Genesis 27

 

Isaac: Family Deception, Blessing and Consequences

■ Dysfunction and Deception Within the Family – Genesis 27:1-29

Isaac’s Plot – 27:1-4

Rebekah’s Counterplot – 27:5-13

■ Distress and Division Within the Family – Genesis 27:30-46

Dysfunction and Deception within the Family – Genesis 27:1-29

 Isaac’s Plot – 27:1-4

Abraham approached the end of his life well-prepared. He found a bride for Isaac and secured all his other children in lands far away. Perhaps his example motivated Isaac in Genesis 27, where we see Isaac as an old man. Isaac believed his death was drawing near. There is no indication that his death was imminent, but he stated, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.” We know Isaac experienced some physical limitations of old age, including blindness. Life is finite, a fact most people try to ignore or avoid. Consciousness of the brevity of life sharpens life’s priorities.

Isaac urgently sought to secure Esau as heir that day “before he died.” Genesis 35:28 indicates Isaac lived to be 180, giving him decades to live with the consequences of his actions this day. His methods in this exchange raise questions. In that culture and time, fathers normally blessed their heirs with joyful, public celebrations such as Abraham held for Isaac.1 Instead,

 Isaac privately called on Esau to provide him a tasty meal of game, his favorite and Esau’s specialty, as a condition to receiving his blessing. Isaac’s motives and understanding are not clearly stated, but certainly questionable.

 

We assume Isaac knew of God’s prophecy regarding his choice of Jacob, not Esau.2 Isaac’s manipulative plot started an ugly family battle. God’s choice of Jacob, not Esau, was preeminent. Isaac ignored not only God’s expressed will but also the different attitudes of his two sons toward God’s promises and commands. Isaac’s partiality and inaction contributed to the family’s discord. Isaac decided to give Esau something God did not want him to have.

 

Although Esau previously decided the birthright was worth less to him than a bowl of stew, he now tried to get it back from Jacob through his father’s scheme. Esau thought God’s blessing could be sold, earned or stolen. Esau’s attitudes and actions indicated wrong thinking about God.

Rebekah’s Counterplot – 27:5-13

When Rebekah overheard Isaac speak to Esau about the blessing, she sprung to action. As soon as Esau headed out to hunt, she called Jacob and devised a plan of her own. Rebekah knew well God’s prophecy that Jacob, not Esau, was God’s choice. Esau’s disobedient marriages to two Hittite wives caused her grief.4 She likely knew that Esau had sold Jacob his birthright. Jacob was her favorite.5 Whether or not she thought she was upholding God’s decreed will, Rebekah sought to undermine Isaac’s plan with her own manipulative scheme. She was not trusting God to deliver what He had promised. Rebekah sought to fulfill God’s plan and her desires in her own way, rather than waiting on God.

Rebekah plotted to deceive her husband and led Jacob into sin against God and his father, Isaac. Rebekah’s plan was bold. She would prepare a meal like the one Esau had likely learned to cook from her. Jacob would impersonate Esau to serve the meal and snatch the blessing. Rebekah relied on sinful methods to seek the right thing. Obedience to God never requires compromise with sin. Because God is holy, God’s people must be holy in motives and in methods.6

Jacob expressed fear of being caught and cursed, but he did not object to his mother’s plan. How much sorrow was caused because Jacob did not say, “This is wrong. This is sin.” Rebekah did not weigh her choices or the consequences for herself and her beloved son. Her reply, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say,” reveals her casual attitude toward this serious offense. She told Jacob that Isaac would confer the blessing “in the presence of the Lord” (27:7), but she failed to see her actions within the view of Holy God. At this point, the four family members had this in common – they each valued their own will more than God’s righteous character. None were afraid to sin in the presence of the Lord to get what they wanted.