Isaac Blesses Jacob
Genesis 27:18-46 So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?” 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 bless me.”
But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”
“Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.
Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”
So Jacob came 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.” Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”
“Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.”
Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.
Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said:
“Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine. May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of 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.”
The Stolen Blessing
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt. He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, “My father, sit up and eat of your son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?”
“I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will be blessed!”
When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? (Supplanter/Deceiver) For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”
Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
His father Isaac answered him: “Behold, your dwelling place shall be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of heaven above. You shall live by the sword, and serve your brother.
But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”
There is a saying that “If something seems too good to be true, it generally is.” This story bears out that statement. Isaac is blind and must depend on his other senses, including his hearing. When Jacob brings the savory food Isaac loves, Isaac recognizes Jacob’s voice; yet, he convinces himself he is dealing with Esau because he wants to believe so. Isaac wants that food, and he wants it now. No matter how hairy Esau is, he can’t possibly be as hairy as a goat! And if Isaac can smell Esau’s clothing, why doesn’t he smell the scent of goat on the skins Jacob has attached to his arms and his neck? The same man who was willing to attempt to deceive King Abimelech doesn’t even consider the possibility of someone else being even trickier than he is.
Esau’s response is also very interesting. “Is he not rightly named Jacob? (Supplanter/Deceiver) For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Esau has a faulty memory, for he has freely given up his birthright to assuage his hunger, taking no thought for what he has actually done. Traditionally, once Esau is returning from hunting and meets his brother cooking, he should be able to ask for food without any conditions being set. Perhaps Jacob originally asked Esau for his birthright as a joke, never expecting that Esau would actually agree. Esau has given up his birthright; Jacob has not taken it. Isaac does give Esau a blessing, but he doesn’t know what to say and improvises, expressing his frustration and anger as he pronounces over Esau the scanty blessing he has reserved for Jacob.
Talk about a dysfunctional family! Isaac isn’t much of a father, favoring one twin against the other, following his appetites rather than God’s leading. Rebecca is bitter and manipulative. Esau and Jacob are as much victims of their parents’ poor relationship as anything. Nobody in this situation is enjoying any peace despite their best efforts to do so.
What if you have been born into a dysfunctional family? The plain fact is that most families have a certain amount of dysfunction; the question is what do we do with the results? There are innumerable self-help books attempting to advise people on fixing themselves, but God is still the ultimate People Fixer. God is the Peace-giver and God is the One who can help us heal from whatever damage we may have incurred from our families of origin. Let’s pray for God to heal us, rather than depending on gimmicks. Memorizing particular scriptures that speak to you is another very helpful device. Bitterness over family dysfunction will only make things worse instead of better. And we must want to be healed. God cannot change us as long as we are clinging to our hurts, nourishing them and cherishing them.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, You are the One who can heal all emotional damage and make us whole and healthy. Please help us to allow You to heal us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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