The Blindness of Isaac
Notes
Transcript
I. Two types of Blindness.
I. Two types of Blindness.
It is not a coincidence that Chapter 26 ends with these verses.
When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hethite.
They made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
When we look at the account of Abraham seeking a wife for Isaac, he had made his servant swear not to find a wife from the Caananite women for Isaac. Abraham knew that God was creating a people separate unto himself. Yet Esau seemed to have no regard for this. He not only married a Canaanite woman but he took to Canaanite women to be his wives.
The scriptures do not tells us how or why these women made Isaac and Rebecca’s life bitter but we can assume it was due to the pagan customs and culture of the Canaanite people. Esau once again disqualifies himself from being the line from which God blesses.
Now we come to Genesis 27:1-4
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he answered, “Here I am.”
He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death.
So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me.
Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”
The fist type of blindness we see here is physical blindness. Isaac is old and his sight has become very bad.
But there is a second type of blindness that is worse than physical blindness.
But to completely appreciate the author’s intent I want to show you a passage of scripture that almost parallels this today’s text.
Abraham was now old, getting on in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything.
Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his household who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh,
and I will have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live,
but will go to my land and my family to take a wife for my son Isaac.”
In chapter 24 we see that Abraham was concerned with God’s promise and will. Yet standing in stark contrast is chapter 27. Where we see that Isaac is not concerned at all about God’s promise. He is concerned with his appetite. Isaac is willing to give the blessing to a man who is rash and wild. A man that has repeatedly disqualied himself, all for some meat.
Esau was willing to sell his birthright for a cup of stew. Now Isaac was willing to give his blessing for a plate of meat.
What ever appetites you feed will control what your able to see.
What ever appetites you feed will control what your able to see.
Greed will blind you to the beauty of generosity
Selfishness will blind you to the beauty of gratitude
Uncontrolled Lust will blind you to the beauty of sex within marriage.
Unforgiveness/Bitterness will blind you to the good in those around you and keep you from experiencing the forgiveness of God.
Consuming worldly Entertainment will blind you to the seriousness of sin and keep you from seeing the beauty of God’s law.
laziness will blind you to the beauty of God’s kingdom work.
Whatever appetites you feed will blind you to the ways of God. It will cause you to lose discernment. This is why as your pastor I warn you of things like witchcraft as entertainment or musicians like Taylor Swift. What you consume will blind you. Your appetites left unchecked by the gospel will blind you.
We are quick to be able to point out the foolishness of Isaac and Esau but I wonder how much we have been blinded by what we consume.
And if this idea of blindness doesn’t concern us than we ourselves have become the proof of its truth.
Isaac wasn’t just physically blind he was spiritually blind. His appetite had caused him to lose his discernment. He would have given the blessing to a son that had no regard for the covenant God had given to Abraham and now Isaac.
Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in,
Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said,
‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’
Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you.
Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves.
Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.”
Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.
Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”
His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”
Now remember that that scripture tells us that Esau marriages made Isaac and Rebecca’s life miserable. So when we look at the big picture here. We can see Rebecca’s two-fold reason for not wanting Esau to be in charge of the family.
Rebecca favored Isaac
Leadership under Esau once Isaac died would be unbearable.
So Rebecca hatches this plan to deceive Isaac.
So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved.
Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them.
She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.
Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
This part always makes me laugh a little bit. I mean how hairy was Esau that a goat skin was a suitable substitute for Esau’s hands and neck? We’ve all seen some pretty hairy people before but this must be some sort of record.
When he came to his father, he said, “My father.” And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
Jacob replied 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 said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” He replied, “Because the Lord your God made it happen for me.”
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 closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
He 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.”
Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.
Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.”
So Issac is at first suspicious but after feeling his hands, touching his neck, and smelling his clothes. Isaac is convinced and blesses Jacob.
So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled 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.
May God give to you— from the dew of the sky and from the richness of the land— an abundance of grain and new wine.
May peoples serve you and nations bow in worship to you. Be master over your relatives; may your mother’s sons bow in worship to you. Those who curse you will be cursed, and those who bless you will be blessed.
If we are honest most of us are bothered by this turn of events.
We ask questions like how can God bless deception?
Before I answer this question lets see what happens.
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from his hunting.
He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”
Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”
When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”
But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, 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 a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”
Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.
His father Isaac answered him, Look, your dwelling place will be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of the sky above.
You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will break his yoke from your neck.
Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.
So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,
and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides—
until your brother’s rage turns away from you 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 you both in one day?”
So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls. If Jacob marries someone from around here, like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?”
So because of Jacob and Rebecca’s deception. Jacob flees for his life. Because of this deception He never sees his mother again. Because of his deception Jacob eventually will become the deceived. There is no evidence in the passage that God approved of or blessed Jacob’s decision to deceive.
So then how are we to intepret that God allowed Jacob to receive the blessing?
We must remember that Jacob is not the fulfillment of the blessing but rather the vehicle of it. The fulfillment of the blessing is found not in imperfect Jacob but rather the perfect lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
So when we look at the big picture. The big picture of history we see this same theme over and over again.
God will use imperfect vessels to carry the message of redemption to the world.
For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
You see God is glorified in using even sinners to carry out his redemptive purposes in the world. Because it is through this that his power is revealed. There is nothing that can stand in the way of God’s plan. No matter how much the world rebels against God. No matter how bleak things look. God’s power overshadows all things. He is capable of bringing everything to pass that he has promised not because of man but in spite of man.
So this idea should bring great comfort to the believer and unbelievable fear to those who reject the gospel.
to those rejecting the gospel:
This should cause you great concern. For scripture says that one day when Christ returns he will bring with him judgement . The whole earth will be destroyed by fire and the unrepentant cast into the lake of fire for all eternity without hope.
Yes even this is the promise of God and it will come to pass.
To the Believer:
You have all hope of an eternity basking in the love of God free from care and concern, Free from death and decay, Free from disease and pain.
But Maybe your here today and you find yourself afraid of world events. Everywhere we turn we are seeing the fruits of a nation that has forgotten God . The News is speaking threats of World War.
Remember your hope is not found in this earth but in the promise of God’s perfect eternal kingdom.
To quote the World Watch News
Remember no matter what is in the news the purpose of the Lord will stand.
God’s plan will not be stopped. So sleep well tonight. Rest in that promise. Rest in the comfort of the gospel.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Lets pray.