Although Isaac was one of the patriarchs, his story is relatively uneventful. He seems to be the bridge between his father, Abraham, and his son, Jacob.

He was the miracle son of Abraham, the object of Abraham’s faith. His birth in his parents’ old age confirmed the start of a string of promises that stretched unendingly into their future.

For Jacob, his son, Isaac was the victim of trickery and deceit, disrespect and dishonour, possibly fuelled by the favouritism Isaac showed his brother, Esau, for purely selfish reasons.

‭Genesis‬ ‭25:28‬ ‭NLT‬
[28] “Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”

So, we come to Jacob, younger son of twins born to Isaac and Rebekah in answer to Isaac’s prayer. From before their birth, these two boys were in conflict. Rebekah asked the Lord why they struggled in her womb and, once again as in many other times, God revealed that He had chosen the younger brother over the elder to fulfill His purposes. How often God bypassed the older son in favour of the younger to be the vehicle of His purposes.

‭Genesis‬ ‭25:21‭-‬23‬ ‭NLT‬
[21] “Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. [22] But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the Lord about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked. [23] And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”

Scripture does not reveal how God would carry out His plan to build His nation through Jacob rather than Esau. Perhaps He was revealing to Rebekah what would happen through human conniving rather than how it would happen according to His will.

Like her grandparents-in-law, Abraham and Sarah (in the birth of Ishmael), Rebekah tried to help God in this process, only to sour relationships between the brothers and cause unnessary conflict in her family. Since Jacob was her favourite son, Jacob was to be God’s favoured one, and she would make sure it happened!

To be continued…