Isaac was suffering from a complaint which is quite common among the people of the desert.He was losing his eyesight.Besides,he had just passed through a very difficult period.There had been a prolonged drought in the plains of Mamre,and Isaac had been obliged to move his flocks further westward into the heart of the land of the Philistines.
Of course,the Philistines had tried to keep him out.They had filled up the wells which Abraham,a generation before,had dug in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba.The journey had been weary and the hardships had aged Isaac,who longed for the familiar sight of the old homestead.
Now at last he was back in the land of Hebron.He felt that he did not have much longer to live and wished to order his affairs that he might die in peace.And so he sent for Esau,his eldest son,and asked him to go out into the woods and shoot a deer and make him a roast,such as he loved to eat.Then he would bless him and would bestow his goods upon him as was according to the law.
Esau said “Yes,”he would do this.He fetched his trusted bow and arrows and left the house.But Rebekah had overheard the conversation and she now hastened to tell Jacob.
“Quick!”she whispered,“the time has come.Your father is feeling very badly to-day.He fears that he is going to die and he wants to bless Esau before he goes to bed to-night.But I want you to disguise yourself and make the old man believe that you are Esau.Then he will give you everything he has,and that is what we both want.”
Jacob did not like the idea.The plan seemed too risky.How could he,with his smooth skin and his high-pitched voice,pretend to be the hairy Esau?Rebekah,however,had thought it all out.
“It is simple,”she told him.“I will show you.”
She hastily killed two young goats and she roasted the meat as Esau used to do.Then she took the skins of the dead animals and tied them around the hands and arms of Jacob.She put an old,sweaty coat,which belonged to Esau,across Jacob's shoulders,and she bade him speak in a gruff tone,and behave just as Esau did upon such occasions.
Isaac was completely deceived.He heard the familiar voice.He noticed the smell of the fields which was for ever in Esau's coat.He felt the strong,hairy arms of his eldest born.And when he had eaten,he made the impostor kneel down and he blessed him and made him heir to all he possessed.
But as soon as Jacob had left his father's room,behold!Esau returned.Then there was a terrible scene.The blessing had been given and Isaac could not go back on his word.He told Esau of his great love,but the evil had been done.Jacob was a thief.He had stolen everything that belonged to his elder brother.
As for Esau,he went storming about and vowed that he would kill Jacob as soon as he had a chance.This frightened Rebekah,who knew that her own spoiled darling was no match for this angry man,made stronger by his righteous wrath.
She told Jacob to flee and go east to the land where her brother Laban lived.And he had better stay there until things had quieted down a little at home.Meanwhile,he might marry one of his cousins and settle down among his uncle's people.
Jacob,who was no hero,did what his mother told him.
But his bad conscience went with him and he had to pass through several strange adventures,before he dared to return home and face the brother whom he had so cruelly wronged.
He found the country of his uncle without much difficulty,but on the journey he had a strange dream.He had fallen asleep in the desert,near a place called Bethel.Suddenly,so he said afterwards,the sky opened.He had seen a ladder which reached from the earth to the Heavens.On the ladder were many of the angels of Jehovah.At the top of the ladder stood Jehovah himself and Jehovah had spoken and had promised that he would be a friend to the fugitive and would help him during his exile.
But whether this is really true,that I do not know and I rather believe that Jacob afterwards told the story to ease the knowledge of his own guilt and make people believe that he was not really as bad as they might think since he had retained the friendship of so powerful a god.
