Isaac's Death: Genesis 35:23-29
God doesn’t mind wrestling with us as long as we ultimately submit to His will in the end. His plan for our life is more significant than our own plans. He knows what will sustain us better than we know.
Isaac dies. Once more the death of a patriarch happens and receives a short note in Genesis. The story moves on. The patriarch shifts from Isaac to Jacob without much explanation at all. The most important aspect of this story is God still being in control of His story.
Esau comes from his home to help bury his father. He might not be a part of God’s people because the lineage of God’s Messiah would run through Jacob, but Isaac was his father. In fact, Esau was the preferred son from Isaac’s perspective. It makes sense Esau would be there to bury his father. Esau came, participated in the burial, and then went back to Seir.
It is ironic that the original conflict between Esau and Jacob that drove Jacob out of Canaan happened because Isaac thought he was getting ready to die. To recap, Isaac sent Esau out to make one great last meal because he thought death was coming quickly. Then Rebekah sent Jacob in to get the blessing, which infuriated Esau! Isaac thought he was dying, but he still had more than twenty years left to live! If only Isaac had been focused on the life God was giving to him rather than on his so-called impending death.
Isaac’s fear of death may have motivated the fight that sent Jacob away, but Isaac’s actual death brought the brothers together once more. In Isaac’s death we see the brothers reconciled and willing to go side-by-side to honor their father and their father’s God. God took the time Isaac had left to live and mended the fences between the brothers to bring their relationship back to reconciliation.
When the funeral is over, Jacob stayed behind. Because he had the birthright, Jacob had every reason to stay. Isaac’s wealth was his. Isaac’s possessions were his. Isaac’s servants were now a part of his family.
This brings us to the second interesting juxtaposition in this passage. Only in Isaac’s death does Jacob become the full patriarch. Only in Isaac’s death does Jacob gain control of the family and truly embody God’s promises. What an incredible contrast to Rueben, who through his encounter with Bilhah tried to supplant Jacob before he was genuinely the patriarch!
Jacob may have made his mistakes, but at least he was willing to wait to gain his status of patriarch at God’s timing. Jacob wrestles with God all the time, but he is willing to be led in the end. Jacob will follow God’s hand once he understands the plan. God doesn’t mind wrestling with us as long as we ultimately submit to His will in the end.
