A Womb With a View
Welcome to parasha Toldot. Toldot means generations. This parasha begins in Genesis 25:19-28:9. It starts you out by telling you how old Isaac was when he married Rivkah (Rebecca). He was forty years old. Notice Rivkah was not from Yahudah, she was an Aramean. Isaac and Rivkah wanted children, but so far in these many years Rivkah was not able to conceive. If you remember, all the matriarchs Sarah, Rivkah and Rachael were all in the same boat in that area, all were barren until YHVH stepped in and changed the situation. The sages say this was to show how Israel coming forth was a miracle. Then Isaac sought the Lord and Rivkah conceived twins. Not only did Jacob and Esau not get along together as adults, but they struggled together in Rivkah's womb. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. If he married Rivkah at age forty, then we know she went barren for twenty years before she bore Jacob and Esau. Simple math. Esau was born red and very hairy.
The fact that the Bible mentions that Esau was born red is an indication of his murderous nature, since there is no other reason the Torah would mention it. It was showing his bad character trait from the very beginning. All character traits, even the basest, can be used for good if man chooses to do so. It says King David was ruddy also, but David utilized his character traits for good and became famous as one of the greatest kings ever to reign. Where as, Esau let his nature run rampant and became the eternal symbol of evil and cruelty. Esau's name means completely developed, most likely given to him because of all the hair he had at birth. Now having twins is hard enough, but when you have them warring against each other in your womb, you've got trouble! So Rivkah sought the Lord on what was happening to her. YHVH told her there were two nations in her womb and that the older would serve the younger. There is no mention that Rivkah ever told Isaac what the Lord had revealed to her. It appears as if she kept it hid in her heart. Esau becomes a skilled hunter and is the favored son of Isaac. Jacob is a studier and is the favorite of Rivkah. It says Jacob dwelled in tents which meant he was a studier of Torah. As a skilled hunter, Esau owned some special garments. These special garments were said to have been the garments he stole from Nimrod (Rashi). So we see Esau coming in from a hunting trip and was extremely hungry.
So hungry he felt faint. Meanwhile, Jacob had cooked some lentils. It is believed that Abraham had just died and it was the tradition for the firstborn to cook the mourner's meal. Well Esau was the firstborn, but he was off doing his thing, so Jacob was taking over his responsibility. We all know that Jacob offered to feed Esau in exchange for giving Jacob the right of the firstborn. Basically, Esau thought so little of his birthright, that he sold it for a bowl of beans (lentils)! Now moving on to chapter twenty six, we are recalling another event that certainly sounds familiar. There was a famine in the land, just as in Abraham's day. Now Isaac was about to go down into Egypt, but YHVH stopped him. He was instructed to stay in the land, so he stayed at Gerar. Out of all the three patriarchs, Isaac was the one who never left the land during his entire life time. But there in Gerar, the exact same thing happens as did to Abraham regarding his wife. Isaac was afraid he would be killed if Rivkah was known to be his wife, so just like his father, he told everyone she was his sister. This time however, Avimelech sees the two of them together and sees that she must be his wife by their intimate actions.
So Avimelech charged that no man lay a hand on Rivkah, or they would die if they did. Threat of dying would be a good incentive to me, a lot more motivating than five years or fifty thousand miles:. Now Isaac goes on with his life and is highly blessed in the land. So much so, that Avimelech tells him to leave, because he has more than they do. Now we see this whole digging a well problem surface again. When Abraham died, the Philistines filled in all the wells he dug. Now Isaac is digging out the wells again his father had dug. Once again the herdsmen of Gerar strive with Isaac's herdsmen. The sages say the naming of the three wells was prophetic. They believe the names correspond to the three Temples, the two which were destroyed and the one to come in the millennium. The first well was called Esek, or contention. It alludes to the first Temple which fell victim to the strife of the nations that finally destroyed it. The second well was called Sitnah, or enmity, a harsher name than Esek, alludes to the second Temple. Here Israel's enemies were longer lasting and a lot more violent. The third one was called Rehoboth, or spaciousness, alludes to the Temple to come. This will be a time when strife and enmity will be things of the past (Rambam). We see Esau taking a wife at forty years old also. As a matter of fact, he took two wives. Both of the women were Hittites.
This caused Rivkah and Isaac much grief. This was the final seal that he would not be the one who would birth the nation of Israel. Although in actuality, it was already determined before his birth. Isaac is getting ready to die now and he wishes to impart a blessing upon Esau. As we know he was told to go kill a deer and make stew and then Isaac would bless him. Meanwhile, Rivkah heard this and was determined that Esau would not get what YHVH had told her was to go to the younger son. So she proceeded to tell Jacob how he could deceive his father into thinking it was Esau he was blessing, when it was really him. So his mother quickly kills a kid of the goats and prepares the stew for Isaac. She covers Jacob's hands and neck with a hairy goat's skin and the deception begins. Isaac even stops and wonders if this is Esau, he even asks him, "Are you really my son Esau?" But Jacob plainly lied and said, "I am." Ever told a lie before, so did these famous patriarchs:? Isaac spoke a wonderful blessing over Jacob and Jacob left his tent. Isaac blesses Jacob with grain and wine of plenty in life. The grain represents the necessities of life and wine its pleasures. It could also represent the body (grain) and the blood (wine) of Yeshua that was to come. That's how I see it at least:. Then, in walks Esau. When Esau told him who he was, Isaac trembled greatly, because he knew what had happened. Also Esau cried out bitterly. Esau said that Jacob took away his firstborn rights, but that was not true, Esau 'sold' Jacob his firstborn rights. Esau was more than willing to part with it. But now he acts as if he was mistreated. Isaac did give him a blessing also, but it was not anything like Jacob received.
He also told Esau that he would live by the sword. Esau swore that after his father died he would kill Jacob. Rivkah hears of this oath and knows she has to get Jacob to leave. So she goes in to Isaac and bemoans the fact that Jacob may end up taking a wife from the Hittites like Esau did and she could not bear that. Now that inspires Isaac to call Jacob back into his tent. It even says Isaac blesses Jacob again here. So he must not have been very angry at him for what he had done. Isaac instructs Jacob to go to the house of Bethu-El, his mother's house and take a wife there from Laban's daughters. Isaac even repeats that Jacob has the blessing of Abraham upon him. So Isaac sends Jacob away. It is said that Rivkah never sees her son again after this. But she knew if he stayed, Esau would kill him.
Sort of a hard choice to bear on a mother I'd say. Commentaries say that Esau died and was buried on the day Jacob was brought to burial in the Cave of Machpelah. (Rashi) After hearing how Isaac blessed Jacob once again and that taking a wife from the family of his mother pleased his parents, Esau decides to do something to get on his father's good side. He goes and gets a daughter of Yishma-El to take as a wife. Instead of divorcing the two Hittite women, he just adds the next wife to the mix. So ends the lives of Isaac and Rivkah. Even while the babies Jacob and Esau were still in her womb, YHVH had given Rivkah a view of how the future would turn out. She knew who would have the birthright. She knew the younger would rule over the elder. She had a vision for the future. You might say that Jacob and Esau had a "womb with a view":.
The fact that the Bible mentions that Esau was born red is an indication of his murderous nature, since there is no other reason the Torah would mention it. It was showing his bad character trait from the very beginning. All character traits, even the basest, can be used for good if man chooses to do so. It says King David was ruddy also, but David utilized his character traits for good and became famous as one of the greatest kings ever to reign. Where as, Esau let his nature run rampant and became the eternal symbol of evil and cruelty. Esau's name means completely developed, most likely given to him because of all the hair he had at birth. Now having twins is hard enough, but when you have them warring against each other in your womb, you've got trouble! So Rivkah sought the Lord on what was happening to her. YHVH told her there were two nations in her womb and that the older would serve the younger. There is no mention that Rivkah ever told Isaac what the Lord had revealed to her. It appears as if she kept it hid in her heart. Esau becomes a skilled hunter and is the favored son of Isaac. Jacob is a studier and is the favorite of Rivkah. It says Jacob dwelled in tents which meant he was a studier of Torah. As a skilled hunter, Esau owned some special garments. These special garments were said to have been the garments he stole from Nimrod (Rashi). So we see Esau coming in from a hunting trip and was extremely hungry.
So hungry he felt faint. Meanwhile, Jacob had cooked some lentils. It is believed that Abraham had just died and it was the tradition for the firstborn to cook the mourner's meal. Well Esau was the firstborn, but he was off doing his thing, so Jacob was taking over his responsibility. We all know that Jacob offered to feed Esau in exchange for giving Jacob the right of the firstborn. Basically, Esau thought so little of his birthright, that he sold it for a bowl of beans (lentils)! Now moving on to chapter twenty six, we are recalling another event that certainly sounds familiar. There was a famine in the land, just as in Abraham's day. Now Isaac was about to go down into Egypt, but YHVH stopped him. He was instructed to stay in the land, so he stayed at Gerar. Out of all the three patriarchs, Isaac was the one who never left the land during his entire life time. But there in Gerar, the exact same thing happens as did to Abraham regarding his wife. Isaac was afraid he would be killed if Rivkah was known to be his wife, so just like his father, he told everyone she was his sister. This time however, Avimelech sees the two of them together and sees that she must be his wife by their intimate actions.
So Avimelech charged that no man lay a hand on Rivkah, or they would die if they did. Threat of dying would be a good incentive to me, a lot more motivating than five years or fifty thousand miles:. Now Isaac goes on with his life and is highly blessed in the land. So much so, that Avimelech tells him to leave, because he has more than they do. Now we see this whole digging a well problem surface again. When Abraham died, the Philistines filled in all the wells he dug. Now Isaac is digging out the wells again his father had dug. Once again the herdsmen of Gerar strive with Isaac's herdsmen. The sages say the naming of the three wells was prophetic. They believe the names correspond to the three Temples, the two which were destroyed and the one to come in the millennium. The first well was called Esek, or contention. It alludes to the first Temple which fell victim to the strife of the nations that finally destroyed it. The second well was called Sitnah, or enmity, a harsher name than Esek, alludes to the second Temple. Here Israel's enemies were longer lasting and a lot more violent. The third one was called Rehoboth, or spaciousness, alludes to the Temple to come. This will be a time when strife and enmity will be things of the past (Rambam). We see Esau taking a wife at forty years old also. As a matter of fact, he took two wives. Both of the women were Hittites.
This caused Rivkah and Isaac much grief. This was the final seal that he would not be the one who would birth the nation of Israel. Although in actuality, it was already determined before his birth. Isaac is getting ready to die now and he wishes to impart a blessing upon Esau. As we know he was told to go kill a deer and make stew and then Isaac would bless him. Meanwhile, Rivkah heard this and was determined that Esau would not get what YHVH had told her was to go to the younger son. So she proceeded to tell Jacob how he could deceive his father into thinking it was Esau he was blessing, when it was really him. So his mother quickly kills a kid of the goats and prepares the stew for Isaac. She covers Jacob's hands and neck with a hairy goat's skin and the deception begins. Isaac even stops and wonders if this is Esau, he even asks him, "Are you really my son Esau?" But Jacob plainly lied and said, "I am." Ever told a lie before, so did these famous patriarchs:? Isaac spoke a wonderful blessing over Jacob and Jacob left his tent. Isaac blesses Jacob with grain and wine of plenty in life. The grain represents the necessities of life and wine its pleasures. It could also represent the body (grain) and the blood (wine) of Yeshua that was to come. That's how I see it at least:. Then, in walks Esau. When Esau told him who he was, Isaac trembled greatly, because he knew what had happened. Also Esau cried out bitterly. Esau said that Jacob took away his firstborn rights, but that was not true, Esau 'sold' Jacob his firstborn rights. Esau was more than willing to part with it. But now he acts as if he was mistreated. Isaac did give him a blessing also, but it was not anything like Jacob received.
He also told Esau that he would live by the sword. Esau swore that after his father died he would kill Jacob. Rivkah hears of this oath and knows she has to get Jacob to leave. So she goes in to Isaac and bemoans the fact that Jacob may end up taking a wife from the Hittites like Esau did and she could not bear that. Now that inspires Isaac to call Jacob back into his tent. It even says Isaac blesses Jacob again here. So he must not have been very angry at him for what he had done. Isaac instructs Jacob to go to the house of Bethu-El, his mother's house and take a wife there from Laban's daughters. Isaac even repeats that Jacob has the blessing of Abraham upon him. So Isaac sends Jacob away. It is said that Rivkah never sees her son again after this. But she knew if he stayed, Esau would kill him.
Sort of a hard choice to bear on a mother I'd say. Commentaries say that Esau died and was buried on the day Jacob was brought to burial in the Cave of Machpelah. (Rashi) After hearing how Isaac blessed Jacob once again and that taking a wife from the family of his mother pleased his parents, Esau decides to do something to get on his father's good side. He goes and gets a daughter of Yishma-El to take as a wife. Instead of divorcing the two Hittite women, he just adds the next wife to the mix. So ends the lives of Isaac and Rivkah. Even while the babies Jacob and Esau were still in her womb, YHVH had given Rivkah a view of how the future would turn out. She knew who would have the birthright. She knew the younger would rule over the elder. She had a vision for the future. You might say that Jacob and Esau had a "womb with a view":.