The literary framework of this section is beautiful, the characters in the narrative are not. Genesis 26:34-35 and 28:6-9 form brackets around the narrative. They record Esau’s birth to Canaanite and Ishmaelite women. In between these brackets there are a series of scenes portraying the covenant family. The family is never all together, they are fragmented. Scheming and plotting abound, sin is everywhere, no one is untainted.
Isaac is secretive and disobedient to the birth oracle his wife received in Genesis 25:23. He, like his son, is driven by his appetite. As Derek Kidner says, “Isaac’s palate governs his heart.”
Rebekah is an eavesdropper. She manipulates, plots, schemes. She usurps her husband’s authority. She has good ends in mind but seeks to accomplish those ends with sinful means.
Jacob goes along with his mother’s plot. He succumbs to her pressure to sin. As a 40 year old man he is commanded by his momma. Initially he seems resistant, but it is not the morality of the plot, but the feasibility of the plot that causes his hesitation. In the midst of his deception one lie leads to another and he blasphemes (27:20).
If you are tempted to sympathize with anyone it is Esau. This shows us our wickedness. You must come to Esau in context. First, we have seen that Esau has no right to the birthright/blessing by Divine order; God has chosen Jacob (Malachi 1:2-3). Second, Esau has sold his birthright (25:29-34), and although distinct, the birthright and blessing are inseparably linked. Thus the blessing is now doubly not his. Third, he marries Canaanite wives, making his parents miserable. Fourth, here he is breaking his vow to Jacob. Fifth, he is unrepentant and blames Jacob wholly for losing his blessing when he was only cheated once, and only cheated out of that which was already doubly not his. Sixth, his unrepentant attitude toward sin leads to bitterness and hatred and intended murder. This is the guy we want to sympathize with? And indeed we should. We sympathize with Esau not because we also are innocent and cheated, but because we also are wicked and stupid.
Where is the hero in this Jerry Springer drama? He is behind the curtain. And all the sin in the covenant family does not thwart his purposes, it only accomplishes it. He will discipline His people, sin has consequences, yet His covenant love carries on.
No Other Boast 