Genesis 25:21-28 – Two Nations

Isaac has prayed that God will give Rebekah children, and God hears his prayer. Children are always the gift of God. Rebekah is pregnant with not one child, but twins. God often outdoes our prayers and gives more than we can ask or think.

Rebekah is confused and uneasy as to how she is feeling. The struggle between Jacob and Esau represents the struggle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. This is a struggle both in the world where Christians are persecuted, and in the hearts of believers where they struggle between old sins and new desires. Rebekah goes to God to ask Him what is going on. When we are confused, we should seek the Lord for guidance.

Rebekah’s children are prophesied of before they are even born. She finds out that she is pregnant, not just with twins, but with two nations greatly different in personalities from each other and struggling with each other. God has determined that the older will serve the younger.

When they are born, we already see the beginning of the prophecy’s fulfilment. Esau, hairy, rough, and stronger, comes out first, but Jacob, the smooth, pursues his brother, reaching out to grab him. In time he will succeed in undermining his brother.