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Gen.
27:17 "And she gave
the savoury meat and
the bread, which she
had prepared, into
the hand of her son
Jacob. 18 And he
came unto his
father, and said, My
father: and he said,
Here am I; who art
thou, my son? 19 And
Jacob said unto his
father, I am Esau
thy firstborn; I
have done according
as thou badest me:
arise, I pray thee,
sit and eat of my
venison, that thy
soul may bless me.
20 And Isaac said
unto his son, How is
it that thou hast
found it so quickly,
my son? And he said,
Because the LORD thy
God brought it to
me. 21 And Isaac
said unto Jacob,
Come near, I pray
thee, that I may
feel thee, my son,
whether thou be my
very son Esau or
not. 22 And Jacob
went near unto Isaac
his father; and he
felt him, and said,
The voice is Jacob's
voice, but the hands
are the hands of
Esau. 23 And he
discerned him not,
because his hands
were hairy, as his
brother Esau's
hands: so he blessed
him. 24 And he said,
Art thou my very son
Esau? And he said, I
am."
In the
above Jacob lied
four times:
1. "Who art thou,
my son? 19 And Jacob
said unto his
father, I am Esau
thy firstborn;"
2. "I have done
according as thou
badest me."
3. "How is it that
thou hast found it
so quickly, my son?
And he said, Because
the LORD thy God
brought it to me."
4. "Art thou my
very son Esau? And
he said, I am."
Moreover, Jacob
invoked the name of
the LORD in his
lies.
According to the
theme of chapter 27
we note here that
Isaac had practiced
deception in telling
the men of the
Philistines that
Rebekah was his
sister and not his
wife. Now we see
Isaac being deceived
by his own wife and
son. Again we quote
from Gal. 6:7, 8:
"Be not deceived;
God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall
he also reap. For
he that soweth to
his flesh shall of
the flesh reap
corruption; but he
that soweth to the
Spirit shall of the
Spirit reap life
everlasting." Isaac
had sowed to the
flesh with deception
and now he is
reaping of the
deception that was
being practiced upon
him. This should be
a great lesson upon
each of us. It is
far better to sow to
the Spirit and reap
the fruit of that
eternal life that
God has given us
than to sow to the
flesh and reap the
corruption of the
flesh.
Gen.
27:25-29 Blessings
Gen.
27:25 "And he said,
Bring it near to me,
and I will eat of my
son's venison, that
my soul may bless
thee. And he brought
it near to him, and
he did eat: and he
brought him wine,
and he drank. 26 And
his father Isaac
said unto him, Come
near now, and kiss
me, my son. 27 And
he came near, and
kissed him: and he
smelled the smell of
his raiment, and
blessed him, and
said, See, the smell
of my son is as the
smell of a field
which the LORD hath
blessed: 28
Therefore God give
thee of the dew of
heaven, and the
fatness of the
earth, and plenty of
corn and wine: 29
Let people serve
thee, and nations
bow down to thee: be
lord over thy
brethren, and let
thy mother's sons
bow down to thee:
cursed be every one
that curseth thee,
and blessed be he
that blesseth
thee."
We
ask ourselves the
following questions
concerning the
blessings upon
Jacob:
1. Were these
pronounced blessings
from the LORD?
2. Would Jacob have
received these
blessings if Isaac
had not been
deceived?
The
answer to the first
question would
appear to be yes
based on all the
resulting history of
Jacob's progeny.
Throughout much of
Israel's history the
above things were
true. Certainly, we
know that these
blessings were not
based on the good
actions of Jacob.
He did nothing to
deserve these
blessings. It was
by the grace of God
that these things
came to pass.
The
answer to the
question also
appears to be yes.
God had made known
that he chose Jacob
and did not choose
Esau even before the
children were born.
We read in Rom.
9:10-13: "And not
only this; but when
Rebecca also had
conceived by one,
even by our father
Isaac; (For the
children being not
yet born, neither
having done any good
or evil, that the
purpose of God
according to
election might
stand, not of works,
but of him that
calleth;) It was
said unto her, The
elder shall serve
the younger. As it
is written, Jacob
have I loved, but
Esau have I hated."
What we must
remember is that God
will accomplish his
promises regardless
of the actions or
inactions of men.
Isaac could not have
prevented the
blessings upon Jacob
regardless of what
he planned to do
concerning blessing
Esau. How this
would have played
out if Isaac had not
been deceived we
will never know, but
we do know that God
would still have
brought the
blessings upon
Jacob.
Gen. 27:30-40 Hated
of God
Gen.
27:30 "And it came
to pass, as soon as
Isaac had made an
end of blessing
Jacob, and Jacob was
yet scarce gone out
from the presence of
Isaac his father,
that Esau his
brother came in from
his hunting. 31 And
he also had made
savoury meat, and
brought it unto his
father, and said
unto his father, Let
my father arise, and
eat of his son's
venison, that thy
soul may bless me.
32 And Isaac his
father said unto
him, Who art thou?
And he said, I am
thy son, thy
firstborn Esau. 33
And Isaac trembled
very exceedingly,
and said, Who? where
is he that hath
taken venison, and
brought it me, and I
have eaten of all
before thou camest,
and have blessed
him? yea, and he
shall be blessed.
34
And when Esau heard
the words of his
father, he cried
with a great and
exceeding bitter
cry, and said unto
his father, Bless
me, even me also, O
my father. 35 And he
said, Thy brother
came with subtlety,
and hath taken away
thy blessing. 36 And
he said, Is not he
rightly named Jacob?
for he hath
supplanted me these
two times: he took
away my birthright;
and, behold, now he
hath taken away my
blessing. And he
said, Hast thou not
reserved a blessing
for me? 37 And Isaac
answered and said
unto Esau, Behold, I
have made him thy
lord, and all his
brethren have I
given to him for
servants; and with
corn and wine have I
sustained him: and
what shall I do now
unto thee, my son?
38 And
Esau said unto his
father, Hast thou
but one blessing, my
father? bless me,
even me also, O my
father. And Esau
lifted up his voice,
and wept. 39 And
Isaac his father
answered and said
unto him, Behold,
thy dwelling shall
be the fatness of
the earth, and of
the dew of heaven
from above; 40 And
by thy sword shalt
thou live, and shalt
serve thy brother;
and it shall come to
pass when thou shalt
have the dominion,
that thou shalt
break his yoke from
off thy neck."
Three
of the four
individuals in the
27th chapter
of Genesis were
children of God and
one was not a child
of God. Esau was
not chosen of God
and we read that God
hated him. The
non-elect are never
born of the Spirit
of God and their
actions are always
selfish fleshly
actions. Esau
accused Jacob of
taking away his
birthright through
subtlety. Yet that
is not true. Esau
had known exactly
what he was doing in
selling his
birthright. Jacob
certainly took
advantage of the
opportunity, but he
did not deceive or
use subtlety to take
away Esau's
birthright.
Moreover the
blessing was never
Esau's blessing,
though he certainly
thought it was his.
No doubt, Jacob used
subtlety to deceive
his father.
However, the
blessing was from
the LORD and it was
going to be Jacob's
blessing all along.
This principle of
the blessing never
being Esau's
blessing is set
forth for us in the
book of Hebrews:
Heb. 12:16 "Lest
there be any
fornicator, or
profane person, as
Esau, who for one
morsel of meat sold
his birthright. 17
For ye know how that
afterward, when he
would have inherited
the blessing, he was
rejected: for he
found no place of
repentance, though
he sought it
carefully with
tears." When Esau
sold his birthright,
he also gave up his
right to the
blessing. The
blessing was to go
to the son with the
birthright and that
is Jacob. Moreover,
this birthright
belonged to Jacob by
proclamation from
God, even before
they were born and
even though Jacob
was the second
born.
Esau's
tears were not able
to return the
birthright or the
blessing to Esau.
Esau
asked Isaac if he
had reserved a
blessing for him and
Isaac made a
pronouncement
concerning him and
the subsequent
nation of Edom.
This pronouncement
also appears to be
from the Lord. Just
because Esau was not
a child of God does
not mean that none
of his progeny were
not children of God,
for, no doubt, some
of them were.
However, the
pronouncement upon
Edom came true as
the pronouncement
from God upon Israel
came true. |
