God’s purposes will prevail.

Do you know the experience of being part of a story that contains manipulation, deceitfulness, and bare-faced lying? Where human scheming has been so involved, it doesn’t feel like the hand of God has played any part.

We have turned the page over from Esau’s two wives being the source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah, and moved further into what was probably the impact of that pain. This has to be among the most dysfunctional families in Scripture. We will tread carefully.

“When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, ‘My son.’ ‘Here I am,’ he answered. Isaac said, ‘I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.'” (Genesis 27:1-4)

We need to be reminded of some historical facts about this family.

Parental favouritism had emerged in this marriage. Isaac and Rebekah are married and have twins. Isaac favoured Esau, the older twin and skilled hunter—his father loved the wild game he prepared—while Rebekah favoured Jacob, the younger son. Division emerged in the marriage. They worked behind each other’s backs and had no open communication.

But there was a Word from God. “The Lord said to Rebekah: ‘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 older will serve the younger.'” (Genesis 25:23)

It seems inconceivable that Rebekah had not told Isaac of what the Lord had said to her. Further, Isaac knew that Esau himself had despised his birthright for a bowl of stew. Yet Isaac was still determined to give the blessing to Esau—the blessing that would determine which son would carry forward God’s covenant promises, receive the inheritance, and lead the family.

Sadly, in this house, no one trusted anyone else. The breakdown of trust was complete: husband and wife were pursuing opposing agendas, each believing they knew best, neither willing to communicate openly or submit the matter to God together.

Isaac decided to give Esau the blessing secretly, without a public ceremony. He told his son to make one of his favourite meals, then return so he could bless him. The fact that Isaac tried to grant the blessing in secret showed he knew what he wanted to do was wrong.

It seems so unfair, doesn’t it? Maybe people in your life have manipulated situations, gotten away with things that everyone can see but no one addresses. Perhaps favouritism has shaped your story in painful ways. When human scheming seems to triumph, and no one appears to be listening or seeing what is blatantly apparent to you, what do you do?

It may seem oversimplified, but all we have left is to trust God.

The story doesn’t end here, of course, and we know that Rebekah devised her own scheme, Jacob deceived his father, and the family fractured further. Yet even through this tangled mess of human dysfunction, God’s purposes moved forward. The blessing that Isaac tried to manipulate ended up exactly where God had said it would go.

Our dysfunction does not confine God. He works through it, around it, and sometimes despite it. When we find ourselves in situations marked by favouritism, manipulation, or broken trust, we can bring our mess before God and trust that human schemes will not thwart His purposes.