DTEB, THE LIE OF “AS IF,” GENESIS 27, 12

“Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12 The New American Standard Bible, 1995).

Did you notice the little word “as” above?  No?  I admit it is a little word—indeed, it might be regarded a throwaway word, not even fit to put in a yard sale.

Years ago, I had a professor at Hebrew Union College who would often remind us that “context is everything.”  He would sometimes say (or write on the board) C.I.E., for short.

So, what is the context for Genesis 27:12?

The patriarch of the family, Isaac, was old, blind.  Isaac thought he was about to die soon, and was planning to give his favored son, Esau, the blessing.  Rebekah heard of this, and hatched a scheme to steal the blessing for her favored son, Jacob.

The word “as” is part of the dialog between Rebekah and Jacob, as they plot to deceive Jacob (Rebekah’s husband and Jacob’s father) in order to cheat Esau (Jacob’s brother and also Rebekah’s son) out of the blessing.

Family intrigue is such a lovely thing, isn’t it?  And you thought it was just a soap opera thing?

When Rebekah proposes her plan to deceive Isaac, Jacob’s only protest is that his father may realize that he is trying to deceive him.  Jacob is not concerned with whether what his mom is proposing is right.  Jacob is not worried about long-term results.  He does not think about the effects on his own character, on his brother, on his father.  He apparently does not even care about the possible effects on his mother, who offers to take his curse upon herself.

Now, let me quote verse 12 again, with one word highlighted: “Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be AS a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”

Did you notice the word this time?  Of course you did!  I have made it inescapably obvious.

The Hebrew word Kî  means “like, similar to, as.”  Jacob is not saying that he will be a deceiver.  He is only saying that he will appear to be a deceiver “in his father’s eyes.”  (There may be an ironic intent here, since Isaac is blind!)

Jacob is not worried about what he is about to do, nor is he worried about what he is becoming.  He is only worried about keeping up appearances.

Before I go off on Jacob (or you), I need to consider myself.  How many times have I been more interested in appearances than reality?  I am reminded of the saying, “All I ever wanted out of reality was . . . out!”

The tendency to be more interested in appearances than in reality is well formed in every child by age three.  We laugh at the three-year-old who denies getting into the cookie jar, even though his mouth is covered with cookie crumbs.

However, even as we laugh, there is a queasy feeling that we have not entirely grown up ourselves in this regard.  The vast majority of us don’t become more interested in reality as we age.  We just become better at hiding the fact that we are concerned primarily or exclusively with appearances.  We even learn to hide our real concerns from ourselves.  We are all very good at covering our . . .  I will spare you the crude pun, which involved the word “as.”

Of course, Jacob did succeed in keeping up the appearance of being someone else.  Well, at least he kept up that appearance long enough to succeed in stealing the blessing.

Or did he succeed?  He spent twenty years in self-imposed exile.  It appears that Rebekah died while he was in exile.  He arrived home just in time to bury his father.  He was repeatedly deceived by his father-in-law and by his own children.

Yes, Jacob was blessed with wives, children, and material goods.  And yet . . .

The more I reflect on this story, the more I feel myself being sucked into it.  I identify entirely too easily with Jacob.  I find that I am no longer reading the Bible.  Rather, it is reading me.  And, in reality, I do not like to be read.  I like to hide.  I don’t like reality; I like appearances.

God, help me to accept reality!  I can’t do this on my own!

The solution to practicing the not-so-fine art of appearances sounds simple: We need to confess reality.  Such confession my sound simple, but it feels like an amputation.

Proverbs 28:13 boils it down to a very terse maxim: “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995).

Dark secrets, like certain bacteria, tend to multiply in dark places.  The bright sunlight of God’s forgiveness will kill appearances, and foster my/your/our growth in reality.