Dissing Rebekah

I’m having second thoughts about Rebekah. I think I might have been dissing her unjustly. Remember the story of how she duped Isaac, her husband, into giving the blessing to Jacob, her favorite son, instead of to Esau? Esau was the older of the two brothers and the one to whom the blessing rightfully belonged.

The story of Rebekah and Jacob’s duplicity found in Genesis 27 used to disturb me. Was she supposed to be a good role model for what a loving wife should be? And was Jacob so much of a “Mama’s boy” that he couldn’t say no to her? Or was he fueled by his own ambition? We don’t know. We just know that their scheme worked and that after Jacob received the blessing, the brothers became estranged. In fact, Jacob had to flee the area or risk being killed by his angry brother Esau. And Isaac? The scriptures tell us that he “trembled exceedingly” (Genesis 27: 30) when he realized what had happened.

I’ve been thinking about the relationship between Isaac and Rebekah and wondering how a couple who was once so much in love could have come to this state. She had gladly left her father’s home and traveled 500 miles to marry him, and Isaac apparently loved her very much. They were childless for years, and after Isaac prayed on Rebekah's behalf, God sent them twins. The babies must have been unusually active within her womb because Rebekah asked God about it, and He told her that two nations were in her womb and that one would be stronger than the other. And here’s the kicker. She was told that the that the older son would serve the younger one.

Did Rebekah ever share this news with Isaac? I’ve reread the 25th chapter of Genesis several times and can find nothing to indicate that she ever mentioned this ultra important information with her husband. Why not? Had they stopped communicating? Did she think he could laugh at her? Did she think it was just “too weird” to even consider?

According to the scriptures, Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, and although her age isn’t given, I feel like she was a young woman, maybe even a teenager (by today’s standards). Although some people estimate that they had been married for 20 years before the boys were born, I don't know. I do know that the twins were fast becoming young adults, and I wonder if Rebekah was getting impatient.

Rebekah knew what God had promised, and yet she had overheard Isaac telling Esau, his favorite son, that he was old and that he wanted Esau to bring him some venison to eat before he died. Isaac added, “…and bring it to me that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.” (verse 4) Isaac was both old AND blind, so Rebekah hatched the plan to make Jacob appear hairy like Esau, knowing that the subterfuge would trick Isaac.

I’m not saying Rebekah was right to trick her husband or to play favorites with her children. I’m just saying that she knew what God had told her, and she was probably wondering how this promise was to come to pass after hearing the conversation between Jacob and Esau. In other words, maybe she was “impressed” to take matters into her own hands in order to bring the prophecy to pass.

What do you think? Is it possible for mothers to have intuitions about situations involving their children?