Oct 19
13
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 27:1 – 28:5
“When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, ‘My son’; and he answered, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.’ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, ‘I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the LORD before I die.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.’ But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.’ His mother said to him, ‘Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.’ So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. So he went in 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 as you told me; now sit up 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?’ He answered, ‘Because the LORD your God granted me success.’ Then Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.’ So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who 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. He said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ He answered, ‘I am.’ Then he said, ‘Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and 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 and kiss me, my son.’ So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, ‘See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!’ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, ‘Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.’ His father Isaac said to him, ‘Who are you?’ He answered, ‘I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.’ Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, ‘Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.’ As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me, even me also, O my father!’ But he said, ‘Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.’ Esau said, ‘Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.’ Then he said, ‘Have you not reserved a blessing for me?’ Isaac answered and said to Esau, ‘Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?’ Esau said to his father, ‘Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.’ And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: ‘Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.’ Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’ But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, ‘Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran and stay with him a while, 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 bereft of you both in one day?’ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?’ Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, ‘You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!’ Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.” (Genesis 27:1 – 28:5, ESV)
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Introduction
Let me begin by drawing your attention to something that I have pointed out before in our study of the stories of Abraham and Isaac, the fathers of Israel, and of our faith. When Moses wrote this history of the Israelite nation, he highlighted, not only the good and nobel qualities of Israel’s patriarchs, but to the contrary, their faults and their failings. This should strike us as unusual. This is not typically how histories are written. Certainly, this is not how histories are written if the objective is to foster a kind of national, religious or ethnic pride amongst a people. If that were the goal then the author would highlight the strengths and success of the forefathers. Histories are often written in much the same way that people post to Facebook and Instagram — everything looks rosy on Instagram, doesn’t it! I don’t see many selfies of people who have just gotten out bed in the morning, do you? Instead, we tend to draw attention to the very best aspects of our lives, while concealing our blemishes.
Clearly the objective of the book of Genesis is not to foster pride within Israel concerning the patriarchs. Instead, the narrative makes it clear that these were men of faith who were flawed and prone to failure. Instead, the objective of Genesis is to give glory to God and to promote faith in the Covenant Lord. He is the one who is faithful, holy and strong. He fulfills his promises, despite our sin. Our hope must not be set in man, therefore, but in God who is faithful. And neither should we boast in man, but only in the LORD.
In Jeremiah 9:23-24 we read, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (Jeremiah 9:23–24, ESV)
Do you see, brothers and sisters, how the Holy Scriptures from the very beginning establish this proper perspective. God is God. He is the creator of heaven and earth, sustainer of all things, and he is our redeemer. And we are mere men — fallen and sinful men. Whatever good that we have, therefore, is by the mercy and grace of our loving Lord. Certainly our redemption is only by his grace. We must set all of our hope and trust in him.
This story concerning the family of Isaac is a very sad story. Here we see clearly that the family of Isaac — Abrahams son of promise — was dysfunctional and divided. It is actually a bit surprising to learn after all of the hype concerning the birth of Isaac and the promises that were made concerning him. Isaac was the chosen one, remember? And so too, Rebekah seemed very impressive at the start. She was a hard working girl, hospitable, beautiful inside and out. She was portrayed as a female version of Abraham, willing to leave her father, mother and country for a foreign land. She walked by faith and not by sight. Hopes were high, therefore, concerning Isaac and Rebekah. But here we see a different side of things. In this narrative Isaac and Rebekah are divided and deceptive towards one another, and so too were their sons.
Our approach today will be to consider each of the characters in this story — Isaac and Rebekah, Esau and Jacob — to understand where they went wrong. As we do we will be warned against going down the same path. And at the same time we will be comforted as we are reminded of the amazing grace of our loving Lord. How astonishing it is to think that the Lord determined to use sinners such as these. More than that, he set some of them apart as his own, despite their flaws. Brothers and sisters, God’s grace is truly amazing. It is astonishing to think that he would set his love upon sinners such and you and me.
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Isaac Failed To Lead His Covenant Family In The Ways Of The LORD
It is clear in this narrative that both Rebekah and Jacob acted deceptively — and we will come to address their shameful deception of Isaac in a moment. But I would suggest to you that this messy situation actually originated with Isaac who failed to lead his covenant family in the ways of the LORD. Isaac was deceived in the end, but in fact much of the blame lands at his feet.
Commentators seem to agree that a careful analysis of the narrative of Genesis reveals that Isaac was a man with a passive, non-confrontational temperament. Truly, it is good and virtuous to be a gentle-man. Paul urges this in Colossians 3:12-14, saying, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12–14, ESV). Men and women who are growing in godliness will manifest these qualities — they will be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient, just as our Lord was. Christian men should be gentle-men.
But I am afraid that some think that to be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient also means that we are to be passive and always non-confrontational. Friends, it should not be difficult to see that though our Lord was perfectly compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient, he certainly was not passive and non-confrontational. Do not conflate the two things, therefore. A godly person — male or female — ought to possess those humble and meek qualities, but they also should have the courage to do what is right, and to confront wrongdoing where it is present. It is easy to be harsh and judgmental. One only has to give in to to his or her sinful passions to do that! And it is easy to passive. Again, one only has to give in to his or her desire for personal comfort to so that! But it is difficult to be both humble, meek and mild and to at the same time bold, courageous and appropriately confrontational, as our Lord was. Both of things require self-control. Both of these things involve the denial of self. It seems that Isaac was meek and mild. But it also seems that this quality of his was accompanied by a propensity towards passive, non-confrontational neglagence.
Consider these observations:
One, notice the emphasis in the previous passage, and also at the end of this one, upon Esau’s marriage to Hittite women who made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah. Now granted, Esau was his own person. Perhaps he rebelled against the wishes of his parents in this regard. But Esau’s choice in marriage should be contrasted with the insistence of Abraham that Isaac take a wife, not from amongst the people of the land, but from his own clan. Abraham insisted, and he was also diligent to send his servant away to find a suitable wife for Isaac, and the servant returned with Rebekah, as you know. Why didn’t Isaac do the same for his sons? Why did he neglect to follow the pattern established by his father? We didn’t have all the answers. But it seems clear that Isaac was far less concerned to maintain purity within the covenant family when compared to the pattern established by his father Abraham.
Two, notice that Isaac is portrayed in this narrative as being a man driven by his appetite and his love for pleasure, just like his son Esau. Food is mentioned a lot in this passage. Isaac is portrayed as one who really loves his food. In particular, he loves the food that Esau prepared from the game that he hunted in the field. In fact, we were told way back in Genesis 25 that “Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (Genesis 25:28, ESV) Now, please don’t misunderstand. There is nothing wrong with enjoying food with thanksgiving to the glory of God. But as we consider the narrative of Genesis in its entirety I think we are to connect Isaacs love for food, with Esaus love for food. Remember that earlier in the narrative Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of red lentil stew. In that moment Esau didn’t really care about his birthright. He didn’t really care about being the heir of the promises of God given to Abraham and Isaac. He just wanted to be comforted in the moment. Esau was man controlled by his appetites. I believe that we are to see a connection between Esau and Isaac in this regard. Isaac, it seems, was like Esau. He was more concerned with his personal comfort, than with faithfulness to the word of God.
Three, though it might be a little difficult for the modern reader to see, something is not right from the start of this narrative. Isaac was getting older. His health was clearly failing. And because he did not know when he would die, he acted according to the custom of the day and set out to pronounce blessings upon his offspring. Last words like these are always very important. But they were especially important in the case of the family of Isaac given the promises of God that were given to them. Now, I said that Isaac acted according to the custom of the day, but this is only half true. In fact, he broke with custom in a very significant way. Instead of gathering the whole family, including all of his sons, he called only Esau to himself. Compare this with what Jacob would do when he knew that his death was drawing near. Genesis 49:1 we learn that “Jacob called his sons and said, ‘Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come’” (Genesis 49:1, ESV), and afterward he pronounced his blessings (and curses) upon them. So there is something strange about this from the start. It doesn’t pass the smell test. Truth be told, Rebekah and Jacob were not the only ones guilty of acting deceptively here.
So what exactly was Isaac up to here? Well, the issue becomes clear when we remember the oracle of God that was given to Rebekah years earlier. When the twins were still at war within her womb “the LORD said to [Rebekah], ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger’” (Genesis 25:23, ESV). Now, it is hard to know what exactly was going on within Isaac’s mind and heart, but when all things are considered it is clear that he was preparing to act contrary to the revealed word of God by blessing Esau as if he were the one who was blessed of the Lord.
Listen carefully to the blessing that Isaac prepared for Esau. Now, as you know, he ended up pronouncing it upon Jacob, but he prepared it for Esau. In verse 28 we hear Issac say, “May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” (Genesis 27:28–29, ESV).
Two things must be observed: One, the blessing that Isaac had prepared for Esau was rooted in the promise that God made to Abraham. To Abraham it was said, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1–3, ESV). You here the same language being used in the blessing that Isaac had prepared for Esau. Understand, therefore, that Isaac was determined to pass the promises made to Abraham on to his eldest so n Esau.
Two, notice that this blessing also addresses the question of who will rule over who. “Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you”, Isaac said. When Isaac prepared to pronounce this blessing upon Esau instead of Jacob it is clear that he was acting in direct contradiction to the revealed word of God. God spoke to Rebekah revealing that the older would serve the younger, but Isaac determined to say that the younger would serve the older. It is no wonder that he was seeking around and planned to exclude the involvement of Rebekah and Jacob in the pronouncement of this blessing.
It is hard to know what exactly was going on in Isaac’s mind and heart that would lead him to take such a course of action. Was Esau simply his favorite? Did Esau distrust Rebekahs testimony concerning the word of God delivered to her while the twins were in her womb? Or did Isaac simply lack the courage to follow through on doing what was countercultural in obedience to the word of God? Blessing Jacob as the one with the birthright and the one to receive the promises would have required great courage and faith. We may never know. But what is clear is that Isaac was out of step with what God had revealed, and his sneakiness indicates that he knew it.
[APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, there is a lot that we can learn from Isaac’s shortcomings. In particular I am remind of the fact that there are sins of commission, and there are also sins of omission. You know what sins of commission are. They are the sins that we commit in violation of the law of God. We sin a sin of commission when we do something that the law of God forbids. A sin of omission is a bit different. We sin a sin of omission when we fail to do that which God has required of us. We sin a sin of commission when we telling a lie, but we sin a sin of omission when we fail to tell the truth.
It seems to me that sins of omission can be a little harder to detect. Brothers and sisters, have you loved your neighbor as you ought? Fathers, are you raising your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Husbands, are you loving your wives as Christ has loved the church? Wives, are you honoring your husband as the church does Christ? Children, are you respecting your parents?
When we think of sin we often think of sins of commission. Repent of things that we have thought, said, or done. We strive to not do that which is forbidden in God’s law. And all of that is good! But I would exhort you to also be mindful of sins of omission — to ask the Lord to reveal to you the ways in which you are failing to do that which God has required. It seem’s to me that Isaac’s flaw was that he was passive and negligent. May we learn from his failings and take a different path, seeking to always do that which is pleasing to the Lord.
We have asked our children the question, “what is sin?” And how have we instructed them to answer? They are right to answer, “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God” (Baptist Catechism 17). Did you hear it? Did you hear it? Did you hear the teaching that there are sins of omission and commission? “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God”.
When we come before the Lord in our daily prayers we should ask him to reveal to us all of the ways that we falling short of his law. We ought to say, Lord, is there anything that I am doing that is sinful in your sight? And we should also, Lord, is there anything that I am failing to do which you have asked of me? Perhaps the Lord will speak to you by his word and the promptings of the Spirit, saying, yes, child. You have failed to forgive that one who sinned against you. Or, you have failed to loving exhort that brother who is living in sin. Or, you have failed give unto me of your tithes and offerings. Or, you have been negligent in the your family in the ways of the Lord.]
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Rebekah Was Right, But Her Method Was All Wrong
This sermon is very imbalanced — I’ll admit it. I’ve taken almost all of my time to talk about Isaac. What I have to say about Rebekah, Esau and Jacob will have to be very brief. But I think it is alright, for the gist of the story has been communicated in our consideration of Isaac.
What shall we say about Rebekah? Well, I think we must admit that though Rebekah was right to want the blessing to fall upon Jacob, her method in bringing it about was all wrong. Rebekah was deceptive, dishonoring and manipulative towards her husband. She should have honored him, despite his faults and failures, and trusted that the Lord would sort it out in the end.
[APPLICATION: You’ve heard the expression that “two wrongs don’t make a right”, haven’t you? There is a lot of truth to that! I have seen Christians stumble in this regard. When they are mistreated they reson within themselves that they are justified treat the person badly in return. But didn’t Christ say, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…” (Luke 6:27, ESV)? And remember Peter’s words to Christian wives: “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct…” (1 Peter 3:1–2, ESV) And a little laters he said, “For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening” (1 Peter 3:5–6, ESV). It is worth noting that Sarah is put forth as a model in this regard, but not Rebekah. Both women were married to flawed men, but Sarah excelled in honoring her husband despite his failures. And notice that she was able to do so because she trusted in the Lord. She “hoped in God” and therefore did “not fear anything that is frightening”.]
Rebekah fell short in this. It was right for her to want this blessing for Jacob. She was correct to think that Isaac was taking the wrong course. But her solution was wrongheaded. She should have trusted in the Lord, put away her fears, and honored her husband, in obedience to the Lord.
Instead she was deceptive. She decided to get the appropriate blessing forJacob through trickery. It was a bold plan that she concocted, wasn’t it!
But the plan was dishonoring towards her husband. She took advantage of him in his old age. Clearly, Isaac was very frail. Rebekah knew that the vitality oof his senses was greatly diminished. He could hardly see. His sense of touch must have also been impaired. So too his hearing, and probably even his sense of taste — Rebekah knew that she would be able to substitute goat for venison and get away with it! It is a really sad scene, isn’t it, to see Rebekah take advantage of her husbands frailty in this way.
But in this story we learn that she was quite manipulative. Even after the deception was discovered and Esau burned with anger, Rebekah manipulated Isaac to send Jacob away. She spoke to Isaac saying (verse 46), “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?” (Genesis 27:46, ESV). Yuck. She is overly dramatic. She refused to address the real issue, which is Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. And pushed Isaac around to get her way.
[APPLICATION: I’ve come into contact with some very manipulative people during my time in the ministry. They are difficult people to deal with. At the core of the manipulative person is this characteristic: they refuse to deal with the real issue, whatever it may be, but instead that exaggerate, tell half truths, lie and deceive inorder to get what they want. What they lack is honesty and directness. Let us learn to be honest and direct, brothers and sisters. Let us put away all of our manipulative tactics, no matter if they be passive or aggressive. Our supreme goal in life must not be to get what we want, but to do what God wants, and to love our neighbor.]
Notice that Rebekah feared loosing her sons, Esau and Jacob. In verse 45 she spoke to Jacob saying, “Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?” (Genesis 27:45, ESV) Ironically, she ended up getting what she feared — she lost both of her sons, not to death, but to division. Her relationship with Esau was certainly greatly damaged. And Jacob would be sent away to preserve his life, not for a short time, but for many, many years.
[APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, sin makes a real mess of things. This is true of both sins of commission, but also sins of omission. And though it is true that we don’t know much about Isaac and Rebekahs relationship, one gets the sense that it was a neglected relationship. They were divided. They loved their children, but maybe to the neglect of one another. To the married couples I says this — pursue intimacy with your spouse. Make the marriage relationship the most important of all human relationships. There is no other human relationship as close as the one shared by husband and wife, for the two become one flesh, till death do them part.]
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Esau Is Again Proven To Be A Man Driven By His Passions
I now have very little time to say anything at all about Esau and Jacob.
I will be content to say that this about Esau — he is again proven to be a man driven by his passions.
Notice how giddy he is to receive the blessing from his dying father. Commentators have noted that he seems a little too excited about the blessing, when he probably should be grieving his fathers poor condition.
Notice also the way that he responds after he discovers that the blessing was stolen from him. Verse 34: “As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me, even me also, O my father!’” (Genesis 27:34, ESV). Isaac didn’t have a blessing for him, but said instead, “By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck” (Genesis 27:40, ESV). These words would prove true in the history of the Edomite peoples who would descend from Esau. They would be in perpetual conflict with Israel, who would come from Jacob. They would be under Israels yoke. But when the time would come for Israel to go into captivity the Edomites would break Jacob’s yoke from their neck and help to overthrow them.
Lastly, notice that Esau burned with the passion of hatred towards his brother. Verse 41: “Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob’” (Genesis 27:41, ESV).
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Jacob Is Again Proven To Be A Deceptive Heal Snatcher
Lastly, let us recognize that Jacob is again proven to be a deceptive heal snatcher.
Jacob went along with his mothers plan to deceive his father. He did express some hesitation, but only out of fear of what would happen to him if he were found out. Verse 11: “Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.’ His mother said to him, ‘Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.’” (Genesis 27:11–13, ESV).
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Conclusion
What a mess. So much division and dysfunction! And yet what do we see? Jacob was indeed blessed of the Lord! All of this dysfunction did not thwart the plans and purposes of God!
Notice that in 28:1 Isaac blesses Jacob again. He seems to have his head on straight now — he seems to have resigned himself to the word of God spoken to Rabekah concerning the older serving the younger. For here he clearly gives the promises make to Abraham to Jacob, saying, “‘You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!’ Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother” (Genesis 28:1–5, ESV).
Clearly, the writer to the Hebrews had the end of the story in mind when he emphasized the faith of Isaac, saying “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau” (Hebrews 11:20, ESV). The blessing that Isaac pronounced, though misguided and misdirected at first, were uttered in faith knowing that God would fulfill the promises made to Abraham. And in the end Isaac did get it right. He set the promises made to Abraham down upon Isaac.
Brothers and sisters, though our sin and rebellion might bring upon us all manner of discomfort, one thing it cannot do is thwart the purposes of God. For the LORD is “God, and there is none like [him], declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isaiah 46:9–10, ESV). Indeed, “if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13, ESV).
