The Biblical data suggests that God’s formal decree to Rebekah regarding ‘The elder shall serve the younger’ is worth considering. (Exodus 22:29; Numbers 8:14-17; Deuteronomy 21:17; cf. Genesis 25:23). “This was contrary to ancient Near Eastern custom, but the elective purposes of God transcend custom,”[1] and eventually, Esau would become “a servant forever in bondage to his brother.”[2] Isaac’s blessing on Jacob “must reside in the activity of God”[3] since He prophesied his birthright belonged to the younger brother.
Interestingly, the Midrash considers Esau’s lineage to have eventually resulted in the Romans, who eventually embraced Christianity, with Jacob’s for the Jews, who served during the Constantinian empire’s rise to power and acceptance of the Christian faith’s roots in Judaism. S.H. Smith argues that ‘achaz (took hold or grip) is not to be taken just literally, but also as a procreativity, because it asserts to “take possession” or to “inherit.”[4] S. Gervitz follows through by suggesting “the divine promise in which the inheritance of the land was bound to the pledge of procreative power.”[5] These two arguments largely rely on their exegesis of the terms found in Genesis 25:26 regarding ‘achaz (took hold) and ‘aqeb (heel). In time, these two children of Isaac “became bitter enemies,”[6] and the prophecy held over them within Rebekah’s womb were eventually fulfilled in their life, and progeny.
As for the Biblical narrative, once Isaac blessed Jacob with the full weight of the Abrahamic blessing, “Jacob becomes the focal point of the developing text”[7] corroborating the centrality of Jacob as the rightful heir to the promises. Some assert that the hostilities between the two nations aren’t necessarily evident until the destruction of Solomon’s temple because “hostile activity at the time of the destruction of Judah appears in Obadiah and Ezek. xxv 12.”[8] The culmination of this hostility reached its climax when the Edomites took part in the fall of Judah centered on their election and Israeli heritage, that Elie Assis says, “they knew that they, Israel, had been chosen whereas ‘his brother’ Edom had been rejected.”[9] Essentially, Jews believed that God’s oracle regarding Judah’s destruction was in part His abandonment of Israel and choosing Edom to replace them.[10] The oracles that superseded the destruction of Judah provided hope for Israel that He had not abandoned them and the “sins of Edom against Judah will not remain unpunished.”[11]
The promise was delivered to Jacob, regardless of the circumstances, because God is transcendental and can move or remove obstacles in His way for the sake of fulfilling His promise. Davis concludes that “what appears on the surface to be a series of accidents, failures, and deceptions turns out in the long run to be God’s providential working, which includes human frailty as well as strength,”[12] giving us a glimpse into the merciful and lovingkindness God has for those who love Him.
Footnotes:
[1] John J. Davis, “From Paradise to Prison,” (Salem, Sheffield Publishing, 1998), 232.
[2] Inbinder, Gary. “Jacob and Esau.” Humanitas 16, no. 1 (2003): 92. General OneFile (accessed July 3, 2017). http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=vic_liberty&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA118496505&sid=summon&asid=db22a1f49ea6a5b261e0af9ded881e06
[3] Smith, Craig A. “Reinstating Isaac: the centrality of Abraham’s son in the ‘Jacob-Esau’ narrative of Genesis 27.” Biblical Theology Bulletin 31, no. 4 (2001): 130+. General OneFile (accessed July 3, 2017). http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=vic_liberty&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA94332359&sid=summon&asid=def0d13d00b6c11da4ad051d3d654a19
[4] Malul, M. “‘āqēb “Heel” and ‘āqab “To Supplant” and the Concept of Succession in the Jacob-Esau Narratives.” Vetus Testamentum 46, no. 2 (1996): 190. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1585443.
[5] Ibid., 190-191.
[6] John J. Davis, “From Paradise to Prison,” (Salem, Sheffield Publishing, 1998), 232
[7] Smith, Craig A. “Reinstating Isaac: the centrality of Abraham’s son in the ‘Jacob-Esau’ narrative of Genesis 27.” Biblical Theology Bulletin 31, no. 4 (2001): 133. General OneFile (accessed July 3, 2017). http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=vic_liberty&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA94332359&sid=summon&asid=def0d13d00b6c11da4ad051d3d654a19
[8] Assis, Elie. “Why Edom? On the Hostility Towards Jacob’s Brother in Prophetic Sources.” Vetus Testamentum 56, no. 1 (2006): 3. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20503993.
[9] Ibid., 11.
[10] Ibid., 19.
[11] Ibid., 19.
[12] John J. Davis, “From Paradise to Prison,” (Salem, Sheffield Publishing, 1998), 238.
Ken G. Palmer 