Double Trouble

“Isaac…loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”    Genesis 25:28

The Battle of the Boys began as babies.  The twins wrestled in the womb and wrangled during birth as Jacob emerged grasping his brother’s heel in an effort to slingshot his way to the front.  But Esau arrived as the firstborn, a position which carried great privilege—Dad’s big blessing for life and double bounty at his death.

As the boys became men, the match continued with the parents picking sides.  Connected by their passion for the outdoors, Papa Isaac preferred the rowdy Esau.  Mom Rebekah was biased to baby Jacob.  Quiet and kind, he hung around the house, helping with the domestic duties. “Isaac…loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”  And trouble was brewing.

It showed up first in a soup cauldron.  Esau, starving after a futile hunting trip, swapped his birthright for a bowl of Jacob’s stew.  In a moment of weakness, he gobbled the lentils and gave away his legacy.

The problems reappeared on a platter. Isaac, old and blind, wished to bless his eldest before he was buried, so he rang for Esau and requested a wild game dinner for the occasion.  Rebekah overheard the opportunity and wanted the best for her beloved.  While Esau stalked, Jacob schemed.  Dressed in his brother’s clothes for scent with his hands and neck covered in goat hair for feel, Jacob served his dad a deceitful dinner and stole the special blessing. Enraged at the ruse, Esau made plans to murder his brother after he mourned for his father.  Homebody Jacob had to run for his life and didn’t return for twenty years.  And nobody won the war.

In our families, favoritism and fraud fare no one well because deceit never wins the day and neither does a double-standard.  Our love can be expressed differently but should be shared equally.

Always be fair and never be false.  Your home shouldn’t be a combat zone.