Genesis 27.18-29-Isaac Unknowingly Blesses Jacob
Thursday June 1, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 27:18-29-Isaac Unknowingly Blesses Jacob
Lesson # 155
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 27:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of Genesis 27.
On Tuesday evening we studied Genesis 27:1-4, which records the conspiracy of Isaac and Esau to secretly secure the blessing of the birthright for Esau rather than Jacob, which was against the will of God.
Last evening we noted Genesis 27:5-17, which records for us the conspiracy of Rebekah and Jacob to deceive Isaac and secure the blessing of the birthright for Jacob, which would thwart the conspiracy of Isaac and Esau from succeeding.
This evening we will study Genesis 27:18-29, which records the success of Rebekah’s plan where Jacob successfully deceived his father Isaac into thinking he was Esau so that Isaac unknowingly bestowed upon him the family blessing rather than Esau.
Genesis 27:1, “Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, ‘My son.’ And he said to him, ‘Here I am.’”
Genesis 27:2, “Isaac said, ‘Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death.’”
Genesis 27:3-4, “Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”
Genesis 27:5-7, “Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, ‘Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’”
Genesis 27:8, “Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you.”
Genesis 27:9, “Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.”
Genesis 27:10, “Then you shall bring it to your father that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”
Genesis 27:11, “Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, ‘Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man.’”
Genesis 27:12, “Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”
Genesis 27:13, “But his mother said to him, ‘Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.’”
Genesis 27:14, “So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.”
Genesis 27:15, “Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.”
Genesis 27:16, “And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.”
Genesis 27:17, “She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.”
Genesis 27:18, “Then he came to his father and said, ‘My father.’ And he said, ‘Here I am. Who are you, my son?’”
Isaac’s question, “who are you, my son” indicates also that he has not identified the voice as being Jacob’s or Esau’s implying that Jacob was impersonating the voice of his brother Esau.
Being brothers, there was certainly some similarity in their two voices.
Isaac was expecting Esau and not Jacob and he could smell the dinner and so he presumes that it was Esau.
Genesis 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.’”
We can be sure that Jacob did not want Isaac to question him at all in order to conceal his true identity.
He lies to his father and identifies himself as Esau in order to assure his father that he had done as he was told and was ready to receive the blessing.
Notice also that Jacob requests that his father “get up, sit” indicating that Isaac was lying down in bed and as we noted before, expecting his death would be soon.
Of course, as we noted, he lived another eighty years.
Genesis 27:20, “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.’”
Isaac was a bit suspicious since he asks another question, namely, how did he accomplish the task of killing the wild game and preparing it so quickly since Isaac had just sent Esau out?
Jacob is in trouble here but rises to the challenge and invokes the name of the Lord as being the reason for his quick success in catching the wild game for his father.
This will prompt a further question and investigation from Isaac.
Jacob excused his sin by claiming that the Lord gave him success.
By doing so, he is using the Lord’s name in vain and compounding his lie with blasphemy.
Exodus 20:7, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”
Jacob’s response does not satisfy Isaac and aroused his father’s suspicions further since there is no record of Esau ever mentioning the Lord’s name.
Isaac’s response here to Jacob’s impersonation of his brother indicates that Isaac was not out of it mentally.
His response also indicates that he suspected that Rebekah might attempt to deceive him since she was totally against him blessing Esau rather than Jacob.
Thus, far we have seen that Isaac cannot trust his eyesight because he is blind.
Then, we have seen that he does not trust his hearing, which is indicated by his next question, which appeals to his sense of touch.
Now, those who have children will know that sometimes it is hard to identify them by their voices since they can sound similar to each other.
Genesis 27:21, “Then Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.’”
Jacob’s worst fears are coming to pass when Isaac requests that he come closer so that he might touch him in order to confirm his identity.
He expressed this fear to his mother but as we will see the animal skins that he wore did the trick.
The distinctive quality and inflection of Jacob’s voice put his impersonation of Esau in jeopardy but the skin disguise does the trick and saves Jacob from being discovered by his father.
So Isaac knows that sometimes Esau can sound like Jacob and vice versa but now he is thinking to himself that they both cannot feel the same because he knows that Esau is very hairy and Jacob is not.
Genesis 27:22, “So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.’”
Genesis 27:23, “He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.”
Isaac has identified Jacob’s voice but the skin disguise has made him doubt his suspicions that Jacob is impersonating Esau.
His hearing says that he is talking to Jacob but his sense of touch tells him it is Esau.
The statement “he blessed him” is “not” a reference to the blessing of the inheritance but rather it is the blessing to admit Jacob into Isaac’s presence.
This is indicated by Isaac’s statement recorded in Genesis 27:25, “Bring it (the meal) to me and I will eat of my son’s game, that I may bless you.”
Remember, Genesis 27:3-4 records telling Esau to kill him some wild game and prepared it the way he likes so that he might bestow upon him the blessing of the inheritance and at this point in Genesis 27:23, Isaac has not eaten the meal.
Genesis 27:24, “And he said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ And he said, ‘I am.’”
Even after blessing Jacob, Isaac expresses his doubts as to the identity of the son speaking to him by asking Jacob point blank, “are you really my son Esau?”
Isaac still won’t eat the meal until he receives an answer for this point blank question.
It appears that it did not enter his mind that Jacob would attempt to deceive him but I am sure he knew that Rebekah would.
Genesis 27:25, “So he said, ‘Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son's game, that I may bless you.’ And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank.”
Three times we have seen that Isaac voiced his suspicions (Genesis 27:20, 22, 24) but in the end was deceived by his sense of touch (Genesis 27:16, 23) and smell (Genesis 27:27) and blessed Jacob instead of Esau.
Isaac’s decision was reached based upon all five senses: hearing, seeing, tasting, touching and smell and yet he was still deceived.
After Jacob answered this point blank question to his satisfaction, Isaac will now eat the meal.
By demanding to eat the meal, Isaac is imposing the test of taste.
The phrase “my son’s game” implies that Esau prepared Isaac’s favorite meal in accordance with a special recipe, which was distinctive of Esau’s skill in cooking, which endeared him to his father in the first place.
Isaac’s judgment is not impaired because of his blindness or poor health since he asks pointed questions and is suspicious and sensed that Rebekah was trying to thwart his attempt to bless Esau rather than Jacob.
Rather, his judgment is impaired because of his haste to bless Esau before Rebekah knows about it and he dies.
Isaac’s command to Esau to kill his favorite wild game and prepare his favorite meal for him expresses his urgency in bestowing the blessing upon Esau.
If Isaac wasn’t in such a rush, he would have requested the presence of Jacob along with Esau but because of his plan to secretly bless Esau without the presence of the entire family, he did not do this.
Therefore, Isaac will make a poor judgment for the sake of urgency.
Genesis 27:26, “Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Please come close and kiss me, my son.’”
The kiss was not only a token of true personal love and affection but of loyalty, thus making Jacob’s deception and treachery more deplorable.
The phrase “my son” here implies “my favorite” son who of course was Esau.
Genesis 27:27, “So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said, ‘See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed.”
The smell of Esau’s garments prompts an emotional response and blessing from him where he recalls the vocation of his son as a hunter.
The smell of Esau’s garments, which Jacob used to deceive his father, fully convince Isaac that Esau is standing before him.
Therefore, he proceeds to unknowingly pronounce the blessing of the inheritance upon Jacob.
The blessing that Isaac will unknowingly pronounce upon Jacob was inspired by God the Holy Spirit since he spoke by means of faith according to Hebrews 11:20 even though he was intending to go against the will of God by pronouncing a blessing upon Esau.
Hebrews 11:20, “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.”
Isaac’s intention was to bless Esau, which was against the will of the Lord and yet Isaac pronounced a blessing upon Jacob even though he did it in ignorance.
Like Isaac, the prophet Balaam was inspired by the Holy Spirit to bless Israel against his will (Numbers 23:11-12).
Also, the high priest in Jesus’ day spoke prophetically of the meaning of our Lord’s death, though he himself did not understand the real import of what he was saying (John 11:49-52).
Genesis 27:28, “Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine.”
When Isaac pronounces the blessing, he uses the term Elohim, “God,” and not the personal covenant name of God, Yahweh, “Lord” since he knows that Esau is not concerned about spiritual blessings but rather material blessings.
The first material blessing was the dew of heaven.
Dew is of great importance in Palestine since the area possesses a dry summer subtropical climate.
The entire Mediterranean Basin experiences this climate, in which a stationary high pressure system does not allow moisture to penetrate the region during the summer.
This system shifts to the south during the winter allowing moisture to penetrate.
Thus, the land is dependent upon dew throughout the summer.
Heavy dews are normal because of the great difference between night and day temperatures.
Bruce K. Waltke, “Dew from westerly and northwesterly Mediterranean winds plays an important role in the irrigation of crops in many parts of Palestine” (Genesis, A Commentary, page 379, Zondervan).
The second material blessing was “the fatness of the earth,” which is a figurative expression referring to the fertility of the land.
These first two material blessings would result in the third material blessing, namely, “an abundance of grain and new wine,” which refers to rich harvests.
It is interesting to note that these first three material blessings would be of interest to the settled farmer but of no interest to a nomadic hunter like Esau, making these blessings more appropriate for Jacob rather than Esau.
Genesis 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.”
The blessings contained in Genesis 27:29 are directly related to the nation of Israel since Jacob who later had his named changed by the Lord to “Israel” is the progenitor of that nation.
Also, they are Messianic in that they find their ultimate fulfillment in the Person of Jesus Christ who is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
“Peoples” is the noun `am (su^) (am), which refers to the entire Gentile population of the earth in contrast with the population of Israel.
Therefore, in relation to the nation of Israel, the blessing “May peoples serve you” refers to the fact that the entire earth’s population, the Gentiles, shall serve the nation of Israel.
In another sense, this prophecy is Messianic in that the entire earth’s population will serve the Lord Jesus Christ who is a descendant Abraham, Isaac and Jacob during His millennial reign (Psalm 22:27-28; Malachi 1:11; Zechariah 14:16).
“Nations” is the noun le’om (sa)l+) (leh-ome), which refers to the human race in their unified groups and reflecting their distinct characteristics.
Therefore, in relation to the nation of Israel, the blessing “May nations bow down to you” refers to the fact that all the Gentile nations shall serve the nation of Israel.
In another sense, this prophecy is Messianic in that all the Gentile nations will serve the Lord Jesus Christ who is a descendant Abraham, Isaac and Jacob during His millennial reign (Psalm 22:27-28; Malachi 1:11; Zechariah 14:16).
The plural form of the nouns le’om, “nations” and `am, “peoples” expresses the comprehensiveness of Israel and Jesus Christ’s dominion over the Gentile nations of the earth.
The command “Be master of your brothers” confirms the Lord’s prophecy to Rebekah recorded in Genesis 25:23 that “the older shall serve the younger.”
In Genesis 25:23, the Lord declares that the “older shall serve the younger” indicating that the younger son, Jacob would receive the inheritance and not Esau who was older.
“Master” is the noun gevir (ryb!G+) (ghe-veer), which is a technical term designating the position of inheritance and legal superiority over another.
Therefore, the command to Jacob to “be master of your brothers” denotes the fact that Jacob would hold the position of inheritance in the family and denotes his legal superiority over his brother Esau and that he would inherit his father’s position as patriarch over his clan.
The blessing “may your mother's sons bow down to you” does not imply that Rebekah had other children beside the twins.
But rather it denotes the fact that Rebekah’s descendants through Esau who were the Edomites would pay homage and show honor and respect to Jacob’s descendants who are the nation of Israel (See Genesis 36:1-43).
The blessing “cursed be those who curse you and blessed be those who bless you” is a reference to the blessing the Lord pronounced upon Abraham that is recorded in Genesis 12:3.
Genesis 12:3, “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Therefore, we see that the blessing “cursed be who curse you and blessed be those who bless you” indicates that Jacob is inheriting an Abrahamic blessing.
This blessing indicates that like his grandfather Abraham, the Lord would identify Himself with the cause of Jacob.
Therefore, this blessing indicates that like Abraham, blessing Jacob would be equivalent to doing it to God whereas those who curse Jacob would in effect be cursing God.
So like Abraham, those who curse Jacob and his descendants would be cursed by God and those who bless him would be blessed by God.
The nation of Israel is descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Therefore, those who curse Israel will be cursed by God and those who bless Israel will be blessed by God.