Genesis 27

The Mystery of Jacob and Esau
This is a study of a dysfunctional family torn apart by the unequal treatment of sons by the parents where each had a “favorite”.

In spite of Esau’s “despising his birthright”, his marrying Canaanite (Hittite) women, God’s instruction concerning Jacob before he was born, in spite of the plainly obvious superiority of Jacob’s character and convictions over those of Esau, in spite of Jacob’s legalization of his claim to the patriarchal blessing through his purchase of the birthright from Esau, confirmed by Esau’s solemn oath, in spite of Esau’s obvious indifference to his spiritual heritage and to the will of God – in spite of all this, Isaac nevertheless was determined to give the blessing to Esau.

Isaac’s deliberate intent to thwart the purpose of God was motivated primarily by his personal love of Esau.

Isaac is nearly blind and over 100 years old.

1 When Isaac was old and almost blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, "My son?"
"Yes, Father?" Esau replied.
2 "I am an old man now," Isaac said, "and I expect every day to be my last.
3 Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game for me.
4 Prepare it just the way I like it so it's savory and good, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die."
Such events were normally conducted with a feast to celebrate the “blessing” – normally with family and friends present.

Isaac is old, perhaps dying, and the blessing must quickly be pronounced upon Esau before it’s too late. On the surface, this urgency seems to be well founded. Isaac is old, perhaps 137 years old. His half brother Ishmael died at age 137. But, Genesis 35:28 tells us that it was more than forty years later before he died at the age of 180!

Isaac’s judgment seems to have been impaired by his haste. It was obvious that Isaac wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. He wanted the blessing to go to Esau so that it would be done—finished. Had there not been this sense of haste, Isaac might have insisted that his “other son” be present for the blessing too. Good judgment was suspended in the name of urgency.

Normally the blessing would have been given before the entire family because it was, in reality, an oral will which legally determined the disposition of all that the father possessed. Distribution of family wealth and headship would best be carried out in the presence of all who were concerned. We later find Jacob giving his blessing in the presence of all his sons. The conversation between Isaac and Esau is carried out in secrecy. Neither Jacob nor Rebekah were present, and this was hardly an oversight. Had it not been for the Rebekah ‘s eavesdropping, the entire matter would have been completed with only two parties involved.

Isaac intended to convey his blessings upon Esau to the exclusion of Jacob altogether. This is why Isaac had no blessing left to convey upon Esau.

Here was a premeditated plot to thwart the plan and purpose of God for Jacob. Is it really possible that Isaac was ignorant of the revelation of God to Rebekah? Is it possible that Isaac was ignorant of the sale of Esau’s birthright to his brother?
5 But Rebekah overheard the conversation. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game,
Isaac is deliberately concealing his decision from Rebekah – probably because he knows she would oppose it and remind him of God’s promise!
6 she said to her son Jacob, "I overheard your father asking Esau
7 to prepare him a delicious meal of wild game. He wants to bless Esau in the LORD's presence before he dies.
8 Now, my son, do exactly as I tell you.
9 Go out to the flocks and bring me two fine young goats. I'll prepare your father's favorite dish from them.
10Take the food to your father; then he can eat it and bless you instead of Esau before he dies."
11"But Mother!" Jacob replied. "He won't be fooled that easily. Think how hairy Esau is and how smooth my skin is!
12 What if my father touches me? He'll see that I'm trying to trick him, and then he'll curse me instead of blessing me."
13 “Let the curse fall on me, dear son," said Rebekah. "Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats."
Rebekah knew that the blessing was intended for Jacob, and expected he would have it. But she wronged Isaac by having Jacob trick him and lie to him; she wronged Jacob by tempting him to wickedness. She put a stumbling-block in Esau's way, and gave him a pretext for hatred to Jacob. All of this could have been prevented by simply going to Isaac and discussing the problem.
14So Jacob followed his mother's instructions, bringing her the two goats. She took them and cooked a delicious meat dish, just the way Isaac liked it.
15 Then she took Esau's best clothes, which were there in the house, and dressed Jacob with them.
16 She made him a pair of gloves from the hairy skin of the young goats, and she fastened a strip of the goat's skin around his neck.
17 Then she gave him the meat dish, with its rich aroma, and some freshly baked bread.
18 Jacob carried the platter of food to his father and said, "My father?"
"Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it--Esau or Jacob?"
Isaac must be puzzled because it doesn’t sound like Esau.
19 Jacob replied, "It's Esau, your older son. I've done as you told me. Here is the wild game, cooked the way you like it. Sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing."
20 Isaac asked, "How were you able to find it so quickly, my son?"
"Because the LORD your God put it in my path!" Jacob replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come over here. I want to touch you to make sure you really are Esau."
22 So Jacob went over to his father, and Isaac touched him. "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's," Isaac said to himself.
23 But he did not recognize Jacob because Jacob's hands felt hairy just like Esau's. So Isaac pronounced his blessing on Jacob.
24 "Are you really my son Esau?" he asked.
"Yes, of course," Jacob replied.
25 Then Isaac said, "Now, my son, bring me the meat. I will eat it, and then I will give you my blessing." So Jacob took the food over to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the wine that Jacob served him. Then Isaac said,
26 "Come here and kiss me, my son."
27 So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said, "The smell of my son is the good smell of the open fields that the LORD has blessed.
28 May God always give you plenty of dew for healthy crops and good harvests of grain and wine.
God would have been present during this blessing. What would God have done if Isaac had blessed Esau instead – in opposition what God had promised Rebekah?
29 May many nations become your servants. May you be the master of your brothers. May all your mother's sons bow low before you. All who curse you are cursed, and all who bless you are blessed."
The act of giving a "blessing" was a traditional thing, but with the patriarchs in the Bible, their "blessings" were not only the good effect of words but also the assurance that God would bring them to pass. Consequently, the act of the blessing was like a prophecy of God's future dealings with the recipient, and so was a very important matter. It was often spoken by the father near death and was never taken back.

Isaac was acting sinfully in desiring to bless Esau instead of Jacob. Esau did not deserve the blessing - he had despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob. Jacob rightfully owned the birthright, and as such rightfully deserved the blessing (after all, what else is a birthright good for but inheriting a double portion?). But Isaac was refusing to give Jacob the blessing that rightfully belonged to him, so Jacob was compelled to use deception to rescue what Isaac and Esau were trying to steal from him. Moreover, God had already proclaimed that he had chosen Jacob to inherit the blessing, and that Esau would serve Jacob (Genesis 25:23; Romans 9:10-13). But Isaac and Esau didn't care what God wanted; Isaac wanted to rebel against God and to give Jacob's blessing to Esau, and Esau wanted to steal Jacob's blessing. And Isaac wanted to make Jacob serve Esau despite the fact that God had already expressed his will that Esau serve. Esau didn't get cheated; he was a wicked, godless man who got what he deserved (cf. Genesis 25:28-34; 26:34-35; 27:41; Malachi 1:2-3; Hebrews 12:16). It was only by deception that Jacob was able to compel Isaac to do the good that God had commanded.

Romans 9:10-13: … our ancestor Isaac. When he grew up, he married Rebekah, who gave birth to twins. But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message proves that God chooses according to his own plan, not according to our good or bad works.) She was told, "The descendants of your older son will serve the descendants of your younger son." In the words of the Scriptures, "I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau."

Malachi 1:2-3: I have loved you deeply," says the LORD. But you retort, "Really? How have you loved us?" And the LORD replies, "I showed my love for you by loving your ancestor Jacob. Yet Esau was Jacob's brother, and I rejected Esau and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau's inheritance into a desert for jackals."

Hebrews 12:16: Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau. He traded his birthright as the oldest son for a single meal.
30 As soon as Isaac had blessed Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunting trip.
3 1Esau prepared his father's favorite meat dish and brought it to him. Then he said, "I'm back, Father, and I have the wild game. Sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing."
32 But Isaac asked him, "Who are you?"
"Why, it's me, of course!" he replied. "It's Esau, your older son."
33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, "Then who was it that just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him with an irrevocable blessing before you came."
When Isaac discovered that he had blessed Jacob instead of Esau he "trembled uncontrollably." This was the turning point in the incident, the point where, for the first time, light breaks in on this dark scene. It was horror which was awakened in his soul as he now fully realized that he had been pitting himself against the expressed mind of Jehovah. Notice that instead of "cursing" Jacob (as Jacob had feared), now that Isaac discovers how God had graciously overruled his wrong doing, he bowed in self-judgment, and "trembled with a great trembling greatly" (margin). He knew now that God had been securing what He had declared before the sons were born. It is this which the Spirit seizes on in Hebrews 11:20, It was by faith that Isaac blessed his two sons, Jacob and Esau. He had confidence in what God was going to do in the future.
34 When Esau understood, he let out a loud and bitter cry. "O my father, bless me, too!" he begged.
35 But Isaac said, "Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has carried away your blessing."
36 Esau said bitterly, "No wonder his name is *Jacob, for he has deceived me twice, first taking my **birthright and now stealing my blessing. Oh, haven't you saved even one blessing for me?"
*Jacob means "he grasps the heel"; this can also figuratively mean "he deceives."

**birthright:
1. The physical advantages of the birthright:
a. Contained a double portion of the father's inheritance – Deuteronomy 21:17: He must give the customary double portion to his oldest son, who represents the strength of his father's manhood and who owns the rights of the firstborn son, even though he is the son of the wife his father does not love.
i. The amount would have been very great
ii. For what he eventually received was also great - cf. Genesis 36:6-7: Then Esau took his wives, children, household servants, cattle, and flocks--all the wealth he had gained in the land of Canaan--and moved away from his brother, Jacob. There was not enough land to support them both because of all their cattle and livestock.
b. Offered rule and authority over other members of the family- cf. verse 29.
2. The spiritual advantages of this particular birthright:
a. Patriarch and priest of the house on the death of his father
b. Chief of the chosen family, and heir of the promised blessing
c. Able to invoke the blessing of Abraham, regarding the threefold promise - the chieftainship, rule over the brethren and the entire family Jacob (Genesis 27:29), and the title to the blessing of the promise (Genesis 27:4, 27:29), which included the future possession of Canaan and covenant of fellowship with Jehovah (Genesis 28:4).

Such were the issues at stake when Jacob and Esau bartered over the birthright
37 Isaac said to Esau, "I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine--what is there left to give?"
38 Esau pleaded, "Not one blessing left for me? O my father, bless me, too!" Then Esau broke down and wept.
39 His father, Isaac, said to him, "You will live off the land and what it yields,
40 and you will live by your sword. You will serve your brother for a time, but then you will shake loose from him and be free."
Years later, David subdued Edom (2 Samuel 8). After King Ahaz, Edom was never again dominated by Judah. Edom eventually disappeared, absorbed into Ishmael. Therefore, the Arabs are primarily descendants primarily of Ishmael and Esau.

A comparison of the blessings clearly shows that, whereas Jacob’s blessing was God-centered, Esau’s blessing was entirely materialistic, nowhere in his blessing was God’s name invoked. The fullness of God’s salvation plan for the fallen race of Adam was to come through the descendants of Jacob alone.

41 Esau hated Jacob because he had stolen his blessing, and he said to himself, "My father will soon be dead and gone. Then I will kill Jacob."
4 2But someone got wind of what Esau was planning and reported it to Rebekah. She sent for Jacob and told him, "Esau is threatening to kill you.
43 This is what you should do. Flee to your uncle Laban in Haran.
Laban is Rebekah’s brother.
44 Stay there with him until your brother's fury is spent.
45 When he forgets what you have done, I will send for you. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I'm sick and tired of these local Hittite women. I'd rather die than see Jacob marry one of them."
Genesis 28
1 So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, "Do not marry any of these Canaanite women.
2 Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of your uncle Laban's daughters.
3 May God Almighty bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants become a great assembly of nations!
4 May God pass on to you and your descendants the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where we now are foreigners, for God gave it to Abraham."
Isaac passes on the Abrahamic promises to Jacob.
SUMMARY:
All participants were at fault:
• Isaac tried to thwart God’s plan by blessing Esau!
• Esau broke the oath he had made with Jacob.
• Rebekah and Jacob tried to achieve God’s blessing by deception
o Their victory would reap hatred and separation.
o Rebekah never saw Jacob again.
• Jacob didn’t destroy the family; parental preference did.

Jacob would eventually learn that blessings are given by God, not gained by deceit.

How could God love Jacob?
Jacob seems so obviously to be a sly schemer, a liar and deceiver, a man intent only on acquiring his goals by whatever means necessary. He exhibits no ethical scruples. Why would God choose Jacob instead of Esau?

God never criticizes Jacob. Every time God spoke to Jacob, it was in a message of blessing and promise, never one of rebuke or chastisement.

God’s judgment concerning Jacob is given in
• Genesis 32:28: "Your name will no longer be Jacob," the man told him. "It is now Israel, because you have struggled with both God and men and have won." (Israel means "God struggles" or "one who struggles with God.")
• Malachi 1:2-3: I have loved you deeply," says the LORD. But you retort, "Really? How have you loved us?" And the LORD replies, "I showed my love for you by loving your ancestor Jacob. Yet Esau was Jacob's brother, and I rejected Esau and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau's inheritance into a desert for jackals."

God’s judgment concerning Esau is given in
• Hebrews 12:16: Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau. He traded his birthright as the oldest son for a single meal.