Isaac Blesses Jacob (Gen 27)

Daniel L. Arter

Genesis: The Book of Beginnings • Sermon • Submitted 4 months ago • Presented 4 months ago

Genesis 27

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Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Genesis 27.

Right at the end of last week’s text, we read about Esau marrying a Hittite woman and that they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah. Part of that switch from dealing with Isaac and Abimelech back to Esau was to act as a transition in Genesis 27, which starts to shift our focus from Isaac alone to his children Jacob and Esau. In fact, the shift to Jacob and Esau from Isaac is strong enough that we don’t really see much about Isaac again from this point forward—in fact, we don’t even know when in the text Isaac dies. It’s made apparent later on that he had died, but we don’t know when exactly that was, but that’s a discussion for another time.

What we’re dealing with today is a situation that without the New Testament is a little difficult for us to understand because what happens in the situation is something that goes against the culture of the Ancient Near East, it is filled with deceit, and yet, God still works through the whole situation—and that’s really the key idea, God still works through the whole situation.

It is a really long passage, but because it is a narrative, I think we need to read through it in one sitting before we dig in.

Genesis 27 ESV

1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” 5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. 10 And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.” 14 So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. 18 So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed! 28 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” 30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” 32 His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34 As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. 40 By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.” 41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran 44 and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— 45 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 bereft of you both in one day?” 46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

As we study this passage together, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) The Deceitful Plot (1-29), and (3) The Result of the Deceitful Plot (30-46). In this text, Jacob and Esau continue their warring against each other—remember, back in Genesis 25, we’re told that within the womb, Esau and Jacob warred against each other. At the end of Genesis 25, we see Esau sell his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew, which added to the dissonance between the two. And now, we’re going to see the event that drives the two apart.

Our focus, this morning, isn’t so much about the dissonance between the two brothers, but rather, dealing with the idea that Jacob had tricked, lied, and and had stolen; and yet, God still blesses him in the long-run—keep this in mind as we work through the text together:

The Deceitful Plot (1-29)

As the text starts in Genesis 27, we get some key details that set the stage:

v. 1 tells us that we’re to a point in Isaac’s life when he’s thinking essentially about his legacy.

The Bible tells us that he is old—it doesn’t exactly tell us how old, but it does tell us that he’s aged enough that his eyes could no longer see.

It’s worth noting that the concept of Isaac being blind appears in several different ways in this passage:

Not only is he physically blind

But he’s also blind to the deception that’s about to happen

He’s blind to the betrayal that he’s about to experience

And, in a sense, there’s a bit where we see the idea of physical pleasure blinding him as well.

But I digress, Isaac is old and he makes that abundantly clear in v. 2 when he tells his son that he doesn’t know when he’ll die, which means he thinks that his death is coming soon.

Isaac is old and he calls for his oldest son to come to him and he gives his oldest son a request. In v. 2, we see Isaac state that he is old and he doesn’t know when he’ll die, but he wants his son to go out hunting, make him food and bring it to him so that he may bless him before he dies.

Nothing in this really sounds odd, but the way that v. 4 talks about Isaac’s love for delicious food makes ties back into this idea that he’s blinded.

The physical pleasure of good, delicious food is enough to cause him to not see clearly—and we’ll see that as the text continues.

The situation starts with what seems to be a simple scenario with very little questionable thoughts in it beyond the fact that Isaac is blind (and beyond the fact that his blindness seems to have taken root in different ways), but what Isaac doesn’t know is that there’s a deceit afoot and we see that deceit through vv. 6-29.

As Isaac speaks to Esau, Rebekah, Isaac’s wife is listening.

We don’t really know how she managed to hear all that had happened—we don’t know if she was hiding around the corner or whatever it may be. With Isaac’s blindness, there’s a potentiality that he wouldn’t really notice if she was standing in the corner, but Esau wasn’t blind, so she had to be hidden at least well enough that Esau couldn’t see her.

And if you remember all the way back to Genesis 25:28, there’s a reasoning as to why Rebekah was willing to do what she does—it motivates her in this instance. Genesis 25:28 “28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”

It’s the love or the favoritism that Rebekah has for Jacob that motivates her to listen in and concoct a plan for Jacob—and the plan is actually pretty simple.

Rebekah tells Jacob that she had overheard Isaac’s plan with Esau—she then tells Jacob in vv. 9-10 to “Go to the flock and bring [her] two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for [his] father, such as he loves.” for the purpose of Isaac blessing Jacob in Esau’s place.

Instead of hunting for game—Jacob should just get meat from the flock—this saves time.

Instead of Jacob preparing the food—Rebekah prepares it for him.

Or, in other words, because Rebekah loves Jacob more than she loves Esau—because she’s playing favorites with her children—she wants Jacob to receive the blessing from Isaac that’s normally reserved for the firstborn.

Of course, that brings up a question—what exactly is this blessing? And how is it different from the birthright that Jacob had already taken from Esau?

The birthright is essentially the right to be the head of household after the death of the patriarch, which also comes with material benefits to be able to run the household.

The blessing is essentially like a last will and testament with an added prophetic aspect to it—and in that prophetic aspect, is usually statements concerning the well-being that the father foresees for their children. So even though Esau no longer had the birthright, he could still receive a blessing from his father.

And although the birthright seems like a bigger deal, both the birthright and blessing were seen as vitally important elements of the Ancient Near Eastern culture.

So, Rebekah and Jacob come up with this scheme and in vv. 14-29, we see how it all plays out.

vv. 14-17 tell us that Jacob went out and got the animals.

He slaughtered the animals, and his mother prepared the food just how Isaac loved them.

Not only that, but Rebekah gets Esau’s clothes and dresses Jacob in them.

She even thinks about the fact that Esau had hairier arms than Jacob and she uses the skins of the goats to cover Jacob’s less than hairy arms and neck.

vv. 18-25 then shows us Jacob coming to see his father. Jacob lies and says that he is Esau and that he has done what Isaac had told him for the purpose of the blessing.

Now Isaac is skeptical—v. 20 points out his skepticism towards how quickly the food arrived. v. 21 shows us that Isaac wants Jacob to come closer so that he can feel him and know that he is Esau.

And even after feeling his hands, Isaac is still skeptical in v. 22 Isaac says, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

Nevertheless, Isaac eats the food, he drinks the wine, he kisses his son, smells his clothes and offers a blessing.

The blessing starts in v. 27, “See the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let people serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you , and blessed be everyone who blesses you.”

It’s actually a really nice blessing, but remember, this blessing wasn’t meant for Jacob—it was taken by Jacob through lies, deceit, and trickery. And all this is about to be found out in vv. 30-46.

The Result of the Deceitful Plot (30-46)

Almost as soon as Jacob leaves, Esau comes in from hunting and preparing food for Isaac. In v. 31, we see him go into his father’s room and tell him to “arise and eat of his son’s game, that [he] may bless [him.”

Of course, Isaac’s response ought to be expected, he starts with a simple question, “who are you?”

Because, remember, Isaac is blind and he had just been tricked into thinking that Jacob was Esau. So, when Esau responds by telling him who he is, Isaac’s reaction is violent trembling—I don’t think that this is necessarily anger—maybe more like a terror, but at the very least, it is a recognition of what had happened.

Isaac poses questions in the moment that I’m sure were answered in his mind rather quickly, “who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.”

Though Isaac realizes he had been tricked, there’s an element with Ancient Near Eastern blessings, that he realizes he can’t revoke what he had already stated to Jacob.

Esau cries out for a blessing anyways and Isaac’s response is that he had made Jacob lord over him. Nevertheless he does give a short blessing, in v. 39, “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

Isaac states that for a time, Esau (more likely his descendants) will serve Isaac, but he will grow weary of it and will break from the yoke of bondage.

Really, what Isaac states for Esau is that Esau and his descendants would live life in a place less fertile, that they will need to live by force or by war, that they would be subservient to Jacob, and that they would be restless in bondage.

It really doesn’t sound the same in terms of blessings compared to Jacob’s blessing.

And it results in Esau absolutely hating Jacob to the extent that v. 41 says that he plans to kill Jacob when “the days of mourning for [his] father” are ended, but Rebekah hears of Esau’s plan and tells Jacob to run to Laban—her brother—until Esau calms down.

Or, in other words, through the conniving of Rebekah and Jacob, this whole family is being ripped apart.

And as we read through the text, we’re really left with a question—what exactly does all this mean?

Remember, we’re tracing the lineage of the promised seed through the book of Genesis—in ch. 3, we’re told that someone is coming.

In ch. 15, we’re told that this someone will come through the lineage of Abraham.

In ch. 21, we see the birth of the promised child—Isaac, through whom God intends to keep His promises to Abraham.

In ch. 25, we see the birth of Esau and Jacob, but before their births, Rebekah could feel a struggle within her womb and she asked God why these things were happening. God’s response was that “the older shall serve the younger.”

That statement in their time period was unusual; and yet, what we see as time progresses is the fulfillment of God’s statement.

Through the taking of Esau’s birthright and now the stealing of the blessing, Esau will surely serve his younger brother.

Of course, that brings about a question—is God blessing Jacob for his trickery, his deception, and thievery?

I would argue that God has chosen to bless Jacob despite his trickery, deception and thievery.

From before their birth—God had already stated that Jacob would be stronger than Esau and that Esau would serve Jacob. We shouldn’t be surprised that that’s how it all turned out in Genesis 27.

What might surprise us is how exactly it all happened—with Jacob tricking, deceiving, and stealing.

What it shows us is that God, through His providence, had made a decision—and though Jacob sinned several times, God providentially worked exactly what He intended to happen.

Not that God was the author of that sin—in fact, we know from James that God cannot sin—but because through God’s sovereignty, He was still in control as Jacob sinned.

Paul explains this for us in Romans 9 as he speaks about Jewish people who have rejected Jesus. In Romans 9:6-18, we read:

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “the older shall serve the young.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I [rejected].”

Or, in other words, the situation that we read about in Genesis 27, though it covers several sinful choices of Rebekah and Jacob, shows us that what God decrees will occur despite the sinfulness of mankind.

Not because of what Isaac did or what Rebekah did. Not even because of what Jacob did or Esau did.

And truthfully, for those of us who believe—that offers a significant amount of comfort and peace—why? Because even though Jesus has set us free from sin, we still struggle with our own sinfulness.

Even though we’re not slaves to our unrighteousness in the same sense that we were prior to our salvation—we still fight and war against the old man—the flesh.

And that’s precisely where our application comes in for this morning.

Application

In a passage like this, we can’t really make application without considering what the New Testament also teaches in conjunction with this passage. If we were to just take what Genesis 27 states, our application could range from being a bit superficial to being outrightly wrong.

On the superficial side of things, we might state that the application is to not act like Jacob—that what he did was wrong and you shouldn’t trick people (and all that is true), but it doesn’t take into account the fact that even though Jacob lied, tricked, and deceived people, God still blesses him.

On the outrightly wrong side of things, we could take into account the fact that Jacob lied, tricked, and deceived people, but God blessed him anyways and we could just assume that it really doesn’t matter we do then as Christians, we can lie, trick, deceive; we can sin, and God will still bless us, which is completely wrong.

What a passage like Genesis 27 does for us as Christians today is that it reminds us that whatever God decrees occurs—or, in other words, you cannot mess up God’s plan for your life. And that’s the foundation for our application.

In the case of Jacob and Esau, God had already chosen Jacob according to Romans 9—and it had nothing to do with what either one of them had done.

Rather, God had chosen Jacob simply because He loved Jacob regardless of what Jacob chose to do.

We could look at the passage and make assumptions—that Jacob was so horrendous as a person, there’s no way that God would love him, there’s no way that God would use him, there’s no way that God would choose him; and yet, God did love him, God did use him, and God did choose him.

We could look at the passage and make accusations—that God chose someone who shouldn’t have been chosen, God chose someone who acted wickedly, and God wasn’t being fair.

But the reality is that we could say the same exact things about ourselves—that we’re horrendous as people, that God couldn’t love us, that God couldn’t use us, that God wouldn’t choose us; all those things are absolutely true, and yet, if you are His, He loves you, He works within you, He chose you.

The reality is that we could say that God shouldn’t choose us, God shouldn’t pick us because we’re so wicked, and that it isn’t fair that He’s elected us; and all those things are absolutely true, and yet, if you are His, He chose you, He picked you, He elected you.

God chooses His own people because He loves them—and that isn’t based on the sinfulness of His people, but rather His own grace and mercy.

There’s a beauty behind this idea—because it makes it abundantly clear that if you are His, you are His indeed.

And nothing you do can stop you from being His—Jesus Himself says that in John 10:28–30 “28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.””

We ought to rest in this truth and it ought to give us a sense of peace and of great hope.

In life, we often stumble and we often fall—we can allow those moments in which we fall to derail us further in the spiritual journey that we’re in.

We can allow the moments of our sin to cause us to fall further into sin—or we can do as Solomon says about the righteous man who falls—that he falls seven times and keeps getting up.

We can allow our moments of weakness and sin drive us into despair—or we can remember that God has saved us regardless of when we stumble in our own sin—and the proper response is to repent, get back up, and keep walking with Jesus.

If you are His—God has chosen you and He never let’s go of His own people.

Trust Him and have hope—you will persevere as a Christian because God loves His own people and holds them in His own hand forever.

With that said, there are plenty who will hear this—who will read about Jacob’s deceit, his trickery, and sinfulness and think—”well, that means it really doesn’t matter how I live my life.” Let me state clearly that that isn’t remotely true.

In fact, if you claim to believe—if you claim to follow Jesus and yet, you have no problem continuing in sin, let me have a very serious conversation with you right now: you probably don’t believe like you claim to.

Here’s how I know—if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, He has set you free from the bondage of sin and has given you the Holy Spirit.

If you’re truly a believer in Jesus Christ—the Holy Spirit will convict you when you sin. Meaning, if you’re a true follower of Jesus Christ, if you continue to live in sin anyways, the Holy Spirit will continue to convict you for your sin—you’ll feel miserable as you continue in your sin.

John makes this whole point very clear in 1 John 3:6 “6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” The idea being that if you volitionally choose to keep sinning without repentance, you don’t actually know him, you haven’t seen him.

That doesn’t mean that you won’t stumble with sin, but it does mean that as a Christian, you’re actually struggling with your sin much like Paul struggled with the old man who kept dragging him into sin.

You aren’t just succumbing to every sinful temptation that comes your way—you’re warring against the sinful flesh of your heart.

A passage like Genesis 27 doesn’t give us warrant to keep on sinning.

To assume that it does is a complete misreading of the text.

A text like Genesis 27 reminds us that even when we fall into our sin—if we are His, we are His.

And while we shouldn’t jump headlong into sin—we don’t need to despair when we do fall into sin.

When we stumble—as a Christian, it’s not the end of the world—we need to get back up and keep going.

Jacob committed a lot of different sins because he decided having the birthright and the blessing was worth tricking, deceiving, and hurting the people around him.

But God still chose to work in him and through him despite his sinfulness.

Really, this account reminds us that God works through sinful people to accomplish His purposes. Of course, His grace doesn’t excuse our sins, but it assures us that even when we fall, His sovereign plan remains intact.

If you belong to Jesus—your sinful failures do not define you, His finished work on the cross does and He has promised to hold His own people in His own hand.

And that should give you hope and help you have peace in Him who gives peace. You are going to fall into sin again, but if you are His—He still holds you in His hand and you didn’t stop His plan for your life.

Look to the cross of Jesus Christ, give thanks and have hope.

And for those of you that have chosen to keep living in sin—heed this warning. True faith produces a desire to fight against sin—you can’t be complacent in your sin if you’re truly His.

If you lack the desire to fight against sin—today’s the day to repent, turn to Christ today.

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