Gen 25:22 | KingComments | STEP | When the birth of a son lacks with Abraham, he tries to conceive him in the power of the flesh. What is begotten, Ishmael, is not the son of promise. When the birth of a son lacks with Isaac, it leads him to prayer, despite the fact that he knows the promise of God. Barrenness must bring faith into action. The answer to his prayer was still twenty years away. But God is to be entreated. We find that God lets Himself to be entreated several times in the Old Testament ( ; ; ). Isaac has prayed the LORD on behalf of his wife. Although God has promised to multiply his descendants, he prays for it. This is an important indication that God’s promises encourage us to pray. God’s promises form the basis of our prayer ( ). Although Isaac prayed for this blessing for many years and the answer did not come, he did not stop praying. The Lord Jesus exhorts us to pray always and not to become discouraged ( ). If we do, we will experience that we are not seeking God’s face in vain. Rebekah has her own dealings with the LORD and asks Him why she is expecting twins. She receives an answer from the LORD. The two boys are two peoples, each with their own place on earth, determined by Him. It is not written here that God hated Esau. That is written in Malachi 1, that is to say, only fourteen hundred years later, after Esau in his descendants has shown his true nature of wickedness and revolt ( ). If Esau had suited himself in the place God gives him here, even before his birth, he would have received the full blessing of it. Jacob reveals already at his birth that he wants to master Esau in his own way, that he wants to receive the blessing of God in his own power ( ). Esau, the stronger one, comes out first, but Jacob’s hand holds the heel of Esau. He wants to be as it were ahead of Esau. By doing so, he indicates that he wants to seize the birthright and the related blessing. The name he gets alludes to this. “Jacob” means “heels holder”, with the thought of holding the heel to bring someone down (cf. ). This name he would live up to many times in his life through his actions. Jacob is interested in the blessing of God, unlike Esau, but he wants to secure it by tricks.

‏ Genesis 25:22

Birth of Esau and Jacob

When the birth of a son lacks with Abraham, he tries to conceive him in the power of the flesh. What is begotten, Ishmael, is not the son of promise. When the birth of a son lacks with Isaac, it leads him to prayer, despite the fact that he knows the promise of God. Barrenness must bring faith into action. The answer to his prayer was still twenty years away. But God is to be entreated. We find that God lets Himself to be entreated several times in the Old Testament (Gen 25:21; 2Chr 33:13 ; 19; Ezra 8:22-23).

Isaac has prayed the LORD on behalf of his wife. Although God has promised to multiply his descendants, he prays for it. This is an important indication that God’s promises encourage us to pray. God’s promises form the basis of our prayer (Dan 9:2-3). Although Isaac prayed for this blessing for many years and the answer did not come, he did not stop praying. The Lord Jesus exhorts us to pray always and not to become discouraged (Lk 18:1). If we do, we will experience that we are not seeking God’s face in vain.

Rebekah has her own dealings with the LORD and asks Him why she is expecting twins. She receives an answer from the LORD. The two boys are two peoples, each with their own place on earth, determined by Him.

It is not written here that God hated Esau. That is written in Malachi 1, that is to say, only fourteen hundred years later, after Esau in his descendants has shown his true nature of wickedness and revolt (Mal 1:2-3). If Esau had suited himself in the place God gives him here, even before his birth, he would have received the full blessing of it.

Jacob reveals already at his birth that he wants to master Esau in his own way, that he wants to receive the blessing of God in his own power (Hos 12:3a). Esau, the stronger one, comes out first, but Jacob’s hand holds the heel of Esau. He wants to be as it were ahead of Esau. By doing so, he indicates that he wants to seize the birthright and the related blessing.

The name he gets alludes to this. “Jacob” means “heels holder”, with the thought of holding the heel to bring someone down (cf. Gen 27:36). This name he would live up to many times in his life through his actions. Jacob is interested in the blessing of God, unlike Esau, but he wants to secure it by tricks.