Jacob, Esau and the danger of a borrowed identity

Jacob once went in to his blind father wearing his brother’s clothes and gave his brother’s name. It worked, for a while. The story in Genesis 25 and 27 is about two brothers and a blessing. It also shows what happens when someone tries to grab what God has already promised.

God spoke first

Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, could not have children. Isaac prayed for her. The Lord answered, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins (Genesis 25:21). The babies struggled together inside her, and she asked the Lord why. He told her that two nations were in her womb, and that the older would serve the younger (Genesis 25:22-23).

So before either boy was born, God had already spoken about their future.

Esau was born first. Jacob came out holding on to Esau’s heel, and that is how he got his name (Genesis 25:24-26). The NKJV footnote says the name Jacob means supplanter or deceitful. Literally, it means one who takes the heel.

A family with favourites

As the boys grew, Esau became a skilful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a mild man who lived in tents. Isaac loved Esau, and Rebekah loved Jacob (Genesis 25:27-28).

One day Esau came in from the field, weary, and asked for some of Jacob’s stew. Jacob would only give it to him in exchange for his birthright. Esau agreed, and the writer says Esau despised his birthright (Genesis 25:29-34).

The borrowed clothes

Years later, Isaac was old and his eyesight had gone. He asked Esau to hunt and cook for him, so that he could bless him before he died (Genesis 27:1-4).

Rebekah overheard and made a plan. Jacob’s worry was getting caught, because Esau was hairy and he had smooth skin (Genesis 27:11-12). So Rebekah dressed Jacob in Esau’s best clothes and covered his hands and neck with the skins of young goats (Genesis 27:15-16).

When his father asked who it was, Jacob said:

“I am Esau your firstborn” (Genesis 27:19, NKJV)

Isaac was unsure. He said the voice was Jacob’s, though the hands felt like Esau’s (Genesis 27:22). He asked again whether this was really Esau, and Jacob said it was (Genesis 27:24). Then Isaac blessed him.

When Esau came back and found out, he cried out bitterly and begged for a blessing of his own (Genesis 27:34-38). He hated Jacob and planned to kill him (Genesis 27:41).

What made it a borrowed identity

To get the blessing, Jacob had to stop being Jacob. He wore his brother’s clothes and used his brother’s name.

Rebekah had been told that the older would serve the younger. In Genesis 27, she and Jacob take matters into their own hands. They get what they wanted. Then Rebekah has to send Jacob away to her brother Laban in Haran, because Esau is planning to kill him (Genesis 27:42-45).

A borrowed identity can look different today:

• Copying someone else’s style because theirs seems to work
• Keeping up a version of yourself online that does not match your life
• Pushing to make something happen because you are afraid God will not
• Measuring your worth by what a sibling or friend has

In episode 8

In episode 8 of Tea Time With Thandie, Borrowed Identity, Thandie looks at Jacob’s story in Genesis 25 and 27. It is part 2 of a series called The Restoration of Identity. The episode looks at comparison and the need for control. It also asks what it means to trust what God has already said instead of forcing it.

If waiting on God is the hard part for you, read Trusting God when you can’t see the full plan.

Jacob had to say his own name

Jacob’s story does not end there. On the road to Haran, God spoke to him in a dream. He promised to be with Jacob and keep him wherever he went, and not to leave him (Genesis 28:10-15).

Many years later, Jacob wrestled with a man until daybreak. Jacob would not let go until the man blessed him. The man asked his name (Genesis 32:24-27).

Years before, when his father asked who he was, Jacob had said Esau. This time he said Jacob.

Then he was given a new name, Israel, because he had struggled with God and with men, and had prevailed (Genesis 32:28). The NKJV footnote says Israel literally means prince with God. Jacob received his new name after he told the truth about the old one.

Questions to ask yourself

• Whose clothes am I wearing?
• What has God already said to me that I am trying to force?
• Who am I comparing myself to, and what am I afraid of losing?
• What would it look like to bring my real self to God?

Comparison often sits underneath a borrowed identity. Read How to stop comparing yourself to other people for practical steps, and What does “identity in Christ” actually mean? for what God says about you.

To hear the full conversation, listen to Borrowed Identity on Tea Time With Thandie.