Thursday Night Bible Study

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Genesis 27:1-Genesis 28:9 

"You Will Reap What You Sow!" • 5.13.10 • Thursday Night Bible Study

Intro.

- Chapter 27 really begins in our Bibles with chapter 26:34.

• Genesis 26:34,35 : "When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah." : Several things stick out here. First, obviously, Esau has no regard for God's standard for marriage.

- But what if this is the one area where he compromised? What if in every other area, he followed perfectly? This is a major area to compromise in!

- The second point is similar to the first: He married Hittite women. The Hittites were not covenant people. They were of the line of Heth, which was of the cursed line of Canaan.

- Judith means "praised" and Basemath means "spice." Yes, he married a "Spice" girl!

- It may not be a reflection of them personally, but the fact that they were not covenant people, brought grief of mind to both Isaac and Rebekah.

- You can take your pick: The ESV says that they made life bitter, while the NLT says that they made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.

- We are not given the details, but something about Esau's association with them just killed the heart of his parents.

- Let's quickly recap what we know about Jacob and Esau. Esau was the hairy first born by seconds, but Jacob grabbed at his heel on the way out.

- Isaac loved Esau because of his game, Rebekah loved Jacob.

- Most importantly, God had decreed before either was born, that the promise of the Messiah and His lineage would carry through Jacob, the "younger" of the twins.

- While Jacob is a deceiver, Esau has proven through his actions that he was completely unconcerned with spiritual things. This marriage is just the latest proof of Esau's carnality.

- This is our background information. Now, we step into the convuluted world of Genesis 27, where we will follow one very strange story.

Text

• Genesis 27:1-4 : "Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, 'My son.' And he answered him, 'Here I am.' Then he said, 'Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.'" : Isaac was over 100 years old, some have said as old as 130 at this time. He has not aged gracefully. Here, he lacks any kind of vision, either physically or spiritually.

- The premise here is that Isaac is wanting to bless Esau before he died. Yes, the same Esau that had given up his birthright for a bowl of stew. The same Esau that married the Hittite women.

- The same Esau that God rejected. There is really no explanation for this, except that Isaac decided that he was going to bless who he wanted to bless.

- It's no secret that Isaac favored Esau. His move here might have been motivated by his favoritism. After all, Esau was very manly.

- He could really carry things the way that Isaac thought that they should go.

- On the other hand, maybe this action was motivated by Isaac's desire to bring his son back to the Lord and the right track of life.

- You've seen that in this world haven't you? A child with little or no spiritual pulse, is enticed to serve God with a little positional help! "Let's let them play in the worship team..."

- Whatever the motivation, and no matter how noble or ignoble, Isaac decides to bless Esau with a blessing that was reserved for the Messianic line and in spite of God's desire.

• Genesis 27:5-10 : "Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, 'Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.'" : Rebekah paid attention to Isaac's actions. The word "listening" here seems to indicate a perpetual habit.

- I am sure that she had several conversations with Isaac about the family future. She probably noted Isaac's hesitancy to do the right thing, so she had cause to eavesdrop!

- This lets us know that Isaac had done this in secret and meant to bless Isaac privately.

- She quickly goes into action. A spiritual woman will go in and remind her husband of what God had said. Rebekah goes straight for manipulation.

- She knew what Isaac liked to eat and knew how to prepare it.

- She calls Jacob into this conspiracy to obtain Isaac's blessing. Sadly, Rebekah involves Jacob in a conspiracy that will teach him more about deceptive self-reliance.

- This will be Rebekah's best teaching moment. When the crisis comes, she tells Jacob, "Quickly, let's do something sneaky about this!"

• Genesis 27:11,12 : "And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, 'Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.'" : You have to love Jacob's response. His problem with Rebekah's suggestion was not theological, it was practical!

- "Mom, this won't work. We'll get caught!" Three things stand out about Jacob here. The line here in verse 12 is powerful: "I shall seem to be a deceiver to him."

- He was not concerned with his actions here. He was not concerned with what God thought about him. He was concerned about what his Father's assessment of his character.

- Second, sadly, Jacob WAS a deceiver. He just did not want Isaac to think of him as one. There is need for all of us to confront what we really are and not allow it to continue.

- Our images may be clean, but what we are at heart must be confronted if we are to grow.

- Finally, and most importantly, Jacob fails to believe in God's sovereignty to bring about His desire to bless him. "What if Isaac curses me!? What then!?"

- Jacob acts like one who has never trusted the Lord to bring things to pass.

• Genesis 27:13-17 : "But his mother said to him, 'Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.' And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob." : Rebekah knows what she is doing. She covers all of the bases.

- What a tragic line that Rebekah utters here to Jacob. Let your curse be on me. In a way, we'll find out that she did indeed suffer the consequences for her actions, though it was not a curse.

- For her to tell Jacob to obey her voice reminds us of the great commitment that we have to make sure that our children hear from us the counsel, not of manipulation, but of God.

- Rebekah is leading her child into sin. What a tragic commentary for any parent. She prepared the food and put it into her son's hand. She gave him the tools to sin.

• Genesis 27:18-29 : "So he went to his father and said, 'My father.' And he said, 'Here I am. Who are you, my son?' Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.' But Isaac said to his son, 'How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?' And he said, 'Because the Lord your God brought it to me.' Isaac said to Jacob, 'Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.' So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, 'The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. Then he said, 'Are you really my son Esau?' He said, 'I am.' He said, 'Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may bless you.' So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Come near now and kiss me, my son.' And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: 'Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!'" : For all of Jacob and Rebekah's scheming, they did not anticipate Isaac's suspicions.

- He notes the quickness of Esau, which was quick even for him. He notes that Esau's voice was like Jacob's. Finally, there was the smell test.

- You gotta love Isaac's line, "Surely the smell of my son is like the smell of a field." "Oh yeah, that's Esau alright! I imagine that Esau had a smell that opened your eyes!

- We might have something backward here. Yes, Jacob is the active accomplice to Rebekah and their actions are deplorable, even though the end, the gaining of the blessing, is good.

- However, in all of Isaac's testing, he is testing for the authenticity of Esau. He is determined to bless the wrong person. This in spite of God's explicit choice of Jacob.

- Isaac, for all the virtues of his early life, has grown into an old man who seems to have lost his way. He has lost that sensitivity to God and His voice.

- Here in his older years, he has preferences that he wants to promote. His blessing of what he thinks is Esau, is a great blessing, covering material wealth, as well as spiritual leadership.

• Genesis 27:30-33 : "Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, 'Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.' And his father Isaac said to him, 'Who are you?' So he said, 'I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.' Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, 'Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.'" : Ironically, Esau arrives on the heels of Jacob! The door to the tent is barely closed when Esau comes in.

- Isaac, upon discovering Esau's true identity "trembled exceedingly." The Hebrew words reflect a man who is terrified to a great degree.

- He trembled violently, uncontrollably in this moment. His words reflect what has transpired: "I have blessed him- and indeed he shall be blessed."

- The blessing was irrevocable and it was great in scope. This blessing was permanent and could not be taken away.

- Isaac realizes in this moment that he had attempted to go against the Lord, but the Lord had His way. That is a fearful moment for any of us!

• Genesis 27:34-38 : "When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, 'Bless me—me also, O my father!' But he said, 'Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.' And Esau said, 'Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!' And he said, 'Have you not reserved a blessing for me?' Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, 'Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?' And Esau said to his father, 'Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!' And Esau lifted up his voice and wept." : Esau is the epitome of the unbelieving victim. Now he wants a blessing. After all these years, when another has picked it up, it's here that he wants it.

- He lets out a bitter inconsolable cry. He is outraged at Jacob's behavior, but it was Esau's carelessness and lack of desire for spiritual things that now leave him out of the loop.

- Don't you have something for me? On the one hand, Esau, as attested to by the scriptures, was a worldly man.

- He is the picture of an unbeliever who at the end wishes that his Father would bless his life, but instead finds that there is nothing left for them. They have lived for their reward and got it.

- On the other hand, this is also a warning to believers, to not come late to the place of blessing.

- Every Christian needs to understand that living for the blessing of that day, requires a daily sacrifice today!

• Genesis 27:39,40 : "Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: 'Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.'" : Isaac pronounces a blessing, not THE blessing over Esau's life. The blessing is good, but ominous and prophetic.

- Esau would live out the rest of his life by the sword and his people would be warlike.

- For some 1,000 years, Edom would live under the thumb of the people of Israel, but Edom would get the last laugh, as they would be the ones to open the gates for the Assyrians!

• Genesis 27:41-46 : "So Esau hated 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.' And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, 'Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?' And Rebekah said to Isaac, 'I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?'" : Esau began to quickly live out his Father's words. He would live by the sword and Jacob would be the first one to die by it!

- Esau's hatred for his brother was on account of the blessing that he received. Isaac's death would precede a period of family mourning and then Esau would take what was his.

- When Rebekah hears of this, again she turns to manipulation. She is the ultimate busy body, as again, she receives words from one of her spies regarding Esau's intentions.

- Out of fear for Jacob's life, she concocts another plan that will send Jacob to Uncle Laban's house. We met Laban in chapter 24. He was impressed by the wealth of Abraham's servant.

- If you thought Rebekah was shrewd, you'll see that she likely learned all her secrets from her brother Laban!

- She will propose that Jacob go away on account of the Hittite wives that were readily available.

• Genesis 28:1-5 : "Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: 'You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 'May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.' So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau." : Isaac seems to understand that Jacob is not safe. You will recall that when Abraham decreed that Isaac should be married, he made sure that Isaac did not leave.

- Here Isaac does not make the same consolation. He knows that he will be unable to protect Jacob from Esau and that Laban was likely his best bet.

- Isaac repeats to Jacob the covenant that God made with Abraham. Those promises belong to Him then, even in this disappointing state. That is the faithfulness of God.

- At the same time, this is a testament to Isaac's faith returning. He is now finally on the Lord's page, but the damage is done. Jacob is about to spend over 2 decades away from the Promised land.

• Genesis 28:6-9 : "Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, 'You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,' and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had." : Esau is just not going to get it. He notes that Isaac sent Jacob away to take a wife. He realized that it was so that he would not take a wife from the Canaanites.

- He had done that. He saw that his choices had grieved his Father. His response was to take yet a third wife, this time from Uncle Ishmael's family.

- Was he seeking favor? Was he seeking a blessing? Maybe he was trying to turn things around. In any event, it's a futile gesture.

- Esau was the epitome of a confused individual, always looking for ways to gain favor, but never finding the way to it!

Conclusion

- Tonight, there is nothing that you can do to prevent God from bringing His will to pass, nor is there anything that He needs from you!

- Guilt trips, manipulation, lies, deceit, et all, have never produced anything godly. They bring about separation, confusion, bitterness and anger.

- In the case of Jacob, he would never see his mother alive again. In the case of Esau, he would forever be looking for some affirmation, that would never come. Let's be warned.