“Jacob’s Scheme Works”

Genesis 27:18-40

 

The plots are thickening. We have deception from all directions. There is the father’s plan, the mother’s counterplan and a son willing to go right along with being deceptive. When we take into account the melody of the book of Genesis it takes us right back to the scene at the tree of Eden. Let’s see where this next section takes us. 

 

Jacob has disguised himself as his brother Esau and has walked into the tent of his father with tasty food that his father loves. 

Imagine. 

Isaac’s eyesight may be failing, but his nose and gut are doing just fine. The first thing he would have noticed was the smell of the very food he had requested. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. 

 

Jacob entered and said, “My father.” Okay, right off the bat you would think Isaac would be questioning. In fact he said, “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”

 

Did Jacob lower his voice to sound more like Esau when he responded, “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 give me your blessing.”

 

Okay, Isaac could be thinking, “Doesn’t sound like Esau, but then, how would Jacob know about my request for food for a blessing?” Isaac does question how this task could have been done so quickly. 

 

Jacob’s answer was pretty good, “The Lord your God gave me success,” Notice who’s God Jacob refers to. 

 

Isaac still isn’t convinced. He asks Jacob to come closer, he wanted to touch him to make sure he was Esau. Rebekah was quite the sleuth. She knew her husband well. Because once Isaac touched Jacob, I suspect Jacob offered the parts of his body that had been dressed in goat’s hair, Isaac still questioned, he said,  “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

 

Okay, Isaac seems to be letting go of his skepticism. But he gives it one more try and point blank comes out and asks,  “Are you really my son Esau?” 

 

Jacob, in turn, point blank comes out and lies, “I am,” he replied.

 

Okay, so far Jacob has passed the test, Isaac says,  “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”

All goes well, Isaac eats. Jacob brought him some wine and he drank. Still, one more thing to pass, before the giving of the blessing, Isaac asks, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” Rebekah had thought of everything. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,

“Ah, the smell of my son”

From then on, Isaac gives Jacob the Eden blessing. 

No sooner had Jacob left his father’s tent, when Esau arrived, with a tasty meal of hunted game that he had prepared. 

Round two. 

The exact same scenario, Esau entered the tent and asked his father to sit up and eat the game he had prepared and asked him to give him the blessing. 

Confusion. 

“Who are you?” Isaac asked. 

Can you picture the bewildered look on Esau’s face? He responded with, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

We read that Isaac trembled violently. He had suspected all along and upon hearing Esau’s voice he immediately knew he had been duped, verse 33,

 “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

As if he had to ask. Esau bursts out with a loud and bitter cry, verse 34, 

 “Bless me—me too, my father!”

Are we reading a Shakespearean play? Alas! 

“Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

Esau resolves that his parents had correctly named this son, Jacob, the heel grabbing trickster. Esau has been tricked a second time by his younger brother. 

First he swindled him out of his birthright and now he has managed to get his blessing. With angst in his voice you can hear Esau whine to his father, 

“Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

Isaac reveals that for all extensive purposes, he had made Jacob mightier than his brother, that Jacob’s brothers would be his servants. He had supported Jacob with grain and wine. Basically he had given Jacob the whole shabang. There wasn’t anything left. 

Like a spoiled, favorite son, Esau responds, verse 38, 

“Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

Through the sobs of his son, Isaac answered him with what can be considered a counter-blessing. 

“Your dwelling will be
    away from the earth’s richness,
    away from the dew of heaven above.

You will live by the sword
    and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
    you will throw his yoke
    from off your neck.”

Can’t you just hear Esau sobbing louder? 

The two scenes have been set up as mirror images of each other. 

One brother comes in deception and the genuine brother comes in and their dialogue mirrors each other.  Until the twist, one was given the poem of blessing and the other was given the poem of non-blessing. In the middle we are told that Jacob was living out the meaning of his name by taking both the birthright and the blessing. What a skunk!

Let’s take a closer look at the Eden blessing. Isaac has provided some new adjectives to describe Eden. In Genesis 1 we are given fruit trees, be fruitful and multiply, animals and humans. There were plants, rivers and springs. Now the narrator is adding to the picture. It’s like someone is adding colors to the Eden palette. Now we have descriptions of dew, like magical water that appears and a description of the earth’s richness and the abundance of grain and wine. From this point on, anytime these things are mentioned, they will be seen as little Eden icons. As we read these words in Scripture from this point forward, we should think of the Eden abundance. 

Isaac also gives rule and authority in this blessing, mirroring Elohim when He blessed the humans and told them to be fruitful and multiply, rule the land and subdue the creatures. 

Lastly, Isaac brings up exactly what God had said to Abraham, 

“May those who curse you be cursed
    and those who bless you be blessed.”

You can imagine Isaac hearing his father, Abraham repeating this to him often. And yet, it is this part of the blessing that placed Yahweh into some sticky wickets. Remember the times Abraham acted like the snake and Yahweh had to stand by him anyway. Not because it was fair, but because it was God being consistent to His promise. This theme continues throughout the family and throughout history. Ironically, Jacob, the snake, has been offered the same backup. Whether he deserves it or not. It’s part of the blessing. 

As we reflect on the previous times this blessing has been given, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, it has been a gift, or a good thing. 

At this point in the story, we come to realize that the Eden blessing itself is a good thing, but this time around, giving it to this guy, in this way, is it a good thing? 

It seems complicated and sad, which is exactly the point the narrator is trying to get across. Each time the Eden blessing has been given there has been a twist. For one thing, this is the first time the Eden blessing has been given by a person, instead of Yahweh Himself. In addition, Isaac’s motive for giving the blessing is questionable as it seems that he was using it to get himself some tasty food. Not exactly positive. 

Then we have the non-blessing. On its own, it almost sounds like exile language.  Esau was told that not only would he not receive fatness of the land but that he would be outside of it. Basically, he would be wandering, or a wanderer. 

The Hebrew word here, is a rare word, and seen only one other time in the Old Testament, back in Genesis 4:12, referring to Cain, 

“When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Esua was being compared to Cain. He is going to live at odds with his brother. 

When Isaac told Esau that he would live by the sword and be a servant, he was being compared to Ishmael, back in Genesis 16. Yahweh tells Hagar, her son, 

“He will be a wild donkey of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
    and he will live in hostility
    toward all his brothers.”

Notice the connections given to Esau, from Cain, to Ishmael. In the next paragraph, Esau will marry an Ishmaelite woman, officially tying him into the team roster of the non-blessed. 

The last part of the non-blessing,

But when you grow restless,
    you will throw his yoke
    from off your neck.”

Refers to Esau’s tribe, the Edomites. As we read on in the story, Edom will be continually defeated and conquered by the Israelites, in particular, by David. Eventually Edom will break free in 2 Kings when Edom revolts from under the hand of the line of Judah and they make a king for themselves. 

The stories told throughout the Scriptures were designed to anticipate sibling rivalries. 

This is a theme that will continue to do so right through the Torah and the Prophets. 

It’s striking what humans can do to God’s blessings. 

Think about it. Since when has there not been enough blessing to go around? Since, Isaac. 

Up to this point in the story, the chosen one was chosen, not to receive all of the blessing and leave nothing for the others. God’s whole plan was for the chosen one to be the conduit of God’s blessing and to take God’s blessing to the nations. 

Put humans in charge and eventually, they mess things up. 

Remember when Yahweh told Abraham that it was Issac who would be receiving the blessing and Abraham said, “What about Ishmael? He’s my son too.” Yahweh’s response was, “Don’t worry, I will bless him too.” 

Showing there is enough for the non-chosen in God’s kingdom. But not in Isaac’s opinion. Somehow he thinks this blessing belongs to him and he can dole it out in whatever portion he decides to whomever he decides for whatever reason. And yet…..

When we remember what Yahweh told Rebekah when she was ready to give up having children all together because of the pain they were causing, God tells her that two nations were battling it out inside her womb, and that eventually the older would serve the younger. God’s words paint the picture, or determine the course of history. Isaac manages to follow God’s plan but in the midst of a great deal of deception and selfishness. Somehow, in the end, we are left with the words of Joseph ringing true when he said, “Humans just do all these things and mess things up, but God’s purpose has a way of working its way in the end.” 

Which still leaves us wrestling with the fact that God invests His authority and His blessing in humans with the hope and the ideal their will is one with God’s will. 

Jesus certainly tried to shape His disciples to pray that way, every day, right? Matthew 6:9-10,

“Our Father, in heaven, hallowed by your name, 

Your kingdom come, your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.”

 

God’s will and ideal and hope is to merge humanity’s will with His will. The problem is, there is a huge liability and risk involved. Think about it. We are reading about the negative side of this equation right now. In fact, this motif is found throughout Scripture. We really do have stories of humans invested with divine authority and power choosing to abuse it. 

 

God invests this extremely dysfunctional family with immense power and privilege. Despite their foibles, the blessing continues on through generations, with a lot of casualties along the way. That is the biblical portrait of human nature and God’s purpose. 

 

Check in time. 

 

Have we learned anything from this? 

Or is human nature still at odds with God’s purpose. 

What is God’s purpose? 

I think that is where the characters in this story lost their way. Isaac began to see God’s blessing as something he owned, and had power over. He decided to dole it out based on his opinion, of who should get it, when they should get it and how much they should get. We don’t get a sense that Yahweh was part of Isaac’s decisions. Isaac had completely dropped the purpose of his chosenness. He was supposed to be the one who blessed the nations. 

Regardless, God’s purpose hasn’t changed. 

It remains the same. 

God’s children are called to bless the nations. 

 

“God’s Grace Received" - “God’s Grace Given”

 

Our motto - at Damariscotta Baptist Church. 

 

We have been given far more than we need or deserve. Let’s face it, we are blessed. 

God is calling us to bless others. Not to bless those people who are our favorites, like Isaac did, but to bless those who don’t feel blessed, who need someone to recognize they are a child of the King and to recognize He is calling them to be a part of His family. We need to take off our cultural blinders and see people the way God sees them, as lost and in need of hope, peace, joy and love. 

 

Let’s pray. 

 

God, help us to not be like Isaac and only give blessings to those we think deserve it. May we remember that we don’t deserve your blessing, and yet You give it to us regardless. Help us to follow Your will and be a blessing to the nations.