Genesis 25-27

Day 22: Genesis 25-27 Notes & Takeaways

Our reading in chapter 25 begins with Abraham taking a second wife named Ketruah. Her name means incense or fragrance. She bore Abraham six boys and one in particular we should take note of and remember for later: Midian. He would become the father of the Midianites, where Moses would later get his wife from. In total Abraham has 8 boys, including Ishmael and Isaac.

Abraham was wealthy and took care of each of his children and sent them away, but to Isaac he left everything he owned. Abraham was blessed with a long life and died at 175 years of age. He is mentioned in the New Testament 70 times, only surpassed by Moses who is spoken of 80 times. Abraham was a great man and was known as a friend of God, see 2 Chronicles 20:7 and James 2:23.

Ishmael also lived a blessed life and lived until he was 137 years old. But, his children would “live in hostility towards all the tribes related to them” (Gen 25:18).

Isaac and Rebekah wanted children but she could not, and Isaac prayed for her and God made her pregnant with twins. We see that when Rebekah inquired the Lord about them in her womb he told her the future of the twins and that the older one would serve the younger one.

One was named Esau, which means hairy, and the other Jacob, which means heel-catcher. Heel-catcher has a double meaning and in those days meant scoundrel, trickster, or conman, which was perfect for who Jacob becomes. Heel catcher was not a compliment.

As they grow older you can see that they have completely different personalities, and completely different views on their inheritances and the blessings from God. Jacob wanted the birthright and Esau was willing to trade it for a bowl of stew. I don’t know about you, but no matter how hangry I may be, I wouldn’t give up a double portion of my inheritance for some ramen. Not even if it was the best ramen in the world.

The birthright was important because it meant that the son of the birthright would receive a double portion of the inheritance, and he also became the head of the family and the spiritual leader upon the passing of the father.

“So Esau Despised his birthright” (Gen 25:34). Esau only cared for the material things, he could’ve cared less for the spiritual. He despised it so much he sold it for a bowl of soup. Ephesians 1:3-14 shows us a treasury of riches that are ours by birthright in Jesus.

“History shows that men prefer illusions to realities, choose time rather than eternity, and the pleasures of sin for a season rather than the joys of God forever. Men will read trash rather than the Word of God, and adhere to a system of priorities that leaves God out of their lives. Multitudes of men spend more time shaving than on their souls; and multitudes of women give more minutes to their makeup than to the life of the eternal spirit. Men still sell their birthright for a mess of pottage.” (Barnhouse)

We move on to chapter 26 and we see that once again there is a famine in the land, just like in Abraham’s time, but the LORD warns him to not go down to Egypt as his father once did. We also see that Isaac, like his father, lies to King Abimelek of the Philistines about his wife in the same way Abraham did about Sarah. “She is my sister,” he says (Gen 26:7). He is then reprimanded by a pagan king over this. We must note that this is not the same King Abimelek that Abraham encountered in Egypt. This was his title, not his name.

Now, the Lord blessed Isaac in his crops so much that the Philistines envied him. They envied him so much they stopped up his wells and asked him to leave because he was becoming too powerful for them. He does move away, back to where his father Abraham had lived at and reopened 3 wells there: Esek, which means dispute, Sitnah, which means opposition, and Rehoboth, which means room, because they had room to grow and flourish in this new land.

As he flourishes he makes a pact with King Abimelek and in Gen 26:8, Abimelek says, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you.” This made me think, can others see clearly that the Lord is with me? Can they see my love for Jesus in my actions, my speech, my demeanor? Can they see that the Lord is with me by how I lead my children and serve my husband? Can they say to me, we see the Lord is clearly with you? I hope so!

Esau then goes on to marry not one Canaanite woman, but two. He really shows his disdain for God and the profane person he is; see Hebrews 12:16.

When Isaac gets old and can no longer see he intends to bless Esau and we can see that he tells him secretly to catch some game and make him stew, and then he would bless him. Because he does this secretly we can see that he knew this was wrong and chose to try to bless Esau regardless of the fact that the Lord had promised to Rebekah that the older would serve the younger in Gen 25:23.

But, Rebekah doesn’t trust God anymore than Isaac does in this situation. They all don’t trust each other and scheme to get what they want. Rebekah and Jacob come up with a plan and Jacob goes right along with it. Remember, just because we didn't come up with the plan to sin, doesn’t mean we aren’t guilty. As long as we go along with it, and don’t stop it, we are guilty of said sin as well. Jacob lives up to his name and tricks Isaac into getting the blessing. Esau is not happy about this and plans to kill him once Isaac dies. Afraid for her son’s life, Rebekah wants to send him away to her father’s family’s home and again lies to Isaac about the reason, instead of telling him, and Isaac sends him away to get a wife. Isaac though, lived a long life and probably lived another 43 years.

a. Stay with him a few days: The few days Jacob was to stay with Laban and Rebekah’s family in Haran turned out to be more than 20 years. Yet God would fulfill His purpose in all of it.

b. 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: Rebekah successfully manipulated Isaac into telling Jacob to leave. This saved his life, but it is likely that this mother never saw her son again.

i. “Rebekah’s diplomatic victory was complete; but she would never see her son again.” (Kidner)

ii. In this tragic story, everyone lost. Each of the main characters – Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob – schemed and maneuvered in human wisdom and energy, rejecting God’s word and wisdom. Nevertheless, God still accomplished His purpose. The tragedy was that each of the participants suffered, because they insisted on working against God’s word and wisdom. (Enduring Word Commentary)

This is where we finish our reading for today. Tomorrow we move on to chapters 28-30 in Genesis. I hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying it all at the same time. I know I am! Make sure to follow RF on Instagram, and join our FB Group to stay up to date for our upcoming weekly zoom sessions!