Gen. 27:17-24  Jacob Lies

Below: Blessings
  Hated of God

 

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.