The story of how Jacob came by the birthright and blessing is more complex than it may first appear. It began in the womb with a struggle between brothers. It was such an unusual circumstance that it led their mother, Rebekah, to inquire of God about the situation. God told her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23 ESV). Was Jacob, the younger brother, foreordained by God to receive the birthright and blessing? Or, did God merely foretell how the future would unfold?
If the only Scriptures which commented on this situation were found in the Genesis passages, we might not be able to get an answer to our question. The language of Genesis 25 and 27 could reasonably infer either option. So, what Scriptures help us to find out if God foreordained Jacob to inherit the blessings?
Jacob was foreordained to receive the blessing
We can be confident that God foreordained Jacob to his destiny because of Romans 9. In this chapter, Paul argues that it is not enough to be a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be a part of Israel. “For not all who are descended from Israel [Jacob] belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring” (Rom. 9:6–7 ESV). Abraham had many sons but God selected only one, Isaac, to be the conduit of blessing to the world. Likewise, Esau and Jacob were both sons of Isaac, but God selected Jacob to produce the nation of Israel.
10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” 13 Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.” (Rom. 9:10–13 NASB)
God foreordained Jacob in spite of his flaws
Romans 9 makes it clear that God chose Jacob to carry on the promise. So, God foreordained, or pre-selected, Jacob for this role. Note that the text says God made this choice before the twins were born. Before either of them had done anything good or bad! God didn’t choose Jacob because he was morally superior to Esau. As adults, both Jacob and Esau had serious character flaws.
Did Rebekah tell Isaac that God foreordained Jacob?
The Bible doesn’t say if Rebekah told her husband Isaac that God has foreordained the younger brother, Jacob, to inherit the birthright and blessing. One would assume that she would have shared this important fact with her husband. If this is true, what are we to make of the fact that Isaac intended to give the blessing to Esau (Gen 27:1-4)? God had expressed His will in Gen 25:23 that the younger would inherit the blessing. The blessing is synonymous with the covenant. The one receiving the blessing is the one whom God had chosen to carry on the covenant He made with Abraham and Isaac.
Isaac either was unaware of what God had revealed to Rebekah in Gen 25:23, knew but was skeptical of what she told him about it, or he knew but rejected it because he favored Esau (Gen 25:28). The Bible never portrays Isaac as being in open defiance of God, so I suspect Isaac was not acting in rebellion to God.
It seems clear that, for whatever reason, Isaac was determined to give the blessing to the wrong son. Rebekah and Jacob felt there was no other choice but to scheme and lie to make sure that Jacob received the blessing. I wonder how God would have intervened if Jacob and his mother had not taken matters into their own hands?
Why did Isaac tremble?
When Isaac realized Jacob deceived him the Bible says, “Isaac trembled very violently” (Gen 27:33). Why did he tremble? What terrified him so? Was it at this moment that he understood and believed what God had told Rebekah about the brothers while they were still in her womb (Gen 25:23)? Was he terrified because he realized that his desire to pass the covenant blessing to Esau was in direct violation of God’s will?
It is a reasonable assumption that Isaac’s violent trembling was the result of intense fear. This fear was due to the realization that he had been tampering with God’s plan. If this is true, it explains an odd statement that Jacob would utter later on:
If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. (Gen. 31:42 ESV)
Jacob refers to God as the “Fear of Isaac.” Presumably, Isaac feared God on account of his attempt to bless the wrong brother in spite of having heard what God told Rebekah about the boys. When Isaac realized that God had intervened in Isaac’s affairs to ensure the younger brother received the blessing, it put the fear of God in him.
Why was the blessing irrevocable?
Shouldn’t a blessing obtained through deceit be subject to revocation? Jacob was deceitful in the way he obtained the blessing, but the blessing was never rightfully Esau’s to begin with. God had foreordained the matter. Therefore Isaac should have consulted with the LORD before bestowing a blessing on either boy.
Even after realizing the deception, Isaacs words betray his feelings about the matter. When speaking to Esau he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing” (Gen. 27:35 ESV). Even though it would seem He recognized God’s intervention, Isaac still refused to acknowledge that the blessing was rightfully Jacob’s.
The reason that Isaac did not revoke the blessing and give it to Esau was that he couldn’t. It would seem he recognized Divine providence at play. He was terror stricken at the thought he had tried to work against God’s plan. Therefore, He knew that even if he didn’t fear God and was willing to revoke the blessing from Jacob, God would not permit it.
A proclamation of destiny
This blessing wasn’t merely well wishes from a kindly and loving father. With the blessing went the covenant and promise which God made to Abraham. God was involved in this matter.
“The blessing also served as a proclamation of the destiny of the sons. It was not accorded the same status as a prophecy from God (note Isaac’s use of the first person in v. 37: ”I have made him”), but it still was an exercise of authority believed to be binding through the very speaking of the words. This is why Isaac could not take it back even though it became clear that he had been tricked.”1
“By showing that the blessing was irrevocable, even by the father who gave the blessing, the writer underscores an important feature of the blessing— its fulfillment is out of human hands. It cannot even be revoked. It will come to pass, just as it was given.”2
Sent away to the east country
Just as Abraham gave his other sons gifts and sent them away to the east country (Gen 25:6), so Esau would also have no claim on the land of Canaan. The blessing connects Jacob to the land (Gen 27:28), but Esau’s fate was to dwell away from the land (v. 39). It just so happens that Esau and his descendants settled in Edom, a land to the east of what would later become the nation of Israel.
God foreordained Jacob to be the conduit of blessings which He promised back in Genesis 12:1-3. These blessings are the very foundation of the Gospel – the Good News. The Good News was for all the world, not just for the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was through Jesus, one of Jacob’s sons who would be born centuries later, that these blessings would find fulfillment.