FRAMEWORKS:
Genesis 27: Jacob Steals the Blessing
PART
2C: Gen 25,28-36 – Jacob's Story
Ch.27:
Jacob steals Esau's blessing
Ch.28:
Jacob leaves for Haran & dreams of God
Ch.29:
Jacob tricked into marrying both Rachel and Leah
Ch.30:
A race for children and sheep & goats
Ch.31:
Jacob leaves & is caught by Laban
Ch.32:
Jacob prepares to meet Esau; wrestles with God
Ch.33:
Jacob meets Esau
Ch.34:
Dinah & the Shechemites [An aside]
Ch.35:
Moving through the Land
Ch.36:
Esau's Descendants; death of Isaac
[We
see more of Jacob in the latter part of Joseph's story.]
FRAMEWORKS:
Genesis 27: Jacob Steals the Blessing
v.1-4
Isaac prepares to bless Esau
v.5-17
Rebekah guides Jacob on how to deceive Isaac
v.18-27
Isaac is Deceived by Jacob
v.28-29
Isaac Blesses Jacob
v.30-38
Isaac realises the deception
v.39-40
Isaac blesses Esau
v.41-46
Rebekah advises Jacob to flee
v.1-4
Isaac prepares to bless Esau
v.1
When
Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that
he could no longer see, he called for Esau his
older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered.
v.2
Isaac
said, “I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death.
v.3
Now
then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the
open country to hunt some wild game for me.
v.4
Prepare
me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so
that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
[Notes:
Isaac
believes in blessings for the first-born son – prophetic decrees
of goodness over them. He considers the time is right for Esau
to be blessed. Sadly i) he has not taken into account this son's
disdaining his birthright and ii) Rebekah has obviously not told
him what God had said about them when she was carrying them so
iii) he is going now purely on his human desires and favouritism
based on those desires.]
v.5-17
Rebekah guides Jacob on how to deceive Isaac
v.5
Now
Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau
left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back,
v.6
Rebekah
said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your
brother Esau,
v.7
‘Bring
me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I
may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I
die.'
v.8
Now,
my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:
v.9
Go
out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can
prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes
it.
v.10
Then
take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing
before he dies.”
v.11
Jacob
said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man
while I have smooth skin.
v.12
What
if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and
would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”
v.13
His
mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do
what I say; go and get them for me.”
v.14
So
he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared
some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.
v.15
Then
Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she
had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.
v.16
She
also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the
goatskins.
v.17
Then
she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had
made.
[Notes:
Rachel
has a plan to get Jacob the prophetic blessing and so tells him
how to disguise himself to fool the nearly blind old man.]
v.18-27
Isaac is Deceived by Jacob
v.18
He
went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered.
“Who is it?”
v.19
Jacob
said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as
you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you
may give me your blessing.”
v.20
Isaac
asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The
Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.
v.21
Then
Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to
know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
v.22
Jacob
went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The
voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
v.23
He
did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of
his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him.
v.24
“Are
you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied.
v.25
Then
he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I
may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate;
and he brought some wine and he drank.
v.26
Then
his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
v.27
So
he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of
his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is
like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.
[Notes:
So
the plan is put into operation and so Isaac is fooled and gives
Jacob the blessing.]
v.28-29
Isaac Blesses Jacob
v.28
May
God give you heaven's dew and earth's richness— an
abundance of grain and new wine.
v.29
May
nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord
over your brothers and may the sons of your mother bow down
to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those
who bless you be blessed.”
[Notes:
The
prophetic blessing decrees for Joseph included
•
prosperity
and abundance
•
other
nations [including of his brothers] being subservient to his
•
curses
on those who curse him, blessings on those who bless him.]
v.30-38
Isaac realises the deception
v.30
After
Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father's
presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.
v.31
He
too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then
he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game,
so that you may give me your blessing.”
v.32
His
father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered,
“your firstborn, Esau.”
v.33
Isaac
trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game
and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed
him—and indeed he will be blessed!”
v.34
When
Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter
cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”
v.35
But
he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
v.36
Esau
said, “Isn't he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he
has taken advantage of me: He took my birth-right, and now he's
taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven't you reserved any blessing
for me?”
v.37
Isaac
answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all
his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain
and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
v.38
Esau
said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father?
Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
[Notes:
Afterwards
when Esau comes in, the deception is revealed but Isaac feels
he cannot withdraw the blessing over Jacob.]
v.39-40
Isaac blesses Esau
v.39
His
father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away
from the earth's richness, away from the dew of heaven above.
v.40
You
will live by the sword and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from
off your neck.”
[Notes:
The
prophetic nature of the blessing is revealed as he prophesies
that Esau will not have abundance but will have battles and struggles
and will be subservient to his brother but will eventually break
free from him.]
v.41-46
Rebekah advises Jacob to flee
v.41
Esau
held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father
had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my
father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
v.42
When
Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for
her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning
to avenge himself by killing you.
v.43
Now
then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban
in Harran.
v.44
Stay
with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides.
v.45
When
your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you
did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why
should I lose both of you in one day?”
v.46
Then
Rebekah said to Isaac, “I'm disgusted with living because of these
Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this
land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth
living.”
[Notes:
Rebekah
is aware of Esau's hostile intent towards Jacob after this and
so counsels him to flee to Laban in the north. She makes excuses
to Isaac for Jacob leaving, that she doesn't want him to take
a wife from Canaan, because she knows he still holds true the
intents of his father Abraham through God's blessing.]
Lessons
or Challenges to Ponder from Genesis Chapter 27
1.
As the story moves on, Jacob the twister dupes his father into
giving him the prophetic blessing due to the older son, with the
help of his mother. A picture of split family loyalties. Beware
having favourites and beware using authority wrongly, are the
obvious lessons here.
2.
As we have noted previously, our actions always have consequences
and Jacob has to flee and Rebekah loses her favourite son. We
really must learn about consequences.
Continue to Chapter 28