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This morning’s parasha is entitled Tol’dot, meaning ‘generations’ and covers Genesis 25:19 to 28:9. In last week’s parasha, we observed that God is showing us an ever-narrowing and increasingly selective genealogical line meant to point us to the Redeemer, Messiah Yeshua, the ‘seed of the woman’ in Genesis 3 and again the ‘seed of Abraham’ in chapter 12.
Isaac and Ishmael’s reunion to bury their father Abraham will be the last time they come together. It foreshadows the generational rift that will continue between their respective descendants, until Messiah returns.
In chapters 25 and 26 our attention turns to Isaac. He and Rebekah have now been happily married for 20 years, and yet unable to bear children. Inconceivable! (pun intended). But God is the Eternal Sovereign whose prerogative it is to open or close the womb. To his credit, Isaac neither gave up, nor impatiently took matters into his own hands. Perhaps the years of strife between Hagar and Ishmael and his own mother were not lost on Isaac; nor the pain he must have seen in his father’s eyes when the other wives and children were sent away. He learned just how painful we make things when we try to force God’s hand. When Rebekah couldn’t conceive, he brought the matter to Adonai.
And what was God’s answer? Twins! And they were fighting with each other while still in her womb (certainly a foreshadowing of things to come), and now it’s Rebekah’s turn to talk to Adonai! And what was God’s answer to her? Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.”
The first to be born was Eisav (Esau), who is described as red, like a hairy garment, hence his other name: Edom (red). The second one came right afterwards, grasping his heel, hence his name, Yaakov (Jacob – one who grasps or follows along at the heel).
In chapter 26 there is another famine in the land, so Isaac is forced to relocate the family, but not to Egypt. Instead, God’s instructs them to temporarily settle in Philistine territory. While there, Isaac’s faith falters and he fears that the men of the land might harm him on account of his very beautiful wife, so he uses the same strategy Abraham used in Egypt. He pulls the “She’s my sister” routine. Soon enough, though, King Abimelech learns the truth, and rebukes Isaac for the deception, but at the same time the king issues an edict to leave Isaac and his family alone.
God prospered Isaac in Philistia; so much so that the Philistines became envious and a little fearful, and Abimelech told him to move out of the city. So they settled in the valley outside of Gerar. But even there, the family faced opposition repeatedly over wells that they had dug. It wouldn’t be the last time that Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob did the hard work and built something significant and good, only to have people who call themselves Philistines (or some variation of it) claim it belongs to them and threaten them over it. Nor would it be the last time that our people made such concessions for the sake of peace, only to have more demands put upon them, again in the face of threats.
Eventually Isaac and the family move back to southern Canaan and settle in Beersheva. Abimelech becomes so fearful of Isaac’s wealth and power that he shleps to Beersheva to seek a treaty with him! When a man’s ways are pleasing to Adonai, Proverbs (16:7) tells us, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. But this might also be a foreshadowing of the Messianic Age, when the kings of the nations come to Israel and pay homage to that greater descendant of Abraham and Isaac, Messiah Yeshua, and seek peace and enjoy a meal together (cf. Zechariah 14:16-19).
In chapter 26 God reconfirms to Isaac the promises He made to Abraham. That covenant included descendants as numerous as the stars, permanent possession of Eretz Canaan, and the blessing that would flow from him to all the families of the Earth. The reason God does these things? Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws (26:5). But wait a minute… How could Abraham keep the Torah when it wouldn’t exist for another 400 years? The key is, in Abraham we see the principle of justification by faith. Faith produces obedience.
Our attention turns once again to the two sons of Isaac. It seems as they grew up, they also grew apart. Jacob was a peaceful tent-dweller and Esau a hunter and outdoorsman. But their differences went much deeper. When they grew to be men, these two clearly made their own choices. Jacob wanted the birthright; he valued spiritual headship. But instead of trusting that God would bring it about, he resorted to deceit and manipulation to secure what he wanted. Esau, for his part, couldn’t be bothered about spiritual responsibilities, at least not until after lunch. Thus we have in this parasha the “lentil stew incident”. Esau traded Jacob his right as a first-born for a bowl of soup.
In chapter 27 the great deception occurs. The elderly and now blind patriarch Isaac, either unaware of or not believing the word God had given about the older serving the younger, sent Esau out to hunt game and cook him a delicious dinner to put him in the mood to bestow the blessing before he died. Rebekah overheard and conspired with Jacob to go in and present a prepared meat dish for his father and receive the blessing before Esau could get back. Jacob lied several times to his father, who was suspicious that something wasn’t right, but went along with it, eating and drinking and then pronouncing the all-important patriarchal blessing.
Jacob stole the blessing… or did he? After all, hadn’t God already declared the older would serve the younger? And didn’t Esau trade the birthright for a bowl of soup? So how can you steal what is rightfully yours? But let’s not play down the fact that Jacob lied repeatedly, and took what Isaac wasn’t intending to give him. This has provoked many spirited discussions over the centuries. There’s a painful lesson here about what happens when we don’t trust God to fulfill His promises, and take matters into our own hands. When Esau returned, only to find out that Jacob had tricked his way into receiving the blessing, he became furious, and planned to kill him. Jacob had to be sent away for his own protection. Rebekah thought it would only be for a few days, until Esau calmed down. She was wrong. She would never see Jacob again.
Years earlier Esau had distressed his parents by marrying foreign women. To his credit, Esau, upon hearing of his father’s disapproval of marriage with Canaanite women, takes his next wife from his uncle Ishmael’s family. But Esau will eventually fade from the scene, as the focus again selectively turns to Jacob and his descendants, through whom would eventually come the long-anticipated Redeemer, the Messiah.
In Parasha Toledot we learn the tandem lessons of the sovereignty of God, who faithfully brings to pass the things He promises; and the trouble and pain we inflict on ourselves (and others) when we don’t trust, but attempt to force the hand of God. Adonai can turn our mistakes to His glory, and of course He will accomplish His purposes. Ultimately, through Isaac and Jacob and their descendants we find His greatest promise fulfilled: He has brought a Redeemer to their children for His name’s sake. That Redeemer has a name: it’s Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth.