5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. 10 And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” (Genesis 27:5-10)
Through the Bible: Genesis 27-29
Family dysfunction isn’t new. It’s as old as Genesis.
Isaac favors Esau. Rebekah favors Jacob. The brothers compete from the womb. There’s deception, manipulation, rivalry, secrecy. If your family has issues, you will feel right at home in Genesis 27.
I feel for Esau. Growing up, he probably learned to live without his mother’s approval (Genesis 25:28), but at least he had his father’s blessing to look forward to. And every son longs for his father’s blessing. But in a single afternoon, he loses that too—because Jacob and Rebekah scheme behind his back.
It’s one of the most painful scenes in Scripture. And yet… this is the family God chose. As we go through Genesis, you will see time and time again that God works through dysfunctional families. It’s not a bug. It’s a feature.
Rebekah’s Choice: Sinful or Strategic?
Before we write Rebekah off as cruel and manipulative, there’s something easy to miss:
God had given her a prophecy about her sons.
“Two nations are in your womb… the older shall serve the younger.”
— Genesis 25:23
This is huge. God gave this prophecy to Rebekah, not to Isaac. Rebekah is the only woman in the Old Testament the text explicitly says “the LORD spoke to…” without a mediator.Hagar (Genesis 21:17–19) and Samson’s mother (Judges 13) heard from “the angel of the LORD,” which many understand as God, but the text phrases it differently. On top of that, Rebekah is also the only person—male or female—who “inquired of the LORD” and received an audible answer.
So Rebekah knows the will of God: Jacob will be the chosen son. But Scripture never says Isaac knew this. Maybe Rebekah is trying to make sure God’s plan happens. Maybe she thinks she’s helping God out.
And that’s when the story starts to sound uncomfortably familiar.
Trying to “Help God Out” Runs in the Family
Rebekah wasn’t the first woman in the family to take matters into her own hands. Her mother-in-law Sarah tried to “help God” keep His promises by giving Hagar to Abraham (Genesis 16:1–4). Her brother Laban would later deceive Jacob on his wedding night (Genesis 29:23–25).
Apparently, scheming is a family trait. Rebekah might have believed the promise—but she did not trust God with the timing. So she used manipulation instead of faith.
And honestly, we do the same thing. We say we believe God’s promises… but when His plan doesn’t move fast enough, we step in to speed it along.
Every Character Is Flawed—Except One
Genesis 27–29 is full of broken people:
- Isaac is passive and easily deceived.
- Esau despises his birthright.
- Jacob lies and manipulates.
- Rebekah schemes.
- Laban out-cons them all.
This family is a mess. But God builds a nation from them anyway.
That’s the real miracle of Genesis—not that God uses perfect people, but that He keeps His promises through deeply imperfect people. Rebekah was wrong to deceive. Jacob was wrong to lie. Isaac was wrong to ignore God’s earlier word.
Yet God’s purpose still stood.
Maybe your family has patterns that go back generations.
Maybe you’ve experienced favoritism, manipulation, silence, rivalry, or secrets.
Maybe you’ve been wounded by the people who were supposed to bless you.
Genesis says: God knows. God sees. God can redeem even this.
No matter how dysfunctional the family, no matter how flawed the people, God’s providence is greater than our mess.
The only flawless character in Scripture is Jesus. And the good news is—not only does He enter dysfunctional families, He redeems them.
That’s our hope.
There’s enough drama in this family to fill an entire season of The Young and the Restless. And it’s okay to dislike Rebekah and Jacob, or even Isaac for being so easily deceived. What we will see over and over in this reading plan is that every human character is flawed and imperfect. Jesus is the only flawless character in all of Scripture.
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