Gen 27 The Sting

No one wants to be scammed, especially by their family! Perhaps many of us can share experiences of conniving and scheming between siblings in our own families. We have also seen actions and consequences that emerge from parents’ favoritism toward their children.

Isaac preferred Esau, the firstborn. Rebekah favored the younger Jacob. That conflict between the father and mother reached a head when Isaac was old and nearing the end of his life on earth.

27:1-4 Isaac Calls Esau to Bring Food and Be Blessed.

Note the Ancient Near Eastern practice of the deathbed blessing, like our custom of a written will. Compare Jacob himself in Ge 48-49, when he blesses his descendants before his death.

27:5-10 Rebekah Calls Jacob, Planning to Deceive Isaac.

Rebekah: One can become so competitive regarding his child’s success over others that he loses sight of what is ethical and right. It’s all right for Rebekah to want what is best for Jacob, but only within the boundaries of righteousness.

Why are we so consumed with having to be first? The Bible calls this trait “selfish ambition” or “vainglory.”

2 Co 12:20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances;

Ga 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,

Php 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Like mother, like son. Jacob was fiercely competitive. He saw his brother as a rival, a threat.

Jacob took advantage of even his father’s weakness, when Isaac was old, and his eyes were too dim to see.

Again, he cared only for his own profit, without concern for the grief he caused his aging father.

Though Jacob knew what he was going to do was wrong, his only concern was not, “This is wrong. I must not do it.” But rather, “What if I get caught and punished?”

Contrast with Joseph, who could perhaps have slept with Potiphar’s wife with no one ever knowing. Without any nega­tive consequences.

Today: “Will I get pregnant?” “Will I get a disease?” “Will I go to jail?”

Our society has changed. In past generations, when Americans generally believed in God more seriously, they wanted to do right just because it was right. Now that many in our culture have disposed of God, the only motivation people have for obeying the law is to avoid negative repercussions. They have lost the idea of accountability to God. Take paying taxes, for example.

And, just like Jacob, many are deciding that they can get away with it.

Of course, the Scripture teaches ...

Num 32:23 “But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.

Yet, whether one’s sin is exposed or not is not the only issue. God sees and knows all that we do, and even a so-called secret sin is a sin against Him.

27:11-17 Rebekah and Jacob Prepare the Scam.

Rebekah was a liar, too. Not in anything she said, but by what she did. Cooking the savory food, putting Esau’s gar­ments on Jacob, and putting the goat skins on his hands and neck. Deliberate deception is the same as a lie, whether we deceive by verbal language or body language.

27:18-25 Isaac Succumbs to the Deception.

Jacob was a liar. Lying is never right and cannot be justi­fied, even when one thinks his intention is good.

Ge 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me.” 20 Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God caused it to happen to me.”

Jacob even included God in his lie. Then he confirmed that lie.

Ge 27:24 And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.”

Isaac was initially suspicious for several reasons:

[1] How did his son get back so quickly?

[2] Why did the voice he heard sound like Jacob’s?

He should have checked it out instead of allowing himself to be fooled. He should have known better. Surely he knew of Jacob’s ability to deceive and Rebekah’s favoritism.

Listen to your suspicions if they are based on facts. Find a way to prove or disprove them without assuming the guilt of the other person. Give the benefit of the doubt, but don’t be gullible. If you have doubts, check them out.

27:26-29 Isaac Blesses Jacob Instead of Esau.

Ge 27:29 May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.”

[1] PRIORITY OVER ESAU: Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

[2] INHERITANCE OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT: Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.

See also Ge 28:3-4, 13-14.

Ge 28:3 “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 “May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”

Ge 28:13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14 “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

27:30-38 Esau Arrives and Weeps Over His Loss.

What is it like to be tricked, swindled, even betrayed – by a member of one’s own family?

How could one do that to his own brother or sister?

How does this apply to the church?

34 Esau cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”

38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and wept.

Jacob had again lived up to (or lived down to!) his name. To “jacob" (Hebrew) a person was to supplant, usurp, or grab what was theirs. Note how Esau stated this connection.

Ge 27:36 Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted (Heb, “jacobed”) me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

At the same time, Esau was at fault too. He was also to blame for consequences that resulted from his own choices. Note in the NT:

Heb 12:16 [see] that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Esau had made a decision which could not be reversed. So it is with many of our choices today. If only we could turn back the clock and have a “do-over!”

27:39-40 Isaac Grants a Blessing to Esau.

We might wonder why Isaac did not take back the blessing from Jacob and give it to Esau. After all, Jacob had de­ceived him. In his mind, he had been blessing Esau, anyway. And these words were spoken orally, not written. And Isaac was still alive. Why did he not simply reverse what he had said and switch the blessing over to Esau?

In the Ancient Near East, the father’s deathbed verbal blessing was unchangeable and inviolable. Once spoken, it was legally binding; it had the force of law. It was equivalent to a will in our society, but it was even more final in that it could not be changed or revoked. It was like the laws of the Babylonians in Daniel’s day and the laws of the Medes and Persians in the time of Esther.

27:41-46 Esau Seeks Revenge. Rebekah Sends Jacob Away.

How would you feel if you were Esau? You hunt the game, come in from the field, prepare the food, and find out your kid brother stole your blessing! You would be angry, just as he was.

Ge 27:41 So Esau hated [or bore a grudge] 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.”

How should Esau have reacted instead?

We cannot control the behavior of other people.

But we can (and must) control our reactions. How?

How does Rebekah again bail out Jacob and show her favoritism toward him? (27:42-45)

Rebekah thinks that in just a few days Esau’s anger will subside and that he will forget what Jacob did to him. (27:44-45) Is she right? No. How long does Jacob actually stay away from Esau? At least 14 years, the time it takes for him to marry Leah and Rachel.

How does Esau ultimately respond to Jacob at their next meeting? Unbelievably ...

Ge 33:9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”

Did that response not leave Esau happier and more blessed by God than if he had harbored anger and resentment?

What would you say about Rebekah’s attitude (27:46)?

What about this? “If my child marries the wrong person, I just can’t go on!”