You can't neglect Rebekah's conniving role in this chapter. She is behind the scenes listening, scheming, plotting, and directing. Was she wrong or right to do this? Esau had already sold his birthright (Genesis 25:29-34). Should Isaac have intended to bless him first then? Or, would it have been better for Rebekah to just stay out of things? Or, better yet, since she is Isaac's wife, why not just reason with Isaac that Jacob deserved Isaac's blessing more than Esau? Or was Isaac too old and set in his ways to reason with. (Ha ha. I'm afraid there may be some old men out there who fit this category. Don't become one if you are a young man reading this.)
I think we can probably agree that being deceitful is not the best way to handle a situation. Rebekah went to great lengths to put skins of goats on Jacob's hands (Gen. 27:16), dress him up in Esau's best clothes (vs. 15), and to prepare the food (vs. 17).
I wonder how old Jacob is at this point. Should he not stand up to his mom and "be the man"? Should he have said, "Mom, this is wrong and deceitful. Let's just go have a talk with dad." And, Jacob never answers his dad Isaac when Isaac starts questioning whether this is truly Esau (vs. 21-23). Then Jacob flat out lies and says he is Esau when asked (vs. 24).
Somewhere along the way Jacob had in his heart and mind that this deception and lying were best for his family at this time.
When do we come to that point?
I think when we forget to "speak the truth in love". Look at Ephesians 4:14 & 15, "That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--".
Do you see how these verses in Ephesians refer to being "children", "trickery", "cunning craftiness", and "deceitful plotting"?
Well, I have come down hard on Rebekah and Isaac for their lack of being truthful. But truth is, we all struggle with manipulating our own circumstances and lacking the faith in God that He can work things out if we are just truthful with those God has placed in our lives.
I'll leave you with a quote from the Adrain Rogers Legacy Bible:
