Playing Favourites

Although most of us feel more at ease with people whose ideas and temperaments are similar to our own, such insularity does not always prove advantageous. When we consider the family unit of Isaac, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob, we see how favouritism, based on similarity, isn’t such a good idea. It makes you wonder how we are to interpret this familiar Bible story.

Esau, Isaac’s favourite, was a man of action, an outdoorsman, what many would have thought of as a “man’s man.” Rebekah’s favoured son, Jacob, comes across as a homebody, thinker and dreamer. In times past, he would have been called a “mama’s boy.” How might this family’s dynamic have been changed if Esau had spent more time with Rebekah and Jacob had been closer to Isaac?

If these opposites had been paired instead of the likes, what might the outcome have been? Would Esau have learned to plan and think things through rather than act on impulse? If Isaac had been properly acquainted with Jacob, would he have discovered that his younger son was better suited for a leadership role than his elder one?

Lord, help us to further your kingdom by breaking out of our "in group" mentalities. Amen. — CKA