Blessings, in Disguise

I come from a messed-up family. That's a big part of my testimony, as many of you will know.

And guess what? You come from a messed-up family as well. That's a big part of your testimony, too.

Some of you might be nodding, but others might be thinking, "That's not true. I came from a wonderful family." But I'm sorry to tell you, the family you come from is royally messed up. And the family I'm talking about is your spiritual family. If you are a Christian, you've been grafted in to a spiritual lineage goes back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that family was messed up.

Today, we read about one of the messiest episodes in Isaac and Jacob's life. Nothing in this story is flattering to anybody. And that's the point. There is glory to be seen here today, and it's the glory of a God who works through messed up families like ours.

There's more to say about that, but first we need to consider the passage and see what it says. This passage is organized around four scenes, each of them involving two people in dialogue with one another. It starts with Isaac and Esau, then Rebekah and Jacob, then Isaac and Jacob, and finally back to Isaac and Esau. And we'll begin with the first.

1. Isaac and Esau

Our passage begins with, "When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim so that he could not see." That didn't take long, did it? Just last week we were reading about him sporting with his wife outside of Abimelech's window. Now, after passing over decades of normal life, we meet Isaac confined to his bed and unable to see.

Isaac isn't sure when he's going to die. Verse 2—"Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death." From some other time markers in these chapters we can put together that Isaac is between the ages of about 100 and 140. Which means he's going to live another 40-80 years, although he doesn't feel it at the moment.

So he calls Esau to himself. There's a tenderness in their speech. “He called Esau his older son and said to him, ‘My son'; and he answered, ‘Here I am’” (Genesis 27:1). This almost sounds like the way Isaac and Abraham spoke together back in Genesis 22:7. Here's that same Isaac, all these years later, once agan thinking he's on the verge of death, calling his firstborn son to himself.

And what Isaac wants to do is bless his son before He dies.

The Blessing

Now we need to talk about this for a minute, because this issue of "blessing" is a big deal in our passage and needs to be understood.

In the broadest sense, to bless someone with your words means to say something good about them. "Bless the Lord" means basically the same thing as "praise the Lord."

But when it comes to blessing other people, very often we see that "blessing" someone with your words means expressing a desire or hope for good things to happen to them.

When Rebekah's family saw her off, “they blessed Rebekah and said to her, ‘Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!’” (Genesis 24:60).

And among the people of God, this kind of blessing takes on a quality much like a prayer. Because you're not just wishing them to happen—you're expressing a desire that God will make these things happen.

And throughout the Bible we read all kinds of blessings that are like a mix between a prayer and an encouragement. “May the Lord deal kindly with you” (Ruth 1:8). "May the Lord be with you" (1 Sam 20:13). "May the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day" (1 Sam 24:19).

Now, things seem to level up a bit when it comes to the blessings given by Isaac and Jacob (Gen 49) and Moses (Deut 33) before their death. Things level up because of who they were, and so their blessings were taken seriously. There's also the significance of them giving a final blessing before they die, which was taken with more seriousness.

But in the context of the covenant with Abraham, these final blessings are even a bigger deal than this. Because with Isaac and Jacob and Moses, as they blessed their sons or their nation at the end of their lives, their words were more than just a wish. Their words had the quality of a prophecy, and maybe even more than a prophecy—their words were used to pass on the promises given to Abraham, and actually shaped the destiny of the people they blessed.

Now, there's a lot we don't know here. We don't know how they knew they were supposed to do this. We don't know how it works. We're certainly never told to try to perform this special kind of blessing ourselves. All we know is that it happened, and God used it. God chose for His covenant promises to flow through these blessings and shape the futures of those who were blessed.

Something(s) Fishy

So here's the scene. Isaac nears the end of his life, and he wants to have a tender father-son moment with his older son to give him a final and a formal blessing. That sounds just wonderful, right?

Not so fast. There's some serious questions about what's going on here. Something is fishy. Actually, a few things are fishy here. And we'll find the fishiness by asking some questions.

First, why is this blessing taking place in secret with just one of the sons? Jacob blesses all twelve of his sons. Joesph speaks final words to his brothers. Moses blesses the nation. In each of those cases, it happens in public. It seems a little weird that Isaac wants to just bless Esau, in private, without Jacob around.

Our suspicions are confirmed later on in the chapter when it becomes clear that Isaac intended to give all of the blessing to Esau and leave Jacob out in the cold. If all had gone according to plan, imagine Jacob coming to his dad and saying, "Do you have a blessing for me before you die?" and Isaac says, "I've given your brother everything; what more can I do for you?"

Wow, right? We know from chapter 25 that Esau is Isaac's favourite, which is weird enough, but this is taking it way too far.

The third fishy thing is that Jacob had bought the birthright from Esau. Legally, he was the firstborn. And everyone in this chapter seems to understand that there is a special blessing that would go with the firstborn son.

And so who should have blessing have gone to? It should have gone to Jacob, who bought the firstborn rights fair and square.

Now Esau seems to think that the birthright and the special firstborn blessing are separate deals. He thinks he can sell one and keep the other. But It's like a guy who thinks he can quit his job but still collect the paycheque. And one of the points of this chapter is that, in God's eyes, the birthright and the blessing go together.

So when Isaac says, "let me bless you before I die," Esau should have said, "Dad, I need to confess something: I sold that legal birthright to Jacob. He should get the blessing intended for me." But he doesn't. He just goes along with it, happy to take all of the blessing and leave none for Jacob.

Which means that, instead of seeing Jacob as the sneak trying to steal Esau's blessing, we could just as easily see Esau as the sneak trying to steal the blessing that legitimately belonged to Isaac.

The fourth fishy thing is that Isaac is totally ignoring the prophecy God gave to Rebekah: "The older shall serve the younger" (Gen 25:23). Now we need to be careful here, because maybe Rebekah kept that a secret. That seems really unlikely to me, but even if she did, that's weird for another reason. Either Rebekah kept God's words to her a secret from her husband all these years, or Isaac knows full well and is trying to go against God's decree.

The fifth fishy thing is how all of this is so connected to Isaac's appetites. Remember what 25:28 told us about why Esau was the favourite son? Because Isaac ate of his game. Look, having a favourite child is a bad idea for any reason, but liking the food he cooks seems like a really shallow reason. And a super bad reason to give that child all of the blessings and leave none for your other son.

But that's what this chapter suggests. Starting in verse 4, where Isaac says, “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’” (Genesis 27:4).

I've joked for years that if I had to pick a "life verse," it would be Genesis 27:4. I think it would be hilarious to have this verse cross-stitched and hung in my kitchen. But jokes aside, doesn't this sound a little indulgent? And this chapter keeps coming back to these words again and again. This phrase gets repeated in verse 7 and in verse 9 by Rebekah, and then again in verse 14 by the narrator. "And his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved." Verse 17 talks about the "delicious food," and the phrase is repeated again in verse 31.

Six times this chapter basically wants to rub our faces in Isaac's hankering for delicious food, and how much of a motivation this was to him. Look at what Esau says in verse 21: *"Let me father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me."

Esau sold his birthright for some food. Isaac seems ready to give away the blessing for the same reason. Both of these men appear to be driven by their strong appetites. This just doesn't seem right, because it's not right.

So as Esau leaves Isaac's presence to go grab his bow and arrows, some things are fishy. But somebody breaks up the private party. Rebekah is listening in when Isaac speaks to Esau. Rebekah, who has certainly not forgot God's promise that Jacob, the younger son, would rule over the firstborn.

And Isaac's plans for a secret blessing ceremony get busted as Rebekah goes to find Jacob, which leads us into our second scene here, between Rebekah and Jacob.

2. Rebekah and Jacob

And what Rebekah does in verse 6 and 7 is relay to Jacob what she heard Isaac say. Notice that while "Isaac spoke to his son Esau... Rebekah said to her son Jacob." This is all kind of weird.

And she goes on to explain her plan to Jacob. He's supposed to go get two young goats from the flock, and she's going to cook them up the way Isaac likes it, and he's going to bring it to Isaac and get the blessing intended for Esau.

And right away Jacob sees a hole in the plan. Sure, his father is blind, but what if he feels him? His smooth skin is a dead-giveaway that he's not Esau. And then, instead of a blessing, his father will curse him. And in verse 13 his mom says, "Let your curse me on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me."

"I'll take whatever curse comes instead of you—just do what I say." So he does it, and Rebekah gets to work. She prepares delicious food, such as his father loves. She raids Esau's closet for his best clothes. She dresses Jacob, her younger son as verse 15 reminds us, in Esau's clothing. And the skins of the goats they just butchered she puts on his hands and his neck. Yes, that's how hairy Esau was—that a goat skin is a passable disguise for how his skin would have felt. And verse 17 says that she puts the "delicious food" into the hand of her son Jacob.

What's right here?

There's a lot that's wrong here. But first, let's ask—what is right here? What's going on that we can cheer for? Simply, Rebekah's concern that Jacob get what God wants him to have is commendable. You can see her actions here as a somewhat misguided attempt to obey the prophetic word that was given to her before they were born.

And maybe, if it's not a stretch, we can see a sense of justice at work in Jacob. He bought the rights of the firstborn, so he's not trying to steal the blessing from Esau as much as stop Esau from stealing the blessing from him.

What's wrong here?

But then we ask the next question, "What's wrong here?", and the answer is, "a lot." There's a lot that's wrong in regards to how they're treating Isaac, and there's a lot that's wrong in regards to how they're treating one another.

Starting with Isaac, Rebekah's whole plan hinges on deceiving and taking advantage of her own husband, who is elderly and disabled. Let's just acknowledge that this is really bad.

And Jacob doesn't seem bothered by that. When he hears the plan, he doesn't say, "Mom, that's wrong." All he's concerned about is whether it's going to work or not. He's not showing any honour for his father, any respect for the elderly, any care for the disabled.

Rebekah and Jacob were right to be concerned about the blessing going to the right person. But they should have gone to Isaac directly and then trusted God to keep his word, much like David did when he refused to put out his hand against the king and trusted God to exalt him at the right time.

Now the second area where things are wrong has to do with their relationship with one another. Did you notice how Rebekah shows no respect to her adult son who is at least 40? Verse 8: "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you." And verse 13: "Only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me."

And in verses 14-17, she's the one doing all the work. All Jacob did was get the goats. She cooks them, she gets Esau's clothes and puts them on Jacob, she puts the goat skins on him, and she puts the food in his hands.

So she's not only bossing her adult son around, but it sounds like he's just standing there while she bustles around doing everything for him like its his first day of preschool.

Moms, I hope you know that this isn't how you treat your adult sons. Twice Jesus had to put Mary in her place when she tried to tell him what to do, and both times she was being way less pushy than Rebekah is here (John 2:4, Mark 3:21, 31-34). When Jesus was young, he was submissive to his parents (Luke 2:51). But when Jesus became an adult, Mary had to know that it was no longer appropriate for her to just tell him what to do.

A lot of parents struggle with this transition, and some people never do. Some moms love babying their adult sons, and some adult men love being babied by their moms. And none of this is healthy. We don't know the full extent of Rebekah and Jacob's relationship, but what we see in the passage here is enough to give us concern. Rebekah seems to be playing the part of the smothering mother. And by the end of the scene, Jacob is all dressed up, delicious food in hand, ready to go in and deceive his disabled dad.

3. Isaac and Jacob

Which brings us here to the third scene, between Isaac and Jacob. Verse 18: “So he went in to his father and said, ‘My father.’ And he said, ‘Here I am. Who are you, my son?”’” (Genesis 27:18).

What a weird question—"Who are you, my son?" But that's the point. We know in Verse 22 that Isaac recognizes Jacob's voice. This question is very suggestive of the great distance between them.

The Deception

And in response to this question, Jacob tells a bold-faced lie. Verse 19: "I am Esau your firstborn." Legally, he had bought the firstborn's rights. But he's not Esau. This is the deception.

And he goes on, urging his dad to sit up and eat so that he might bless him.

In verse 20, Isaac asks, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He's not expecting him back this soon. Bow hunters in the room will know that it takes a lot longer to arrow a deer than to go grab a couple of goats from your pen.

And so Jacob tells a second lie. "Because the Lord your God granted me success’” (Genesis 27:20). Notice that the Lord is not his God yet. Just hid dad's God.

Isaac's suspicions are strong, so he tells Jacob to come near so he can feel him. This is what Jacob was worried about. But the goatskin works. In verse 22, Isaac says, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

And so they begin with the blessing ceremony, which is how I understand those words at the end of verse 23. "So he blessed him" means, "So he proceeded with blessing him." But not before one more question! “He said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, ‘I am’” (Genesis 27:24).

Isaac is so vulnerable without his eyes, but, like so many people, perhaps he can't imagine someone would directly lie to him like this. He has to go on what he has. So he asks for the food, and eats it.

I don't know what this scene looked like, but it seems kind of awkward to me: Jacob just standing there while Isaac digs into his favourite food by himself. It kind of makes me think of Pippin and Denethor.

But imagination aside, the irony here is that Isaac can't taste the difference between wild game and domestic goats. The whole point of Esau going out to hunt, the whole reason he was the favourite son, was because Isaac preferred one kind of meat more than another. And here, he can't even taste the difference between them.

The Blessing

Now, having eaten and drank, in verse 26 he tells Jacob to come close and kiss him. This would have been a kiss on the cheek, a respectful familial form of saying hello or goodbye in those days. And as Jacob comes close, Isaac smells Esau's clothes—bonus points for Rebekah's attention to detail—and the deception is sealed.

Isaac can't see, and his ears suggest this is Jacob, but his sense of touch and taste and smell all convince him this is Esau. So he blesses him.

Notice where it starts: "See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!" Esau smells like the great outdoors, and Isaac's exultation in this smell points again to his indulgence in his physical senses and appetites.

In verse 28 he says, “May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine” (Genesis 27:28).

This is the blessing of physical prosperity. Remember the importance of water from last week? Dew, which came from moisture in the air, was an important source of water for crops to grow. "Fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine" points to rich, abundant crops.

Next, he blesses Jacob with rule and authority. Much of what we read in verse 29 comes from the covenant promises given to Abraham. “Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you" recalls God's promise to make Abraham a mighty nation (Gen 12:2). "Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” is again very similar to what God said to Abraham. God will so favour Jacob that they way people treat him is the way they will be treated.

The content of these promises isn't new, but the big idea is that Isaac is passing on the covenant promises. Which does mean that Isaac believes these promises are real. Hebrews 11 says that he pronounced these blessings by faith (Heb 11:20-21). He believed God was going to do what He promised.

What is new is what's right in the middle of verse 29: "Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you." Isaac means for Esau to inherit these blessings, not Jacob. He doesn't want his sons dwelling together in unity. He wants one ruling over the other, but in the opposite way that God promised Rebekah.

And all these words are pronounced over Jacob. And in the supernatural way that these blessings worked, it didn't matter that Isaac meant them for Esau. He speaks them to Jacob and Jacob receives these blessings, in disguise.

4. Isaac and Esau

Very quickly, the story moves into the fourth episode. And I'm just going to read verses 30-35 because they are so dramatic and they speak for themselves.

“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’” (Genesis 27:30–35).

Oh, the moment when it all comes sinking in. When Isaac knows how gullible he was. When Esau realizes it's too late and what he hoped would happen to Jacob as happened to him.

Verse 36: “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?”’”

The word for "cheated" there sounds like the name "Jacob," and could be translated, "he has grabbed me by the heel these two times." Esau feels he's been cheated out of what he deserves by his brother, and gets desperate as his dad explains that no, there's no real blessing left for him. And so Esau gets desperate. “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” (Genesis 27:38).

This is the moment Hebrews 12 talks about when it says “that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears” (Hebrews 12:17). When Esau sold his birthright, he made a decision from which there is no coming back. No tears, no emotion, can change what's happened.

And when Isaac does answer him, it's with a blessing that sounds a lot more like a curse: “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’” (Genesis 27:39).

Esau is going to continue to live as a wandering man in wild places, away from crops and harvests and water. Verse 40: "By your sword you shall live." You're going to have to fight for your life. No peace. "And you shall serve your brother." He is going to rule over you.

"But when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck." In other words, his service won't last forever. In time, he'll break free. Which did happen later on when the people of Edom broke free from serving the people of Israel. Even this didn't last forever, though, as Edom was eventually destroyed by the Babylonians and afterward ceased to exist as a people.

Our Blessed, Messed-Up Family

And that's all Esau gets. And that's where we wrap up our passage for today.

As we step back and look at this as a whole, we might wonder what the point of all of this is. This chapter might feel like an episode of some trashy reality TV show that follows a dysfunctional family around and hangs out their dirty laundry for everybody to see.

But this is not entertainment. And it's not just a series of moral lessons, like, "don't do what they are doing."

The big idea here is that this dysfunctional family—Isaac with his appetites, scheming with his favourite child to deprive the other, Rebekah babying her grown up son, Jacob the liar deceiving his dad, Isaac and Esau having to come to terms with their little secret plot totally backfiring—all of this is the way that God accomplishes His purpose of election.

Remember that before these boys were born, before they had done anything good or bad (Rom 9:10-12), God proclaimed a great reversal. That the older would serve the younger. That He would not be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Esau, but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

And how is that reversal accomplished? Through Esau's lust for a bowl of stew back in chapter 25, and through all of the dirty scheming we see in this chapter. This is how God's purpose is achieved.

God's purposes through human sin. This is a major theme in this story. This is a major theme in the lives of the patriarchs. This is a major theme in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus will be worshipped forever as the Lamb who was slain to redeem men for God from every tribe, tongue, language and people because Adam and Eve rebelled in a garden, Jacob's mom wrapped goatskin around his neck, Pilate washed his hands, and solders drove nails through the flesh of an innocent man.

And none of this was about God figuring out a plan B. Like we've seen, all of this was His plan all along. "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen 50:20).

And today's passage fits this pattern perfectly. God intended for the Abrahamic blessings to flow, not to Esau, but to Jacob, and through Jacob to Judah and through Judah to David and through David to Jesus of Nazareth, and through Jesus of Nazareth to all who become His sons and daughters by faith.

And through Jesus, we are blessed indeed. Jesus blessed His disciples before He returned to His father (Luke 24:50-51). And like we heard last week, Ephesians 1 tells us that in Jesus we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Jacob was blessed with food and water and rule over his brother. As wonderful as those were, they were all temporary. Ephesians 1 tells us that our blessings include being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him, being predestined for adoption as sons through Jesus, redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, the grace He's lavished upon us. The blessing of our future, eternal inheritance. The blessing of the Holy Spirit who seals and keeps us for the day of redemption.

These are the better blessings that flow to us, through Jesus, the Messiah promised to Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob.

And that means that today's story is a part of our testimony. This messed-up family is a part of our story. This is how God gets His work done. He doesn't make people sin, but somehow, He uses our sin as a part of His sovereign plan as He works all things according to the council of His will.

So, you know what that means? We don't have to pretend that we have it all together. Isn't that a pressure we often feel? We're in church, around other Christians. We feel like we need to act like we're all okay. Hide the tears, put on a smile. We all need to be perfect. Our families need to be perfect. Our kids need to be perfect. That's one reason we hate being criticized or confronted, because it pops our bubble that we've got it all together.

But listen: we don't have to pretend we have it all together. Look at the mess in this chapter, and this is the mess God used to bring Jesus into the world and to bring you into His family, and to bless you forever.

If you are feeling messed-up this morning, you're in good company. If you're not okay, if your family is not okay, come to the Saviour who loves to work for and through messy people just like you.

This is no encouragement to wallow in your mess. This is a call to come to the Lord who is making all things new and wants to restore and redeem and renew you.

If you don't feel messed-up this morning, just know that you don't have any better access to God than anybody else. Just because you come from Christian stock, were raised in the right kind of a home, or raised your own kids in the right kind of a home—this does not give you VIP access to God.

In fact, if you are doing well in any regard this morning, that is God's grace to you which you don't deserve. God's grace which flowed to you through this messed up family we read about this morning.

And if it were not for the death and resurrection of Abraham's offspring, your good clean life would be taking you to hell at the exact same speed as everybody else. See, there is no room for boasting at all.

So maybe you need to repent this morning of your need to feel like you have it all together. Maybe you need to recognize that you come to the Lord's Table every week like a needy child who receives God's grace on the same basis as everybody else. The son of God—the son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—died in your place for your wicked deeds. He intercedes for you today, watching over you with love, pouring out his spiritual blessings on you, patiently making you like Himself, waiting for the day He comes again to be with you forever.

You don't deserve any of this grace, so just enjoy it. Together with the rest of God's beloved children who share the same basic testimony as you: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see."