Bless Me, Too!

After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”

“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”

But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!”

Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

Genesis 27:30-38, 41

Oh, Rebekah–where are you now?

You don’t even seem to be listening in at a space in the tent flaps.

• You’re not here to witness witness the devistation your plotting has caused.
• You’re not here to see your husband “tremble violently.” You’re not here to sense his dismay or feel his horror.
• You’re not here to hear your firstborn–the boy you begged God for–beg not once, not twice, but thrice for his father’s blessing.

“Bless me, too!”

The cry of every boy to his father.

You can not fathom the depth of Esau’s unmet need or the power of his rage.

Esau’s kept score: Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, you’re dead meat.

Oh, Rebekah–what now?

Surely, you’ll…

• …see that your scheming has done far more damage than good.
• …confess and repent.
• …seek forgiveness of your husband and sons.

Surely, oh Rebekah, surely your meddling days are done?

Try This Today:

As you’re building your “God Will Provide” family time line, include a situation in which one person’s choice had a major impact–for better or worse–on others.

Your Turn!

What’s an experience that taught you an important lesson about about the unexpected consequences of choices (yours or another’s)?