This topic has significant theological importance to the doctrine of righteousness by faith versus works!
The facts of the story are that Jacob did obtain the birthright and its blessing through decept and finally, steal the blessing from his brother by tricking his own father into thinking he was Easau.
Jacob went a step further in that he also made the false claim that it was God who provided the wild game so quickly in answer to Isaacs’s inquiry about the unusually fast return of his son with food.
Please note…
My answer could be far more extensive than what i have posted below. It could also include detail on the exact nature of the promise given to Abraham that was passed on down through the generations and the link back to the promise of salvation made to Eve in the garden of Eden (because ultimately, that is what the gospel is really all about)
The answer
Rebekah and Jacob both knew that the birthright was foretold would go to the younger son:
Genesis 25
19This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aramb and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
21Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
22But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD, 23and He declared 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.”c
24When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau.d 26After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.e And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
What we find is that neither Rebekah nor Jacob exercised any faith that God would fulfill his promise in answer to Rebekkahs prayer during her pregnancy.
They took it upon themselves to seek to fulfill the promise without waiting for God to do it.
As a result of Jacobs sin, he went into exile for many years fearing his brother would kill him. So what is the purpose of the story here? What does it mean for Christians in the modern times?
If we also consider the following texts…
Isaiah 61:10 10I will rejoice greatly in the LORD,
my soul will exalt in my God;
for He has clothed me with garments of salvation
and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,
Hebrews 4:1-16 (i will just quote vs 16 but the entire chapter is important actually) 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV ** ** For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Jacob tried to obtain the birthright and its blessing by his own hand…his own works. This is not the model that God wishes from us. God wishes us to have faith. The new testament illustrates to us that if we exercise faith, and receive the cloak of Christs righteouness, then we can confidently walk in before the throne of God…Jacob, because of his own works, was anything but confident in walking in before his father…he was terrified he would be found out and cursed. That is the difference between the story of Jacob/Esau and modern Christians…Jacob misunderstood how the promise was to be fulfilled and did not have faith that God would provide.
It is not up to us to use our own works to achieve that gift…“our righteous efforts are nothing but filthy rags to Him” as was clearly demonstrated in the story of Jacob and Esau in that Jacob and his mother thought that obtaining the birthright in their own time frame via deception was ok.
It is never ok to attempt to obtain righteousness our own way via sinful means.
Its interesting that in the New Testament even Nicodemus, a man so intelligent, so well educated… and yet he couldn’t grasp the simplicity of faith and the gospel that Christ was trying to teach him. I certainly suffered the same lack of understanding with this topic as is also illustrated in the story of Nicodemus. *
I was blind to the importance of the illustration of the story of Jacob and Esau and the birthright…specifically of its importance in explaining righteousness by faith.
- Jacobs way - by our own works, (the wrong way)
VS
- Gods way - through faith as described by Paul and also in the book of Herews (the right way)
It took me almost 24 hours to figure this out…i hope its of use to others as there is an important lesson there in that the gospel and the promise of salvation is a free gift in Gods own time. That it is through our faith that we receive the promise to enter into Gods rest and not our own efforts/works.