Brotherly Love

Genesis 25
This sibling rivalry runs deeps.

The story starts with Isaac praying his barren wife will conceive and God comes through, blessing them with twins. Great! Twins! Thank you Lord!

Well...these twins are different. Literally, they are both different. One likes to hunt, the other likes to contemplate. Esau spent his time in the fields. Jacob spent his under the shade of a tent. Twins? Yes. Kindred spirits? Not so much.

Photo courtesy of sxc.hu/profile/kaleff

Jacob must have made a mean pot of stew.

These differences wouldn't be much of an issue, but the parents seem to have split their affections. Isaac favors Esau because Esau enjoyed eating his father's kills. Rebekah favors Jacob because (we can assume) he likes to hang back with the ladies and cook. It's telling that the only interact we see between Jacob and Esau is the infamous exchange whereby a birthright is exchanged for some Campbell's Chunky. This can't be healthy for this family of four. From the beginning these brothers fought, but their division was amplified when mom and dad chose sides.

I can't really relate to this story. I have an older brother, but our parents didn't seem to pick favorites. Sure my mom wanted a daughter when I was born and yes I did go see Sleeping Beauty with her one Sunday afternoon while my brother and dad watched football, but that was a long time ago. I was 5! But my brother and I were no rivals. As for my little family today. We have one child. No sibling rivalries yet. But I feel like this story is a warning to parents.

I can't think of any good that would come from parents taking sides. Will one child tend to follow the footsteps of one parent over the other? Sure, but why let that be a dividing line?

Genesis 26
As the story continues we see that Isaac is blessed because of his father (v 5, 24). God keeps his word. He always does. He makes it clear that Isaac is being blessed because of the actions of Abraham.

It's a bit of a theme in God's word. The actions of fathers, positive or negative, are returned on their offspring for generations. The conclusions for today's fathers are obvious.

Genesis 27
The rivalry continues as Rebekah lies to her husband.

Jacob follows his mothers advice and deceives his father. Isaac finds out but the blessing sticks.

I just don't understand this. What power did those words hold that made them irreversible? Isaac didn't intend to give the birthright to Jacob. Why couldn't he have hit Edit > Undo?

Words have power. I don't know how else to look at it. I'm sure some bible scholar has it all figured out, but it doesn't add up to me. It's clear that the words Isaac spoke carried a lot of power.

Tell me...
How do you handle sibling rivalries in your household?
Do you engage with each of your child's interests and encourage them?