Genesis 25 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Genesis 25:19-26

19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So she went to enquire of the Lord.

23 The Lord said to her,

‘Two nations are in your womb,
    and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
    and the elder will serve the younger.’

24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. [Esau may mean hairy  26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob [Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives.] Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

A. Find Out:

1. How old was Isaac when he married? v.20
2. Why was Isaac praying? v.21
3. How old was Isaac when his sons were born? v.26
4. Why did Rebekah seek the Lord? v.22
5. What did the Lord tell her? v.23
6. What did Jacob’s name mean? v.26 & footnote

B. Think:

1. How long did it appear to be before the Lord answered Isaac’s prayer?
2. What can you tell about Isaac & Rebekah’s relationship with the Lord  from this passage?
3. What characteristic of the Lord is revealed here?

C. Comment:

Rather like his father, Abraham, Isaac doesn’t seem to be able to have children because his wife was barren. Unlike Abraham, Isaac asked the Lord for help. As with Abraham the Lord appears to have taken some time to answer. We don’t know how long it was before Isaac started asking but it seems likely that either a) Isaac took a long time to get around to asking or b) the Lord took a long time to answer. Whichever it is the lessons are clear: we need to learn to quickly take all problems to the Lord AND to persevere until the Lord answers.

Rebekah also appears to know something of the Lord for, when in her pregnancy she felt disturbance, she asks the Lord about it. Again an example to follow. The Lord reveals to her something of the future of the twins (note, she hears the Lord, also saying something of her relationship with the Lord). We see here at least, the Lord who knows all things and the Lord who chooses. Read Romans 9:10-13. This doesn’t necessarily mean that God makes people as they are but at least that He knows what they will be like and chooses those He knows will respond to Him.

D. Application?

1. Do I take my problems to the Lord?
2. Do I patiently persevere in prayer?

Passage: Genesis 25:27-34

27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, ‘Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!’ (That is why he was also called Edom.)

31 Jacob replied, ‘First sell me your birthright.’

32 ‘Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said. ‘What good is the birthright to me?’

33 But Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’ So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright.

A. Find Out:    

1. What sort of person was Jacob? v.27b, 29a
2. Which parent loved which child? v.28
3. What state was Esau in when he came in? v.29
4. What did he ask of Jacob? v.30
5. What did Jacob demand in return? v.31
6. What did Esau think about his family position? v.34a

B. Think:

1. What does this passage teach about parental responsibility and family divisions?
2. What do Jacob’s actions show about him?
3. What does the passage show about Esau?

C. Comment:

First, we see the foolishness of the parents who allowed favoritism to creep in. Previously we said Isaac and Rebekah both had some sort of relationship with the Lord, but that doesn’t stop people making mistakes, and these mistakes will lead to greater problems if they are not dealt with, as we will see. The warning is clear for those of us with families!

Second, we see the individuality of these two boys, very different from each other, each with their characteristics clearly displayed. Jacob, quiet and a schemer, Esau the “doer” who thinks only for the “now”. Now a birthright is that which is due by way of position within the family, and the elder son always was held in the highest esteem and inherited the bulk of the family fortune and the family name. Esau is an illustration of a man who cares more about personal desire at the moment than about the family name. We live in an age when many just “live for today” ignoring the consequences of that. In Esau’s case that reveals a lack of respect for the family.

D. Application?

1. Are we excluding others by having “favorite people”?
2. Are we respecting our parents, or has the spirit of the age allowed disrespect to creep in?
3. Living for the moment or motivated and directed by godly vision?