Abraham lived on for some time after Isaac took his wife, and he himself married again, and had more children. He died finally at the age of 175, and his two oldest sons, Ishmael, buried him in a cave beside Sarah, in a field he had bought for the purpose. Like his father before him, Isaac became very wealthy and successful.

Isaac loved his wife Rebekah, but for many years she had no children. After Isaac had sought the Lord in prayer for a long while, God finally permitted Rebekah to become pregnant. She conceived twins, and they struggled so violently in her womb that she didn't think she'd live to see them born. When she asked God what it was all about, he said, "You have two nations fighting in your womb, and one of these will be stronger than the other. The older will serve the younger."

When she gave birth to the twins, the first to come out was covered with red har all over, like a garment of hair, and she called him Esau, meaning rough. The second child had grabbed on the heel of the first, so she called him Jacob, meaning heel-grabber. As the boys grew, Esau loved the outdoors, and often brought home venison, which was his favorite food. Jacob, on the other hand, was more inclined to stay at home. He was his mother's favorite, while Isaac loved Esau best.

One day, Esau came back from the hunt empty-handed, and found his brother cooking a pot of vegetable soup over the fire. "Give me some of that soup," he said, "I'm starving."

Jacob, living up to the meaning of his name, which implied taking someone else's place, said, "All right, but sell me your birthright for it." As the oldest son, Esau was entitled to be his father's heir, and would receive the greater portion of Isaac's fortune.

He shrugged. "What good is my birthright if I'm dead of hunger? Give me some of that red soup!" Because of his reference to the red soup, he was called afterward "Edom", or Red, and his descendents became known by that name.

"Swear that the birthright is mine first," Jacob said, and Esau swore an oath to God that his birthright was now Jacob's. Jacob then gave his brother a large bowl of soup, and Esau went on his way, unconcerned.

Some years later, when Isaac was almost blind and getting quite old, he called his oldest son to him. "Esau, I'm getting very old," he said, "and I don't know how much longer I'm going to live. Go out and kill a deer for me, and fix me some venison stew, in the way I love so much, and I'll give you my blessing."

Rebekah heard the conversation, and after Esau left, she hurried to find Jacob. She told him what his father had said, then told him, "Go kill two young kids from among the goats, and I'll use them to make the kind of stew he likes. Take it to him, and tell him you're Esau, so he'll give you the blessing."

"But my skin is smooth, and Esau is hairy," Jacob protested. "If he finds out I've done, he'll curse me instead of blessing me."

"You let me worry about that," his mother told him. "Just do as I say."

So Jacob killed the two goats, and brought them to her. After she made the stew, she had him dress in some of Esau's clothes, and covered his hands and arms with goat's hair. Jacob then took the stew to his father.

"My father, I am here," he said, as he approached Isaac.

"Which of my sons are you?" asked Isaac."

"I am Esau, your oldest son," Jacob replied, and I have brought the venison stew as you asked me, so that you may bless me as you promised."

"How did you get it so quickly?" Isaac asked.

"The Lord brought it to me," Jacob replied blithely.

"Come closer, so I can be sure it's you," Isaac said. So Jacob came close to him, and his father felt his arms and hands.

"The arms are Esau's," he said, "but the voice is Jacob's."

When he was finally convinced that it was Esau, after all, who had come, Isaac at the stew. Afterwards, after smelling Esau's garments, he gave his blessing, asking the Lord to supply a great bounty of food. "And may you be lord over all your family. May God bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you."

Scarcely had Jacob left when Esau came in. When he discovered what his brother had done, he wept bitterly, and said, "My brother is well named, because twice he has supplanted me. First, he stole my birthright, and now he has stolen my blessing. Don't you have a blessing left for me, Father?"

"But what, my son," Isaac said, as distressed as Esau. "I have made him ruler over you, and I have blessed him with an abundance of grain and wine."

After Esau continued to beg, Isaac finally relented. "Very well, my son. You will dwell in the abundance of the land, and make your living with the sword. You shall serve your brother, but one day you will throw off the yoke."

From that day on, Esau hated Jacob and vowed he would kill him when the opportunity came. Fearing for her son's life, Rebekah persuaded Isaac to send him away to her brother, Laban, to find a wife. "I don't want him marrying one of these local girls," she said. Isaac agreed, and sent Jacob away with the blessing of Abraham that he would inherit the land as God had promised. So the inheritance and the promise passed to Jacob, rather than to Esau. Jacob left for Haran soon afterward.

JESUS IS the Bridge Ministries

The Terrible Twins