The Story of God: Birth of the Heel Grabber

There is a fine line between trusting in God and taking personal responsibility. There’s a tension between trusting God and taking up matters on our own. For most of us that’s not an easy thing; because sometimes trusting involves waiting and sometimes trusting involves doing. And where it gets really difficult for us is when we face things that don’t seem to be going our way – when our plans don’t seem to be working out. We get impatient. We want to fix what is broken. We want resolve our conflicts. We want answers to our questions. We to control the future when we can’t see the future. And when push comes to shove – we end up taking matters into our own hands, rather than trust in God to work things out. We live in this tension between trusting in God and taking personal responsibility.

And its this very tension we see once again as we return to the Story of God in Genesis 25, where we pick up the story of Isaac and Rebekah, who are learning to live by faith in the same promises that were given to Abraham. As we are going to see, each of them has a different way of taking personal responsibility as they wait on God to give them offspring. And then when their children do come along, God gives us the perfect example of how not to take matters into our own hands.

1. Another Barren Bride (Genesis 25:19-21a) Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless.  Now it was Isaac’s turn to have his faith tested. He had heard the stories of God’s promise that God was going to build a great nation through him.   He was the child of promise. And he knew that if the promise is to be fulfilled, then he and Rebekah needed to produce children. But it wasn’t happening. She was childless. So Isaac follow’s his father’s example: He prays. This is how Isaac balanced the tension between trusting in God and taking personal responsibility. He prayed on behalf of his wife. He prayed for the one thing that was out of his control. He didn’t do what his father had done, and take a servant girl to produce an offspring. He simply prayed and left the outcome to God.

Sometimes that’s all we can do. But we can do that. When was the last time you faced something that was out of your control? Perhaps you are facing something like that right now. Are you praying? Are you praying on behalf of someone other than yourself? If so, keep at it. Stick to it. God hears your prayer – especially if it lines up with what He promises.

Let me give you a couple of examples: In John 14, Jesus makes this promise about prayer: “Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:12-14

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, the you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:7-8

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 7:9-13

• Keep praying that God be glorified in your spouse’s life, your son’s life, your life.
• Keep praying that you can do the works Jesus did.
• Keep praying that your daughter to bear much fruit. This is the prayer I am praying for Kayla as she begins her ministry year serving students at Reed College.
• Keep praying for your brothers and sisters to bear the fruit of Jesus in their lives!
• Keep praying for God’s kingdom to break into the lives of people here at Robson
• Keep praying for your friends to experience God’s mercy and forgiveness.
• Ask God to do the things God wants to see happen. And don’t stop praying until He delivers on His promises.

Do you pray like this? This is how Isaac prayed for his wife’s barren womb. And yes, after 20 years of praying this way, we read the second half of verse 21, and The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, 2. Why is this Happening to Me?

What’s going on here? The narrator tells us that there was a battle going on inside her womb: “The babies jostled each other within here.” The children within her were literally shoving and elbowing each other. They were wrestling in the womb. Even before they were born there was conflict between these twin boys. And to Rebekah, this inner turmoil, this wrestling match was an ominous sign. So she said “Why is this happening to me?” So what did she do? So she went to inquire of the Lord. 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.”

Now this is quite a message from God. Two nations will come forth. One will be stronger than the other. And then this prediction: “and the older will serve the younger.” We’ll come back to this shortly… But what I want us to see is how Rebekah handled the anxiety of this inner battle.  She took her question to the Lord. And she received revelation from the Lord. Rebekah trusted in the Lord and took personal responsibility by finding answers to this struggle from God’s Word. Remember, Rebekah is a woman of faith. And so she sought answers from God’s Word.

This is a great example for us. Have you ever asked that question: “Why is this happening to me?” “Why am I going through this difficulty?” “Why is there no peace in my life?” “Why am I so worried about my future?” What do you do with these questions? Do you bombard your spouse with them? Do you complain to your friends, or do you, like Rebekah, come to God to find your answers? Let me say it in simpler terms: Do you seek God’s wisdom for your struggles from God’s Word?

Do you open God’s Word on a regular basis with the intention of listening to what God’s Word is saying to you? Properly understood, the Bible is God’s speech, His voice to us, preserved in written form. Jesus himself is identified as the Word made flesh. When we spend time in the gospels Jesus reveals God to us.   He reveals what God is like and what the new life of the kingdom is all about. It is Jesus who said, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 Does Jesus know you? Do you follow him so you can hear his voice?

If you don’t have a regular time where you are listening to God speak to you from His Word, let me encourage you to take this month and read one chapter a day from the gospel of John, and ask yourself two questions: 1) What is Jesus saying to me? 2) What does he want me to do with what I am hearing? Then write it down. Share it with someone. This is what we do in our Journey Groups! If you will do this you will begin to develop an ear for God’s voice – and He will speak to your needs, your worries, your struggles, your hopes and fears.

This is how you can take personal responsibility to deal with whatever you are struggling with. This is what Rebekah did. Its what you can do too.

Okay, now back to the prediction God gave Rebekah about her children. He told her there was a reason for the struggle in her womb: They will be different from one another. They will go their separate ways. And “the older will serve the younger.”   In other words, this struggle in her womb is a foretaste of what’s to come after the twins are born. So lets look now at the details of their birth. Into the world come two of the more interesting characters in God’s Story: 3. The Hairy Monster and the Heel Grabber (Genesis 25:24-26) When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 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.

In the ancient world, when you named a child, it was often a statement about deity. But names could also speak about the circumstances surrounding one’s birth.   In this case, Esau, got his name from his hairy exterior. His name then, symbolizes his animalish nature. He will be a coarse, impulsive and reckless man during his life.

Jacob’s name is a play on words: As to deity, Jacob means “May El Protect” or “May the God El Protect.” At the same time the root of Jacob’s name is also a pun, meaning: “to seize someone by the heel, or to go behind someone’s back” and will speak to Jacob’s deceitful and scheming nature. In fact, the phrase “to grab by the heel” is a Hebrew idiom meaning “to overthrow.” This is the birth of the heel grabber. This is the one God has chosen to overthrow the rule over his brother.

4.   Could They Be More Different?   No, in fact we read in verses 27-28 that The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Esau’s lifestyle was looked upon unfavorably. Wild game hunters were often condemned as predators. Whereas this description of Jacob carries the idea of being civilized, “well-cultured” or “fine.” The actual Hebrew root speaks of being finished, complete or perfect. So Jacob is seen as refined as compared to Esau who was reckless. Yes, they couldn’t be more different. Yet we are told that Isaac had a preference for Esau, and Rebekah favored Jacob. So now we see their differences played out as Esau looses his birthright to Jacob…  

5.  For the Price of a Meal (Genesis 25:29-34) Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)   This is how profane and rash Esau was. He literally enters the camp of Jacob, sees the stew and says, “red stuff, this red stuff”

Esau was too tired and famished to utter anything else. “Feed me, feed me.” And at that moment, Jacob knew he could take advantage of Esau’s rash and reckless nature. So Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” Jacob knew his brother all to well.

“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob was shrewd, he knew what the birthright meant. After all, since Esau was born first, he owned the birthright. And since Abraham was still alive when they were children, they’d both heard how that they were children of the promise. That their inheritance included God’s promised land, promised seed and promised blessing. But here’s the catch: Since Esau was the firstborn, his birthright entitled him to a double share of Isaac’s land and wealth. Esau would receive two-thirds of his father’s wealth, and Jacob only one third. And since Jacob knew he was getting the short end of the stick when it came to his father’s inheritance… he now saw this as his opportunity to change his future. So he uses Esau’s reckless disposition against him. And so we read: But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 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. By the way, this last statement is the narrator’s commentary on Esau. This comment tells us is that Esau never valued his birthright in the first place. That’s why he sold it for a bowl of stew. He lived by his impulses. He never thought of the consequences for his actions. And Jacob knew this about Esau. So in the end, Esau got what he deserved, because he just didn’t care. So God’s prediction was beginning to come true: “the older will serve the younger.” Jacob had deceived Esau into selling him the birthright.

Do you see that when it comes to things we hope for, when it comes to changing the outcome of our future, Jacob is NOT the example of how we are to take personal responsibility in living out our faith. In fact, God’s Word NEVER promotes deception as a way to make things go our way. But that’s precisely what Jacob did. And yet, in God’s providence, He not only allowed Jacob to scheme his way to a better future, He even predicted it. Why?

Why did God allow Jacob to take advantage of Esau? Because God chose to bless Jacob and not Esau.  God chose Jacob to be the one through whom blessing to the nations would come. And God made His choice to bless Jacob long before Jacob was born. Why did God choose this deceitful schemer? Why did God choose the heel grabber?

The answer might shock you. God chose Jacob for the same reason He chooses us: To magnify God’s mercy.  Jacob looked like he had it all together. He looked good, lived a quiet and almost perfect existence – except for one thing: He was a heel grabber! He was willing to deceive to get what he wanted. He was willing to betray his own brother over a bowl of stew. You could say he was a far worse sinner than Esau. Esau was just foolish, reckless and rash. Jacob was clever, cunning and calculated. And yet, this is the man God chose to be the heir of the promises!

God chose to bless a man who was not worthy of God’s blessing. He didn’t deserve God’s blessing. But God chose to love this undeserving heel grabber. Listen to how Paul explains it in the New Testament. Paul writes: Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by Him who calls – she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. (Romans 9:10-16)

Do you hear what he is saying? God chose to love Jacob and make him the heir of the promise – not because he was morally good, but simply because He wanted to show Jacob mercy. And that should give us HOPE. Because we are just like Jacob: We may even live quiet and well-cultured lives, but just like Jacob, too often we try to control our lives, too often we take matters into our own hands and try to get blessings for ourselves apart from God. And the Bible tells us that when we don’t trust God and go our own way – we offend a Holy God and that makes us sinners. And because we are sinners we need God’s mercy, just like Jacob.

So God’s mercy toward Jacob is a reminder of God’s mercy to us. For just as He chose to bless Jacob by giving him mercy, God has done the same for us: He loved us before we were born and chose to bless us by making us heirs with Christ. We didn’t do anything to deserve this. God did it all for us, even when we were still sinners.

And God is still loving and merciful today. And that’s good news. Because that means that no one is too sinful who God cannot save.   That’s why He sent Jesus: to love heel grabbers like us and make us heirs of every promise found in Jesus.