“Esau blames me.”
“It’s my fault, all my fault,” he groaned. “I encouraged him even when I knew he’d sold his birthright to his brother. I just assumed since he was the eldest …”
“He is the eldest, but he knows nothing of your father’s God and has encumbered himself with the daughters of Heth. His wives and their children are obnoxious, a constant burden.”
“Even I have sensed disruption and turmoil,” Isaac said. “Why didn’t you come and tell me?”
“You’ve not been well …”
Even though he could not see, Isaac was aware that she had settled herself on a cushion beside him.
“And what else have you been keeping from me?” he questioned.
“It’s Jacob,” she said, taking out the sprig of basil from her headpiece and running her fingers over the delicate leaves. “If he takes a wife, as Esau has done, from the daughters of Heth, it will be impossible to bear.”
“So … ?”
“Perhaps we should send him to my brother in Haran. He has many wives and must have some daughters.”
They talked awhile longer, and when she rose to go, Isaac told her to send Jacob to him for a final blessing. “It’s right that he not take a wife from our neighbors. I’ve let Esau do as he pleased and it’s not been good. I must do better by Jacob.”
* * *
As Rebekah hurried from his tent, she realized that she had not told him of Esau’s threat. Actually it didn’t matter since he had given his permission for Jacob to leave.
Knowing how violent Esau could be when he was opposed, she hurried Jacob over to Isaac’s tent. She didn’t trust him to go alone lest something go wrong. She would wait just inside the tent where she could quickly see anyone approaching. If Esau had any idea of what was to happen, he would be dangerous.
She couldn’t hear what Isaac said, but she saw that he embraced Jacob with real feeling. When she saw Jacob kneel and Isaac place his hands on his head, she knew that at last everything was right and as it should be. He was giving Jacob the blessing again, and this time knowing that it was Jacob whom he blessed. She didn’t know what he said but that didn’t matter; it was the blessing she wanted for Jacob.
Jacob would have to flee feeling his brother’s hatred, but he would know that at last, after all these years, he had his father’s love and blessing.
* * *
It was growing dark as Rebekah said a hurried goodbye to her son. “You will find plenty of relatives and there will be some young beauty for you to marry. I’ll send for you when this trouble dies down. Esau can’t be angry for long.”
“He remembers slights and snubs,” Jacob said. “I don’t expect him to get over this quickly.” All the time Jacob was adjusting the packs of dried figs and cheese and a blanket roll on the back of a donkey. Rebekah grasped his hands and looked at him with tears welling in her eyes. “How happy I’ll be to see you coming with a bride from my own house.”
“I am afraid for Father. He looks so old and worn.”
Rebekah hugged him and kissed him on both cheeks. “Don’t worry. You won’t be gone that long. The time will pass quickly.”
With a final hug she let him go, and was just watching him start to move down the path toward the two slaves who were going with him when she remembered something important. “Jacob,” she called softly as she hurried to catch up with him, “be careful around my brother Laban. He is a hard bargainer and a real trickster. Don’t let him get the best of you.”
Jacob smiled and gave his mother a last quick hug. “So it will be one trickster against another. Isn’t that what you named me?”
“I’ve sometimes regretted naming you Jacob.”
“Maybe the name will stand me in good stead in your brother’s house.”
“Remember your father’s blessing. May the God of your grandfather Abraham go with you and protect you.” With that she let him go and watched him disappear into the darkness.
She went back to her tent and sank down among the cushions. She took the bowl of warm broth Deborah had prepared for her and set it to one side. She couldn’t stand to eat anything. “I just want to be alone,” she told Deborah.
When the crying children were finally carried off and the tent was quiet, Rebekah sat thinking over all that had happened. Isaac had been so understanding when she had explained everything to him. Why had she not done that from the beginning? What had she been afraid of? Now, because of her silence and deception, Jacob was gone and Esau was lost to her forever. She had worked so hard at manipulating things. What if she had just trusted Elohim to work out His own promise?