July 30, 2023
Reading: Genesis 26:34-35; Genesis 27; Genesis 28:1-9
Focus: Genesis 27:19 – 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.”
Father God, help us to forgive our brother’s sins against us. Not just our brothers but friends and family too. Help us to look at what we do have instead of what we may have lost. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Now, Esau was a hunter, a man of the land. He was big and covered with red hair. His character was brash and impulsive. But Jacob is described as a plain man. The Hebrew word for plain is the same word translated in other Scriptures as perfect, upright, undefiled. But this definition does not describe the character of Jacob in this story. Here he was deceptive, opportunistic, shifty and untrustworthy. Jacob was a jerk, and remained a jerk, until God was finished working on him to make him the man who deserved the blessing of his father Isaac; the man to be called Israel, the Patriarch.
But I have to say that Jacob was not alone in his deception. His mother, Rebekah, was the mastermind of the deception Jacob played on Isaac. Just like Sarah, her mother-in-law, she felt she needed to make sure that the prophecy about Jacob was fulfilled. She decided to give God a hand. When she learned that Isaac was going to bestow the birthright on Esau, she went to Jacob with her plan. She felt that the ends justified the means. She didn’t trust God to make good on His promise. She had to help.
When Isaac told Esau that he was going to bless him, he asked Esau to hunt wild game and fix it form him the way he liked it. So, Esau followed Isaac’s request and went hunting. Rebekah had heard Isaac’s request. To me, it seems obvious that she knew what Jacob had done to Esau regarding Esau’s birthright. Jacob wanted that blessing and Jacob was going to get that blessing if she had anything to do with it. She told Jacob what they were going to do to ensure that Jacob was blessed as if he were the first born. He hesitated at first, fearful of being caught tricking his father. But Rebekah took on herself any consequences for the deception.
We also see that Jacob wasn’t too sure, at first, that this was the right thing to do but he fell in with his mother’s plans and followed along. Jacob’s fear was getting caught. If you fear getting caught, you might not be doing the right thing. Pay attention to your conscience. Jacob protested but Rebekah didn’t listen to his concerns. She insisted that he do as she instructed. She wanted Jacob to have the birthright as God has promised even though this probably may not have been God’s timing. We will never know what would have happened if Rebekah had not made plans to deceive her husband. Jacob’s protest gave her an out, but she chose to do it anyway.
Rebekah prepared the meal in the manner that Isaac liked and dressed Jacob in Esau’s clothes and covered his hands and neck with goat skin to simulate Esau’s hairiness. Now, Isaac was blind and could only rely on his other senses to determine who and what was in front of him. So, Jacob took the meal to Isaac and he ate it. Then Jacob bowed beside his blind father and offered his skin-covered hands so that Isaac could “identify” him as his brother Esau. Isaac blessed the false “Esau”. The blessing called down God’s blessings and prophesied that nations would serve him and that he would be lord over his brother, and that his mother’s sons would bow to him. The blessing ended with these words, “May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.” It was a powerful blessing.
The blessings of the patriarch to his children are powerful. They were irrevocable. The birthright was material. It did not belong to the firstborn until it was bestowed by the father before his death. Even though Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob, it did not belong to him until Isaac gave Jacob that blessing. But the blessing Isaac gave Jacob was not only material, but also spiritual. This blessing passed the mantle of Abraham to the next generation. The son who was thus blessed would inherit the Covenant between God and Abraham. He would build the generations that would lead to the birth of Jesus Christ. God knew, even before they were born, that Esau’s descendants would be enemies of Jacob’s descendants and Jacob would be the ancestor of the Messiah. God knew Jacob’s true character but had chosen him to be the ancestor of the Messiah. For Esau to receive that blessing, it would have been wasted on his brash character. And because Esau was careless about spiritual things, he missed many blessings that could have been his.
When Esau returned and prepared the requested meal and took it to Isaac. When Isaac realized that he had been tricked, he trembled in fear that he had blessed the wrong person. Then he realized that Jacob had tricked him into blessing him instead of Esau. Esau was livid. He forgot that he had carelessly sold his birthright to Jacob. Esau complained that this was the second time Jacob had tricked him out of what should have been his, first his birthright and now the blessing. Jealousy blinds us to the blessings we have and makes us dwell on what we don’t have.
Esau begged for another blessing. Surely there couldn’t only be one blessing. So, Isaac blessed him also but it was nowhere near the blessing given Jacob. His blessing promised living by the sword and serving his brother. There was really nothing more that Isaac could give him. Esau held onto his grudge against Jacob. I know people who have made an art form out of holding grudges. Anger is the first and most natural reaction to losing something of great value. Esau swore to kill his brother after the mourning period for their father had ended. Rebekah warned Jacob to run; stay away until Esau cooled off.
I wonder how many times we have missed out on God’s blessings because we were too impulsive, too careless, too quick or too busy to listen to God. I wonder how many times we have chosen to throw away a talent or skills God has given us because we didn’t recognize or want what we had been given. I can remember taking piano and violin lessons as a child. I loved music but couldn’t be bothered to practice. I wasted that talent when I should have been nurturing it. Practicing, to be accomplished at it. Now, I wish I had. That emergent talent could have blossomed into a skill that could have been used for God in so many ways. I lost many a blessing because I didn’t care enough about perfecting that talent. Right now, I am using another talent God gave me. He guides me as I write. I want to set down what He wants said and I am blessed that He uses me this way.
What blessings have you missed out on?
Father God, Thank You for the blessings in my life. Thank you for my home, my family and for providing what we need. Forgive me for wasting talent that You had given me. Help me to polish and use this talent You are using to get Your Word to others. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Food for Thought
- Why do you think Esau was so careless regarding his birthright?
- Why do you think Jacob hesitated when his mother proposed that he trick Isaac into thinking he was Esau?
- Do you think that Isaac knew who he was actually blessing? Why or why not?
- Do you think the ends justify the means to that end? Why or why not?
- Would God approve the methods you use to attain your goals? Why or why not?
