Notes Jacob Isaac grows up to marry Rebekah. Like his mother Sarah, she’s barren. But Isaac, as his father Abraham had before him, appeals to God to give them children (see Genesis 25:21 ; 15:3 ). While her twins are fighting in her womb, God tells Rebekah that each will be a nation, but the younger of the two, Jacob, will rule the older, Esau (see Genesis 25:23 ). This is another sub-plot in Genesis. Notice that God chooses always the younger son, even though the way of the world is to grant privileges and pride of place to the older. Abel’s offering is preferred to Cain’s. Isaac over Ishmael. And Jacob’s youngest son, Joseph, becomes the hero of the later books of Genesis, while Reuben, Jacob’s first-born, fails to defend him against his brothers (see Genesis 37). Why does God do this? It’s as if the betrayal by God’s "first-born" son, Adam, upset the harmony between the ways of the world and the ways of God. But God’s plan will not be frustrated. He saves us...
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