A Daily Genesis

Genesis 27:3-4

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[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 27:3-4 . .Take your gear, your quiver and bow, and go out into the open and hunt me some game. Then prepare a dish for me such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my innermost blessing before I die.[/B]

The part about "my soul" is a curious statement. The word for soul is [I]nephesh[/I] (neh'-fesh) which is a very common word for creatures in the Old Testament beginning at Gen 1:20. Nepesh never refers to inanimate life; viz: it only refers to fauna, never to flora.

A pretty good paraphrase of that portion of the passage would be "that I may bless you from the core of my being".

Esau was Isaac's favorite and I don't think he ever did care too much for Jacob. If he had purposed to bless Jacob, I think it would have been done with a very grudging spirit. This particular blessing regards Esau's inheritance. He already sold the patriarchy to Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup. Whether or not Isaac was aware of the deal the brothers struck, is not said.

What takes place next in chapter 27 is difficult to believe. To think that two grown-ups, one at least 75 and the other very likely 115 years old, took part in this incredibly clownish deception. I could understand young, inexperienced kids doing something so stupid. But it is difficult to understand how supposedly mature adults like Rebecca and Jacob could ever seriously ponder such a silly scheme.

It is simply moronic that Rebecca would even remotely consider that her crafty little plan had even the remotest chance of success. Conducted under false pretenses, and a fake ID; it would only be a matter of hours before the scam was uncovered, the ill gotten blessing of course annulled, and the perpetrators soundly excoriated . . unless . . unless there is more to this incident than meets the eye; and there most certainly is.

Ninety-five years prior to this point in time, God personally selected a vibrant water girl up in Haran to be Isaac's spouse. The wisdom of that selection is now going to become apparent as we begin to realize who actually wore the spiritual pants in Isaac's house. If spirituality were a martial art, Rebecca would be a black belt. Her discernment regarding matters of Heaven is just incredible. Was she really a silly female? Far from it.

In spite of God's mandate in chapter 25 concerning Jacob, and in spite of the plainly obvious superiority of Jacob's character, and his spiritual discernment, and his convictions, and in spite of Esau's blatant indifference to his birthright, and to his spiritual heritage, and to the mind of God; Isaac was nevertheless apparently determined to give both the patriarchy and the inheritance to Esau-- clearly the wrong choice; not to mention a direct affront to God. The inheritance was one thing, but the patriarchy was a whole other matter altogether.

Esau even married impious women from among the pagan Canaanites. A horrible choice considering the repercussions of such spouses upon the future of Abraham's covenant. And Esau no doubt made that choice against the counsel and consent of his parents; proving all the more just how head-strong and self-willed the man really was. Motivated by the gain of temporal advantage, and the gratification of carnal appetites; Esau had no spiritual vision at all. Well; Rebecca is fixin' to give Mr. Isaac, and his secular son Mr. Esau, the wake-up call of their lives!

Esau was a man's man. I think if any of us met him, we would be instantly drawn by his charisma and virility. And I think that Isaac saw in him the kind of man he always wished he was himself. But in the coin of heaven, Esau had no more worth than a dilapidated old shoe.

It's difficult to comprehend how favoritism, on the part of such a presumably spiritual man as Isaac, could be based upon such a carnal motive as the taste of venison. But it wasn't just the meal, but rather the way it was obtained.

We get runs of Salmon up here in Oregon's rivers at various times of the year. Last time I checked; you could buy fresh Coho Salmon in local supermarkets for about $12 a pound. But no; guys prefer instead to spend all day on a river shivering in the freezing cold just to catch one Salmon in the wild.

But the river fish means something that the supermarket fish can never mean. Yes, both are edible and both make great eating and honestly you can't tell the difference. But one is obtained with a shopping cart. The other by a man's own bare hands: with fishing tackle, by personal energy combined with risk, skill, and cunning. All those are important to a "real" man's feelings of personal worth.

It was customary in Jacob's day to mark solemn occasions with a feast; like the one Isaac prepared for Abimelech when they swore an oath together in chapter 26. And since the blessing Isaac resolved to bestow upon Esau was such an important one, it seemed appropriate that the solemnities should be marked by a feast of wild meat provided by Esau's own personal hunting skills.

However, father and son didn't reckon on the God factor, and they surely didn't reckon on black ops Rebecca. Their little party is not going to happen because this sharp gal from up north anticipated this very day and is all set to implement a little fiesta of her own.

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