Genesis 27:1-4
- If this is attached to the last verses of chapter 26, then Isaac is 100 years old. Yet he will live to be 137 before dying. It may be that he extremely sick and frail and believed he was in his final days, only later to get well and another 37 years.
- However, if we jump forward to the final days of Isaac, then he is 137 and the boys are 77. However, Jacob isn't married yet at 77. This scenario seems unlikely.
Either way, our tendency is to picture this as two young boys, one on either side of the old man's recliner. When in fact they are either both 40 or both 77. This puts a whole new perspective on the story.
Isaac, with his frailty and loss of eye sight, decided it was time to bestow the blessing on the eldest son. This would be the passing of the patriarchy and covenant blessing along with the inheritance as the eldest son. The failing eyesight would provide a way for this story to take shape. Yet, more importantly was the failed spiritual eyes to hear, believe and trust the will of God.
Blessing the oldest son was tradition. The oldest son would normally receive a double portion of the inheritance. However, this wasn't a normal situation, this was God's chosen race to reveal Himself. God doesn't operate under tradition. When the twins were born the Lord told Rebekah that the older will serve the younger (Genesis 25:23). Also, Esau bartered his birthright (Genesis 25:33) and married Hittite women. Esau placed only temporal value on the birthright and saw no reason to follow the direction from God and his father in not marrying Canaanite women. In spite of this, Isaac was holding to tradition with the intention of blessing Esau.
The text seems to hint that the 'tasty food' that Esau was supposed to hunt down was a prerequisite to the blessing. The blessing was likely a sort of ritual ceremony, the food may, or may not have been, part of the ritual. However, it seems to have become the preference of Isaac, something from his favorite son, his eldest son. The 'tasty food' or 'savory' as the NKJV refers to it, is only used two other places. In Proverbs 23:3 it is the deceptive food. If you are given to such an appetite, the delicacy clouds your judgment. In 23:6 it is food that is attached to something larger, bringing manipulation, deception and sin. The thought may be that the food would surely strengthen him to deliver the blessing. Every covenant was ratified with a meal. But it seems deception has been invited to dinner.
Genesis 27:5-13
Before Esau and Jacob were born, when there was a war going on in her womb, the Lord revealed to her there were two nations within her. The eldest son would serve the youngest. We don't know if Rebekah ever told this to Isaac. He seemed determined to offer his blessing to the oldest in spite of a birthright sold and a word right from God's mouth.
Rebekah had not forgot and she saw what was about to happen. She must have thought God could bring about his promise without her help, so she graciously stepped in to contrive a deceptive plan. This plan would bring blessing to her favorite son as well as bring about God's promise. She said to her 40 year old son, "listen carefully" as she laid out her plot to deceive.
must have been waiting and listening for this time. As Esau goes hunting to bring something back to please his father, Rebekah plots to deceive her husband and have Jacob receive the blessing. The fact that Rebekah could cook goat to deceive him when he was expecting venison, is probably more telling of Isaac's senses than Rebekah's cooking skills.
Jacob couldn't see how this scheme could ever work. Had mom not noticed their physical differences. Yet, he wasn't so much worried about it being wrong to deceive but his bigger concern was getting caught. The result would not only result in losing the blessing but also being cursed. The power of the curse was as significant as the power of the blessing. This makes Rebekah's offer to let the curse fall on her as something very significant. In typical motherly fashion she instructs the son to do what she said and get about it.
It became very obvious that one lie won't be enough. It would take a series of lies and deceptions. This is the problem with sin and lies. We do it often enough, we become good at it, fail to see it as sin and begin to believe our lies. God was not surprised at any of this.
Genesis 27:14-20
The 'best clothes' seems as though it is a special garment, possibly one worn for an occasion such as this. It may be part of this ritual of the blessing being offered. Isaac would assume only Esau would know about the blessing. So the clothing is deceptive.
What a sight Jacob must have been. He was covered in goat skin and wearing his brother's clothes. Esau was a rugged outdoor type while Jacob stayed near his mother. He says little in the presence of his father, apparently unable to imitate his voice affectively.
- Lie #1 - I am Esau.
- Lie #2 - I have done just as you told me
- Lie #3 – The Lord your God gave me success
Wow, Jacob brought the Lord in on his deception. This seems like extremely dangerous ground. Notice also that he the Lord is Yahweh and it is 'your' God. Jacob, standing in Esau's place, says he has not yet taken the Lord as his God. Is Jacob speaking for Esau? Or for himself?
Genesis 27:21
Suspicion? Did Isaac suspect something was going on? It's apparent that he didn't have complete trust in his family. He felt the need to question what was going on. Jacob had to have thought he was busted at this point. I wonder if it occurred to him that it may take some more lies to pull this off. Did he ever wonder how many?
Genesis 27:22-24
Isaac recognized Jacob's voice, but he was convinced it was Esau by the feel of his hands. He trusted his sense of touch more than his ear. The blessing of verse 23 is to begin the meal or ritual. Isaac asked again of his identity, possibly realizing he could be fooled. Jacob offered another lie from a place where he knew he couldn't stop or the truth would come out. The lies have to come quicker and quicker to cover the truth that keeps rising to the top. The answer was brief so as not to allow him to hear his voice.
- Lie #4 – I am (in answering if he was Esau).
Genesis 27:25-29
Isaac ate and drank and called his son near to kiss him. This was probably symbolic, part of the ritual, a kiss of departure. With the kiss, Isaac smelled Esau's clothes. The blessing was then offered.
With 4 easy lies he had obtained the coveted blessing. Did Jacob feel great satisfaction in having deceived his father? Was Rebekah in the background beaming with pride at how her not so little boy finally got what was coming to him? This whole scene seems so odd.
We know that God is sovereign. His will was done. But, because of sin, it was done in the most bizarre way. He allowed for this to happen. God wasn't surprised at their behavior, He knew their heart. God allowed them to deceive and His perfect plan and will was done.
What if Jacob had been upright enough to tell his mother no? What if Rebekah had trusted God's prophecy to her. His plan would never have been in jeopardy.
- Maybe God himself would have intervened with Isaac.
- Maybe Esau wouldn't have returned from the hunt.
- There a number of other scenarios.
The bottom line is that we'll never know. When we fail to trust and try to help God and get in His way. We rob our self of ever knowing what He would have done and how He would have done it. We can be sure, it would have been a day to remember. As it stands, we remember the passing of the blessing marred with sin.
Why do we think we have to help God make things happen? Yet, God works through our boneheaded mistakes. His perfect will comes about through all circumstances.
Esau smelled like a field the Lord had blessed. I assume he smelled like a goat since he was clothed in Goat. When I was young and my grandfather raised hogs, he always commented on the accompanying aroma, "Smells like money to me!"
The 'heaven's dew' was a metaphor for material abundance; crops and flocks. The 'earth's richness' was the finest things that could be grown.
The nation his offspring was to become would be served by the nations. Jacob thought he was placing Esau over Jacob, but in blessing Jacob, he put Edom into subjection to Israel. Jacob was showing his partiality toward Esau in speaking of the 'son of his mother' meaning Jacob.
Genesis 27:30-33
Esau returned from his hunt, prepared his food and brought it to his father. As he approached his father, he used the exact words Jacob had used, showing Jacob's imitation of Esau. Imagine Esau when his father asked who he was?
We see here the power of the blessing. Isaac couldn't take the blessing back or give another to this son. The fact that it was given in dishonest circumstances didn't seem to matter. It seems a blessing spoken on someone is serious, powerful and irrevocable. I suspect the same thing could be said for a curse.
The violent trembling of Isaac in verse 33 is significant. His will had been thwarted by the will of God. His passion and love for Esau clouded his good sense and drove him to attempt to offer this blessing to Esau. He was shaken by the turn of events Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse put it this way:
Before a great work of grace, there must be a great earthquake. Isaac had put his personal love of Esau ahead of the will of God. Down came his idol, and the edifice of willful love collapsed before the shaking power that took hold of him. The arrogant pride which had slyly planned to thwart God toppled to the ground, broken beyond repair. When Isaac trembled exceedingly, all his desires were shattered.
Genesis 27:34-36
Esau knew the blessing was irrevocable, he didn't ask for that. He asked that he might be blessed also. The blessing given had been Esau's and there was none to give him. This seems to imply Jacob had no blessing form his father. The deception convinced Esau that Jacob (heel catcher) was properly named. Esau is being less than honest; he seems to have forgotten that Jacob didn't steal his birthright, he sold it to him.
Genesis 27:37-38
This 40-year-old man pled with his father repeatedly for some blessing, anything. Is this all Esau has left? Did he not already have a life, wife, sons and daughters along with other blessings? He wept aloud, this the response from a man who had no respect for his birthright. From what we know of Esau's nature, we can see the weeping was the loss of those things which had earthly value.
Genesis 27:39-41
Isaac does give Esau a blessing, but along with that is the curse of living by the sword. He and his descendants would serve his brother. This may well have been the blessing he intended to give Jacob. The ground would be hard them, the dew of heaven far off. They would be at war constantly and in subservience to Israel. The throwing off the yoke may have been when Edom rebelled against the northern kingdom or when Judah was taken to captivity.
The great value Esau saw in this blessing is evident in his reaction. He declared his hatred for his brother. It's probably safe to say, this wasn't the first grudge between them, but it was surely at a new level. As soon as his father passed away, he planned on killing him.
Genesis 27:42-45
Suddenly Rebekah's motherly instincts kicked in and she realized she stood to lose both sons. If Esau killed Jacob, the avenger of blood would then track Esau down and kill him. Rebekah sent Jacob away in an effort to preserve the peace and save his life. She went to Jacob and again said, "Do what I say". Did it occur to either that that's what got them in this mess to start with.
Genesis 27:46
Rebekah shows her disgust toward the Hittite women. She knew that Esau's marriage to a Hittite bothered Isaac. She implanted this disgust into Isaac to draw a response.
Jacob paid a great price for the deception:
- He never saw his mother again.
- His brother wanted him dead.
- His uncle would deceive him.
- His family life will be full of conflict.
- He was exiled for years from his family.
This whole deception boiled down to a lack of faith in the promises of God. What is the price you pay for your lack of faith? God has made us many promises. Do we lean on them? Do we have a deep abiding faith that God is good to keep His promises? What deceptions are you involved in?
As Christians we are not immune to this. We have the power over sin, but do we exercise it? Look around at your Christian friends and family members. Look at your own life. Where do you see destructive behavior?
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord always and lean not on your own understanding.
©2019 Doug Ford
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