Genesis 25:19 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the birth of Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Their entrance into the world is, unusually, a major part of their story. Very little is said about Isaac except what relates to his father while Abraham was alive and to his sons afterward. Isaac seems to have been a quiet man, not often in the middle of public events or severe trials.

Jacob and Esau were children prayed for. Their parents had been childless for a long time, and they received these sons in answer to prayer (Genesis 25:20, Genesis 25:21). Isaac was forty when he married, and though he was the only son and the one through whom the promised family line would continue, he did not rush into marriage. He was sixty when his sons were born (Genesis 25:26), so he waited twenty years after marriage before he had a child. Even when God’s promise is certain, it often seems slow in coming. God lets that happen to test faith, train patience, and make long-awaited blessings sweeter when they arrive.

During that delay, Isaac did not turn to a servant girl, as Abraham had done, or as Jacob later would. He loved Rebekah (Genesis 24:67). Instead, he prayed. He pleaded with the Lord for his wife. Even though God had promised to increase his family, Isaac still prayed for that increase, because God’s promises should not replace prayer, but encourage it. They should strengthen our faith and give us reason to keep asking.

Isaac kept praying for a long time, even though the answer did not come right away. He did not stop because he was delayed. People should always pray and not give up (Luke 18:1). He prayed with persistence, knocking until the door was opened. He prayed for his wife, and some read this as praying with her. Husbands and wives should pray together, as Peter’s warning suggests, so that their prayers are not hindered (1 Peter 3:7). Jewish tradition says Isaac eventually took Rebekah to Mount Moriah, where God had promised to multiply Abraham’s offspring (Genesis 22:17), and there he asked God to remember that promise.

God heard him and answered his prayer. Children are a gift from God. Those who keep praying as Isaac did will find in time that they have not asked in vain (Isaiah 45:19).

Jacob and Esau were also foretold before they were born, and their birth carried deep meaning (Genesis 25:22, Genesis 25:23). Isaac had long prayed for one son, and now Rebekah was carrying two. God often gives more than we dare ask or think. But Rebekah was troubled by what was happening inside her. The children struggled together within her, and the disturbance was so strong that she was deeply unsettled. She may have feared for her life, or simply felt worn out by the conflict, or thought it was a bad sign. She seems to have wondered, “If this is how it is, why is this happening to me?”

Before, childlessness had been her sorrow. Now, the struggle within her became her trouble. We should notice that the comforts we want most often bring more distress than we expected. God uses that to remind us how empty earthly things can be. We also tend to grow discontent with blessings because they come with discomfort. We do not always know how to be content in need or in plenty.

This struggle also points to the long conflict between God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent have been at odds ever since God set enmity between them (Genesis 3:15). That conflict has brought unrest into human life. Christ himself said he came to bring fire on earth and division, not easy peace (Luke 12:49, Luke 12:51). We should not be offended by that. A holy war is better than the false peace of the devil’s house.

The same struggle appears in the hearts of believers. No sooner is Christ formed in the soul than the flesh and the Spirit begin to fight (Galatians 5:17). When God turns the stream of a life, there is usually a hard struggle. Still, that should not discourage us. It is better to fight sin than to surrender to it.

For relief, Rebekah went to ask the Lord (Genesis 25:22). Some think Melchizedek, the priest of God, was consulted, or perhaps some early form of sacred lot was used to inquire of God, as later with the high priest’s breastplate. In any case, the point is clear: God’s word and prayer give great help to troubled souls. It is a real comfort to bring our case before the Lord and ask counsel from him. Go into the sanctuary and seek understanding there (Psalm 73:17).

The answer she received explained the mystery: “Two nations are in your womb” (Genesis 25:23). She was carrying not only two children, but two nations. They would differ strongly in character and interest, and they would clash with each other. The older would serve the younger, and that was fulfilled when the Edomites were under David’s rule for many years, until they later rebelled (2 Chronicles 21:8).

This shows that God is free in giving his grace. He has the right to make a difference between people before either has done good or evil. The apostle draws that lesson from this very passage (Romans 9:12). It also points ahead to the struggle in the soul between grace and corruption, where grace, though the younger, will finally prevail.

When the boys were born, there was a clear difference between them, which confirmed what had been foretold (Genesis 25:23) and pointed ahead to what would happen later. Esau was born rough and hairy, almost like a grown man, and that is why he was named Esau, meaning made or already formed. His body suggested great strength and pointed to a bold, active, rugged life. Jacob, by contrast, was smooth and soft, like other newborn children.

This difference matters. The different abilities people have, and therefore the different places they occupy in life, often come from their natural makeup. Some are clearly suited by nature for action and public honor, while others are marked for a quieter and less visible life. This example of God’s authority in providence may help us accept his authority in grace.

God often chooses the weak things of the world and passes by the strong (1 Corinthians 1:26-27). That helps explain the difference between Esau and Jacob. Esau, the stronger twin, came out first, but Jacob’s hand was already holding his heel when he was born (Genesis 25:26). This showed Jacob’s early desire for the birthright and blessing, as if he were reaching for them from the start. It also pointed ahead to his later success in gaining what he sought, which is why he was called Jacob, meaning “supplanter,” or one who takes another’s place. This is also mentioned in (Hosea 12:8).

They were very different in character and in the kind of life they chose (Genesis 25:27). Esau belonged to this world. He loved sport and hunting, and he was skilled at it, so recreation became his main business. He did not love reading or staying indoors. He was a man of the open country, like Nimrod and Ishmael, always chasing excitement, and he seemed to live as a hunter and soldier.

Jacob was a man for the other world. He was not interested in looking important, but was a plain man who lived in tents. He was honest, meant well, and dealt fairly. He preferred the quiet life of solitude and retirement to noisy sports. He lived in tents, either as a shepherd, caring for sheep, or, as some think, as a student who spent time with Melchizedek or Heber to learn divine truth. This was the son of Isaac through whom the covenant line would continue.

Their parents also loved them differently (Genesis 25:28). Isaac and Rebekah had only these two sons, and it seems one was the father’s favorite and the other the mother’s. Isaac was not an active man himself, since when he went into the fields, he went to meditate and pray, not to hunt. Still, he liked Esau’s energy. Esau knew how to please him by bringing him venison, and that won the affection of the old man more than one might expect.

Rebekah, on the other hand, remembered God’s word, which had given the preference to Jacob. So she loved him more. If parents may make any difference between their children for a good reason, Rebekah was right to love the one whom God loved.