Genesis 27

In the last chapter, we saw God reaffirm the Abrahamic Covenant to Isaac. Then Abimelech came by and knowing that God had blessed Isaac, initiated a peace treaty with him. Meanwhile, Isaac’s son, Esau, married Hittite women which brought great grief to Isaac and Rebekah. This week we start with the Patriarchal Blessing being passed down from Isaac to Esau’s brother, Jacob, rather than Esau, who was the older of the two. I find it very confusing, trying to keep track of who is who. I keep asking myself, “Which one is he? Is he the son or so and so?” If there are too many characters in a movie or a novel, I get lost quickly and lose interest.

Before we move onto the “passing of the baton” the blessing, we have to go back to Genesis 25:23, where God says to Rebekah (Isaac’s wife, mother of Jacob and Esau), during her pregnancy with Jacob and Esau, “Two nations are in your womb. . . . and the older (Esau) will serve the younger (Jacob).” God chose the younger Jacob, to lead the older, Esau. What you will see in this chapter is a conspiracy on the part of Rebekah and her favorite son, Jacob, for God’s will to take place. They were doing wrong for the right reasons. This reminds me of when Abraham went to Hagar to father a child. He wanted to fulfill the promise of God, but he did it in his own way, on his own schedule. And we know how that worked out for the family. Can you guess how this conspiracy is going to work out for everyone involved?

Chapter 27, verse one, Isaac was old and blind. How old? One hundred thirty-seven years. But he wasn’t on his death bed, though his half-brother, Ishmael had died fourteen years earlier. Perhaps he was in a reflective mood and was thinking about his own death. He thought that this would be a good time to pass onto his son the patriarchal blessing. So, he calls for Esau, his oldest son (Esau and Jacob were seventy-seven years old) and tells him to go hunting for his favorite venison meal and then he would bless him before he dies. But he would live another forty-three years, dying at age one hundred and eighty.

Isaac’s desire to bless Esau, rather than the younger, Jacob, was a clear violation of the revelation given to Rebekah in chapter 25, “the older will serve the younger.” Hadn’t they talked about this over the years? The blessing belongs to Jacob. God made that decision and Esau., by this time, had already sold his birthright to Jacob. The blessing goes with the birthright. Jacob didn’t steal the birthright from Esau, as some have taught, rather Esau is now trying to steal it from Jacob. What Esau sold for a bowl of soup; Isaac was willing to misdirect for a meal of venison. Have you noticed how food is so often associated with any sort of agreement? A treaty is signed, “Lets have a banquet.” A marriage is arranged, “Let’s have a banquet.” A blessing is bestowed, “Let’s have a meal.”

Verse 5, Rebekah overhears this conversation between Isaac and Esau. “Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. . . and Rebekah spoke unto Jacob her son.” Esau is referred to as Isaac’s son and Jacob is referred to Rebekah’s son. Weren’t both of them their sons? Yes, but Esau was closer to Isaac and Jacob was closer to Rebekah. Each had their favorite. Why would that be? Perhaps common interests, similar personalities, etc. Are we not sometimes closer to one person than another? Who was Jesus closest to? John was his favorite. Next would be Peter and James.

Rebekah is the one who comes up with this conspiracy to be sure that Jacob gets the blessing and then she manipulates Jacob to go along with it. She tells Jacob to, “Obey my voice according to that which I command you.” “Obey” and “I command you”. It sounds like she is the authority figure here and Jacob is rather passive. Jacob raises some doubts concerning her plan to have him disguise himself to pretend he is Esau, verse 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.”

Translation: “This sounds like a real crazy idea.” Mom responds, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say.” Translation: “I will take the blame, if we get caught.” As so often happens, she didn’t take the blame.

So, Jacob had his doubts, but he did what he was told. There was a lot of deception going on here. If you recall from biology, we have five physical senses: seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting. Isaac was blind, so recognizing Jacob was not a risk. Goatskins worn by Jacob took care of the sense of touch; the sense of smell of taken care of by the wearing of Esau’s clothing. The sense of taste was taken care of by seasoning goat to taste more like venison. The only weakness in this deception was the sense of hearing. Isaac had somehow overcome this one obstacle, unless of course Isaac had also lost much of his hearing. Did you know that physiologically, we peak at about age thirty? That’s right, at thirty, you are at your physiological peak and begin the slow downhill slide. Isn’t that depressing? Thankfully, this is a very gradual process, so you won’t notice it right away. Then, one day, you might look in the mirror and think, “Oh my, I’m starting to look like my mother.” And if you are a guy, you have a real problem.

Jacob is wearing his costume, Rebekah hands him a tray of food and motions him to go to Isaac. Can you just imagine their faces? Isaac, reluctant and doubtful of his acting ability. Mom, pushing him through the doorway with the food tray. Isaac asks, “Who are you?” “I am Esau, your first-born. . .. I have done as you have told me.”

Now this took some nerve. Imagine Jacob saying this, then pausing, to see if Isaac believes him. In a television drama, this would be where they cut for a commercial. Jacob may have felt guilty about this, lying to his dad, then he lies again and brings God into it. Jacob lies again when he says in verse 20 that the reason he was so quick in getting the venison is because “your God gave me success.” Great, not only does he lie again, but he uses God’s name in the process. Did you notice he didn’t say, “Our God” but “your God.” Can we read anything into this? Was Jacob a true believer or just the son of a believer? If Jacob believed in the same God, wouldn’t he have said, “our God”?

Isaac is suspicious and remarks in verse 22, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He then asks, “Are you really my son Esau” “I am,” replied Jacob. Another lie. Isaac was satisfied with these answers, and by now was very hungry and could smell the meal in front of him. So, he ate a lovely meal complimented with a nice wine. Perhaps Rebekah should have served him wine before the interaction, it might have made it easier to deceive him.

After the meal he calls Jacob over to receive the blessing. Starting in verse 28, the blessing reads, in part, “May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness . . . may nations serve you . . . Be lord over your brothers . . . may those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

The last statement connects this blessing with the Abrahamic Covenant of chapter 12:3. What is going on here is, contrary to Isaac’s hope, the covenant was to be continued through Jacob, not through his favorite son, Esau. Isaac blessed Jacob against his own will, much as Balaam will bless Israel against his own will in Num. 22.

Just as Jacob left his father’s bedside, feeling relieved and almost giddy, Esau shows up, all excited and ready for his blessing (verse 30). Isaac asked who he is and Esau answers, “I am your firstborn, Esau.” Isaac “trembled very exceedingly.” He tells Esau that he already ate and that he blessed Jacob. In verse 36 Esau says, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob. He has deceived me these two times. He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing. Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?” he asks Isaac.

Why did Isaac tremble? He was probably angry at the lying and deception of Jacob, but he probably trembled because he realized what he almost did, he tried to disrupt the will of God.   

Esau accused Jacob of stealing his birthright. But he didn’t. Esau had already sold the birthright to Jacob and the blessing goes with the birthright. There was deception on Jacob’s part, but no stealing took place.

Esau is distraught and asks, “Do you have only one blessing?” It sounds as if he is asking for at least some sort of blessing, perhaps a smaller one, a consolation prize or some small crumbs left over from the big blessing that Jacob got.

Be careful what you ask for. In verse 39, Isaac does give Esau a blessing, of sorts. It says, “Your dwelling will be AWAY from the earth’s richness . . . 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.”

Thanks a lot, Dad. Is this the best you could do for you favorite son?

It is obvious that Esau will not inherit the “promised land.” Esau is told, “You will live by the sword”, meaning a life of plundering other groups. An example of this is found in Numbers 20:14-21. This is when the Edomites, descendants of Esau, denied Israel passage on their way to the promised land.

The “blessing” goes on to say, “And you will serve your brother” is seen when Saul defeated Edom. But there will come a time when, “you will throw his yoke from off your neck.” This occurred in under King Joram (II Chron. 21:8-10) and then under Ahaz (II Kings 16:6). Later, the Edomites became known as Idumeans, which produced the dynastic rule of the House of Herod.

As you read this chapter, you will find words of condemnation of Jacob, but not by God, but from Esau and Laban, not exactly the most honest people. Yes, there was deception, but the birthright was not stolen nor was the blessing that went along with it.

Verse 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 by brother Jacob.”

Once Isaac dies, he plans on hunting Jacob down and killing him. Years would pass to either nurse a grudge or to allow the anger and resentment to subside.

Rebekah sends Jacob off to her brother Laban in Haran, until Esau’s anger subsided and “forgets what you did to him” (verse 45).

Leaving town for a while turned out to be twenty years. Did you notice that she describes this deception as what “you have done to him.” She makes it sound like she had nothing to do with this scheme. Sadly, she never saw her favorite son again. She then goes on to say in verse 45, “Why should I lose both of you in one day.”  She is referring to the murder of Jacob that would most likely lead to the execution of Esau for committing the murder (Gen 9:6).

This is a very sad day for her. She sent Jacob, her favorite son, away because she does not want him might marry a Hittite woman, like Esau had done. If she had only waited for God to work things out, there would be no need for deception and no fractured family relationships.