Sibling Rivalry

 Genesis 25:1-26:35

            Esau and Jacob competed from the womb. Esau, the rugged, hairy, man’s man, who loved to hunt, was born first, but Jacob, a softer, more homebody sort, was holding on to his brother’s heel. There couldn’t have been a more fitting start for these two brothers.

            The Lord had already promised that the older would serve the younger, but as for his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac (who repeated Abraham’s lie, passing off his wife as his sister), so also for Jacob—faith came hard. And Jacob didn’t want to wait, swindling his brother out of his birthright (and tomorrow his blessing, too). For his part, Esau doesn’t seem like a great thinker, giving away the firstborn’s portion of what seems to have been a very large estate because he was hungry right now! Now into its third generation, Abraham’s family is reading a bit like a soap opera!