This story is such a great story because it is so human. The heroes and the villains each have admirable and blameworthy qualities, and the actions they take are so morally ambiguous, but God takes this muddled, ambiguous scene and transforms it into a key part of His plan.
Isaac, a good man who built on the legacy he was handed down from Abraham, extending the blessings of God even farther, is now old and blind, reduced to a weak and dependent position. He has been spiritually blinded by his preference for Esau, whose heart appears unworthy in God's sight, even though he is strong, a good provider, and generally pretty obedient. Unlike Abraham, when Isaac's firstborn son is shown to be unworthy of the birthright and blessing, Isaac does not willingly agree. He tries to settle the blessing on Esau anyway, resulting in trickery, a loss of trust, and a rupture in his family. Jacob and Rebekah's deception would not have been necessary if Isaac had submitted. Also, his stomach...his human, worldly instincts and desires...get in the way of his making the right choice. Jacob-as-Esau secures Dad's favor by bringing him a bowl of tasty stew, satisfying his base desires as the real Esau does. Even when Isaac blesses Jacob, he blesses him in a way that leaves Esau (intended to be Jacob) out in the cold entirely, instead of leaving room for both his sons in his affection. This too would result in serious division between the two.
Rebekah, the trusting and decisive woman who followed where God led, does what she feels she must do to ensure that God's promise to her, Jacob's precedence, comes to fruition, and takes a huge risk for God's promises' sake. She chooses the right in supporting Jacob and believing that God's promises will come, much as Sarah did by believing that Abraham would indeed have a son. Like Sarah, however, she is too limited to see what God is doing, and thinks she needs to "help him along". God wants Jacob to win the birthright and blessing away from Esau, and it seems clear that deception is the way that will occur. God, however, does not help those who help themselves, and her actions, though they pay off, also lead to a horrible rift in the family. She would never see Jacob again.
Esau is an obedient son and cares quite a lot for his aging, weak father. He goes out right away when asked, hunting for meat his father so badly wanted. He's already been hurt by his brother before but he remains steadfast in love for his family, particularly his father. On the other hand, when Jacob impersonates him, Jacob refers to the Lord as Isaac's God, not his. Esau is detached from Yhwh, seeing nothing wrong with Dad's faith and religious ritual but choosing not to embrace it as his own. Some Catholic and other Christian scholars have suggested that Esau and Jacob are like the modern Jewish and Christian people...that Esau, while not a bad guy and certainly not evil, chooses not to embrace God for who He really is and what He really says about himself, and thus chooses to forfeit the birthright of blessings that he originally had. Jacob, through fidelity and a close relationship with God, becomes worthy of having the birthright handed off to him. The Jews, the "firstborn sons" of God, are destined for blessings unless through pride and lack of faith, they relinquish them to Christians who have inherited them through Christ.
Jacob, the trickster and usurper, in reality has chosen to take a real risk on behalf of God's promises to him, as has his mother. He ends up abundantly blessed, but he also ends up being tricked himself several times in life, cut off from his family for much of his life, and a fugitive for a while. This seems to be a real theme through the Bible so far... things people do are rarely purely good or purely evil, and God takes messy, muddled human actions and blesses people for what they do right and also allows them to reap the consequences of what they do wrong. Those who live in close relationship with God don't always trust Him and this leads to drama and pain. God is a just God, and He knows our hearts and our true intentions. He wants to use this family to bless the world, and He will guide them through all kinds of craziness to get to His ends.
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