Sarah was an expert at eaves-dropping. She seemed to be around to listen in on Abraham’s conversations and even snickered at what she would hear sometimes.
Rebekah, like Sarah, had become a skilled eavesdropper also. When Isaac called his son Esau to him to give him the final family blessing, Rebekah was listening. She immediately acted to counter-act her husbands intentions and devised a plan by which her favorite son, Jacob, would receive the blessing that Isaac intended for Esau.
Families are intended to support each other, not to scheme against each other. Loving is the key word in family relationships, not lying. We’re supposed to complement each other not compete with each other.
Isaac had learned how to deceive from his father, Abraham. I assume that Rebekah learned it from her family as well. We’ll meet Laban, her brother, who is an expert at deceiving. I guess it’s just in the blood.
Yesterday, we saw that Isaac had sinned in the same way his father Abraham had sinned in deceving Abimelek by calling his wife his sister to protect his life. It is in the blood. We have the same blood.
The encouraging thing for Isaac and for you and me is that God forgives our sins. That we inherited the same blood line and struggle with the same propensities, there is still hope for us. God praises Isaac in Hebrews 11, and declares that He “is not ashamed to be called his (Isaac’s) God.”
That’s true with us too. Though we too fall and fail, our God is not ashamed to be called our God. How comforting is that?