption that he was ashamed of what he was doing, knowing that Rebekah would not approve, but hoping that he would get it accomplished before she could interfere.⁴³⁴ His sin set in motion a catastrophic series of events that would affect the entire family.

The Blessing of Jacob
27: 1-40

In the TaNaKh, the final patriarchal blessing was much more than a prayer for the future children. Rather, the blessing actually played an important role in determining the destiny of his descendants, as Jacob’s blessing of his children near the close of Genesis (Chapter 48-49). Therefore, the blessing was a right entrusted to the father in which he was guided by the grace of ADONAI to bestow spiritual and material possessions, all of which were irrevocable. Rather than a prayer, the final blessing was more like a prophecy, the fulfillment of which was ensured by God Himself.⁴²⁹

Nowhere, perhaps, is the real nature of the Bible clearer than in this chapter. The story is told in all its naked simplicity. When some people read these verses, many think Jacob stole Esau’s birthright. But at this point, the Bible clearly states that the LORD had chosen Jacob to be the Seed son, and Esau had already sold his birthright to his younger brother. If anyone was trying to steal the blessing, it was Esau. If anyone was fighting the will of God it was Isaac. Although it seems like the human actors are controlling the action, in the final analysis, we can see that ADONAI is working behind the scenes the entire time to bring about His will. The LORD had a plan for Jacob’s life, and that plan could not be hindered by the action of Esau or Isaac, nor could it be aided by the cleverness of Rebekah.⁴³⁰

Far too many families in our nation and in the congregations of God are paralyzed by conflict. We also have spiritually dysfunctional families. One of the most significant factors contributing to spiritual dysfunction is conflict. I am not talking about differences of opinion or disciplinary situations but of personality conflicts that have resulted from perceived or actual faults, shortcomings, injustices, or negligence. Brothers and sisters become estranged; children are disenfranchised or rebel; in-laws find fault, constantly driving wedges between relationships; wives nag; and husbands are aloof. How can a family grow together spiritually in the climate of such conflict? Only by overcoming it and resolving it. Many would say this is impossible. Conflicts run so deep and have existed for so long that they seem beyond any possible resolution. But ADONAI is a God who can resolve family conflicts.⁴³¹ Jesus says to us today: In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

From 27:1 to 28:5 there is a parallelism, where the first letter is antithetical to the second letter.

A Isaac and Esau, the son of blessing (27:1-5)

B Rebekah sends Jacob to Isaac (27:6-17)

C Jacob appears before Isaac and receives the true blessing (27:18-29)

C Esau appears before Isaac and receives the empty blessing (27:30-40)

B Rebekah sends Jacob away from Esau (27:41-45)

A Isaac and Jacob, the son of blessing (27:46 to 28:5)

The Wives of Esau
26: 34-35

The wives of Esau DIG: Esau was not to marry a Canaanite woman. What did this show about his attitude toward his parents? About his attitude toward God? What was the fruit of it?

REFLECT: Why should it matter to the LORD whom we marry? What are the consequences of obedience or disobedience in this area of our lives?

When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. This was the same age that Isaac was when he married, but Esau takes two Hittite wives. Although they are Hittites, they have Semitic names, which means they have been in the Promised Land a very long time. By virtue of this they were given non-Hittite names. Nonetheless, they were a bitterness of spirit and a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah because these marriages showed Esau’s continuing unfaithfulness (26:34-35). And just as when he sold his birthright, which showed that he despised it, by marrying Hittites, he continued to show how unfit he was for God’s blessing.

Believers and unbelievers live in two opposing worlds. Therefore, Rabbi Sha’ul wrote: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers (Second Corinthians 6:14a). It would be like putting a donkey and an ox behind the plow together. They do not have the same nature, gait or strength. It would be impossible for a mismatched pair to plow effectively together (Deuteronomy 22:10). Likewise, Rabbi Sha’ul is saying that believers and unbelievers are two different breeds and cannot work together in the spiritual realm. For what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? It makes no sense at all because faith has nothing in common with unbelief. Therefore, Rabbi Sha’ul sums up his argument by saying: come out from them and be separate (Second Corinthians 6:14b-18).⁴²⁸

I am quite sure that, as good and caring parents, Isaac and Rebekah gave both of their sons ample warning about marrying unbelieving Canaanite women. Abraham was quite adamant about this with Isaac (24:3), and I am sure Isaac was just as adamant with his two sons. Abraham had married within his own family and so did Jacob (29:15-30). Now this may be a surprise to you, but sometimes children don’t do what their parents want them to do. And as children of God, sometimes we don’t do what our heavenly Father wants us to do! Jacob was righteous (to see link click Gn – Then Jacob Gave Esau Some Lentil Stew and Esau Despised His Birthright), but Esau was rebellious. And when we rebel against our heavenly Father we cause Him much grief. When Esau rebelled against ADONAI and his parents, they were grieved. Later the LORD would include a commandment about this topic in the Torah (see my commentary on Exodus Do – Honor Your Father and Your Mother). Sometimes, as parents, you can be a good example, say all the right things and do all the right things, but your child grows up and rebels. At that point, all you can do is pray for them and turn them over to God. Humanly, no one quite understands the pain of this, unless you have had a rebel child.

The Word of God says that children are to obey their parents as reflecting their obedience to ADONAI. It is the right thing to do. Honor your father and mother – which is the first commandment with a promise – that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth (Ephesians 6:1-3). But just as obedient children bring happiness and tranquility to a family, disobedient and rebellious children are a source of grief to their parents. This was the case with Esau. The next time we see him in Chapters 32 and 33, he will be very powerful and as far as material possessions go, he will have done very well for himself. But spiritually, he would still be in rebellion against the LORD.

Abimelech Came to Isaac and said:
Let Us Make a Treaty With You
26: 26-33

Abimelech came to Isaac and said: Let us make a treaty with you DIG: What seems to be the problem between Isaac and Abimelech? What kind of a victory did Isaac win? Why is that important? What do you learn about each man from the way they settle their dispute and reconcile?

REFLECT: How do you treat those who have been hostile towards you, but now want peace? Do you bring them into your spiritual family? Are even your enemies at peace with you? Can people see Christ in you?

While the well digging was underway at Beersheba, Isaac got a surprise visit from the Philistine king. Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces (26:26). Their approach to Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak) clearly shows that they feared him. But now that he was out of their land, they decided it was wise to stay on good terms with him.

Isaac challenged them saying: Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away (26:27)? It never occurs to Isaac that maybe Abimelech had reasonable grounds for his behavior, given how Yitz’chak acted in Gerar (26:6-11). Nevertheless, Abimelech begins his conversation more diplomatically than Isaac when he says: We saw clearly that ADONAI was with you. The men of Gerar recognize God’s blessing on Isaac and they sought to join themselves to him.⁴²⁴ So they say: There ought to be a sworn agreement between us, between us and you. Then almost pleading they said: Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD (26:28-29). This is very similar to the treaty that Abraham and the earlier Abimelech had made at Beersheba nearly a century before. Now that Isaac was back in fellowship with God, those who formerly were his enemies sought him out and bear witness to the presence of the LORD in his life. Isaac did not win a great military victory, nor did he purchase their favor with his wealth. Instead, God sovereignly gave him the victory by moving the hearts of the idolatrous Philistines. For when a man’s ways are pleasing to ADONAI, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7).⁴²⁵

As long as Isaac was in or near Gerar, he did not experience much happiness. He was envied, thwarted, and opposed by the jealous Philistine settlers. He not only lacked happiness but also lacked power, for it was not until he returned to Beersheba that Abimelech came to him because he believed that God was with Isaac and blessing him. Thus for happiness, comfort and power with others, separation from the world is an absolute necessity. There is no greater mistake possible than to imagine that we can be one with the world and yet influence them for Christ. We can’t swim in the toilet and come up smelling like a rose. Lot found this out the hard way, and so it has been ever since. Separation from the world, paradoxical as it may seem, is the only true way of influencing the world for Messiah. We must be in the world but not of the world (Jn 17:13-19).⁴²⁶

Isaac agreed, then made a ceremonial feast for them and they ate and drank that night. The meal is not simply a courtesy extended by Yitz’chak to Abimelech as his guest. It is, rather, an important part of the covenant-making process. In a sense, the one offering the meals admits the other person to his family circle.⁴²⁷ Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace (26:30-31). As soon as they left, a new well was discovered with abundant water.

That day that the treaty was made, Isaac’s servants, who seem to be very skillful at finding water, came and told him about another well they had dug. Yitz’chak called it Shibah, which means to swear or oath, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba, the Well of the Oath (26:32-33). But that was the secondary source for the name. The primary source of the name Beersheba comes from Be’er Sheva, which literally means the Well of the Seven (21:22-34). The emphasis in Chapter 21 was the number seven, but here the emphasis is on the oath. The Hebrew word for swearing, oath and seven is often the same Hebrew root.

Before this chapter, Isaac was mentioned only in conjunction with Abraham; from this point on, he is only mentioned in conjunction with Jacob. This is the only chapter where the spotlight was on him. He lived one hundred and eighty years, so he lived the longest of the three patriarchs. But his life is the least eventful. Nevertheless, he is a type of Christ.

Isaac Went Up to Beersheba.
That Night the LORD Appeared to Him
26: 23-25

Isaac went up to Beersheba. That night the LORD appeared to him DIG: Why did Isaac return to Beersheba? What does Beersheba mean? What is that significant? What did he do there? How did Abraham respond? What five aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant do we see up to this point?

REFLECT: What does the LORD’s gracious treatment of Isaac and the perpetual nature of His covenant mean to you, as a child of the covenant? As one who repeats the mistakes of your fathers?

From Rehoboth Isaac went up to Beersheba, which means the Well of the Oath (26:23). Apparently he felt the need to return where he felt closest to ADONAI after his bitter experiences in Gerar. There we have the second confirmation of the LORD’s covenant with Abraham to Isaac (26:1-5). And sure enough, the same night that he arrived ADONAI appeared to him for the second time and said: I am the God of your father Abraham. This would become a familiar phrase. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham and the covenant I have made with him (26:24). Isaac was back in God’s will because of his obedience and could receive a divine revelation.

Like his father before him, Isaac responded by building an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. This is a phrase that means he engaged in public worship. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well (26:25). When we combine the two confirmations of the Abrahamic Covenant to Isaac we see five aspects. First, Isaac was to be blessed (26:3, 24). Second, the land was to be given both to Isaac and his descendants (26:3-4). Third, his descendants are to be multiplied (26:4, 24). Fourth, the Gentiles would someday be blessed by the Meshiach through his descendants (26:4). Fifth, the basis is the covenant God made with Abraham (26:3, 5 and 24).

Isaac Reopened the Wells of His Father Abraham
26: 12-22

Isaac reopened the wells of his father Abraham DIG: What did Isaac do here for the first time? Who did the wells belong to? Why? Why had Abimelech’s attitude toward Isaac changed? Why do you think Abraham and Isaac both prospered even when they were not truthful? How did Isaac choose to be a peacemaker?

REFLECT: Is there peace in your valley? Are you at peace with everyone? Where in your life would you like the quarreling to stop and the reconciliation to start? What steps of faith might the LORD want you to take toward that end? What victories have you won with those who would derail your ministry?

Earlier, before Isaac had practiced deception with his wife Rebekah, ADONAI had promised him, “I will bless you” (26:3). Now the Word of God records the fulfillment of His promise. Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak) planted crops for the first time. Until this time, he and his father seem to have been solely occupied with raising animals. Now, however, he acquired some land, possibly by a rental agreement, on which to plant and raise crops. Perhaps the famine had persuaded him that he needed a more reliable source of food for his flock and herds. At any rate, he began to practice agriculture, and it proved highly successful.⁴¹⁹ The yield, even in very fertile regions, was generally no greater than twenty five to fifty fold.⁴²⁰ But because the LORD blessed him, Isaac reaped a hundred times as much as he expected to produce in the same year as the drought (26:12). He who promised was faithful (Hebrews 10:23).

Isaac became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. In fact, God prospered Yitz’chak so much that his wealth and influence began to surpass even that of the king of Gerar. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines, already upset because of Abimelech’s protection of him, envied him so much that they started to retaliate against him. Their jealousy was so great that even during a famine, they were willing to cut off a vital water supply. So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth to force Isaac out of their country. Because Yitzchak had become too powerful for them (26:13-16), they resorted to vandalism rather than war.

In the Near East, digging wells gives title to unoccupied lands. Therefore, Yitz’chak owned the land by inheritance in the vicinity of which these wells had been dug by his father Avraham. In a pastoral country it is a serious matter to stop up a well that has been dug to water flocks and herds. It is, in fact, a declaration of war and has always been looked upon as a hostile act.⁴²¹

Then Abimelech said to Yitz’chak: Please move away from us; you have become too powerful for us (26:16). The rabbis teach that the people said, “We would rather have manure from Isaac’s mules than Abimelech’s gold.” He had indeed become too powerful. Isaac could have resisted this demand, since the earlier Abimelech had given his father the right to live anywhere in the land he wanted (20:15), and since the wells belonged to Abraham by right of construction. Also he might well have been able to defeat the Philistine colonists in battle if it had come to that because he had become too powerful for them.⁴²² Nevertheless, Yitz’chak amicably moved away from the capital, going east and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there (26:17). He was a man of peace.

To his credit, Isaac does not respond angrily against those who stopped up his father’s wells. Instead, Yitz’chak reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died (26:18a). Isaac started to reopen these wells. The Philistine settlers were not using the land, so he thought they would not object. To emphasize his right to the wells because of inheritance, he gave them the same names his father had given them (26:18b). In addition to the wells of his father, Isaac’s servants dug another well in the lower valley and discovered a well of fresh or living water there, providing a constant supply of running water (26:19). But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said: The water is ours! This was probably on the grounds that Yitz’chak had no right to dig new wells in their country. So he gave it to them and named the well Esek, meaning strife or the Quarrel Well, because they disputed with him (26:20). All this strife would eventually lead to continual warfare between the Philistines and King David (see my commentary on the Life of David, to see link click Cn – David Defeats the Philistines).

Isaac again moved east away from Gerar and dug another well, but Philistine settlers quarreled over that one also. So he gave them the second well and named it Sitnah, which is from the same root as the Hebrew word for Satan, meaning opposition, advisory or Hatred Well (26:21). However, Yitz’chak refused to fight back.

He continued to move on much further from there and dug another well, and this time no one quarreled over it. The Philistine settlers, in frustration, finally left him alone. Isaac regarded this as a mark of favor from God and named it Rehoboth, meaning broad place, or the Well of Ample Room, saying: Now ADONAI has given us room and we will flourish in the land (26:22). Yitz’chak then left some of his flocks and herds under the care of his herdsmen, and he himself went on even further. The LORD was gently, but firmly, leading Isaac back to Beersheba.

We find an amazing parallel to what was happening in the patriarchal period and what the Lord is doing today in Isra’el. In this age of Jewish renaissance in the homeland where wells are being literally dug, bringing back the desert areas of the Negev, we can appreciate the greatness of the patriarchs who combined their spreading of the true faith with the practical reclamation of the soil by digging wells and watering the ground. Indeed, the enemies are largely the same: the Canaanites. And they are still trying to stop up the wells and hinder the spread of the knowledge of the God of Isra’el throughout the Land. But God always reigns as the supreme Sovereign of the universe. He is making His great name increasingly known throughout the Land.

Because we are at peace with God, we should be peacemakers; because we are counted righteous, we should live righteously. But peace is a two-way street. It is not possible for two persons, or two nations, to live at peace with each other if one of them is persistently belligerent (witnessed by Isra’el’s dilemma with Palestine today). Jesus was peaceful toward all men, but all men were not peaceful toward Him. Rabbi Sha’ul clarifies this principle: Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy (Hebrews 12:14a). We are responsible for our side of the peace process, but we cannot use another’s hostility as an excuse for responding in kind unless, of course, they are trying to kill us. Then we have the right to defend ourselves (see my commentary on Exodus Dp – You Shall Not Murder). Consequently, under normal circumstances, we have an obligation to live peaceably whether or not those around us treat us peaceably.⁴²³  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9).

Abimelech, King of the Philistines,
Saw Isaac Caressing His Wife Rebekah
26: 6-11

Abimelech, king of the Philistines, saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah DIG: Why might this situation be more dangerous for a woman’s husband than for her brother? What does this say about Isaac’s character? His humanity? What kind of a man was Abimelech? How did he react? How did God react?

REFLECT: Isaac repeated his father’s inappropriate behavior. As a “chip off the old block,” we do the same thing. What one “sin” of your parents would you like the LORD to help you eliminate from your own life?

Like his father Abraham, Isaac needed to grow in his walk of faith. This parashah reveals him as displaying some of the same fleshly flaws that his father Abraham displayed. Now there was a famine in the Land – besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time – so Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, and stayed in Gerar (26:1 and 6). ADONAI had told him to temporarily stay in Gerar for a while (26:3), but he disobeyed and stayed there for a long time (26:8). As a result, he sinned there. While in Gerar, the people simply and politely inquired about Rebekah. The text does not indicate any menace in their inquiry, but Isaac seems to feel threatened.⁴¹⁵ So, like his father, he had a private discussion with his wife and told her, “You tell them that you are my sister, not my wife.” And like Sarah, Rebekah went along with the plan. There was some truth in what Avraham said because Sarah was his half-sister, but there was no truth in what Isaac said. Therefore, when the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said: “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful” (26:7), so Isaac repeated the sin of Abraham (to see link click Fd – Abraham Said of His Wife: She is My Sister).

The absence of any mention of Jacob and Esau here may suggest that they were back in the Negev looking after the possessions that Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak) couldn’t bring to Gerar. Otherwise, the presence of two grown sons would have made it especially difficult to pass off their mother as his sister.⁴¹⁶

Evidently Isaac’s tent was pitched close to Abimelech’s palace. When Isaac had been there a long time Abimelech accidentally stumbled on the truth when he looked down from a window in his palace and saw Isaac caressing, or being amorous with, his wife Rebekah (26:8). Here we have a play upon words. The Hebrew word for caressing and the Hebrew word for the name Yitz’chak come from the same root word. It is the same word used when Ishmael was mocking Isaac (21:9). This phrase can be used in a negative or a positive sense. In the case of Ishmael’s mocking, it was negative, but in the case of Isaac’s caressing, it was positive. Literally, it means Isaac was isaacing his wife Rebekah. However in lying, Isaac was mocking Abimelech. More than that, Yitz’chak had just received the covenant promises of the LORD, but his fear made a mockery of them. Fear mocks faith, where faith laughs in the face of danger.

Like his predecessor before him, Abimelech was a moral man (we must remember that Abimelech was a title like Pharaoh and not a proper name). Understandably upset, Abimelech summoned Isaac and said: She is really your wife! Why did you say, “She is my sister”? The pagan king is here the defender of truth. Is there anything sadder than a child of God being rebuked by a man of the world? At last, Yitz’chak told the truth and answered: Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her (26:9).

Then Abimelech said: What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us (26:10). Yitz’chak had missed the point that in attempting to spare his own life, he was risking the lives of everybody else. A whole city was put in danger because one man wanted to escape danger.⁴¹⁷ This doesn’t seem to be a very spiritual time for Isaac. Gerar is the only place he went without building an altar.

It is surprising that Abimelech did not take vengeance on Isaac, but instead he gave orders to all the people, “Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death” (26:11). I am sure they had protesters outside the palace the next day! This was a rather severe penalty, even for the Canaanites. For this Abimelech to act in this way he must have remembered the story of the plagues on the house of the former king of Gerar who encountered Abraham some eighty years earlier. In addition, Isaac was a power to be reckoned with, and to curse him meant to be cursed (12:3). Apparently Abimelech’s order did the trick, because later he and his officers said: We did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace (26:29).

The point here is clear; Yitz’chak made the same mistake as his father Avraham, and yet was delivered by ADONAI the God of mercy, in the same way.⁴¹⁸

Isaac Went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar
26: 1-5

Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar DIG: How was Isaac like his father Abraham? Why was Isaac to stay in the Promised Land? What was ADONAI’s promise to Isaac? How would Isaac benefit by staying in the Land? How would the world benefit?

REFLECT: How many times have you made the same mistake twice? How does that happen? How can we obey God and keep His mitzvot, His regulations and His teachings?

Sometime after the two boys had grown to manhood, and Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak) himself was at least eighty years old, he and Rebekah encountered a severe test of faith and obedience. We do not have as much information concerning Isaac’s life as we do for that of his father, so we do not know whether he had many earlier trials or not. In fact, this is the only chapter that is devoted to the events in Isaac’s life. Except for the experience on Mount Moriah, and his problem with Jacob and Esau, he seems to have led a peaceful and comfortable life up to this point.⁴¹³

Now there was a famine in the land where Yitz’chak was living, probably near the well at Lahai-Roi. This was the second famine that is mentioned. There was a famine during Abraham’s time over a hundred years earlier (12:10), but this famine was starting to affect his flocks and herds. However, it wasn’t as bad near the Philistine coast so Isaac decided to move near Gerar. He might have continued all the way into Egypt, but ADONAI stopped him.

And Isaac went to Abimelech king of Gerar (26:1). This was not the same king as before (20:1-18, 21:22-34). Abimelech was a title for the king of Gerar, like Pharaoh was a title for the king of Egypt. There were no Philistines living in Gerar during Isaac’s lifetime, but they would eventually settle there and Gerar would become a Philistine city. The Philistines even kept the title of Abimelech for their kings (First Samuel 21:10-15; Psalm 34). Isaac had not left the borders of the Promised Land, which included Gerar, but he was thinking of going to Egypt.

In a sense Yitz’chak was just like his father. This reveals the fact that “like father, like son,” sins are carried from the father to the son. You can talk about the generation gap all you want, but there is no generation gap of sin. It just flows from one generation to another. The son makes very much the same mistakes the father did unless someone intervenes.⁴¹⁴

So ADONAI intervened and appeared to Isaac. He had appeared to him over fifty years earlier on Mount Moriah with his father Avraham. He had spoken to Rebekah before the twins were born, and now He had spoken to Yitz’chak for the first time. God had not forgotten His promises to his father, but told Isaac the same thing He had told to Abraham, “Do not go down to Egypt.” Isaac had not left the Land to get a bride and he   was not to leave the Land now. Egypt represents the world, and as a result, could not be a place of blessing for the LORD. If he did not to repeat the same mistake, and live in the Land where ADONAI told him to live, he would be blessed beyond measure. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Avraham (26:2-3). YHVH confirmed Abraham’s covenant with Isaac. The implication seems to be that just as Abraham followed the Holy One by faith, albeit not without flaw, so did his son Isaac.

I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky (Hebrews 11:11-12) and will give them all these lands, and through the Offspring (using the Hebrew absolute singular here, meaning the Messiah), all nations on earth will be blessed (26:4). Yes, the descendants of Abraham would be blessed because of him, but they would also have to exhibit faith and obedience in order to enjoy the promised blessings. Because Abraham obeyed My voice. As result, Rashi contended that according to this verse, Abraham kept both the Written and Oral Torah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ei – The Oral Law). And kept My mitzvot, My statutes and My ordinances (26:5). Progressive revelation helps us to understand that ADONAI revealed Himself and His Word in stages. Thus, the devotion of Abraham is described in words that indicate his obedience to what he knew at that time, like leaving his country for an unknown Land, the covenant of circumcision, and the offering up of Isaac.  The legal expressions of mitzvot, statutes and ordinances will reoccur at a later date as YHVH would progressively reveal more of His Word to Moshe (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bb – Hear and Obey) . It must be remembered, however, that the Covenant made with Abraham, and God’s promises to him were made only by the LORD’s grace and mercy.

Not only are Avraham’s promises repeated here for Yitz’chak, but they were also expanded and enhanced. But as unthinkable as it would seem, and surely knowing what had happened to his father though his memory had grown dim, he fell into the very same sin. If the details sound familiar, there is an underlying reason.

Then Jacob Gave Esau Some Lentil Stew
and Esau Despised His Birthright
25: 27-34

Then Jacob gave Esau some lentil stew and Esau despised his birthright DIG: What kind of a man was Esau? What is God’s opinion about Ya’akov? How do we know that? What do you think of Jacob and Rebekah each picking a favorite son? In what sense did the LORD love Ya’akov and hate Esau? What did Esau really think of his birthright as the elder son? Why did Esav fail the supreme test of his life? Were there consequences? What was Jacob’s sin?

REFLECT: Jacob didn’t have to bargain for the birthright. ADONAI had already given it to him. How often do we manipulate others to get what we want, instead of letting the LORD work things out in His timing and in His way? Is your faith ready for the supreme test in your life? Have you ever disparaged the promises of God in exchange for some worldly privilege?

Sadly, things of great spiritual value are often handled in profane or crafty ways. Some people treat spiritual and eternal things with contempt, for they see them as of no value. And others, though regarding such things highly, make the things of God serve themselves through craftiness and manipulation. Esau and Jacob are examples of both types.⁴⁰⁹

The boys grew up, and Esav became a skillful hunter just like Nimrod (10:8-12). In the context of Genesis, being a skillful hunter has a negative connotation, just as it was with Nimrod. And he was a man of the open country, a man of the world. He decided to do his own thing and not work within the family unit. He was very streetwise and worldly.

In contrast to his brother, however, Jacob was a blameless man. The NIV says Jacob was a quiet man, and the NKJ says he was a mild man. But the Hebrew root word tam is always translated elsewhere as perfect, or upright, blameless or without blemish. When God was speaking to Satan He said: Have you considered my servant Job. There is no one like him; he is blameless and upright (tam), a man who fears God and shuns evil (Job 1:8). Again, God puts Jacob in the same company as Job. It does not mean sinless perfection, but it has the sense of a man whose heart is right towards God. It is translated without defect 36 times in the TaNaKh, blameless 22 times, and perfect 5 times. As a result, the root word tam is never translated quiet or mild anywhere else in the TaNaKh. Then why is it translated thus here? It doesn’t make sense in the context, but it also doesn’t fit people’s preconceived notions about Jacob. Here is the beginning of this trend that the way Jacob is portrayed by Scripture is the opposite of the way he has been portrayed by many pastors, commentators and even some Bible translators. This is a very dangerous proposition (Revelation 22:18-19).

Therefore, because Jacob was a blameless, he stayed among the tents of his father (25:27). Regrettably, Ya’akov is often portrayed as a mama’s boy, but this is not what it means at all. Jacob chose the same occupation as his father, that of a shepherd and shepherds lived in tents. This was true of Abraham and it was true of his father Isaac. Being a shepherd was not the job of a sissy. Later on we will see how much suffering Jacob had to endure as a result of being a shepherd (to see link click Hr – Laban Pursues Jacob). David would be a shepherd, and it was no easy task, protecting his flock from both the lion and the bear (First Samuel 17:34-37). Ya’akov chose to be a shepherd, and work within the family unit and within the covenant, in contrast to being a hunter and a man of the world like his brother Esau. Therefore, the parents mirrored the conflict between the twin boys.

This only added fuel to the fire of any potential problems that Esav and Jacob might have had with each other. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau. Literally, the Hebrew reads that Yitz’chak had game in his mouth. Because Isaac had a preference for wild game, he had a preference for Esau. Not exactly a spiritual outlook, but then again Abraham wasn’t sinless and neither was his son. Human nature tells us that Rebekah told Isaac of God’s prophecy concerning their two sons. If you knew for sure that your spouse was going against the will of God that would hurt your son, wouldn’t you communicate that? Of course you would! Therefore, with the understanding that Rebekah told her husband the prophecy of the LORD when she was pregnant, Isaac basically ignored the choice of God. At some point it seems as though Rebekah had also told Ya’akov of his destiny. ADONAI said: Yet I have loved, or chosen, Jacob, but Esav I have hated, or not chosen (Malachi 1:2b-3a). She initially favored Ya’akov because she wanted to follow the LORD’s will. And because she believed ADONAI, she knew that Jacob was the son of promise and not Esau. As a result, she and Jacob became kindred spirits, and Rebekah loved Jacob because God loved Jacob (25:28).

Jacob was a blameless man and wanted to see the will of God accomplished. He also wanted to serve ADONAI and valued the covenant that the LORD had made with his father Abraham. The material blessings were immaterial to him. His mother had told him that he was the one through which the Messiah would come. In addition, having grown up with Esau, he knew the only aspect of the birthright appealing to Esau was the material benefits. He didn’t want or value the spiritual aspects at all. In fact, the Bible says that Esav despised his birthright (25:34). Jacob had thought about these things for years as he grew up. But instead of letting God work it out, he, like his grandfather Abraham before him, thought he would take matters into his own hands, and one day the opportunity presented itself.

Humanly, you can understand how difficult it was for  Ya’akov to be willing to wait on God’s timing. The birthright would have been his anyway, but he was unwilling to allow God to give it to him. But we do the same thing! We take the LORD at his word, but we will not wait for His timing. The result is that we bring untold trouble upon others and ourselves. It is not enough to believe what ADONAI has said, we must wait patiently for Him (Psalm 37:7).⁴¹⁰

Nevertheless, once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in tired from the open country. The Hebrew word means nothing more than to be tired. He said to Jacob his brother: Quick, let me have some of that red lentil stew! The Hebrew literally reads: Let me gulp down some of that red. The word, gulp down, implies an animal like ferociousness. Ironically, this skillful hunter came home empty handed and said: I am famished! The fact that he would trade his birthright for some “red,” is why he was also called red or Edom (25:29-30).

Esau would face a supreme test in the next few minutes that would change his life. The real proof of life is our personal faith, and what happens next will reveal who Esav really was. He never made a decision in his life to choose to believe in the promises of God. He never had any faith. Faith is continually growing, and when a crisis comes we act, not solely according to what we want at the moment, but according to who we really are, for our actions are the expression of our real faith. The real us comes out instinctively. This was true of Abraham. When the supreme test in his life came he had sixty years of preparation for that one moment, and he passed with flying colors. He was willing to sacrifice Isaac because of his faith in ADONAI. It was faith in action. Now Esau is staring his supreme test in the face, and because faith in the LORD had never been built into his life, he failed.

Ya’akov made Esav a proposition, perhaps initially only joking, not really expecting Esau to accept it. He said: First sell me today your birthright (25:31). The birthright was the right of the firstborn to take precedence over his brothers. The firstborn had the ability to sell his birthright, and as far as Jacob was concerned, it contained four elements. First, it included physical benefits because at the father’s death, the firstborn received a double portion of the father’s estate (Deuteronomy 21:17); secondly, it included spiritual benefits because he was to be the head and priest of the family (First Chronicles 5:1-2). Therefore, the eldest son had some somber responsibilities. He was to preside over the household and provide materially and spiritually for it. These spiritual responsibilities were particularly important (18:19). Specifically, he was supposed to build and officiate at the altar, as well as to preach God’s Word and his promises (22:9; 26:25). Thirdly, it included being in the Messianic line because this was the birthright of the LORD’s Covenant with Abraham; and fourthly, it included the possession of the land of Canaan. The loss of the birthright could occur if a grave offense was committed. Ruben committed incest (35:22, 49:4) and forfeited his right as the firstborn of the twelve tribes.

All this was formalized at one point in time when the father blessed the firstborn. Just as we write a will today, there was an occasion in the family where the father, once and for all, sanctioned the confirmation of the birthright by blessing one particular son. In that sense, the ultimate decision of the birthright was with the father. So theoretically, Isaac could have overridden Esau’s foolish decision here and still given him the blessing. That is why we see Jacob’s deception in Chapter 27. And that may be one of the reasons for Esav’s seemingly flippant attitude toward the birthright at this point. He thought, “Dad loves me more and will certainly bless me no matter what I do here.”

Esau always lived for the sensual enjoyment of the moment and said to his brother: Look, I am about to die. This is another instance where people have maligned Jacob because they take Esau’s words a bit too literally. But actually Esav is exaggerating, just as someone who comes home after work and says, “I am starving to death.” That person may be hungry, but is surely not starving. The same is true here with Esau. Abraham was a very wealthy man and all Esav had to do was to go to the next tent and he could have been given all the food he could have possibly wanted. Then he rationalized: What good is the birthright to me (25:32). Well, there were a lot of spiritual benefits, but he wasn’t concerned about those.

But Jacob said to him, “Swear to me first.” This swearing is what would make this sale legal and binding.  So Esau swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob (25:33). Some people will compromise and sell what God really has for them for some instant gratification. But the Bible says: Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). Just as Ishmael was excluded from the promised blessing because he was born according to the flesh, Esau lost the promised blessing because his disposition was likewise according to the flesh.⁴¹¹

Then Ya’akov gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. There is nothing in this passage to imply that Jacob took unfair advantage of Esav. God’s evaluation of the situation is that Esav despised, or treated his birthright as worthless (25:34). So far as we can see, God had no place in his life. The Bible says: See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son (Hebrews 12:16). But this did not justify Jacob’s conduct in the matter. He did the wrong thing for the right reason. However, the end doesn’t justify the means.

Jacob, of course, should have been willing to let ADONAI work out this problem. The LORD would certainly have overruled the situation even if Yitz’chak had not been willing to give Ya’akov the birthright as God had instructed him. However, Jacob’s sin was not a sin of greed or blackmail, but rather a lack of faith. He so strongly wanted to see His purposes advanced that he felt he must help them along by his own actions. This sin, of course, is one of which we also are guilty. Abraham and Isaac themselves both suffered far greater lapses of faith than this.⁴¹²

Two Nations, One Womb
25: 19-26

Two nations, one womb DIG: How long did Isaac and Rebekah pray for a son? What did ADONAI prophecy to Rebekah about the twins even before they were born? Who would serve who? What do the names of the boys mean? Why should Jacob’s name never be translated deceiver? Why is that important?

REFLECT: What have you been praying for? Is waiting on the Lord difficult for you? Is ADONAI’s timing perfect, or have you taken matters into your own hands? Can you let God be God?

Parashah 6: Tol’dot (History) 25:19-28:9
(see my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)

The Key People include Jacob, Isaac, Rebecca, Esau, Abimelech king of the Philistines, daughters of Het, Laban, and more wives for Esau.

The Scenes include Gerar, Beersheba, Isaac’s three wells, Shibah, and Paddan Aram.

The Main Events include ADONAI speaking to Rebecca, the birth of two nations, the birthright traded for some stew, famine, prosperity in Gerar, Isaac’s blessing for Jacob when tricked by hairy skin, the blessing reaffirmed, Jacob sent to Laban to avoid the wrath of Esau, and to get a wife, and Isaac bestowing the Abrahamic blessing on Jacob – the next generation to receive divine favor.

It is easy to read through the accounts about the patriarchs and get lost in the detail. When we examine the passages closely it seems that all we see are human decisions, human error, and human strength or weakness. It is like standing very close to an oil painting where we can see each brush stroke clearly but can miss the overall theme of the painting. The same peril might await us in our Torah studies if we do not take the time to step back a little from the text in order to see the big picture that the Holy One is unfolding before us.

Parashah Tol’dot is a good example of this. Here we vividly witness human dealings, deceptions, conflict, and even hatred. Lest we get lost in the mire of biased human reactions and dealings; we must analyze these actions through the sovereign eyes of God. Thus, we will study this parashah to see what we can learn about divine sovereignty. The sovereignty of God is a recurrent theme throughout the Torah. For example, it will surface again in the story of Joseph (to see link click Iw – The Written Account of the Generations of Jacob). The repetition of this theme in the Torah means, among other things, that the LORD wants us to keep it fresh in our minds. ADONAI wants to encourage and strengthen us with this revelation of Himself.

This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac, and what became of Isaac was Esau and Jacob. Abraham became the father of Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak), and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from the plain of Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean (25:19-20). Aram was the son of Shem, so the Arameans were Semites. Parashah Tol’dot tells the story of the birth of Jacob and Esau. It was only in the previous chapter that we learned about the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. Now the progressively unfolding story of redemption in Genesis introduces the next main character, Jacob. This is the line through which the Seed of the woman (3:15), or the Messiah, comes, so this is the Seed son.

As Isaac grew up, his mother Sarah and his father Abraham told him the story of his miraculous birth. They told him how much they longed for him and how much they prayed, year after year, that ADONAI would send him to them. Sarah was barren, but they prayed. An act of God brought Rebekah and Isaac together. Like his father Abraham, Isaac was faced with a marriage which was barren of children. Now it would take another act of God to overcome Rebekah’s barrenness. Isaac had learned from his parents that he was the son of promise, and that it would be through him and his descendants that the Messiah would come. He had learned from his father the pain of trying to give the LORD a helping hand by having a child with his handmaiden, and he had vowed within himself that he would never repeat that mistake. What was left for him to do? Yitz’chak then prayed to ADONAI on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And, just as Sarah and Abraham had waited twenty-five years before Isaac was born, Rebekah and Isaac also waited twenty.⁴⁰⁴  But then the LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant (25:21).

Waiting on ADONAI is an act of faith, the greatest thing ever required of us humans. Not faith in the outcome we are dictating to God, but faith in His character, faith in Himself. It is resting in perfect confidence that He will guide in the right way, at the right time. He will supply our need. He will fulfill His written Word. He will give us the very best if we trust, believe and have faith in Him.⁴⁰⁵

During Rebekah’s difficult pregnancy the babies jostled each other within her. Did this ever prove to be a prophetic jostling! The twins have been fighting ever since. She asked herself, “Why is this happening to me?” The struggle of these two boys, which began before their birth, represents the struggle that still goes on today. There is a struggle between light and darkness, between good and evil, between the Spirit and the flesh that Paul sets before us (see the commentary on Romans Cc – The Reality of the Inner Conflict).⁴⁰⁶

God’s sovereign hand is also demonstrated in the actual birth of the twins, Jacob and Esau. The first evidence of this is in the prophecy that He gave to reassure Rebekah. So she went to inquire of ADONAI (25:22) and He prophesied to her. The content of the prophecy is in the form of Hebrew poetry, which is not based upon rhythm or rhyme, but it is based upon parallelism. The first line is: Two nations are in your womb. The Hebrew word for nations is goyim, which means both Jewish and Gentile nations. The Jewish nation of Isra’el will be from Jacob (Hebrew: Ya’akov), and the Gentile nation will be from Esau (later the nation of Edom). In Hebrew poetry the second line either completes the thought of the first line, or says the same thing in different words. Therefore, the second line is: and two peoples from within you will be separated. Then comes line number three: One people will be stronger than the other, because Isra’el will be stronger than Edom. And then the fourth line completes the thought of the third: and the older will serve the younger (Second Samuel 8:12-14), because Edom would be enslaved to Isra’el (25:23). The struggle which begun in her womb would continue throughout their lives and throughout the history of their respective nations. This is a very important part of the prophecy because it will reveal the godly motivation behind Sarah and Jacob’s actions regarding the blessing that would be needed to carry on the line of the coming Messiah.

Romans 9:10-12 emphasizes the importance of ADONAI’s statement to Rebekah (see the commentary on Romans Cq – The Explanation of Isra’el’s Past Paradox). Before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose in election might stand, she was told that the older will serve the younger. The LORD’s choice of Jacob, the younger, to inherit his covenant promise was made before the boys were even born. This showed that the choice did not depend on what either did. God is free to choose as He wills. The fact that Esav proved to be uninterested in spiritual things shows how wise His choices are.⁴⁰⁷

I am sure that she treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart, just as Mary would do in the future (Luke 2:19). But should she do more than that? Surely she should tell her husband? But what about the boys? Would there be any problems if she told them? Should she let the LORD work it out and not say anything? Or should she get involved?

Scripture has already provided two instances of fraternal rivalry: Cain and Abel, and Ishmael and Isaac. Both times the elder brother emerges in a less than desirable light. The case is no different with Esau and Jacob.⁴⁰⁸ This prophecy hardly brought any comfort to Rebekah. It explained her pain, but it raised more questions than it answered. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb (25:24). They came from the same womb, but they were worlds apart.

The first to come out was red or the Hebrew word admoni which means ruddy or reddishness, and that became the basis for the name of his nation edom, meaning red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau, which means hairy (25:25). So his personal name was because he was born hairy, and the name of his nation was based on the color of his hair.

After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esav’s heel. The Hebrew word for heel is akeiv, which is also seen in the words of the prophet Hosea when he said: In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel (Hosea 12:3). And just as Esau was named by his appearance, Jacob was named by his action, so he was named Ya’akov, which is the same root word for heel. The primary meaning of his name is the one who takes by the heel, or heel holder. And there is no negative connotation here. But the secondary meaning of his name is supplanter, which is a neutral term to be determined by the context (Genesis 27:36; Jeremiah 9:4). His name should never be translated deceiver. In the LORD’s perfect timing, Yitz’chak was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them (25:26).

By giving Jacob a name from a Hebrew root which means heel, his parents were unwittingly contributing an important part toward the fulfillment of the prophecy given by YHVH earlier in Genesis (see Be – He Will Crush Your Head, and You Will Strike His Heel). This was the first messianic prophecy, which would ultimately take place between Messiah and Satan. The Messiah, however, will be from Jacob, the heel. In addition, as the people of God chosen to bring light and salvation into the world, which is totally contrary to Satan’s purposes, the people of the heel (Irsra’el) would suffer. But, we also know from both the prophecy above and in other parts of Scripture, that Messiah and the remnant of Isra’el will be victorious.

Did Isaac and Rebekah know all of this; of course not. But like so many of us, they were being used without being aware of it – as instruments of the sovereignty of God to help carry our His unfolding plan of redemption. In the end, they named their second twin the name which the Eternal One had decided in all eternity past that He should have; Jacob (later called Isra’el) the heel.

All the mothers of the nation of Isra’el were not able to conceive and have children naturally. All were barren. Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Hannah all had to have a miracle to give birth to their children. But why? ADONAI wanted to be clearly seen in the births of the major historical heroes in the path to our salvation. Of course, the most out of the ordinary was the birth of Yeshua our Messiah that is not a birth given by a barren woman, but a birth given by a woman who knew no man!

The Written Account of the Generations of Isaac
25:19 to 35:29

Moses edited and compiled eleven family documents in the book of Genesis. Again, the major structural word for Genesis, toldot, means the written account of, or this is what became of these men and their descendants. The noun is often translated generations, histories or descendants. After the section on the written account of the generations of Ishmael from 25:12-18, we have the ninth toldot, the written account of the generations of Isaac (Hebrew: Yitz’chak). The previous toldot told us about the end of the non-seed line of Ishmael. Then this ninth family document tells us what became of Isaac, the son of promise. And what became of Isaac was Jacob, and through his seed, Isra’el, the nation of blessing would be born.

After briefly mentioning Ishmael’s non-seed line, the narrative returns to the seed-line through Yitz’chak. It records Isaac’s prosperity and Jacob’s struggle for the birthright. This section records Jacob’s journey outside the Promised Land, his struggle with God and consequent name change, and finally his return. This section was probably kept and recorded by Jacob himself. Later, through progressive revelation, Isaiah describes the narrowing of the meaning of the word servant. First, when he uses the term servant, he is talking about the nation of Isra’el, and he uses it three times in 41:8-16, 42:18-22, and 43:10. Secondly, when he uses the term servant, he is dealing with the faithful remnant only, and he uses it three times in 44:1-5, 44:21, and 65:8-16. Third, when Isaiah uses the term Servant, it is in reference to the Messiah, and we find it in 42:1-9, 49:1-7, 50:4-9, and 52:13 to 53:12. Like a cone, it gets more and more narrow. It starts at the base as the nation of Isra’el, and then progresses to the faithful remnant and finally to the point, which could only be the Messiah (see my commentary on Isaiah Hl – The Cone of Isaiah).

The Territory of Ishmael
25: 18

His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. That means the territory stretched from the Euphrates River in the North to the Red Sea in the South. Havilah is the southeast border located in northeast Arabia, and Shur is the southwest border toward Assyria. So basically, his descendants settled in the Arabian Peninsula.

And he died in the presence of all his brothers. This is a clear fulfillment of what the Angel of the LORD, or the second person of the Trinity, Yeshua Messiah, had prophesied earlier. He said: He will be a wild donkey of a man roaming free, his hand will be upon everyone, and he will dwell to the east in the presence of all his brothers in the east (to see link click Ej – Hagar and the Angel of the LORD).

Haftarah Chayei-Sarah: M’lakhim Alef (First Kings) 1:1-31
(see my commentary on Deuteronomy Af – Parashah)

David and Abraham both face problems of succession in their old age. Abraham’s succession goes smoothly, because he obtains the oath of his trusted senior servant, Eliezer. ADONAI directs Eliezer’s path, and thus, assures the marriage and continuation of the house of Abraham and Sarah. Here, King David confronts a crisis. His fourth-born son Adonijah, had declared himself to be the next king (First Kings 1:1-9), which has excluded Solomon, the true heir to the throne (First Kings 1:10). Nathan visits Bathsheba to warn her that her life and her son’s life are in danger (First Kings 1:11-12). Only David can declare his successor (First Kings 1:20), and he comforts his wife with an oath that Solomon will succeed him (First Kings 1:30). The oath, now in YHVH’s hands, assures the outcome that the Haftarah ends before it is reported.

B’rit Chadashah suggested readings for Parashah Hayyei-Sarah:
Mattityahu (Matthew) 1:1-17, 8:19-22, 27:3-10; Luke 9:57-61

David’s dynasty of kings and Abraham’s heir to the promises of his household converge in Yeshua the Messiah. The sacred text introduces Yeshua the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). His heritage passes through Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, among the brothers, and Perez among the twins (Matthew 1:2-3). It passes through David and Solomon among the kings (Matthew 1:6). Four Gentile women (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah’s wife, or Bathsheba) appear as matriarchs. The text climaxes with Mary, mother of Yeshua (Matthew 1:16). Sarah’s household has its ultimate fulfillment in Yeshua, King at the end of the dynasty of kings! The genealogy is segmented into three pereiods – Abraham to David, David to the exile, and the exile to the birth of Messiah (Matthew 1:17). In Hebrew, David’s name has a numerical value of 14 (2X7), the number of perfection or completion. Messiah Himself is the “last David” to redeem David’s fallen dynasty from the curse of exile.