Recap: (For Genesis chapters 1-18 see Genesis 18 recap).
So far in the second section of Genesis, we have looked at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham’s move to the area between Gerar and Beersheba, the birth of Isaac and the driving out of Ishmael, the offering of Isaac, the death and burial of Sarah and Esau’s attitude to his birthright. Last time we looked at Isaac’s stay in Philistine territory.
Read Genesis 27:1-46
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for his elder son Esau and said to him, ‘My son.’
‘Here I am,’ he answered.
2 Isaac said, ‘I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your equipment – your quiver and bow – and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.’
Isaac must have known that Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob. But he still favoured Esau and was afraid that as he neared the end of his life he might die before he had a chance to pass on the blessing of the Lord that he had been given.
Is there any actual power in a blessing (or a curse)?
The quick answer is yes: Blessing our children: ‘you’re great! You can do it’; or cursing them: ‘you’re useless. You’ll never be able to do it’, can have long lasting effects in their lives. But is there a spiritual dimension?
Proverbs 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Matthew 12:33-37 ‘Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognised by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.’
Colossians 3:15-17 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
As representatives of Christ in the world, we do have authority to speak in his name. But that brings great responsibility to always be alert to what we are saying.
Psalm 141:3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Blessings spoken in Old Testament times often had a prophetic power, and were considered to be from God. And in those days, spoken deathbed bequests were actually considered to have legal force.
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, ‘Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 “Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.”
Note here that Rebekah is well aware that the Lord is involved in Isaac’s blessing and adds the words ‘in the presence of the Lord’ in verse 7. She could see that the blessing and perhaps the inheritance too was at this last stage going to be transferred back to Esau and she was desperate to stop it.
8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.’
11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.’
13 His mother said to him, ‘My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.’
Note (v12) that Jacob is not against the subterfuge – he is only concerned that he might be found out.
14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her elder son Esau, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18 He went to his father and said, ‘My father.’
‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘Who is it?’
Isaac was very old and possibly frail. His eyesight was gone (v1), and he had to rely on other senses now. But maybe his hearing, and sense of touch, was not as good as it had been and so the deception was a possibility. But his mind was still alert, and although he recognises ‘my son’ he still has to be sure who it is.
19 Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.’
20 Isaac asked his son, ‘How did you find it so quickly, my son?’
‘The Lord your God gave me success,’ he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.’
Jacob was happily lying to his father: 'I am Esau your firstborn’ and ‘The Lord your God gave me success’. But for Isaac alarm bells were ringing, something didn’t seem right. To start with he’d returned suspiciously quickly, but there was something else too.
I used to travel up to London every day on a train and occasionally I would sit near a man with a patch of thick hair on the back of his hand. It did not look like normal hair – I can only describe it as fur. It was caused by a genetic mutation called Hypertrichosis, or werewolf syndrome. This would seem to be the condition that Esau had and a simple touch would confirm it was really him.
22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.’ 23 He did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24 ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ he asked.
Isaac was still not convinced. He may have been old, but he could still recognise the voice of his favourite son, and here it didn’t seem right.
Jacob lied again:
‘I am,’ he replied.
25 Then he said, ‘My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.’
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come here, my son, and kiss me.’
Still Isaac wasn’t convinced and decided to try to smell him. Jacob would have been sweetly perfumed compared with outdoorsman Esau!
27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
‘Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.’
And so the blessing was given – and there was now no way to stop it! (v33)
What were the main elements of the blessing?
Financial security – ‘Earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine.’
Physical security – ‘May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you.’
Family security – ‘May the sons of your mother bow down to you.’
And a final ‘catch all’ – may your enemies suffer and your friends prosper!
30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, ‘My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.’
32 His father Isaac asked him, ‘Who are you?’
‘I am your son,’ he answered, ‘your firstborn, Esau.’
And so the horrible reality of what has just happened dawned on Isaac, and it caused him to shake with emotion – probably a mixture of anger and fear.
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, ‘Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him – and indeed he will be blessed!’
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me – me too, my father!’
35 But he said, ‘Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.’
36 Esau said, ‘Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!’ Then he asked, ‘Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?’
The writer to the Hebrews, in his passage in Chapter 12 where he warns against refusing God (v25) chooses Esau as an example of a ‘Godless man’:
Hebrews 12:16-17
16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterwards, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
But Jacob does not seem to be much better.
V36 ‘Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?’. The name Jacob means ‘one who replaces’ or ‘supplants’ and sounds like the Hebrew words for ‘heel’ and ‘deceiver.’ Like his father (Isaac) and grandfather Abraham) before him; lying – deceiving – to achieve his purposes, seems to run in the family.
Do the ends justify the means? Was it necessary for Jacob (and Rebekah) to interfere so that God’s promises could be fulfilled?
37 Isaac answered Esau, ‘I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?’
38 Esau said to his father, ‘Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!’ Then Esau wept aloud.
39 His father Isaac answered him: Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.
40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.’
What was to be the future for Esau? His destiny was to live in desert lands and he would have to fight for his survival. He would have to serve his brother until he was strong enough to become independent.
But not surprisingly, Esau was unhappy with that and his immediate thought was to get his revenge.
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’
Devious Rebekah heard of the plot and immediately her brain started to work. Having taken God’s place in providing the blessing for Jacob, she now feels she has to take his place and provide protection as well.
42 When Rebekah was told what her elder son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, ‘Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?’
Was that entirely her own thought, or did the Lord have a hand in it? And How about her explanation to Isaac (v46) – could that also have been prompted by the Lord?
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.’
It is quite likely that Rebekah was telling the truth. For a married woman with grown-up children life was probably filled with entertaining and being entertained by the neighbouring women. She would no doubt have always felt out of place (as a foreigner) but the more she got to know them, the more their ungodliness had upset her.
Isaac would have readily understood the need to get Jacob married off to a suitable wife, and for that reason was prepared to go along with Rebecca’s plan. And as Jacob had always been his less favoured son who had now deceived him so badly, he was probably glad for the excuse to get him to leave the family home and move hundreds of miles away.
