Genesis 27 – Jacob Gets Isaac's Blessing
Timeline: 1929 BC
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Most people come away with the fact that Esau is good and Jacob was a deceiver but such a view is not in agreement with the rest of Scripture. In Romans 9:10-13, God said “Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated”. In Hebrews 12:14-17, Esau is called a “fornicator or profane person”. God blessed Jacob in Genesis 35:9-12. So be very careful not to prejudge or view it because of what we've heard or quickly read through it in a simplistic manner. 1 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, "Here I am." This was his way of settling his affairs, sort of a last will and testament. Isaac is well aware what God told him that the older will serve the younger and that he was to receive the blessing. However he favored Esau over Jacob. Isaac refused to acknowledge Esau’s Godless behavior. 2 Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” Although he was preparing for his death, Isaac lived another forty-three years after this. He valued Esau as a mighty hunter. Isaac insisted on giving the blessing to Esau, the one whom God did not choose, who despised his birthright. It seems Isaac rejected godly thinking and spiritual wisdom, and thought only of food, just as Esau did when he sold his birthright to Jacob. He didn’t tell Rebekah he was going to give Esau the blessing which indicated that he knew that what he was about to do was in defiance of God. 5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.” God positioned Rebekah to overhear what Isaac said to Esau. She knew that God intended the birthright and blessing to go to Jacob. She felt she had to step in to ensure the agreement was honored. So she commanded Jacob to bring to her two choice goats. Leviticus 4:22-23 explains that two kid goats were to be sacrificed as a sin offering. Esau did not tell his father that he sold his birthright and therefore he forfeited the blessing that belongs to the first born. 11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” Everything that Jacob did was in obedience to his mother. The Rabbinical commentary points out that it is shameful to call attention to the failures and disobedience of Isaac’s sins. Rebekah was not afraid of any curse because she was faithful that she was doing God’s will. So she got Esau’s “Sunday Best” clothes and put them on Jacob. This is like going to a formal wedding in shirt and tie. God had covered Adam and Eve with animal skins for an atonement just as Jacob was covered with the goat skins. 18 So he went to his father and said, “My father.” God was working in this situation to fulfill the promise he made. 21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went near to 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 did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. Jacob emphasized that he was Isaac’s first born. The words he used, “I am” is translated from the word “Anokhi” which is a very powerful Hebrew word which indicates a very definite, deliberate action. 25 He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.” And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: The blessing was very important in the Old Testament. Not only will the recipient receive a double portion of the inheritance but also it means that he will become the patriarch of the family. The blessing always included two parts. The first part of a blessing is an explanation of why the recipient was worthy to receive it. The second part was a special prayer invoking God’s blessing on the recipient. Notice that Isaac did not include in his blessing to Jacob whom he thought he was giving to Esau. This blessing was normally given in a public ceremony where there is a big feast so everyone in the family and the servants would know who had been chosen to be the patriarch of the family. Isaac gave his blessing in secret. Isaac’s blessing echoed the words that God promised to Abraham; those who blessed Jacob would be blessed, and those who cursed him would receive a curse. 30 Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.” God’s timing. Esau is the deceiver here. He knows he sold his firstborn rights which included the blessing, but he lied by omission. Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.” Isaac trembled exceedingly because he was convicted. He knew that the promise was meant for Jacob and he realized in that moment that his intention went against God’s authority. Isaac’s faith was demonstrated when he said of Jacob, “and indeed he shall be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!” This verse can literally be translated to mean Esau gave a shriek of heaviness and with force. 35 But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” Isaac was not aware of this fact. There were three reasons why Esau did not deserve the blessing. First, He was not worthy of receiving it. He led his life in his own way. He showed his true character when he gave up his lifelong blessing for a bowl of soup. He despised his birthright. Second, it was not his to receive. The birthright included the blessing that he sold to Jacob. And the last reason was that God specifically told Rebekah that Jacob was to receive it. 37 Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your master and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?” Isaac confirmed the blessing he had given to Jacob, saying, "I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed." He knew that the blessing came from the Spirit of God guiding his will and therefore could not be revoked. 38 And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Esau did not value the birthright when he saw it as spiritual; but now that he saw it in material and political terms, he wanted it. Esau wanted the social advantages of the birthright. “For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.” Hebrews 12: 17 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: The blessing was a prophecy, not only for Esau, but also for Jacob. Isaac reinforced Jacob’s superiority to Esau and also prophesied that Esau would one day rebel against Jacob just as God had prophesized. 41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” Just like Cain who rendered himself unworthy, Esau threatened Jacob because he gained acceptance with God. He wanted to wait until after Isaac was dead, then he would take his revenge. He didn’t know at the time that Isaac would live another forty years after this. 42 And the words of Esau her older sons were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?” Esau’s threat was not spoken, but God revealed his intention to Rebekah. She advised Jacob to protect himself by sending him to her brother’s home. She told Isaac that he was going there so he would not make the same mistake that Esau made when he married the Hittite women. Bible Study Questions 1. What were the names of Isaac’s sons?
2. Why could Isaac not see very well?
3. What did Isaac ask his son, Esau, to do?
4. Who was listening to Isaac when he was talking to Esau?
5. Why did Rebekah want Jacob to take some food to his father, Isaac?
6. Why did Jacob think Rebekah's plan would not work?
7. What question does Isaac ask Jacob?
8. Why did Isaac want to feel Jacob?
9. What did Isaac smell when he kissed Jacob?
10. In the blessing, who will bow down to Jacob?
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