07/05/2017 TWIN FRUIT
GENESIS 25:24-28 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came forth red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came forth, and his hand had taken hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she [Rebekah] bore them.
When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his game; but Rebekah loved Jacob. [Revised Standard translation]
Summary
Abraham’s son Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the sister of Laban, the Aramean. For a number of years, after they married, Rebekah was barren (i.e., childless). But, Isaac prayed to THE LORD for his wife and she conceived. Early on in the pregnancy, it became quite evident to Rebekah that she carrying more than one child, because there seem to be “a struggle” going on in her womb. (Genesis 25:22). When Rebekah asked that THE LORD about the battling fetuses, THE LORD told her that there were two nations in her womb—two people, divided. One would be stronger than the other and the older would serve the younger.
When the boys were born, they definitely were not identical. One was red and so had so much body hair, he looked like he was wearing a coat. He was born first and they called him “Esau,” which means “hairy.” Esau may have also been called “Edom,” which means “red.”
Esau later became the ancestral leader of the Edomites. It is not clear if the Edomites became associated with “red” because of the color of Esau’s complexion when he was born, because Esau’s hair may have been red or because Esau latter sold his birthright for a bowl of “red pottage,” or because of the red sandstone cliff in the region where Esau and “his people” later settled.
Jacob, the second born twin, had smooth skin and was probably the smaller of the two, since Esau was born first. Jacob was born holding Esau’s heel, which is why they named him “Jacob,” which means “heel holder.” The name “Jacob” also means “supplanter” or “he supplants.” Some even say the name means “cheater,” or “grabber,” referring to later events in Jacob’s life when Jacob and his mother, Rebekah tricked Isaac into giving Jacob “the first born’s blessing.”
The “twin fruit,” grew up in the same household but the atmosphere was far from sweet. There was jealousy, envy, deceit, selfishness, favoritism and subterfuge. But, there was also later redemption and reconciliation. With Jacob’s redemption, there was also a “name change,” “a change of heart” and more.
Jacob discovered what it meant to really be blessed by THE FATHER. Jacob went from “heel grabber” to “Israel.” “Israel” means “one who prevails with GOD” or “he struggles with GOD.” See, Genesis 35:10 and Genesis 32:28.