The Stolen Blessing
Notes
Transcript
Text: Genesis 26:34-28:9
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.
2 “Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death.
3 Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me.
4 Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
5 Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back,
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau,
7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’
8 Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.
9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves.
10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned.
12 What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”
13 His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”
14 So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved.
15 And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.
16 She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
17 Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.
18 So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”
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 bless me.”
20 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.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
22 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.”
23 Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”
25 “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.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
27 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.
28 May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth— an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 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.”
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt.
31 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.”
32 But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?” “I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
33 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!”
34 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!”
35 But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? 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?”
37 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?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39 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.
40 You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
41 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.”
42 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.
43 So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
44 Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—
45 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?”
46 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?”
1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. “Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” he commanded.
2 “Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
4 And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”
5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”
7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram.
8 And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,
9 Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.
Jim Hamilton’s Title: How to Ruin Your Life and Wreck Your Family: Seeking God’s Blessings Apart from God
It is never right to do wrong in order to get an opportunity to do what is right. (In other words, don’t fight sin with sin)
Ages in this story, deduced from later biblical details
Joseph was 30 years old when he entered Pharoah’s service (Gen 41:46)
There were 7 years of plenty and at least 2 years of famine before Joseph was reunited with his family
At that time (when he moved down to Egypt to be with Joseph), Jacob was 130 years old (Gen 47:9), and Joseph would have been 39 or 40 years old.
This means that Jacob was about 90-91 years old when Joseph was born.
Joseph was the last one of Jacob’s children born in Paddan-Aram, about 7 years after he got married.
This means that Jacob was about 84 years old when he married Leah and Rachel, 7 years after arriving.
And it means that he was about 77 years old when he deceived his father Isaac.
So Isaac was 137 years old when Jacob deceived him, and although he thought he was about to die, he lived another 43 years.
Isaac would still have been alive when Jacob’s sons sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt (He would have died about the same time Joseph came to power in Egypt, although neither he nor Jacob knew that Joseph was still alive).
This passage highlights for us the sinfulness of the chosen family, and it also shows us God sovereign and good plan to bring about His blessing despite His people’s sinfulness. God’s purpose will not be thwarted by sin; instead, God will accomplish His purpose through it.
First we will consider the sins of each one here, and then we will consider the disastrous results of their sin.
Esau’s Sins (26:34-35)
Esau’s Sins (26:34-35)
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Polygamy - taking 2 wives
Intermarriage with Canaanites — marrying Hittites, descendants of Canaan who is under God’s curse.
At the end of the passage (Gen 28:6-9), Esau takes another wife, adding to his polygamy and intermarriage with ungodly people.
Esau did not value God; he only valued physical pleasures and possessions, and they became his downfall.
Isaac’s Sins (27:1-4)
Isaac’s Sins (27:1-4)
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.
2 “Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death.
3 Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me.
4 Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
Ignoring or losing focus of God’s plan — Isaac knew that it was God’s plan to pass the blessing to his younger son Jacob; but Isaac lost sight of God’s long-term plan, or possibly he was rebelling against it.
Being controlled by physical desires — his physical appetites led him astray. The word “love” here is usually reserved for relationships between family members (husbands and wives, parents and children). The fact that it’s used here for Isaac’s feeling about food indicates his uncontrolled desire to fulfill his fleshly appetites.
Rebekah’s Sins (27:5-13)
Rebekah’s Sins (27:5-13)
Deceiving her husband (v. 5-7)
5 Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back,
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau,
7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’
Leading her son into sin (v. 8-13)
8 Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.
9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves.
10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned.
12 What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”
13 His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”
Seeking to fulfill God’s plan in her own way
God had told her in Genesis 25:23 “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
Jacob’s Sins (27:14-27)
Jacob’s Sins (27:14-27)
Listening to the voice of his mother (v. 14-18)
14 So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved.
15 And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.
16 She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
17 Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.
18 So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”
Jacob is a grown man (77 years old); he should have respectfully refused to follow his mother’s sinful plan and trusted God to bring about His plan in His own time and way.
Instead, like Adam (Gen 3:17) and Abraham (Gen 16:2), Jacob listened to the voice of the woman who was leading him into sin.
Lying to his father (4x - v. 19-27)
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 bless me.”
20 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.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
22 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.”
23 Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”
25 “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.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
27 So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him…
Four specific lies recorded in addition to the other elements of deception.
And at least 4 of the 10 commandments he is breaking in this account:
Jacob is failing to honor his father.
He’s stealing the blessing from his brother.
He is bearing false witness. And…
Taking the Lord’s name in vain (v. 20)
20 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.
He takes God’s name in vain and also demonstrates that he has not yet committed himself to following Yahweh as his God.
Results of these sins
Results of these sins
Jacob received the blessing (v. 27-29)
27 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.
28 May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth— an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 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 blessing given to Abraham is now passed on to Jacob — but at what cost?
Esau missed out on the blessing (v. 30-40)
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt.
31 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.”
32 But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?” “I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
33 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!”
34 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!”
35 But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? 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?”
37 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?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39 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.
40 You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
Esau only cared about receiving the blessing — he cared nothing about God.
The blessing for Esau is more of a curse.
The family is fractured
Terms of family relationship are all over this chapter:
“Son” or “sons” 25 times in this chapter
“Father” 24 times
“Brother” 13 times
“Mother” 5 times
-Isaac & Rebekah’s relationship broken
-Isaac & Jacob’s relationship broken
-Esau & Rebekah’s relationship broken
-Esau & Jacob’s relationship broken
41 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.”
-Jacob & Rebekah’s relationship broken (by his moving away and never seeing her again)
Jacob flees from Esau
42 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.
43 So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
44 Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—
45 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?”
46 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?”
The whole family is broken apart, and now Jacob has to leave his family and go alone to a faraway land.
Finally Isaac repents?
and willingly passes on God’s blessing to Jacob
1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. “Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” he commanded.
2 “Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.
3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
4 And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”
5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Now Isaac willingly passes on the blessing to Jacob, as he should have done in the first place.
This seems to indicate that Isaac realized he had done wrong and was now seeking to do what was right.
Esau deepens his sin
marrying another wife
6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”
7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram.
8 And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,
9 Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.
Applications
God’s Purposes Will Prevail
God’s Purposes Will Prevail
God will accomplish His purposes even when people seek to thwart His purposes.
Sin Destroys Relationships
Sin Destroys Relationships
Sin breaks our relationship with God and with other people.
God doesn’t need us to sin in order to accomplish His purposes.
We must trust God’s plan and timing.
We must repent when we do sin.
Only One Man Can Truly Bring God’s Blessing to the World
Only One Man Can Truly Bring God’s Blessing to the World
The blessing is passed on to Jacob — through his seed all nations will be blessed; but clearly he is not the one through whom all nations will be blessed.
We continue to look for another — one who will perfectly love God and follow His commands, so that blessing can come to the world.
Only through the perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ, can the world experience God’s blessing. Jesus is the true Seed of the Woman, the Seed of Abraham, the True Israel, the Son of David, who has brought God’s blessing for all the families of the earth by His perfect life, death, and resurrection.
By grace through faith we receive this blessing:
6 So also, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.
8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
