Genesis Chapter Twenty Seven
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(Clicking on these links will move you down this web page) Genesis chapter twenty seven | |
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Chapter 27- Jacob got the birthright blessing
Genesis 27:1 - 40 Jacob got the birthright by deceit Was Isaac spiritually blind? Was Isaac fearful or responsible? God's timing versus Jacob's timing |
Jacob deceived his father
Isaac reaped what he had sowed Isaac's prophecy about the Edomites Genesis 27:41 - 46 Esau wanted to murder Jacob Jacob separated from those he loved |
Jacob got the birthright blessing by deceit:
Let me ask you a question. Just because Jacob used deceit to get his own way, should
you and I do that to get our own way? I think not. This sin of Jacob is going to cause
him a lot of family trouble for many years to come and that should serve as a lesson to us
not to do the same thing. Let us take an in depth look at this true story:
Was Isaac spiritually blind?
Isaac tasted, smelled, heard, felt, talked, and kissed (had intimacy) but he was still deceived. Psychologists call our emotional blindness by the name: denial. Sometimes our emotions can be up one minute and then down the next. They may be continually changing. That is why it is not good to think emotionally but logically. Our emotions are not reliable indicators of divine truth because our emotions can be manipulated by us, by others, and by Satan. Isaac should have prayed and asked God about His will in this set of circumstances. I think that we can learn a valuable lesson here. Let us seek God's will with prayer and supplication about any matter so we do not get deceived and so we can be happy about the results of our choices.
Was Isaac being fearful or being responsible?
On the other hand, maybe Isaac was being responsible, and not fearful at all. He was old and expected to die so he was just "putting his house in order"
A family blessing on the firstborn was a legal transaction, in those days and in that culture, in order for one to inherit the family fortune. It was very similar to what a verbal contract is today. I have already mentioned the benefits of the birthright blessing in
God's timing versus Jacob's timing:
Jacob deceived his father:
Jacob's transformation of character was gradual. Sometimes our transformation of character is also gradual. We are not instant saints. Sometimes, God has to deal with us over a period of years. We are changed little by little towards becoming more like Christ, our Lord. In other words, God appears to deal with us little by little
Should a godly person use the devil's tactics to do God's will? Maybe Jacob thought so but this was NOT a righteous act. If you or I are ever tempted to sin in this regard, let us remember the Golden Rule
Jacob passed the interview with his father by deceiving him. Some folks deceive and are deceived in return. How can you and I be sure that we do not get deceived? Here are a few simple tips:
Isaac reaped what he had sowed:
There are other nuggets of truth in this passage of scripture but one major truth is the fact that Jacob followed the bad example of his grandfather and his own father to lie and deceive. Sometimes, family sins are passed down from generation to generation. Remember, that moral values are more easily caught than taught. Let us live the loving and true Christian life at home so that our children and their children will catch good morals from good role models.
Isaac's prophecy about the Edomites:
Esau wanted to murder Jacob:
A grown man who wants to murder his brother- this appears to be another Cain and Abel situation, does it not? If we wanted to make a contrast between Cain and Esau, I am sure there would be many similarities. Each one served the devil. Each one suffered rejection. Cain and Esau each hated his brother. Each one was angry with his brother. Each one wanted to murder his brother. And there are other similarities not mentioned here.
Premeditated murder is a violation of one of God's ten commandments
Let us take a brief look at Esau. Esau hated God and belonged to Satan- he was rejected by God (God hated him) and Esau despised his birthright to prove it. He flaunted his spiritual rebellion in the face of his godly parents by marrying idol worshipping women and taking them home with him. Then he wanted to murder his brother, Jacob, in order to steal his birthright- and then this guy expected a blessing from his father? What he should have gotten was a boot to his backside that landed his rear end between his shoulder blades. Well, maybe not.
Is it possible that sometimes a person can do wrong and not know it is wrong? What is the first thing we do when we are criticized? Yep, we justify ourselves. We can justify any action that we do, no matter how wrong it is. I think this is what Esau did. Also, Satan can deceive us and sometimes we can deceive ourself into believing that something we are doing wrong is not wrong. God the Holy Spirit convicts a person of their sins. If He does not do this, or if our conscience is seared to the point where it does not work right anymore, then a person may continue on doing wrong without repentance and eventually reap God's judgment. One good way to know that we are doing right or wrong is to compare our actions against the actions of Jesus Christ. This will eliminate all doubt
Jacob separated from those he loved:
It is sad to know that Rebekah never saw him again.
Jacob got the birthright blessing and then left
"And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him: my son: and he said unto him: behold, here am I. And he said: behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; and make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying: behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying: bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury
meat for thy father, such as he loveth: and thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother: behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: my father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him: upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: and she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: and she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father, and said: My father: and he said, here am I; who art thou, my son? 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. 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. 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. 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. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him. And he said: art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. 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. And his father Isaac said unto him: come near now, and kiss me, my son. 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: therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: 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. 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. 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. And Isaac his father said unto him: who art thou? And he said: I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. 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. 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. And he said: thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away thy blessing. 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? 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? 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. 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; 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"
(Genesis 27:1-40).
Isaac was about one hundred years old with failing eyesight at this time. Isaac wanted to bless wicked Esau with the spiritual birthright. Did that make him spiritually blind? If so, Satan may have been behind Isaac's spiritual blindness at that time. Isaac's physical blindness may be a type of our spiritual blindness. Sometimes, we might be so spiritually blind that we have to ask God to open our spiritual eyes
(2 Kings 6:17). Remember the Seraphs who delivered Lot and his family from Sodom? Lot's heavenly guests used miraculous power. God could have used any number of measures against these wicked individuals. Why did God choose to use the weapon of blindness? I believe that physical blindness was a type for spiritual blindness
(Ephesians 4:18). As I have mentioned before, one time, the Apostle Paul was spiritually blind as he persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ. God allowed him to be physically blind (for a short time), as a sign, to prove this to us
(Acts 9:8-18).
Was this a premature blessing on the part of Isaac? If so, why did he give a premature blessing? Probably because he thought he was going to die. Why did he think that? Probably because Satan was physically afflicting him and used fear as a primary weapon. Satan, today, uses afflictions, lies, and fears so often on you and I
(1 John 4:18). Satan enjoys tormenting a true Christian who may be sick, injured, or dying. Satan likes to hit us when we are weak. To my way of thinking, that just proves that he is a coward. He does not like to fight us when we are strong lest we rebuke him in the name of Jesus and he flees. The bible says that we are not ignorant of his strategies
(2 Corinthians 2:11). Isaac did not die then but lived many more years. He lived until the age of 180
(Genesis 35:28). Isaac should not have believed Satan's lies- and neither should we.
(2 Kings 20:1). Isaac was a wise person, who was old, and he prepared adequately for his death. He did a lot of things that he needed to do. I imagine that he created the equivalent of a legal will and testament for the division of his personal property. He had to make sure his body was buried at the right location. And other matters, not mentioned here, needed to be addressed. So, it is possible that Isaac was just being a very responsible individual at this point in his life. He was passing on the birthright to his oldest son, like he was expected to do.
(Genesis 25:31-34), but I want to add- when it comes to money, some people will do some strange things to get or keep it. I imagine that Esau wanted the birthright in order to obtain the monetary wealth that it promised. But the birthright was also a spiritual blessing- this part of the birthright's value was for the one who had the faith to comprehend it- because it was spiritually discerned
(1 Corinthians 2:14). But Rebekah knew that Esau did not have the spiritual discernment of a duck and she knew that Jacob did- so that is why she acted like she did. Besides, Jacob was her favorite who loved the Lord and not Esau who married idol worshipping women. Rebekah knew that if Esau got the family's wealth, his heathen wives would take it and spend it on themselves. Rebekah feared she might eventually die alone and in poverty with no one to care for her. (Nearly every woman will place her security first on her priority list). Rebekah did not want that to happen. All of this helped to create a lot of drama in the camp of Isaac.
Jacob was looking for an opportunity to get the birthright, but he did not have to scheme to get it- God would have given it to him in God's own timing. So many times some folks can get impatient and jump ahead of the Lord. Since He is the light, when we get ahead of Him, we walk in our own shadow. When we do that, it is difficult to see where we are spiritually going. Jacob would have done better by waiting on God. How many times do you and I get impatient and jump ahead of the Lord? We live in an instant society. We have to have everything now in an instant. We buy fast food so we do not have to wait in line. We check out at "the fast lane" at the store to get through quicker. We drive in the fast lane on the freeway to get to our destination faster. Everything is fast paced. We are always in a rush and in a hurry. We want an instant answer to our prayers right now- we do not like to wait on God. But, let us slow down and wait on the Lord. He will come through for us in His timing and not
in our timing.
Jacob deceived his father. Jacob desired spirituality with God but had tendencies of the flesh that were sometimes ungodly at this time in his life. Remember, God made His choice between the boys before they were born
(Genesis 25:23). We should keep in mind that God controls this world:
"...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"
(Romans 9:10-13).
(Exodus 23:30; Deuteronomy 7:22).
(Matthew 7:12).
1) Pray and ask God about a person. He will show you. Talk to folks who know the person you are interested in. Do a background check on them. Check their references. Use common sense. Each person has character and is either righteous or unrighteous. It is impossible to hide that from everyone forever. Someone you contact will know who they really are. It is good to find a truly righteous person and then fellowship with him or her.
2) Watch how they handle their money
(Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34). How they handle their money shows where their heart is.
3) See if they are faithful with small things- handling small amounts of money, small amounts of responsibility, or small trust issues. If they do this with honesty and integrity, then trust them more with larger amounts.
Sometime earlier, Isaac lied to and deceived Abimelech. In this passage of scripture, Isaac was lied to and deceived by his own son, Jacob, who pretended to be Esau. Isaac reaped what he had sowed. The principle of sowing and reaping is a spiritual law and is taught repeatedly in the word of God. What we reap may not come immediately but is stored up in the bank of Heaven to be distributed to us at a later time. This principle works for good as well as for bad. If you are I do a good deed for someone, that good deed will one day be returned to us. If you or I do a bad deed to someone, that bad deed will one day be returned to us. It may sound kind of strange, but this principle is one way that God has of proving His existence and proving that He is big enough and powerful enough to control events in each and every life.
For us to understand Isaac's prophecy, we have to look at Esau's descendants. His descendants founded the nation of Edom (but on some ancient maps it was called the land of Idumaea). His descendants, who lived in Edom, were called Edomites. The prophecy was to the Edomites through Esau because Esau became their founding father. The prophecy was also about the Israelites through Jacob because Jacob became their founding father. Ancient Edom was on the border of ancient Israel (Judah). Isaac's prophecy to Esau stated that "thou...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." Did that ever happen with the Edomites? Yes. For many years, Edom was a conquered country that paid tribute to ancient Israel (Judah). But then that changed. The Edomites revolted and won their independence
(2 Kings 8:20; 2 Chronicles 21:8-10).
"And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart- the days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him: behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; and tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away; until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day? And Rebekah said to Isaac: I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?"
(Genesis 27:41-46).
(Exodus 20:13). Our Lord warned us about the danger of anger that leads to murder
(Matthew 5:22).
(Matthew 15:19; Luke 20:9-16).
Jacob had to separate from his loved ones. He had to leave for Paddan-Aram, where his mother grew up. Sometimes, you or I might have to separate from those family members who love us. If we join the military, we might get sent far away. Or, we may have to relocate because of a job or some family situation. Or, one may have to spend some time in prison and be separated from loved ones. Or, there may be other circumstances that cause one to be absent from loving family members. I think that Rebekah had several reasons for sending Jacob to her family:
1) to protect him,
2) to get a godly wife,
3) to ensure his birthright.
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As of May 4, 2013