IV. Age of the Patriarchs

A. Jacob the Younger

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 despite ourselves, choosing the young, the weak and the sinful to show that salvation history is governed by His free grace and His love. St. Paul, interpreting this Scripture, says God chose Jacob over Esau "in order that God’s elective plan might continue, not by works but by His call…So it depends not upon a person’s will or exertion, but upon God" (see Romans 9:11-13).

We’ll see this, too, throughout the Bible, especially in the story of David, the youngest son of Jesse, who God commands to be anointed king (see 1 Samuel 16:1-13). The youngest or last born are the engines of salvation history until the coming of Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, the first-born of the new family of God. Jesus fulfills the promise of Israel, which, as we will see in our next lesson, is God’s "first-born son" among the nations (seeExodus 4:22).

Don’t be distracted by the drama and trickery of how Jacob secures Isaac’s blessing. Esau had proven himself unworthy of the blessing, selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. As the Scripture says: "Esau cared little for his birthright" (see Genesis 25:29-34).

Jacob’s deception is criticized by the prophets (see Hosea 12:4; Jeremiah 9:3), and he gets his "payback" in the text of Genesis. For instance, he will be tricked by his uncle Laban into marrying, not Rachel whom he loves, but Laban’s firstborn daughter, Leah (Genesis 29:25). And later, when his son Joseph is sold into slavery, his other sons will deceive him by soaking Joseph’s coat in goat’s blood. The irony surely isn’t lost on the narrator of Genesis - Jacob’s deception of his father involved the use of goat skins (compare Genesis 27:15-16;37:31-33).

But Jacob’s s lie serves God’s purposes. God chose Jacob over Esau (see Malachi 1:3;Romans 9:13). Through Jacob, God will extend the blessing he gave to Abraham (seeGenesis 28:3-4). God Himself confirms this in showing Jacob a ladder into the heavens (Genesis 28:10-15). Later, Jesus will apply this dream to Himself, revealing that in Him heaven and earth touch, the human and the divine meet. He is what Jacob called "the gateway to heaven" (see John 1:51; Genesis 28:17).

God changes his name to Israel after a mysterious all-night struggle. The name Israel means "He who contended with God" (see Genesis 35:10; Hosea 12:5).

B. Joseph and Judah

Jacob’s twelve sons form the twelve tribes of Israel (see Genesis 47:27; Deuteronomy 1:1).

And in the story of Joseph and his brothers, we again see God choosing the youngest to carry out His plan of salvation.

Joseph foreshadows the sufferings and the salvation won for us by Jesus. He is the victim of jealousy and rejection by His brothers, the children of Israel, and is sold for twenty pieces of silver into slavery in Egypt. Still he forgives his brothers and saves them from death by famine.

Again, he shows us that what men plan as evil, God can use for the purposes of His saving plan (Genesis 50:19-21).

The Bible’s first book ends with Israel on his deathbed giving his blessing to his children. To one - Judah, he promises a royal dynasty that will be everlasting (see Genesis 49:9-12). He will rule over all peoples of the world - a Scripture that the Church interprets as a promise of Jesus, the Messiah-King. The line of Judah is the line of the kings David and Solomon (see2 Samuel 8:1-14; 1 Kings 4:20-21).

Jesus will come as the royal son of David (see Matthew 1:1-16) and the Lion of Judah (seeRevelation 5:5).

God’s family has wandered from East of Eden to Egypt. In our next lesson, we’ll see how God fulfills the promise that Jacob makes to Joseph: "God will be with you and will restore you to the land of your fathers" (see Genesis 48:21).

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