WAS ANYONE RIGHT?

Mar 8

Genesis 27:1-46
Memorise Proverbs 12:5
“Is not he rightly named Jacob? For he hath supplanted me these two times”

In Genesis 27, we have a picture of a rather dysfunctional family, where a son and his mother conspire together to deceive his ailing father and cheat his elder brother. It is certainly not an ideal example to pattern ourselves after, but rather a negative example that we must learn to avoid.

Isaac was now an old man (137 years old), and knew that his time on earth was coming to an end. He wanted to bless Esau his first born and favourite son. This was despite the fact that when his sons were still in their mother’s womb, the Lord had prophesied that the younger, that is Jacob, was the chosen heir of the covenant, for the elder shall serve the younger (Genesis 25:23). 77 years had since passed, and the time for Isaac to impart his blessings to them had come. He requested Esau to prepare his favourite venison for him, and ready himself to receive the blessings. In so doing, Isaac was refusing to acknowledge God’s prophecy upon Jacob, and was insisting instead to bless his favourite son. When Rachel heard of this, she took matters into her own hands and called Jacob to join her in this plot. She devised an elaborate scheme to deceive Isaac, such that he would believe Jacob to be Esau, and bless him instead. Though Jacob protested, it was more a fear of reprisal from Isaac than for the fear of committing a sin against God in this deception (Genesis 27:12). Yet it did not take much more for him to be convinced and go along with his mother’s ploy. True enough, the deception worked, and Jacob was blessed with the blessing that Isaac had intended for Esau. As the patriarch of the house, Isaac’s blessings were not just nice sounding platitudes, but were actually prophetic in nature. In fact, Isaac’s blessing was very much in line with God’s covenant to Abraham and also his prophecy to Rebekah concerning the two sons. Jacob would be the chosen one and Esau would have to serve him.

In this we see the sure hand of God intervening to ensure that His will be done. His prophecy must be fulfilled, even though Isaac sinned in refusing to acknowledge it. This also does not excuse the sin that Rebekah and Jacob committed, for their deception was certainly wrong. Neither was Esau innocent in this whole manner, for he had already sold his birthright, and had no claim to the blessing anymore. What resulted from this whole fiasco was a broken home and bitter animosity between the two brothers.

Thought: We must fulfil God’s will in His way, and not our own way.
Prayer: Lord, may I be circumspect in my ways and obedient to Thy will.