God Chose Jacob Over Firstborn Esau To Carry On The Messianic Line

Rebecca

I am Rebecca, Isaac’s wife. I plan to help my son Jacob get Isaac’s blessing as the firstborn. He will then sustain the ancestral line of heirs that will inherit the promises that God made to my father-in-law Abraham. Esau, Jacob’s twin, was actually born first and would normally become heir of the promise made by God to his grandfather Abraham; however, Esau has no interest in spiritual things. Right now, I’m worried. Listen to what my very old husband Isaac is saying to Esau.

Isaac

(To Esau) Esau, my son, I am old; my eyes are too dim to see; my hour of death is near. Now, please take your quiver and bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. Prepare a tasty dish for me ? you know what I love. Bring it to me so I can eat and bless you in the presence of the Lord, before I die. Hurry! Please hurry!

Prompter & Companions

Hurry! Please hurry!

Esau

My father Isaac has sent me out to hunt, to get him his favorite stew before he dies. I wonder why my mother Rebecca looked so worried when I left. I’m not afraid of those wild animals!

Rebecca

(To Jacob) Oh, Jacob, my son, listen! Your father Isaac sent Esau out to hunt for game and make a stew for him to eat. Then your father is going to give your brother Esau the blessing of the firstborn. But Esau does not value the promises that the God made to your grandfather Abraham. Esau’s concern is only with worldly things. It must be you, Jacob, who carries on the blessings of the firstborn heir!

Jacob

I’ve taken care of that, mother. Once Esau came from the fields famished and begged for a bowl of the stew he loves. I coaxed him to trade his right as the firstborn for the stew, and he agreed. I’m now the heir to all those promises of God.

Rebecca

Really! But your father Isaac has not confirmed your claim to be heir with his blessing. That’s necessary. It’s God’s will for you. Before you were born, I prayed, “Lord, You’ve given me a child, but I feel a fierce struggle within my womb. The Lord replied to me, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.”

Jacob

Then, it is definitely God’s will for me… But how can I convince my father Isaac?

Rebecca

You’ll never convince him, (Poke Jacob in the chest.) but you can deceive him. Hurry! Bring me two choice young goats from the flocks! I’ll prepare them as a tasty dish for your father, just as he loves it. Then, Jacob, you’ll take it to your father, so he may eat and bless you before he dies.

Jacob

But mother, Esau my brother is hairy and my skin is smooth. Perhaps my father will feel me, and then I will be a deceiver in his sight. I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing!

Rebecca

Let your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me; go, get the goats for me. Hurry!

Prompter &

Companions

Hurry! Hurry!

Rebecca

(Standing to one side) It has been a while now since Jacob went to get two young goats. Oh, here he comes! Jacob, I’ll make that tasty stew your father Isaac loves. While the meat is cooking, I’ll take my elder son Esau’s garments and put them on my younger son. Here, Jacob, let me tie these young goats’ skins on your hands and on the smooth part of your neck. There! That’ll do. Now, Jacob, here’s the tasty food I made. Take it to your father before your brother Esau returns. Give him plenty of wine first. Hurry!

Prompter & Companions

Hurry! Hurry!

Jacob

My father. I’ve brought you what you desired.

Isaac

What? Who are you, my son?

Jacob

I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me.

Isaac

But… But how is it that you got it so quickly, my son?

Jacob

The Lord our God helped me.

Isaac

Please come near and let me feel you, my son, to know if you’re really my son Esau.

Rebecca

Aha! Jacob has come close to his father Isaac, and Isaac is feeling his arms and neck.

Isaac

The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau?hairy.

Are you really my son Esau?

Jacob

Of course I am. I just caught a cold that makes my voice sound different ? like Jacob’s.

Isaac

Very well. Let me eat the game that you’ve brought me now, and I will bless you, afterwards.

Rebecca

Oh, hurry! Hurry! Ah! Now old Isaac is finally drinking the wine and eating the stew. Oh! He’s finished. I can hear him speak.

Isaac

Please come close, my son and I will bless you. (Place hands on Jacob’s head.) Ahh! The odor of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. May the Lord give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine. May peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master of your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.

Rebecca

Success! Isaac is blessing Jacob! Oh, oh! Esau is coming in from hunting. Oh, my! He’s making his tasty stew.

Jacob

Oh, oh. I think I’d better hide. Oh! Esau’s taking his stew to our father Jacob. Oh, no!

Esau

Let my father get up and eat of his son’s game, and then you may bless me.

Isaac

What? Who are you?

Esau

I am your son, your firstborn, Esau. Who did you think I was?

Isaac

(Tremble violently.) Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.

Rebecca

Aha! The blessing came from God and Isaac cannot take it back.

Esau

(Loudly and bitterly) Father, bless me! Bless me, too, O my father! Bless me, please!

Rebecca

Oh, what have I done? Esau is devastated. Just hear his

words echo, crying “Bless me!”

Prompter &

Companions

Bless me! Bless me!

Isaac

(Shake your head and embrace Esau.)Oh, my son Esau! Your brother came deceitfully, and has taken away your blessing.

Esau

(Step back, double both fists, and look upward, grimacing.)He’s rightly named Jacob ? one who steals another’s place. He has taken my place me two times! He took away my birthright, and now he has taken away the blessing that goes with the birthright.

(Kneel before Isaac, clasp your hands and hold them up before him.)Father, father! Have you not reserved a blessing for me?

Isaac

Son, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?

Esau

Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, too, O my father! (Weep)

Isaac

(Place hands on Esau’s head.) Behold, far from the fertile the earth shall be your dwelling, and away from the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve; but when you get restless, you’ll break his yoke from your neck!

Rebecca

Soon after that, Isaac passed away, and we all mourned his death.

Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of his father’s blessing. Just listen to what he is swearing that he will do!

Esau

The days of mourning for my father are nearly over; then I will kill my brother Jacob.

Rebecca

Oh, no! No! Jacob, your brother Esau is going to kill you! Obey my voice, my son. Flee to Haran, to my brother Laban! Stay with him until your brother’s fury subsides, and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send for you. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day? Hurry!

Prompter & Companions

Hurry! Hurry!