Posts tagged Rebekah

Today’s Reading: Genesis 48, 49 & 50

In today’s reading, we see the passing of two of the major characters of the Bible: Jacob (also called Israel) and Joseph. What is interesting to me, though, is a series of events that happens just before Jacob’s death. In previous posts, I talked about the chaos of Jacob’s family and how odd it was that this family would be the “chosen ones” of God. In today’s reading, you’ll notice that some of the same chaos is revisited on the next generation.

From our earlier reading, we know that Abraham, after he was told that he would be the father to many nations, had a son by his wife’s servant, Hagar. This son, Ishmael, was Abraham’s eldest son and, therefore, should have received Abraham’s birthright and blessing along with the highest place of honor among Abraham’s children. However, that was not God’s plan for Abraham and, instead, allowed Sarah, Abraham’s wife, to have a child. This child, Isaac, would be the one to receive God’s blessing and would be the one through whom God would fulfill his promises to Abraham. In this, God essentially flipped convention on it’s head by giving the blessing and authority to the younger son.

Then, later on, Jacob and Esau were born to Isaac and his wife Rebekah. In that famous story, again, the birth order was flipped on its head as Jacob, the younger brother, received the birthright and blessing that his brother Esau should have received. In our current context, we may not fully understand the significance of these events. What was happening here was not only a slap in the face to the traditional way of doing things; it was essentially telling a child, “You are no longer my firstborn, no longer the oldest and no longer have the privileges you once had.” It meant that these older brothers lost a significant piece of their identity.

For the younger brothers, however, this was like winning the lottery, the World Series and the Super Bowl all at once! And the upside-down blessing that Isaac, through God’s intervention, received, he passed on (unknowingly) to Jacob. Jacob then, through no effort or choice of his own, would see Joseph (son number 11) rise to power and rule over his brothers. Even in his blessing of his sons in today’s reading, he actually curses his firstborn, Rueben.

But the thing that I think is the most significant in these chapters is his blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh. Here, Jacob again signals the blessing of the younger over the older. But this time, Jacob is intentionally choosing the younger. Gone is the deception that Jacob used to get his blessing from Isaac. Gone is the sibling envy that served as a precursor to Joseph’s rise to power. Instead, here is a grandfather choosing the younger grandson. His son, Joseph, even tries to correct him. But Jacob indicates that he knows what he is doing and that his desire is to bless the younger son.

So, why is this so significant? Simply put: because we need it to be. The lives of these patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would serve as models and illustrations from that time until now (and beyond). They would be used to tell two stories: the first was the story of God choosing the nation of Israel. They were, in essence, his firstborn. He gave them the inheritance, the blessing and the protection. And he gave them a Savior.

But he did something else. He began to write the second story : a story where the forgotten son – the one born to a servant girl, the one thrown into a pit and sold into slavery – was given the blessing. When God began to send missionaries into the Gentile communities claiming “son-ship” and “daughter-ship” for those people, the “first-born” Jews were incredulous. They were losing their birthright, their blessing and part of their identity. If anyone could be God’s chosen, then who were they?

The good news – for the ancient Jews, modern Jews and all the rest of us – is that, unlike earthly fathers, God has enough blessing to go around. The kingdom is upside-down, but even though the “last shall be first” and the “first shall be last” in the kingdom of heaven, there’s no indication that either group isn’t allowed in. And so, whether first-born or last-born, slave or free, Jew or Gentile, God has made room for us all!