God’s Choice (Genesis 24-27)

Have you ever wondered, "Can God use flawed people like us to accomplish His will?" Our study this evening of Isaac and Rebekah shows how imperfect, doubting people can be chosen by God. We will discover how God doesn’t pick the flawless or the physically strong. He chooses the weak and flawed who trust Him. Let’s see how their faith, not their failures, unlocks His promises for mankind. This is one of the more fascinating stories in the Old Testament.

The Next Generation

Our story begins in Chapter 24, just after the death of Sarah. In response to this, Abraham wanted his oldest and most trustworthy servant to travel back to the family of his brother Nahor and look for a wife for his son Isaac. Abraham knew that the people of the land of Canaan were too ungodly to be trusted with his son. When this servant arrived in Haran with his camels and loads of gold, he came to a well and asked God to give him a sign. He said, "When I ask a young woman for water, let her say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also.’” Rebekah comes onto the scene in beauty, and the first thing we see from her is an outpouring of generosity for the servant. She gives him some of her water and offers to water his camels also. This made it obvious that God had chosen her and providentially set her before Abraham’s servant to be Isaac's wife. Don't we all wish that selecting a mate were this easy?

After revealing what God had done to her family, they agreed to let her go but wanted her to stay there for ten days. The servant was persistent, wanting her to leave with him at once and not delay. So they left it up to Rebekah, who said, "I will go." Her words reveal something to us: she is not just beautiful and kind; she is faithful like Abraham. This is why God chooses her. She leaves her family to go to a land she has not known in order to receive the same promised blessing. She is a woman of faith, like Abraham, and they bless her, saying, "Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!" Their words echo the blessing of God to Abraham. She comes to Isaac, and they marry.

Perseverance

Unfortunately, the blessings promised to Abraham and to his offspring weren’t fully realized by Isaac and Rebekah. In fact, they seemed to suffer the same trials as Abraham and Sarah. They go through a time of famine in the land. Their response could have been to go down to Egypt, but they stay in the land and dwell near the cities of the Philistines. They trust God, and He takes care of them in their trials. When wicked people want his wife, they find out that he is married, and the king makes a decree that no man is to touch her. When quarreling breaks out because his wealth had become so large, God blesses and blesses again as they trust in Him. God reiterates the promise to Isaac that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars of heaven, that He will give his offspring the land, and that through them shall come a great blessing for all the earth (26:1–5). Isaac responds with faith, building an altar in Beersheba and worshiping God. He is a peacemaker because he trusts in God to provide for him.

Another struggle is that Rebekah appears to be barren. Isaac prays and waits for twenty years to have children. God granted his prayer with twins! But then, Rebekah struggled with the pregnancy. Apparently, the two boys were fighting with one another. She wasn’t sure what was going on inside of her, and so she too prays to the Lord. He answers her, saying, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger."

This description of the two boys is a major revelation. It sets the stage for what is to come. The words of this prophecy foretell the lives of their sons, Jacob and Esau. Esau, the firstborn, will be stronger but also immoral. So Jacob, though weaker, will rule his older brother. Jacob will be the child of promise like Isaac was. However, an interesting twist in the story is that Isaac loved Esau because of the wild game he killed and cooked for him. Rebekah, on the other hand, loved Jacob. There was favoritism in the house.

This shows us that they were human. They didn’t do everything right. Just like Abraham and Sarah, they struggled with the same kinds of sins we all struggle with. But it’s more than that. Esau’s immorality creates a major issue in the storyline of God. We see him selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew and also marrying Canaanite women! This breach in morality shows a huge lack of faith in God’s promises. Plus, this intermarriage is what caused the flood to happen. How will Isaac, the head of the house, choose an immoral man to pass on the promised blessing to? Also, how will they fulfill the prophecy spoken to Rebekah about the younger serving the older?

Purpose

The story of Isaac’s end is curious, buthy it answers these questions. In Chapter 27, we learn that Esau, who has proven himself immoral, is going to receive the blessing from Isaac. Everything in the story about these two boys is pointing us to the unworthiness of Esau, so this isn’t right. The promised blessing should not go to him, but Isaac wants to bless him. He likes his strength and favors him for his ability to hunt. This is a problem in the story.

We are told that Isaac was very old, near death, and nearly blind—another trial he had to deal with in his life. He called Esau to him and asked him to bring some game before him so that he could eat it and bless him before he died. Rebekah, overhearing this request, goes and gets Jacob ready to deceive his father. She dresses him in Esau’s clothes, puts goatskin on his hands, and cooks a goat for his father to eat. Jacob’s trick worked—not because he and his mother were so crafty, but because God knew His choice all along. Isaac was blind to Esau’s pride and lack of faith, but God wasn’t. Listen to what happened when Isaac blessed Jacob:

Genesis 27:27–29 (ESV) — 27 So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed! 28 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

Isaac’s blessing toward Jacob fulfilled the prophecy spoken to Rebekah and left Esau in a state where he would be serving his brother instead of ruling over him. When Esau comes in, he is crushed. This made him angry enough to kill Jacob. So Rebekah sends Jacob back to her family until it’s safe for him to return.

Why?

When we learn about the ending of this story, it doesn’t make sense, does it? Why would Isaac be so foolish as to try to bless Esau when the prophecy said otherwise? Perhaps he didn’t know the prophecy, but more likely, he just loved Esau so much that he wanted it to be through him. Like Abraham longing for Ishmael (Gen 17:18), Isaac clings to Esau. But God’s choice isn’t ours. It’s His, and it goes beyond the external. He chooses Isaac, and in a similar way, God chose Jacob.

You see, God’s choice is on display in this story. He has a sovereign plan and will to bring His blessing to mankind. Nothing and no one can disrupt that. He has determined to work through blind and flawed men to accomplish this divine will. That’s why Isaac has lost sight in the story. Isaac’s eyes fail him, literally and spiritually. He sees Esau’s strength and misses his pride. He cannot see or understand why God would choose Jacob, and he struggles with doubts because he looks at the exterior. He sees a strong, masculine man who is his firstborn. But we know Esau is not a man of faith. Rebekah, in contrast, looks through the eyes of faith. She trusts God’s promise when Isaac can’t. This is not a story about right or wrong—it’s about who believes!

Faith is the critical criterion in this story. Esau’s strength is his greatest weakness. He trusts in himself. Isaac cannot grasp this pride that God understands all too well. Rebekah, on the other hand, sees it. She has the stronger faith in the story. She believes the prophecy. She trusts that the younger will rule over the older. She doesn’t neglect the weaker; she exalts him because God has foreknown that Jacob will be a man of faith, like Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebekah.

God Chooses Faith Over Strength

In the New Testament, we learn that the Jews are blind to God’s sovereign choice and will. He has made it clear through prophecy, but they don’t get it. Jesus, weak in the world’s eyes, is God’s chosen One. They choose a murderer over God’s humble Son. So God allows them, in their blindness, to curse Jesus, not bless Him. But this brings the greatest blessing of all for all mankind. The promise is fulfilled despite man’s complete failure and weakness.

In Romans 9, Paul tells us that the Jews were still blind. They still trusted in themselves and their own abilities instead of trusting in God’s sovereign plan and will. The Gentiles get it.

Romans 9:30–32 (ESV) — 30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,

The Gentiles put their trust and faith in God’s power to save through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Jews trusted in themselves that they were righteous.

Conclusion

As I said, the story of Isaac and Rebekah is an interesting one—not just from its beginning, but due to how it ends. In this story, we see how faith and this world seem to be opposed to one another. But God’s sovereign plan will not be thwarted by human failings. He will bring about His promise. Now we have to choose whether we will trust Him or not.

Isaac and Rebekah show us: God uses flawed people—doubters, schemers, us. But His promise isn’t for the strong—it’s for the faithful. Jesus, the weakest on the cross, is the strongest in God’s plan. Will you trust Him beyond what you see? Will you believe that He wants to love and save even you and me, despite our weaknesses?