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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | In what way did Isaac try to deceive bot | Gen 24:1 | Hana | 168170 | ||
In what way did Isaac try to deceive both his wife and his son Jacob before they also planned to deceive him? | ||||||
2 | In what way did Isaac try to deceive bot | Gen 24:1 | CWT | 168171 | ||
Although it does not specifically say it was a deception on Issac's part, that fact that he was prepared to give Esau his blessing befored he died (vs. 27:4b) was not only deceptive to Rebekah and Jacob, but was not honoring to God's covenant with Abraham and Issac either. In verse 24:3 Abraham, understanding that marriage to a pagan who would be involved in idolatry would be a severe hinderance to Issac and his service to the living God, sets the principle that his desendants shoud not marry women from the pagan societies that surrounded them in the area of Canaan. That he sent his chief servant on a five to six hundred mile journey to find a wife for his son from his own family demonstrates how important this was to Abraham. The fact that Esau had married two Hittite women who "were a source of grief to Issac and Rebekah" (26:35) seems to bear this out. Rebekah had also received the word of the Lord that Esau, the first born, would serve Jacob, the younger. This was contrary to the common law of the day and it was generally the oldest who would receive the birthright and blessing, and the younger brother would be in the position of servitude to the eldest. It would seem to me that it would have been resonalbe for Rebekah to have assumed that since Jacob, the younger, was going to be in the position that normally belonged to the eldest, that he also should be the one who would receive the birthright and the blessing as well. The fact that she evidently preferred Jacob over Esau regardless of the fact that Issac preferred Esau over Jacob (25:28)probably had something to do with her assumptions too, and since this changing of the way things were normally done had come from God Himself (25:23), Issac should have paid heed to this as well. | ||||||
3 | In what way did Isaac try to deceive bot | Gen 24:1 | DocTrinsograce | 168172 | ||
Dear CWT, I don't quite understand. Why would Isaac's decision to bless Essau be a deception? It was common practice in that day for the first-born to receive the blessing. Isaac had no indication from God that he was to do otherwise. Could you explain that a bit more? In Him, Doc |
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4 | In what way did Isaac try to deceive bot | Gen 24:1 | CWT | 168176 | ||
HI Doc, Pleased to meet you, I'm new here. The qestion itself and my answer to it depends on several presuppositons. The first of which is; was Issac's actions in giving his blessing to Easu actually deceptive. "The Law of Primogeniture provided that at least a double share of the father's property be given to the first born."(See NIV study notes on Gen 25:5) However, Rebekah had been told by the LORD Himself in Gen 25:23 that "the older would serve the younger." Considering the fact that Rebekah loved Jacob, the younger, (Gen 25:28), she would have probably tried to have influenced Issac's favor towards the son she loved. So, I believe that it is resonable to assume that in doing this she would have told Issac about what the LORD had said to her in Gen 25:23. This however, is again supposition. Note that as part of the blessing that Issac thought he was giving to Esau, but who was in fact Jacob, he says, in part, "Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you" Gen 27:29. If Issac was aware of what the LORD had told Rebekah as to which brother would be in serveitude to the other. And if it is logical to assume that the brother in the position of authority should have the birthright and blessing, wouldn't it have deceptive on Issac's part to give this blessing to Esau? I think that Issac may have placed the love he had for his son Esau (Gen 25:28) in greater esteem then what God had said was going to happen in relation to who was going to be serving who. I think that there is other evidence as well as to who should have received the birthright and blessing. The fact that Esau held his birthright in little esteem is shown in Gen 25:29-34 when he sells it for a bowl of soup. Would he have held the blessing in any higher esteem? The fact that he was probably disobedient to his parents as well is demonstrated in his marriage to two Hittite womem in Gen 26:34-35 and the grief that this caused his parents. It's obvious that Issac, like his father Abraham, who established the marriage principle in Gen 24, was prepared to follow that principle with his own sons (see Gen 28:1-2). Considering this, wouldn't it have been more prudent to give birhtright to Jacob in the first place? After all Issac did have the responsibility to honor the covenant that his father Abraham had made with the LORD, and also the responsibility, as we all have, to use his resorces to the best of his ability in relation to God's purposes. Regardless of the common law, I think Jacob would have been the better choice to carry on in the autoritative position simply because of the negative charecter traits that Esau had exhibited. This Law showing favor to the eldest brother was evidently not written in stone. Abraham himself cast out his first born Ishmael, the son of human effort, in favor of his second born Issac, the son of the promise, albiet that this was done at the direction of God Himself. This too should have made it particularly obvious to Issac that he was not bound to give either the birthright or the blessing to Esau simply because he was the first born. In any event, and as I mentioned, this is based on circumstantial evidence at best. But, won't it be great when one day we can ask Issac what was going on in his mind when he did this? In HIs Love CWT |
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5 | In what way did Isaac try to deceive bot | Gen 24:1 | DocTrinsograce | 168193 | ||
Dear CWT, Thank you for explaining in greater detail. I see what you are saying. As you pointed out, it is based on some assumptions. However, the assumptions seem reasonable. I suppose that it would have been an extremely difficult thing for Isaac to have accepted the idea of the older serving the younger. As you said, it would have been quite contrary to the dictates of his heart. Furthermore, it would have violated his cultural standards. We see the same cultural attitude, though many years later, in Joseph (Genesis 48:12-22). Thank you for sharing on this interesting topic. I think I'll root around to see what, if anything, Josephus or Talmudic sources have to say about it. (As I always say, those sources can be interesting, as long as they are taken with a grain of salt -- kosher, of course.) In Him, Doc PS Welcome to the forum, CWT. If you are going to hang around for a while -- and we hope you do -- why not update your profile so we can know a little about you? |
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