The passage that we are looking at today in our study of Genesis may not seem on the surface to have a lot of application for us today. I really kind of go through a debate with myself about which passages in Genesis are important for us to study and which I maybe could skip over. But of course all scripture is important, even the parts that seem less attractive than others. In fact, maybe the parts that seem less attractive have an even greater significance because they are often overlooked.
Paul said in Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
But Jacob is not a character that we probably find attractive. He was a schemer, a “heel catcher” according to the translation of his name. He was a liar, a scoundrel. And it’s to our credit that we don’t find him as someone that we would want to emulate. Esau his fraternal twin brother was undoubtedly more of the type of guy that you would be attracted to, or that you would find appealing.
And yet we know that the scriptures say in Malachi chapter 1 that contrary to human reason God loved Jacob and hated Esau. Paul elaborates on that in Rom 9:10-13 saying, “And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived [twins] by one man, our father Isaac; for though [the twins] were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to [His] choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”
Paul goes on to say in vs15 For [the Lord] says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it [does] not [depend] on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
So then what we will learn from this passage then is really the sovereignty of God, that He directs in the affairs of men, that He chooses whom He will have mercy upon, and whom He will shed His grace upon. And salvation is not given to those who deserve mercy, or who earn mercy or who try to gain mercy through their own contrivance. But salvation is given to those who are sinners, who are undeserving. And Jacob is a good example of a person who is a sinner that receives the blessing of God.
And I would encourage you to think about blessing in that regard as you read the scriptures. Blessing is really another way of referring to salvation. So when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and He gave what is called the Beatitudes, “Blessed are you who mourn for they shall be comforted…etc.,” He is really speaking about the ultimate spiritual blessing which is salvation. We have a tendency to think of blessing as physical, as material. And that was the problem that Esau had.
We saw last time that Esau despised the birthright, which was his spiritual blessing. But now in this passage, when the birthright is tied to the blessing, Esau mourns over the fact that Jacob has stolen his blessing from him, but he is mourning over the physical, material aspects of losing his inheritance and not mourning about his relationship with God. He still despises the spiritual blessing, only finding value in the material blessing.
Now this is a story, Biblical history, and it would be difficult, if not pointless to try to create a four point outline from this passage in order to satisfy some sort of sermon etiquette. But if I were to do so, then we might say, 1, Isaac’s rebellion, 2, Rebecca’s deception, 3, Jacob’s participation, and 4, Esau’s frustration. But we will read the passage in large sections and comment on each in turn, and hopefully learn some principles in the process.
Let’s start reading in vs 1, “Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son." And he said to him, "Here I am." Isaac said, "Behold now, I am old [and] I do not know the day of my death. Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die."
Martin Luther somehow deduced from the scriptures that Isaac was about 137 years old at this time. He would live to be 180. So he’s going to be alive for 43 more years, but he’s convinced he is about to die. I’ve known some people like that. They talked about how pitiful they were and how they were going to die, and yet they lived for quite some time afterwards, albeit in misery and making everyone else’s life miserable in the process.
But it reminds me of a comedian named Spike Milligan, who created his own headstone before he died. He had written on his tombstone, “I told you I was ill.” I’m thinking about borrowing that for my headstone. Isaac however, was virtually blind. And so perhaps we should excuse his morose outlook on account of his blindness.
Now you should remember from last time that the Lord had told Rebecca that the older will serve the younger. There is little doubt that she had relayed that word of God to Isaac. So he knew that the plan of God was to bless Jacob even though Esau was the firstborn son, which by tradition would mean he would have the birthright and the blessing. But God had said the older would serve the younger. And Isaac knew this.
Isaac also knew that this was in accordance with the promises made to his father Abraham that from his seed would come a nation, and from that nation would be blessed, and the nations of the world would be blessed through his seed.
But in spite of the clear word of God, Isaac in his old age has decided that he would rather bless Esau because he loved him more. He also knows that Esau had despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob for a mess of pottage. So he knew God’s will, and he knew Esau’s spiritual disposition did not qualify him as the head of the nation which God would bless. And yet Isaac attempts to defy the word of the Lord and the purpose of the Lord and act autonomously to perform his own will, to elect his favorite son to the position of favor.
Yet Isaac was a man of faith. As I said when we looked at the sacrifice of Abraham, the faith of Isaac was a tremendous thing that is unstated in scripture, but is shouted in the silence of scripture. In his youth he submitted without question to the will of God, even to the point of losing his life. But now somehow, near the end of his life, his love for the Lord has grown cold, and his autonomy and pride of life have grown stronger to the point that he thinks he can do what he wants, with impunity. Maybe he thinks that way because he has become excessively rich. He was far richer than his father Abraham. And I suppose that’s a temptation of the rich, that they think they are smarter than they really are, or more deserving, or superior in some way.
I also think that Isaac was a man who was ruled by his appetite. I don’t know why, but I have a really bad image of Isaac at this point in his life of looking like an older Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, and I can’t get it out of my mind. I don’t see this in scripture, but I imagine him as old and very heavy, blind and his only comfort is found in eating. No other pleasure in life is able to be enjoyed anymore. And I think he must have a tremendous appetite. Though I may be speculating about his appearance, his appetite is verified in scripture because it says that Rebecca when preparing his favorite stew has Jacob slay two goats for his dinner. Two goats for one person’s meal indicates a voracious appetite.
So he calls Esau, the mighty hunter, and says I want to bless you before I die. Go hunting for me and then make me the savory food that I love that I may eat it and then bless you. This statement savory food that I love is repeated again and again in this story. It turns out that Rebecca can make the same meal out of goat that he thinks is venison. So you have to wonder what the spices were that made it so savory. Maybe he liked Mexican food. You put enough cilantro and chiles and hot sauce on your food and you can be eating anything and it tastes good. You don’t know what you’re eating. But notice again and again it says which I love, or which he loves. I think Isaac loved food to the point of it being sinful.
Isaac loves Esau, and he loves savory food. And ultimately his love for what he loves outweighs his love for the Lord. Some Bible scholars see in this text that Isaac attempted to do this secretly. In spite of knowing what God’s will was, he was going to do this before he died, without his wife knowing or Jacob knowing and in rebellion against God’s will.
But his secret is overheard. Vs 5, Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring [home,] Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, 'Bring me [some] game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.' "Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them [as] a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall bring [it] to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”
It’s possible that Rebecca knew what Isaac was planning and spied on him in order to hear his plans. We don’t know for sure. But there is plenty of intrigue to go around, and all of the family is guilty of it to some degree.
Rebecca also commands Jacob to obey her. She uses her authority as his mother to get him to do this thing. But I would suggest that it wasn’t hard for Jacob to participate, because we have already seen that his desire is for the birthright and so also for the blessing. So he is a willing accomplice, but together they will bring about the deception.
However, Rebecca has more culpability in this deception because she was the one who had directly heard from the Lord concerning His blessing on Jacob. If she would have waited on the Lord and trusted in Him, He would have worked it out in spite of Isaac’s secret plan. But she uses her own means to work out God’s will. And that causes all sorts of problems and longterm consequences for all involved.
Rebecca said, “I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” There it is again, the savory dish as he loves. She knows Isaac’s weakness is his appetite.
There is a saying that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. And a cunning wife is able to make her husband think that her ideas are his ideas so that he ends up doing as she wants him to do, all the while appearing to be submitting to him. I’m not saying that is necessarily always a bad thing, but often women have more control over their husbands than they are given credit for.
Vs11,Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man. 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." But his mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get [them] for me." So he went and got [them,] and brought [them] to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.
Notice that Jacob isn’t concerned that the plan to deceive his father is wrong, only whether it will succeed. That is a common problem in the church today, not whether or not it is according to the plan of God or the word of God, but only if it will bring results. And if it succeeds at some level then we think we have accomplished something for the Lord.
But Rebecca assured Jacob that whatever curse may fall on him she will take upon herself. I think Rebecca did not foresee what that would mean. For one, it would mean that she would never see her son that she loved again. All that she had hoped to gain through this deception she would end up losing for herself because she instigated this deception. Many a person entering into sin discounts the cost of that sin, and thanks lightly of the consequences of it. Sir Walter Scott is credited with the saying, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
All four of them — Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau — did not trust each other. Worse yet, they did not trust the Lord. Each one of them schemed and plotted against each other and against God. Even worse is they seem to regard the blessing as magical, as something detached from God’s wisdom and will. But in giving the blessing, basically Isaac was speaking as a prophet of God, and only as his word was in accordance with God’s word could there be any blessing.
So what was conceived in the heart is then acted out. Jacob’s participation in Vs. 18, Then [Jacob] came to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?" Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me." Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have [it] so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God caused [it] to happen to me." Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not." So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. And he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" And he said, "I am." So he said, "Bring [it] to me, and I will eat of my son's game, that I may bless you." And he brought [it] to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come close and kiss me, my son." So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said, "See, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed; Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine; May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.”
Jacob blatantly lies three times to his father. That’s pretty brazen. Even more damning, Jacob uses the name of the Lord to add some credibility to his lies. But it’s interesting that Jacob says the LORD your God. Not the LORD our God, or the Lord my God. It will be 20 years before Jacob says the LORD Is his God. He wants God’s blessing, but not God’s lordship.
Jacob knew that God had promised this blessing to him, so perhaps he felt justified in lying. The blessing was a gift of God, but that does not mean that we are to continue in sin that grace may abound. But the words of Isaac’s blessing echo the promises that God had made to Abraham and to Rebecca concerning Jacob.
Vs30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me." Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?" And he said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau." Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who was he then that hunted game and brought [it] to me, so that I ate of all [of it] before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.”
The Hebrew phrase for trembled violently could be translated “Isaac trembled most excessively with a great trembling.” It was like he had a convulsion. And what that indicates is Isaac feared God because he realized that God had prevailed in spite of his own efforts to subvert the will of God. God has prevailed in His sovereignty over the affairs of man and the schemes of man.
And when Isaac recognizes this, he trembles violently and then he says, “I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.” Isaiah 66:5 says, “Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at His word.” The word of the LORD is a fearful thing. It is irrevocable, immutable, unchanging, eternal. It is “as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.” Not one jot or title shall fail until all of it has been fulfilled. You better have a holy fear of the word of God. And a pastor or a prophet better have a holy fear of the word of God and relay it faithfully just as He has given it. I think Isaac got a pretty good sense of the importance of every word of God, that it cannot fail. That it will prevail.
Then we come to Esau’s frustration. Vs34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, [even] me also, O my father!" And he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing." Then he said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing." And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" But Isaac replied to Esau, "Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?" Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, [even] me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his voice and wept.
Hebrews 12:15 says, See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that [there be] no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a [single] meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
Esau’s weeping was not in repentance for his disdain for spiritual things, but it was in hope that his father would change his mind, but Isaac could not change the blessing. What he had blessed would indeed be blessed.
So this blessing of Esau seems more like a curse. Vs 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck." So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you [by planning] to kill you. "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban! "Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury subsides, until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?" Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
So you see that the true heart of Esau is finally revealed. He plans to murder his brother. God sees the heart. And though Isaac saw things about Esau that he thought was appealing, yet God knew what kind of heart Esau had towards the things of God, and also his hatred towards his brother.
And the consequences of this deception for Rebecca is she sends Jacob away to her brother Laban she thinks for only a few days, but it ends up being over 20 years. She never sees him again. And Isaac suffers the loss of Jacob as well and sees this conflict develop between his sons that will continue for a thousand years.
Sin is rebellion against God. Pure and simple. And that rebellion is so foolish because we think we know best, and we do not subject our plans to God. But thankfully, God’s sovereignty overrules man’s foolishness.
In this tragic story, everyone lost. Each of the main characters — Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob — schemed and maneuvered in human wisdom and energy, rejecting God’s word and wisdom. Nevertheless, God still accomplished His purpose. The tragedy was that each of the participants suffered, because they insisted on working against God’s word and wisdom. The only saving grace is that God keeps His word, and He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. And but for the mercy of God, no one would be saved.
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