I have had the tendency to think things for Abraham were easy and life was happy and simple. That would be the rose colored glasses view. Life was not easy or simple for Abraham. There were famines that people had to survive. That is a devastating thing when you live off the land. Abraham and many of the people of that time were tent dwellers. They moved their homes when there were times of famine. This was not an easy task. If it were one person, one tent with a few belongings, that would be manageable, similar to us moving today. In our twenties’ moving was easier than in our fifty’s as we had less “stuff” and people to cart around with us. Imagine moving one hundred people and their tents and stuff, now that is complicated.
Humans are overcomers by nature. We established our homes in one place but then have to deal with the environment. To combat famine we figured out ways to produce foods that is not dependent on the weather. By establishing a stable location to live, we now have to overcome the issue of weather, so to fix that we develop drought resistant strains of foods, and seed our atmosphere to produce rain. We then have to overcome the problem of genetically modified foods and their health issues. Also we have to deal with the soil ph, as cloud seeding or chem trails tend to make the soil higher in alkaline than acid. By our own short sightedness, our issues start to snowball. We have to produce lots of food, as inexpensively as possible, so we then sacrifice taste and nutrition. To overcome the tastelessness’ of our food we enhance it with flavor enhancers. The snowball gets bigger when we learn that monosodium glutamate does some odd things in people, such as causing headaches, or feeling hungry right after eating, or triggering asthma attacks. Yet the benefit of msg products is that people then eat more, so manufacturers sell more. Therefore manufacturers have to disguise the name of msg using other names that the public isn’t aware of. The snowball gets bigger still when people then take medications to combat the effects of genitally altered and enhanced foods. When manufactures of food products have to package and sell their products, they have to market their foods so you will buy them, which starts a marketing campaign to tell you how good their food tastes. But to overcome the lack of nutrition, food then has to be enhanced with vitamins. Synthetically adding vitamins and minerals is great for advertising but is hardly absorbed by the body, thereby not being effective to give better nutrition. And if the snowball wasn’t big enough, we have a problem with sustainability. As we continue to overcome problems we develop new ones. Such as mass production of meats; on one hand we have inhumane treatment of animals, but to treat them humanely, and feed them properly, costs more money. Then there is the processing of meats where sanitation issues have to be overcome by chemicals in our meats. Even if we grew our own vegetables they are not truly organic, potable water is all chemically treated, rain water is dirty, soil is contaminated, air is dirty. Organic may not have any added pesticides but fertilizers are chemically treated, and if they weren’t, we would get sick.
As we see that Isaac was faced with famine, he had to move his family. Josephus tells us that Isaac wanted to move to Egypt but God told him to go to Gerar, the very place Abraham lived for a long time. Remember this King Abimelech is the second King Abimelech, the son of the first Abimelech who died shortly after Sarah died. This Abimelech would have been about 51 years old as Isaac was 37 when Sarah died, and he was 75 at the time Abraham died, leaving 38 years between, added to 13 which was the age of the second Abimelech when he became King.
Josephus 18: 2. When there was a famine in the land, Isaac resolved to go into Egypt, the land there being good; but he went to Gerar, as God commanded him. Here Abimelech the king received him, because Abraham had formerly lived with him, and had been his friend. And as in the beginning he treated him exceeding kindly, so he was hindered from continuing in the same disposition to the end, by his envy at him; for when he saw that God was with Isaac, and took such great care of him, he drove him away from him. But Isaac, when he saw how envy had changed the temper of Abimelech retired to a place called the Valley, not far from Gerar: and as he was digging a well, the shepherds fell upon him, and began to fight, in order to hinder the work; and because he did not desire to contend, the shepherds seemed to get the him, so he still retired, and dug another and when certain other shepherds of Abimelech began to offer him violence, he left that also, still retired, thus purchasing security to himself a rational and prudent conduct. At length the gave him leave to dig a well without disturbance. He named this well Rehoboth, which denotes a large space; but of the former wells, one was called Escon, which denotes strife, the other Sitenna, name signifies enmity.
Josephus 18:3. It was now that Isaac's affairs increased, and in a flourishing condition; and this his great riches. But Abimelech, thinking in opposition to him, while their living made them suspicious of each other, and retiring showing a secret enmity also, he afraid that his former friendship with Isaac would not secure him, if Isaac should endeavor the injuries he had formerly offered him; he therefore renewed his friendship with him, Philoc, one of his generals. And when he had obtained every thing he desired, by reason of Isaac's good nature, who preferred the earlier friendship Abimelech had shown to himself and his father to his later wrath against him, he returned home.
Life wasn’t easy for Isaac, contending with shepherds for water, and dealing with an insecure King. If that weren’t enough, Esau marries some Canaanite women, whom Abraham directly commanded them not to do as they would be eliminated from the land.
Josephus 18:4. Now when Esau, one of the sons of Isaac, whom the father principally loved, was now come to the age of forty years, he married Adah, the daughter of Helon, and Aholibamah, the daughter of Esebeon; which Helon and Esebeon were great lords among the Canaanites: thereby taking upon himself the authority, and pretending to have dominion over his own marriages, without so much as asking the advice of his father; for had Isaac been the arbitrator, he had not given him leave to marry thus, for he was not pleased with contracting any alliance with the people of that country; but not caring to be uneasy to his son by commanding him to put away these wives, he resolved to be silent.
Genesis tells us more.
Gen 26:1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
It is interesting Isaac did the same thing Abraham did with Sarah, to the same people. However Rebekah had already had the twins at least fifteen years earlier. In this land, we see again how conscientious the people were about how they might have brought a curse upon themselves for taking Rebekah as a wife when she was already married.
Gen 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:14 For he had possession of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.15 For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.23 And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.24 And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
Abimelech was afraid of Isaac and his people. Abraham had that problem too as well as the sons of Jacob in Egypt. A large group of migrating tent dwellers scares the permanently fixed people of the land. Everywhere Abraham and Isaac went, they displaced people already living there, that alone caused contention, now add livestock eating off the land as well and things get tense. Abimelech wants to make an oath to be nice to each other because he is afraid of Isaac. Remembering again that Abimelech was a grandson of Shem, yet they were far enough removed as family that they didn’t recognize each other to be family.
Gen26:26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?28 And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;29 That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord.30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.34 And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
Between the time Esau was 15 & 40, he killed Nimrod, also known as Amraphel. Because of this Esau thought he was going to be killed, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Jacob recorded this in a book. As we read further we find that Esau took Nimrod’s garment that was given to him by his father. If we remember, that was Adam’s garment, made for him after the fall. Interesting that Nimrod was jealous of Esau, maybe because he was Abraham’s oldest son.
AMRAPHEL (keeper of the gods) perhaps a Hamite king of Shinar or Babylonia, who joined the victorious incursion of the Elamite Chedorlaomer against the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain. Gen 14. ( B.C. 1898.)(from Smith's Bible Dictionary, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Jasher 27:1And Esau at that time, after the death of Abraham, frequently went in the field to hunt.2And Nimrod king of Babel, the same was Amraphel, also frequently went with his mighty men to hunt in the field, and to walk about with his men in the cool of the day.3And Nimrod was observing Esau all the days, for a jealousy was formed in the heart of Nimrod against Esau all the days.4And on a certain day Esau went in the field to hunt, and he found Nimrod walking in the wilderness with his two men.5And all his mighty men and his people were with him in the wilderness, but they removed at a distance from him, and they went from him in different directions to hunt, and Esau concealed himself for Nimrod, and he lurked for him in the wilderness.6And Nimrod and his men that were with him did not know him, and Nimrod and his men frequently walked about in the field at the cool of the day, and to know where his men were hunting in the field.7And Nimrod and two of his men that were with him came to the place where they were, when Esau started suddenly from his lurking place, and drew his sword, and hastened and ran to Nimrod and cut off his head.8And Esau fought a desperate fight with the two men that were with Nimrod, and when they called out to him, Esau turned to them and smote them to death with his sword.9And all the mighty men of Nimrod, who had left him to go to the wilderness, heard the cry at a distance, and they knew the voices of those two men, and they ran to know the cause of it, when they found their king and the two men that were with him lying dead in the wilderness.10And when Esau saw the mighty men of Nimrod coming at a distance, he fled, and thereby escaped; and Esau took the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod's father had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land, and he ran and concealed them in his house.
Part of selling of the birthright was also gaining the burial cave which Abraham was buried in. This was probably more valuable then we recognize in those days.
Jasher 27:11And Esau took those garments and ran into the city on account of Nimrod's men, and he came unto his father's house wearied and exhausted from fight, and he was ready to die through grief when he approached his brother Jacob and sat before him.12And he said unto his brother Jacob, Behold I shall die this day, and wherefore then do I want the birthright? And Jacob acted wisely with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, for it was so brought about by the Lord.13And Esau's portion in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth for the possession of a burial ground, Esau also sold to Jacob, and Jacob bought all this from his brother Esau for value given.14And Jacob wrote the whole of this in a book, and he testified the same with witnesses, and he sealed it, and the book remained in the hands of Jacob.
Jacob kept the book, the recordings of things he deemed important. Obtaining the birthright of the first born was important to have documented. Now we really have to stretch our brains to remember Nimrod’s dream when Abraham was still living there. Remember after Abraham had been thrown in the fire and was living among the people, Eliezer heard about Nimrod having a bad dream about Abraham so he wanted to kill Abraham. All the kings’ counselors came together and decided that Abraham should have been killed at his birth. Eliezer told Abraham, they consulted with Terah and Noah and then Abraham, Terah, and Nahor, with their families, all left for Haran.
Jasher 27:15And when Nimrod the son of Cush died, his men lifted him up and brought him in consternation, and buried him in his city, and all the days that Nimrod lived were two hundred and fifteen years and he died.16And the days that Nimrod reigned upon the people of the land were one hundred and eighty-five years; and Nimrod died by the sword of Esau in shame and contempt, and the seed of Abraham caused his death as he had seen in his dream.17And at the death of Nimrod his kingdom became divided into many divisions, and all those parts that Nimrod reigned over were restored to the respective kings of the land, who recovered them after the death of Nimrod, and all the people of the house of Nimrod were for a long time enslaved to all the other kings of the land.
Now we get to the famine.
Jasher 28:1And in those days, after the death of Abraham, in that year the Lord brought a heavy famine in the land, and whilst the famine was raging in the land of Canaan, Isaac rose up to go down to Egypt on account of the famine, as his father Abraham had done.2And the Lord appeared that night to Isaac and he said to him, Do not go down to Egypt but rise and go to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines, and remain there till the famine shall cease.3And Isaac rose up and went to Gerar, as the Lord commanded him, and he remained there a full year.4And when Isaac came to Gerar, the people of the land saw that Rebecca his wife was of a beautiful appearance, and the people of Gerar asked Isaac concerning his wife, and he said, She is my sister, for he was afraid to say she was his wife lest the people of the land should slay him on account of her.5And the princes of Abimelech went and praised the woman to the king, but he answered them not, neither did he attend to their words.6But he heard them say that Isaac declared her to be his sister, so the king reserved this within himself.7And when Isaac had remained three months in the land, Abimelech looked out at the window, and he saw, and behold Isaac was sporting with Rebecca his wife, for Isaac dwelt in the outer house belonging to the king, so that the house of Isaac was opposite the house of the king.8And the king said unto Isaac, What is this thou hast done to us in saying of thy wife, She is my sister? how easily might one of the great men of the people have lain with her, and thou wouldst then have brought guilt upon us.9And Isaac said unto Abimelech, Because I was afraid lest I die on account of my wife, therefore I said, She is my sister.10At that time Abimelech gave orders to all his princes and great men, and they took Isaac and Rebecca his wife and brought them before the king.11And the king commanded that they should dress them in princely garments, and make them ride through the streets of the city, and proclaim before them throughout the land, saying, This is the man and this is his wife; whoever toucheth this man or his wife shall surely die. And Isaac returned with his wife to the king's house, and the Lord was with Isaac and he continued to wax great and lacked nothing.
Jasher 28:12And the Lord caused Isaac to find favor in the sight of Abimelech, and in the sight of all his subjects, and Abimelech acted well with Isaac, for Abimelech remembered the oath and the covenant that existed between his father and Abraham.13And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Behold the whole earth is before thee; dwell wherever it may seem good in thy sight until thou shalt return to thy land; and Abimelech gave Isaac fields and vineyards and the best part of the land of Gerar, to sow and reap and eat the fruits of the ground until the days of the famine should have passed by.14And Isaac sowed in that land, and received a hundred-fold in the same year, and the Lord blessed him.15And the man waxed great, and he had possession of flocks and possession of herds and great store of servants.16And when the days of the famine had passed away the Lord appeared to Isaac and said unto him, Rise up, go forth from this place and return to thy land, to the land of Canaan; and Isaac rose up and returned to Hebron which is in the land of Canaan, he and all belonging to him as the Lord commanded him.
Jacob now at 18 years old goes to live with Shem and Eber to learn the ways of the Lord. He stays for 32 years which makes him 50 when he leaves there.
Jasher 28:17And after this Shelach the son at Arpachshad died in that year, which is the eighteenth year of the lives of Jacob and Esau; and all the days that Shelach lived were four hundred and thirty-three years and he died.18At that time Isaac sent his younger son Jacob to the house of Shem and Eber, and he learned the instructions of the Lord, and Jacob remained in the house of Shem and Eber for thirty-two years, and Esau his brother did not go, for he was not willing to go, and he remained in his father's house in the land of Canaan.
Everyone like to point out Jacob being a surplanter, or someone who is deceitful, however we see here that Esau was a scheming and deceitful man, who used charm to entice people. He was not only a hunter of animals but a hunter of the hearts of men.
Jasher28:19And Esau was continually hunting in the fields to bring home what he could get, so did Esau all the days.20And Esau was a designing and deceitful man, one who hunted after the hearts of men and inveigled them, and Esau was a valiant man in the field, and in the course of time went as usual to hunt; and he came as far as the field of Seir, the same is Edom.21And he remained in the land of Seir hunting in the field a year and four months.22And Esau there saw in the land of Seir the daughter of a man of Canaan, and her name was Jehudith, the daughter of Beeri, son of Epher, from the families of Heth the son of Canaan.23And Esau took her for a wife, and he came unto her; forty years old was Esau when he took her, and he brought her to Hebron, the land of his father's dwelling place, and he dwelt there.24And it came to pass in those days, in the hundred and tenth year of the life of Isaac, that is in the fiftieth year of the life of Jacob, in that year died Shem the son of Noah; Shem was six hundred years old at his death.25And when Shem died Jacob returned to his father to Hebron which is in the land of Canaan.
Jasher 28:26And in the fifty-sixth year of the life of Jacob, people came from Haran, and Rebecca was told concerning her brother Laban the son of Bethuel.27For the wife of Laban was barren in those days, and bare no children, and also all his handmaids bare none to him.28And the Lord afterward remembered Adinah the wife of Laban, and she conceived and bare twin daughters, and Laban called the names of his daughters, the name of the elder Leah, and the name of the younger Rachel.29And those people came and told these things to Rebecca, and Rebecca rejoiced greatly that the Lord had visited her brother and that he had got children.
Jubilees adds a little more to the story.
Isaac at the Well of Vision: Esau sells his Birthright (xxiv. 1-7; cf. Gen. xxv. 11, 29-34).
Jubilees 24:1. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that the Lord blessed Isaac his son, and he arose from Hebron and went and dwelt at the Well of the Vision in the first year of the third week of this jubilee, seven years. 2. And in the first year of the fourth week a famine began in the land, besides the first famine, which had been in the days of Abraham. 3. And Jacob sod lentil pottage, and Esau came from the field hungry. And he said to Jacob his brother: "Give me of this red pottage." And Jacob said to him: "Sell to me thy [primogeniture, this] birthright and I will give thee bread, and also some of this lentil pottage." 4. And Esau said in his heart: "I shall die; of what profit to me is this birthright?" And he said to Jacob: "I give it to thee." 5. And Jacob said "Swear to me, this day," and he sware unto him. 6. And Jacob gave his brother Esau bread and pottage, and he ate till he was satisfied, and Esau despised his birthright; for this reason was Esau's name called Edom, on account of the red pottage which Jacob gave him for his birthright. 7. And Jacob became the elder, and Esau was brought down from his dignity.It would seem if Esau was a great hunter he would have had plenty of food to eat, thereby not needing to eat as much from hunger for hunger’s sake but needing to eat because he just fought for his life with two of Nimrod’s servants. The other servants did not know who Esau was so they did not try to find him, but he thought they might be looking for him which is why eating and selling his birthright was not a big deal to him. Remembering this was between the time he was 15 and 40 years of age.
Isaac's Sojourn in Gerar and Dealings with Abimelech (xxiv. 8-27; cf. Gen. xxvi.).
Jubilees 24:8. And the famine was over the land, and Isaac departed to go down into Egypt in the second year of this week, and went to the king of the Philistines to Gerar, unto Abimelech. 9. And the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him: "Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land that I shall tell thee of, and sojourn in this land, and I shall be with thee and bless thee. 10. For to thee and to thy seed shall I give all this land, and I shall establish My oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father, and I shall multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and shall give unto thy seed all this land. 11. And in thy seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thy father obeyed My voice, and kept My charge and My commandments, and My laws, and My ordinances, and My covenant; and now obey My voice and dwell in this land." 12. And he dwelt in Gerar three weeks of years. 13. And Abimelech charged concerning him, and concerning all that was his, saying: "Any man that shall touch him or aught that is his shall surely die." 14. And Isaac waxed strong among the Philistines, and he got many possessions, oxen and sheep and camels and asses and a great household. 15. And he sowed in the land of the Philistines and brought in a hundred-fold, and Isaac became exceedingly great, and the Philistines envied him. 16. Now all the wells which the servants of Abraham had dug during the life of Abraham, the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham, and filled them with earth. 17. And Abimelech said unto Isaac: "Go from us, for thou art much mightier than we"; and Isaac departed thence in the first year of the seventh week, and sojourned in the valleys of Gerar. 18. And they digged again the wells of water which the servants of Abraham, his father, had digged, and which the Philistines had closed after the death of Abraham his father, and he called their names as Abraham his father had named them. 19. And the servants of Isaac dug a well in the valley, and found living water, and the shepherds of Gerar strove with the shepherds of Isaac, saying: "The water is ours "; and Isaac called the name of the well "Perversity," because they had been perverse with us. 20. And they dug a second well, and they strove for that also, and he called its name "Enmity." And he arose from thence and they digged another well, and for that they strove not, and he called the name of it "Room," and Isaac said: "Now the Lord hath made room for us, and we have increased in the land." 21. And he went up from thence to the Well of the Oath in the first year of the first week in the forty-fourth jubilee. 22. And the Lord appeared to him that night, on the new moon of the first month, and said unto him: "I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and shall bless thee and shall surely multiply thy seed as the sand of the earth, for the sake of Abraham my servant." 23. And he built an altar there, which Abraham his father had first built, and he called upon the name of the Lord, and he offered sacrifice to the God of Abraham his father. 24. And they digged a well and they found living water. 25. And the servants of Isaac digged another well and did not find water, and they went and told Isaac that they had not found water, and Isaac said: "I have sworn this day to the Philistines and this thing hath been announced to us." 26. And he called the name of that place the "Well of the Oath"; for there he had sworn to Abimelech and Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol the prefect of his host. 27. And Isaac knew that day that under constraint he had sworn to them to make peace with them.I can’t imagine digging one well, let alone several.
Isaac curses the Philistines (xxiv. 28-33).
Jubilees 24:28. And Isaac on that day cursed the Philistines and said: "Cursed be the Philistines unto the day of wrath and indignation from the midst of all nations; may God make them a derision and a curse and an object of wrath and indignation in the hands of the sinners the Gentiles and in the hands of the Kittim. 29. And whoever escapeth the sword of the enemy and the Kittim, may the righteous nation root out in judgment from under heaven; for they will be the enemies and foes of my children throughout their generations upon the earth.30. And no remnant will be left to them, Nor one that will be saved on the day of the wrath of judgment; For for destruction and rooting out and expulsion from the earth is the whole seed of the Philistines (reserved), And there will no longer be left for these Caphtorim a name or a seed on the earth. 31. For though he ascend unto heaven, Thence will he be brought down, And though he make himself strong on earth, Thence will he be dragged forth, And though he hide himself amongst the nations, Even from thence will he be rooted out; And though he descend into Sheol, There also will his condemnation be great, And there also he will have no peace.32. And if he go into captivity, By the hands of those that seek his life will they slay him on the way, And neither name nor seed will be left to him on all the earth; For into eternal malediction will he depart."33. And thus is it written and engraved concerning him on the heavenly tables, to do unto him on the day of judgment, so that he may be rooted out of the earth.Isaac seems to have been angry with his treatment, the filling in of the wells, and he cursed the Philistines to be wiped out by the Gentiles and or the Kittim (the children of Javan, grandson of Noah). The Caphtorim are another name for the Philistines. We may think this is harsh, but let’s remember the imprecatory Psalms, we may get scared of these types of things but there is a reason God had David use them. See end notes. Imprecatory prayers are simply a declaring of God’s judgment, as a human has to speak them out.
Rebecca admonishes Jacob not to marry a Canaanitish Woman. Rebecca's Blessing
25:1. And in the second year of this week in this jubilee, Rebecca called Jacob her son, and spake unto him, saying: "My son, do not take thee a wife of the daughters of Canaan, as Esau, thy brother, who took him two wives of the daughters of Canaan, and they have embittered my soul with all their unclean deeds: for all their deeds are fornication and lust, and there is no righteousness with them, for (their deeds) are evil. 2. And I, my son, love thee exceedingly, and my heart and my affection bless thee every hour of the day and watch of the night. 3. And now, my son, hearken to my voice, and do the will of thy mother, and do not take thee a wife of the daughters of this land, but only of the house of my father, and of my father's kindred. Thou wilt take thee a wife of the house of my father, and the Most High God will bless thee, and thy children will be a righteous generation and a holy seed." 4. And then spake Jacob to Rebecca, his mother, and said unto her: "Behold, mother, I am nine weeks of years old, and I neither know nor have I touched any woman, nor have I betrothed myself to any, nor even think of taking me a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 5. For I remember, mother, the words of Abraham, our father, for he commanded me not to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, but to take me a wife from the seed of my father's house and from my kindred. 6. I have heard before that daughters have been born to Laban, thy brother, and I have set my heart on them to take a wife from amongst them. 7. And for this reason I have guarded myself in my spirit against sinning or being corrupted in all my ways throughout all the days of my life; for with regard to lust and fornication, Abraham, my father, gave me many commands. 8. And, despite all that he hath commanded me, these two and twenty years my brother hath striven with me, and spoken frequently to me and said: 'My brother, take to wife a sister of my two wives'; but I refuse to do as he hath done. 9. I swear before thee, mother, that all the days of my life I will not take me a wife from the daughters of the seed of Canaan, and I will not act wickedly as my brother hath done. 19. Fear not, mother; be assured that I shall do thy will and walk in uprightness, and not corrupt my ways for ever." 11. And thereupon she lifted up her face to heaven and extended the fingers of her hands, and opened her mouth and blessed the Most High God, who had created the heaven and the earth, and she gave Him thanks and praise. 12. And she said: "Blessed be the Lord God, and may His holy name be blessed for ever and ever, who hath given me Jacob as a pure son and a holy seed; for He is Thine, and Thine shall his seed be continually and throughout all the generations for evermore. 13. Bless him, O Lord, and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that I may bless him." 14. And at that hour, when the spirit of righteousness descended into her mouth, she placed both her hands on the head of Jacob, and said:15. "Blessed art thou, Lord of righteousness and God of the ages; And may He bless thee beyond all the generations of men. May He give thee, my son, the path of righteousness, And reveal righteousness to thy seed.16. And may He make thy sons many during thy life, And may they arise according to the number of the months of the year. And may their sons become many and great beyond the stars of heaven, And their numbers be more than the sand of the sea.17. And may He give them this goodly land--as He said He would give it to Abraham and to his seed after him alway And may they hold it as a possession for ever.18. And may I see (born) unto thee, my son, blessed children during my life, And a blessed and holy seed may all thy seed be.19. And as thou hast refreshed thy mother's spirit during †my† life, The womb of her that bare thee blesseth thee,[My affection] and my breasts bless thee And my mouth and my tongue praise thee greatly.20. Increase and spread over the earth, And may thy seed be perfect in the joy of heaven and earth for ever; And may thy seed rejoice, And on the great day of peace may it have peace.21. And may thy name and thy seed endure to all the ages, And may the Most High God be their God, And may the God of righteousness dwell with them, And by them may His sanctuary be built unto all the ages. 22. Blessed be he that blesseth thee, And all flesh that curseth thee falsely may it be cursed." 23. And she kissed him, and said to him "May the Lord of the world love thee As the heart of thy mother and her affection rejoice in thee and bless thee."And she ceased from blessing.Jacob takes the matter of marriage very seriously, and being concerned for the words of Abraham, he refused to take a wife from the Canaanites like Esau did, even though Esau encouraged him to do so. As a student of Shem and Eber, Jacob learned about God and the ways of God for 32 years. I don’t know anyone who goes to school for 32 years. We can see why Abraham Isaac and Jacob are the ones we look to, to understand and know God. The bible always says “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” all three studied with Shem. All three of them spent time serving the Lord with Shem. All three knew the Lord well enough to teach others about God and his ways. Although Jacob looks like he stole the birthright from Esau, we see instead that Esau did not have a heart for God; he did not care to serve God or learn from Shem. Instead he deceived and plotted against men, killed Nimrod and stole the coat of Adam, married two Canaanite women, and tried to entice Jacob to go against Abraham’s wishes and marry a Canaanite Woman. Now we can understand how important it was to get the blessing of the first born from Esau. Jacob had a heart for God.
End Notes:
Imprecatory Palms
