Genesis 27:41-46
Jacob Escapes from Esau
41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, 45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?”
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Esau despised his birthright by offhandedly selling it for a bowl of stew to satisfy his appetite and then allowed jealous hatred to form against his younger brother for inheriting the blessing that he had casually tossed away in a promise. Esau must have looked only at the inheritance of wealth in the land and livestock and never considered the invaluable spiritual value of the inheritance of faith to bless the nation and the world by trusting the LORD. This blind desire to possess kept him from seeing and obtaining the true riches of the kingdom (Mark 10:23-24) of God. How many fall into that same trap today, putting health and wealth with safety and happiness in worldly prosperity above what lasts for eternity! We see how God delivers the righteous (Psalm 34:19, 2 Peter 2:9) from this present evil age (2 Corinthians 1:9-10, Galatians 1:4) and keeps us to the end (1 Corinthians 1:8) by His plan of sovereign grace and daily providence of provision. We have all we need and need not covet any earthly inheritance that just turns into dust in the end. Those who pursue temporal riches miss the mark and the true riches of the inheritance found in faith and contentment (1 Timothy 6:6) of the pursuit of holiness to be well-pleasing to our Lord and Savior. We need not deceive to gain our inheritance either; it is the Father’s good pleasure (Luke 12:32, Ephesians 1:5, 9, 2:13, 2 Thessalonians 1:11) to give us the kingdom! Why then strive to earn or take what is given by such a gift of undeserving grace? Rebekah had talked Jacob into deceiving Isaac to gain the inheritance and set division between the brothers instead of waiting on God’s promises and timing as an example of warning to us as well. She had the right desire to see him inherit the promise and find a godly wife, yet took matters into her own hands instead of placing them into God’s hands where they belong. May we not do the same, but trust and obey, having already been promised the inheritance which we cannot earn by condemning others or exalting ourselves as if those things could gain us anything but trouble. Remember how such steps can often just feed on the nature of others to increased jealous threats and hate against us for our sake (1 Peter 2:20-21, 3:15, 16-17) and not Christ’s sake and the good news we represent as ambassadors of the kingdom of God in Him. This then shows that Jealous Hate and Threats can find food to grow when we deceive instead of trust God for the inheritance of Grace.
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