Redeeming Israel: Holy Espionage, Righteous Deception

The Bible is wild, untamed, dangerous. It is a hammer that breaks stubborn wills in pieces, a fire which burns the brittle bract of human pride, a double-bladed sword that slashes its way through the tender imaginations of men. It comes to us like some wide-eyed prophet from the wilderness, eschewing the pompous dress of carnal respectability; possessing its own quiet dignity, yet rejecting every assault of domesticity. Truly, the “Word of God is not bound.” 

The Sacred Page will not be silenced by tidy minds who refuse to hear its strange declarations. Those Lively Oracles will not submit to the tyranny of critical consensus. The Word will always say more than we wish to hear, louder than is comfortable, more forcefully than seems necessary. Wisdom, then, insists that we receive Holy Scripture on its own terms. For it will never yield to ours. 

Holy Writ is arbiter, never defendant. It is law, statute, rule, and judge. It is the standard, subject to no other. On that printed page the regal voice of God is mediated to his creatures. One may wish to say that in the words of Holy Scripture is the very echo of heaven’s Lord. But this would be to remove the veritable immediacy of the awful Ruling Presence. The Bible contains no mere echo of the vox dei; these ink-pressed symbols are mysterious icons in which God is made sacramentally present. It is not quite enough to say that through the Scriptures God comes near, it must be said that in them He is definitely here. And He is here as absolute Lord. 

It is good for us to remember that it is the God of the Word who judges us when we come to the Book rather than the other way around. That His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts is a fairly comprehensive axiomatic expression of the Creator/creature distinction that should condition all of our reading of the inspired text. This distinction must ever be preserved—it is His place to be God, it is our place to be quiet.  

This has all been a preamble. I actually invited you here to consider approaching a particular text from a different perspective than perhaps you have been accustomed. Thus, these introductory remarks on the “norming” nature of the Scriptures seemed appropriate.  

 "Your Cheatin' Heart?"

What if Jacob was not a crooked, sissified, momma’s boy who constantly cheated his way through life? What if he was actually the righteous protagonist whose mother’s cunning advanced the covenant? What if we have actually been guilty of dishonoring one of our fathers by unjust criticism and uncharitable judgments? What would it be like if we actually allowed God to determine that which is “right” and that which is “wrong” according to His own holy purposes? These are a few of the questions that I would like to entertain, if only briefly.  

Our argument depends much on the idea that Jacob was a righteous man, and that his actions were acts of covenantal fidelity. To bolster both of these claims, we return to the scene of the initial covenantal disclosure of God in Genesis 17. Consider the preamble to the covenant of promise: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.’” Here the Lord makes it plain that “blamelessness” is the character of covenantal obedience. This becomes important when we consider the choice of God between two of Abraham’s descendants.  

 "Jacob was a Blameless Man" 

In contrasting Esau and Jacob, the Scriptures explicitly declare that Jacob was “blameless.” “When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet [תָּ֔ם] man, dwelling in tents” (Genesis 25:27).  The ESV (as do many English translations) translates the Hebrew adjective תָּ֔ם (tam) as “quiet.” This is unfortunate since whenever תָּ֔ם is used for humans, it means “blameless” (e.g. Deuteronomy 18:13; Joshua 24:14; Judges 9:16, 19; 2 Samuel 22:24, 26; Psalm 18:23; 37:37; Job 1:1, 8; 2:3; Proverbs 29:10). Job is described as “tam” or “blameless” in the opening verse of Job. Noah is also described as “blameless” (Genesis 6:9). And as has been alluded to earlier, when God revealed Himself to Abram for the purposes of entering into a covenantal relationship, Abram is commanded to be “blameless” (Genesis 17:1). Moses here uses a variation of the same word (תָמִֽים, tamim).  

There is simply nothing in the immediate context of Genesis 25:27 that requires the translation of “quiet” for תָּ֔ם. All the verse does is contrast Esau, a “hunter” and man of the “field,” with Jacob, who was תָּ֔ם and lived in “tents.” If Esau’s “fields” are contrasted with Jacob’s “tents,” then this leaves Esau’s description as a “hunter” contrasted with Jacob’s description as תָּ֔ם, which normally means “blameless".

But does it make sense to contrast “blameless” with “hunter”?  Yes, actually. But one must let the Genesis narrative set the tone. Remember, in Genesis 10:9 Nimrod was described as a “mighty hunter before Yahweh”. This enigmatic phrase could also be translated as “a mighty hunter against Yahweh.” Nimrod's legacy as city-builder and tower-architect is infamous. The portrait of him as “hunter against Yahweh” was likely a negative description of a violent, godless ruler in the ancient world. With this dark background in mind, Esau’s description as a “hunter” probably had a negative connotation and an association with unholy violence. Esau’s description as a “hunter,” which is likely negative, strengthens the argument that תָּ֔ם should be understood as “blameless.” Thus Genesis 25:27 contrasts the violent Esau with the righteous Jacob. 

 "Esau was a Profane Man" 

 When Esau came in from the field and was hungry, Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now” (Genesis 25:31). Esau should have rejected such a lousy offer. But despising his responsibility as firstborn and lacking patience, Esau accepted Jacob’s offer. Many read the story of Esau selling his birthright as an example of Jacob’s cheating his way up the covenantal ladder.  But this is certainly not how the author of Genesis evaluates the event. The story concludes on a pointed note, “Thus Esau despised his birthright” (Genesis 25:34). It says nothing of Jacob “stealing” the birthright. Moreover, not a single negative word is said of Jacob throughout his whole story. Esau was the screw-up. This is affirmed by the author of Hebrews, who describes Esau as “unholy” and states that he “sold his birthright for a single meal” (Hebrews 12:16).  Esau was also a violent man who “hated” Jacob “because of the blessing” and planned to kill him (Genesis 27:41). However you slice it, the author of Genesis assigns blame to Esau throughout the Jacob story. Jacob—the blameless one--serves as a faithful contrast to his wicked brother. 

 “Jacob have I Loved; Esau have I Hated” 

 And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other; the older shall serve the younger ” (Genesis 25:23). 

Rebekah received this word directly from God, and she most certainly told Isaac. Thus, Isaac should have been willing to give Jacob the blessing. This was even more the case since Isaac had to have known that Esau signed his birthright over to Jacob. Jacob and Esau made a valid contract that Isaac would have recognized. 

Instead, Isaac sought to undermine God’s promise by blessing Esau, whom Isaac loved “because he ate of his game” (Genesis 25:28). Isaac’s behavior forced Jacob, along with the help of his mother Rebekah, to deceive Isaac in order to receive the blessing and thus fulfill God’s promise. It is not Jacob and Rebekah who should be viewed negatively here, but Isaac, who sought to interfere with God’s plan. Rebekah is actually the heroine in the story, as she protected the covenant by tricking the serpent. She is the one who insisted that Jacob go through with the deception of Isaac in order to receive the blessing. Rebekah was willing to die for the covenant and took the potential curses of Jacob’s actions on herself (Genesis 27:12-13). Rebekah thus comes through to us as a new Eve and a proto-Mary. All throughout revealed history—from Genesis to Revelation—it was wily women who were the midwives of redemption.  

 Holy Espionage  

Sure, Jacob was a deceiver. But deception is not always sinful. Especially when there is a deeper right than what appears to be the immediate right. In this case, Jacob was the deceiver without blame engaged in “holy espionage”. Through the cunning of Rebekah, Jacob deceived his father in order to uphold the covenant. (See also the example of Tamar in Genesis 38, the midwives in Exodus 1, and Rahab in Joshua 2.) Having righteously deceived Isaac, Jacob faced wicked deception in his uncle Laban, who deceived Jacob into marrying Leah instead of Rachel (Genesis 29:23-25). Laban sought to deceive Jacob again in regards to the flock, but Jacob would prove more crafty through God’s help (Genesis 30:25-43; 31:1-16). Jacob “tricked” Laban “by not telling him that he intended to flee” (Genesis 31:20), but God watched over Jacob (Genesis 31:24). That was ever the testimony—God was with Jacob. 

Then angels met Jacob on his way to meet Esau (Genesis 32:1). Jacob was still fearful of Esau and prayed to God (Genesis 32:9-12). That night God wrestled with Jacob and renamed him “Israel,” which means  “God fights”.  The Lord said to Jacob: 

"Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven [שָׂרִ֧יתָ] with God and with men, and have prevailed" (Genesis 32:28). 

Jacob’s entire life was a fight. He fought with Esau, Isaac, Laban, and even God Himself. But Jacob always prevailed. And he prevailed because the Lord was with Him. This new name did not signify some conversion from a sinful past but was part of God’s continued “blessing” of Jacob (Genesis 32:26). God recognized Jacob for what he was—a fighter. And now he would bear the name that would be used for all of God’s people, Israel—those who fight alongside God. 

But God was not finished blessing Jacob. He appeared again to Jacob and reaffirmed the Abrahamic promises of land, offspring, nations, and kings (Genesis 35:9-13). Only this time, God also commanded Jacob to “be fruitful and multiply,” just as He had commanded Adam and Eve in the Garden (Genesis 35:11; 1:28; 28:3). Jacob was thus not only the eponym of Israel, but also a new Adam. God was redeeming His people Israel and giving them a new garden, the land of Canaan. 

"Going Heels"

As always, these momentous figures of the faith point to the Coming One who surpasses them all, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob was father of a nation, and Jesus Christ is progenitor of the New Israel. Jacob had 12 sons who formed the tribes that would inherit the Promised Land, and Jesus chose 12 disciples who would lead God’s people into the new heavens and earth.  

Jacob was a righteous man, a “blameless” man. He fought with God and men, yet he prevailed because God chose him and was with him. Along the way, Jacob righteously deceived those who opposed God’s covenant. In this way, Jacob points to Christ, whose death on the cross deceived the serpent in his plan to kill the Son of God. Jacob was the “heel catcher” but Jesus is the one whose heel was caught and bruised. Though He ultimately proved victorious by crushing the head of the serpent beneath His heel and leaving us the promise that we would enjoy the same victory (Romans 16:20).