“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, . . . and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. . . The Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’ ” (Genesis 25:21-23, NIV)
“The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. “Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, ‘Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!’ . . . “Jacob replied, ‘First sell me your birthright.’
“ ‘Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said. ‘What good is the birthright to me?’ ”
“When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, . . . ‘I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. . . . Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.’ ”
“Rebekah said to her son Jacob, . . . ‘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.’ ”
“He went to his father and said, ‘My father.’ “
‘Yes, my son,’ he answered. ‘Who is it?’ “Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me.’ ”
“Then he said, ‘My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.’” “After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.” “Isaac trembled violently and said, ‘Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came, and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!’ “When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me—me too, my father!’ “But he said, ‘Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.’ ”
Cornerstone Connections March 18, 2023
“When, after his sin in deceiving Esau, Jacob fled from his father’s home, he was weighed down with a sense of guilt. Lonely and outcast as he was, separated from all that had made life dear, the one thought that above all others pressed upon his soul was the fear that his sin had cut him off from God, that he was forsaken of Heaven. In sadness he lay down to rest. . . . As he slept, . . . the divine voice was heard in a message of comfort and hope. Thus was made known to Jacob that which met the need and longing of his soul—a Savior”
(Steps to Christ, p. 19)
What does this story teach us about integrity and delayed gratification?
(See 2 Peter 1: 5-7; Psalm 27:14; Hebrews 6:15)
