Family Feud
Selected Passages
Series: Essential 100
January 13, 2008
Evening Service
Introduction
One of my favorite game shows when I was growing up was Family Feud. The show squares off two families against each other answering various questions based on surveys. The first family to three hundred points wins and gets to play for fast money.
The game show is a friendly feud between two families. However, there are feuds that take place within families as well. The Bible is filled with them.
Cain murdered Abel that feud ended badly.
Joseph was going to be killed by his brothers, but instead they decided to make a quick buck and sell him into slavery.
Absalom tried to kill David and take over the throne of Israel.
Adonijah opposed Solomon being the king of Israel and Solomon had him killed.
The Feud Begins
The intense rivalry between Jacob and Esau
The birth
Make no mistake that this feud began when the twins were born.
23 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." 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. Genesis 25:23-26
God tells Rebekah before the twins were born that they were headed for conflict before they were even born. God had already chosen Jacob to carry on the line of promise. This would have made it easy for Rebekah to favor Jacob because God had told her about the destinies of her sons.
The birth is incredibly strange and shows a sign of what is to come. Esau was born first and his name means hairy. He will later be called Edom, which means red. Then Jacob is born holding onto Esau’s foot. Jacob means supplanter or one who follows on another’s heels. From the beginning there was a destiny of disagreement.
A lost birthright
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom. ) 31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." 32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" 33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:27-34
Jacob schemes against Esau and looks for ways to gain an advantage in the conflict. Esau would become a hunter and Jacob would be a shepherd. Jacob sets up a situation where he can take advantage of Esau. At just the right moment, Jacob makes a pot of bean stew and uses it against Esau after a hunting trip. Jacob agrees to give him something to eat but only if Esau will sell his birthright. Esau gives up his birthright for a bowl of beans.
The birthright gave the firstborn son a favored position within the family. This would have included a double portion of inheritance, a role as leader of the family and a special blessing from the father. All of these things made the firstborn son to have a special place within the family.
A lost blessing
Rebekah’s Scheme
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 `Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 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. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies." Genesis 27:5-10
Rebekah knows that the destiny of Jacob is to be before Esau, God told her before they were born. Rebekah hears Isaac tell Esau that he was about to give Esau his blessing. In an effort to keep God’s plan in place, Rebekah decides to trick Isaac, even it brings a curse down on her life.
Rebekah fixes the food and prepares Jacob to go as Esau to his father. She does all of this effort have the blessing of Isaac on Jacob. Why? What was so important about the blessing? The blessing is not only the good effect of words; it also has the power to bring them to pass. In the Bible, important persons blessed those with less power or influence. The blessing was seen as an important gift from the father to the son.
What would cause Rebekah to do this? Look at 25:28 again. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. The problem was the parents. The parents helped to fuel the feud between Jacob and Esau.
Jacob’s Deceit
18 He went to his father and said, "My father." "Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it?" 19 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing." 20 Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?"
"The LORD your God gave me success," he replied. 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not." 22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 "Are you really my son Esau?" he asked. "I am," he replied. Genesis 27:18-24
Jacob lies to Isaac
Jacob takes the food wearing the clothes of Esau and the skin of a goat. Then he lies through his teeth. Three separate instances Jacob lies to Isaac.
I am Esau – V. 19
The LORD your God gave me success – v. 20
I am – v. 24
Jacob receives the blessing
Isaac gives his blessing to Jacob thinking that it is Esau. Jacob has succeeded in deceiving his father. The blessing was now his.
The intent of revenge
The bitterness of Esau
34 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!" 35 But he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing." 36 Esau said, "Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!" Then he asked, "Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?" Genesis 27:34-36
Esau returns to Isaac and ask for the blessing but it had already been given. There was nothing left for Isaac to give him. Esau begs for Isaac to bless him but Isaac cannot. Esau again has been deceived by Jacob and there is a seething rage that wells within him.
The vow of revenge
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
Esau vows to seek revenge against Jacob for his actions. Esau plans to wait until Isaac is dead and then he will kill Jacob. It was proper to wait until the father was dead before killing anyone within the family. This was a sign of respect for the father.
A Faith Blossoms
Jacob gets a name change
Just as God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, God changes Jacobs name to Israel. Why does God do this? God changes Jacobs name as a sign that his life will be different. God continues the promise of Abraham to Jacob. All of this truth makes Jacob look at his life differently and in the end changes his personal destiny.
