Genesis 27

Excerpt from John Mastin's letter:

Recently we studied chapter Genesis 27. There seems to be confusion about what is written there. 

On the surface, it would seem that Rebecca and Jacob were VERY dishonest. 

But it looks very different when we remember that all we read of in the O.T. is a type of the spiritual and not just a natural story of people's lives, their wise and unwise choices. 

Before Esau and Jacob were born, Rebecca realized there was already something going on inside of her. She asked God the reason. 

He told it was because she would give birth to two nations of people" and that the elder would serve the younger. That was a very clear vision to her. 

She would doubtless have told Isaac about what God told her. As time passed Isaac began to lose his clarity of vision. He had an appetite for the flesh that Esau could bring him. 

This seems to be a type of our feeding on things "fleshly/earthly" and gradually losing our vision of the plan of God. When read that Esau despised his birthright, 

it carries the older meaning of the word that he "considered of NO value" his birthright. 

He sold it to Jacob for a mess of pottage,it had no more value than that to him. There was no bargaining, he sold it outright. He said he was going to die if he didn't get something to eat. 

So, he was going to die after missing a meal or two? 

Hardly! But he was accustomed to feeding himself whenever and whatever his flesh cried out for, and never denied that. 

When the day came that the blessing was given, he stepped up to receive it as though he had a right to it. 

But he had sold the birthright. 

Who was the dishonest one, the deceiver? He should have told Isaac he had sold his birthright and had no right to the blessing. But he kept silent about that and then wept bitterly when he didn't get it! Doreen Dutton spoke in the Wed. meeting at Bonners Ferry about what Rebecca had Jacob do. 

It seemed very dishonest. But again, if we think of it in the light of getting the blessing spiritually, we know that our flesh (the elder) will rob of us (the younger) of the blessing in any way it can. We must never lose sight of the fact we MUST have the blessing. 

This is something God has promised us.  We need help and guidance. That is why Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit when he returned to His Father. Rebecca was like the Spirit guiding Jacob so that he would receive the blessing that he should have. 

He would have missed it otherwise. 

And we also NEED the guidance of the Spirit in order to get the blessing.