And he came to his father, and said, My father! And he said, Here am I who art thou, my son?
Isaac is old and nearly blind, and the son who steps into his tent is not the son he asked for. His two words — "My father" — open a scene of deceit, and Isaac's reply raises the question of the chapter: does a blessing gained by a lie still count?
Isaac has to ask who is standing there because he can no longer see. One writer walks through the four senses Isaac still had, and what each one told him.
We all know that people have five senses. Poor Isaac was missing one of them. His sight was gone, so he was left with the other four, and this striking story shows that all four came into play. Rebekah's clever cooking made the meat of the young goats taste like venison, so it fooled his taste. Putting Esau's clothes on Jacob fooled his sense of smell. Covering Jacob's hands and neck with the hairy skin of the killed goats fooled his sense of touch. One sense remained, that of hearing, and Isaac recognised the voice as Jacob's. Three senses said the son he could not see was Esau, and only one said it was Jacob. Isaac accepted the verdict of the majority and blessed the son he could not see.
The trap worked because Isaac had set his heart on the wrong son, against what God had already said.
Both showed favouritism, as verse 28 of the previous chapter said, and their own preferences ruled them. Because Isaac had lost his sight, he expected death many years before it came. He was eager to give the blessing to Esau, even though God had made known before the twins were born that Esau was to serve Jacob. So Isaac was trying to defeat the purpose of God, and the chapter reveals how his effort failed.
Another writer finds a worse blindness in Isaac than the loss of his eyes.
For the time, Isaac was blinded in the eyes of his heart even worse than in his physical sight. It showed in his foolish favouritism, which tried to block what God had plainly declared.
Jacob answers his father's question with a flat lie. What he says next shows where a lie leads.
Jacob showed himself an expert, as if born to it. "I am Esau your firstborn," he replied to his hesitating father; "I have done as you told me." Bold lies were not enough for him. He went on to hypocritical lying, for no sin grows smaller or better the more it is used. He meets his father's surprise at how quickly the food came with his daring answer, "The LORD your God brought it to me."
Rebekah and Jacob were not indifferent to God's promise. That is what makes their conduct so strange.
There is a strange mixing of faith and unbelief in Rebekah and Jacob. Both had faith enough to value the blessing, but not enough to trust God for it. So they try to secure it by deceit. In this way Jacob lives up to his name, "supplanter." He reaps a bitter harvest from his sowing. He is deceived himself in much the same way, and over a favourite son, just as he had deceived his father Isaac.
Jacob left the tent with what he wanted. He did not leave behind the cost of how he got it.
He did get the patriarchal blessing. As Hebrews 11:20 shows, it had an element of faith in it, and it was according to the purpose of God. Yet he did not get divine blessing by scheming of this shameful kind. What he got was an unpleasant chain of consequences that tangled him in lifelong trouble. He came under the discipline of God.
Every person in this chapter fails — father, mother and son alike. The story does not end with them.
The Scriptures do not spare us the needed lesson of what man is, even chosen man. It is painful reading, and meant to be, but full of profit... But what a God we have to deal with! His purpose of grace is unmoved — otherwise it could never stand. His righteousness never changes, and it chastened every one of them for their good even now, though with pain because of their sins, so that they might not be condemned with the world.
- Blindness — Isaac had to ask who was there. The disguise fooled his taste, smell and touch. Only his hearing told the truth, and he ignored it.
- Partiality — Isaac wanted to bless Esau, against what God had already said. The deceit fell on a father who was already off course.
- Deceit — Jacob's first lie forced a second, and the second dragged God's name into the fraud.
- Discipline — Jacob got the blessing, but not by his scheming. What he sowed came back on him, and he too was deceived in later life.
- Grace — Every person here failed, and God's purpose still held. He chastened them for their good instead of casting them off.
And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou didst say to me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, in order that thy soul may bless me.
God had promised before the twins were born that the older would serve the younger. In this verse Jacob tries to take that promise by his own hand: he stands before his blind father in his brother's clothes and tells a flat lie.
The deception did not stop with the false name. When Isaac wondered how the food had come so fast, Jacob brought God's name into the fraud.
Jacob proved himself an expert, as though born to it. "I am Esau your firstborn," he answered his hesitating father. "I have done as you told me." Bold lies were not enough for him. He went on to hypocritical lying, for no sin grows smaller or better with use. He met his father's surprise at how quickly the food arrived with the daring reply, "Because the LORD your God granted me success." His voice raised a difficulty even for dull Isaac. But he felt the goat skins laid so cleverly over his neck and hands. He also smelled Esau's best clothes, especially after the tasty food and wine. That removed any further question from the aged father.
God had already promised the blessing. What Jacob and his mother added was not help but hurry.
But God's purpose must stand, and He will do all His pleasure. Faith knows this, and in the power of that knowledge can wait for God's time. Nature never can. It must gain its own ends by its own inventions. Jacob's history brings out two great points. On one side is God's purpose of grace. On the other is nature plotting and scheming to reach what that purpose would have brought about for certain, without any plot or scheme at all. God did not need help from Rebekah's cunning or Jacob's gross deceit to carry out His purpose. He had said, "the older shall serve the younger." That was enough — enough for faith, but not enough for nature.
Jacob is not blamed for wanting the blessing. Esau treated it as worthless; Jacob prized it.
Then we get Jacob. He is a poor sample in any case, but he values the promise, though it is for the earth. Esau does not, and forfeits his birthright. Jacob comes in by grace, because he had no title. Esau had title, but in the election of grace the older was to serve the younger. In fact it comes about through Esau's contempt for holy things, while Jacob does value the promise, though the means by which he got it were evil.
The chapter exposes the whole family, and that is deliberate.
Scripture does not spare us the needed lesson of what man is, even elect man. It is painful reading, and meant to be. But it is full of profit. Many believers are slow to admit that the flesh is no better in them than in this family. Each of them showed the bad moral state they were in. Rebekah was right about the end in view, but she had no scruples at all about the means. Jacob had some conscience and fear about deceiving his blind father and pretending to be Esau. He dreaded a curse instead of the blessing he valued. But what a God we have to do with! His purpose of grace is unmoved. His righteousness is unchanging, and it chastened every one of them for good even then.
Isaac was not the last father in this family to be fooled by a garment.
In Genesis 27 we read how Jacob deceived his blind father Isaac by wearing Esau's garment. Esau's garment is called one of his "best garments." Since he was the elder, it may have been very similar to Joseph's "robe of many colors." By fine clothing Jacob deceived his father. By fine clothing his sons deceived him. As he measured out, so it was measured back to him. God's government of His people works with great precision.
Jacob lied for what God had already promised him. This verse is a mirror for anyone tempted to run ahead of God.
Here Jacob tells a direct lie for his own advantage. It is another despicable form of this many-headed sin. Note too that Jacob was a child of God. The result was that he suffered the consequences of his sin for the next thirty years of his life. He gained nothing by it, for God would have given him everything in due time. Have any of my readers fallen victim to this sin? If so, I am sure they have suffered since. There can be no real restoration until that lie is confessed, not only to God but to man.
- Promised. God had said the older would serve the younger. The blessing Jacob grabbed was already his by grace, not by title.
- Impatient. Faith waits for God's time. Nature schemes for what God had already promised to give.
- Escalating. One false name led straight to a second lie that used God's name — sin never grows smaller with use.
- Governed. Jacob gained nothing by deceit. He lost thirty years to it, and his own sons later fooled him with clothing.
- Unshaken. God's purpose of grace stood through it all. His righteousness chastened every person in the story for their good.
And Isaac said to his son, How is it that thou hast found [it] so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Jehovah thy God put [it] in my way.
Isaac is suspicious. The game has come back far too quickly. Jacob's answer does more than keep the lie going. It brings God's name in to end the questions. And he says "your God," not "my God."
Jacob's first words to his father were an outright false claim to be Esau. The next answer went further, and one writer traces the slide:
He was not content with bold lies; he went on to hypocritical lying. No sin grows smaller or better with use. He meets his father's surprise at how quickly the food came with his daring answer: "The LORD your God granted me success."
The purpose of naming God here was practical: it was meant to settle the old man's doubts.
He brought the meat to his father and told him that he was Esau. Isaac wondered that Esau had found game so quickly. But Jacob hypocritically brought God's name into his deception, to make Isaac more comfortable (v. 20).
Jacob says "your God," not "my God." One writer sees here a man who knows the Name without knowing the One who bears it.
This seems to have been Jacob's first personal dealing with the Lord, though he had spoken to his father Isaac, saying, "the LORD your God" (Gen. 27:20). Like many a young man, he knew the Name of the Lord. He had heard it from his parents, and he had used it himself. But he had no personal acquaintance with the Lord yet.
Jacob wanted the blessing. What he lacked was the patience to let God give it:
How little Jacob knew, at the start of his history, of this blessed mind! How little ready he was to wait for God's time and God's way! He much preferred Jacob's time and Jacob's way. He thought it much better to reach the blessing and the inheritance by all sorts of cunning and deception than by simple dependence on God and subjection to Him. Yet this was the God whose electing grace had promised, and whose almighty power and wisdom would certainly do everything for him.
Jacob's name, "supplanter," means one who pushes another aside to take his place.
There is a strange mixture of faith and unbelief in Rebekah and Jacob. Both had faith enough to value the blessing, but not enough to trust God for it. So they seek to secure it by deceit. So Jacob lives up to his name, "supplanter." He reaps a bitter harvest from all his sowing. He himself is later deceived in much the same way, and over a favourite son, just as he had deceived his father Isaac.
One writer turns the story on the reader, and names the way back:
Note too: Jacob was a child of God. The result was that for the next thirty years he suffered from the consequences of his sin. He also gained nothing by it, for God would have given him everything in due time. Have any of my readers fallen into this sin? In a hurry to get rich, or to improve their position, or in some way to run ahead of God, have they ever told a lie from selfish motives? If so, I am sure they have suffered since. And there can be no real restoration until that lie is confessed, not only to God, but to man. Too often, sadly, one lie leads to another, as in Jacob's case.
Every person in the room is exposed — Isaac's appetite, Rebekah's scheming, Jacob's tongue — and yet the promise still stands.
But what a God we have to deal with! He is unmoved in His purpose of grace — otherwise it could never stand. He is unchanging in His righteousness. That righteousness chastened every one of them for good even now, though with pain because of their sins.
- Valued — Jacob really wanted the blessing. He had faith enough to prize it, but not enough to trust God for it.
- Shortcut — He would not wait for God's time and God's way. He preferred his own way to plain dependence on the God who had already promised.
- Cover — Jacob used God's name to quiet Isaac's suspicion. One lie grew into a hypocritical one, because no sin gets smaller with use.
- Secondhand — He says "the LORD your God," not "my God." He knows the Name from his parents. He has not yet met the Lord for himself.
- Cost, then grace — Later he is deceived just as he deceived, and he gains nothing that God would not have given him in time. Yet God's purpose of grace stands unmoved, and chastens him for good.
And Isaac said to Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be really my son Esau or not.
Isaac is blind, and a son he cannot see has just claimed to be Esau. So he reaches for the next best test — touch — and that one move decides which son gets the family blessing.
Isaac's blindness left four senses to judge for him, and here he calls up one of them. One commentator traces how the plot fooled each in turn:
We all know that people have five senses. Poor Isaac had lost one of them. With his sight gone, he was left with the other four, and this striking story shows that all four were put to work. Rebekah's clever cooking served up the meat of the young goats as if it were wild game, and so fooled his taste. She brought out Esau's clothes and put them on Jacob, and that fooled his sense of smell. Her plan of covering Jacob's hands and neck with the hairy skin of the killed goats fooled his sense of touch just as well. One sense was left, hearing, and Isaac recognised the voice as Jacob's. It was three senses against one. Three senses said the son he could not see was Esau, and only one said it was Jacob. Isaac accepted the majority verdict and blessed the son he could not see.
The disguise was crude, and the voice should have stopped him. One writer asks how Isaac missed it, points past his eyesight to his heart, and names the only power that could have saved him:
How did such a clumsy trick fool Isaac? He knew the voice. Were the neck and wrists, covered with the skin of a young goat, a surer test than the voice? This trick would never have fooled a sensible man of the world. How did it happen? He was not in communion with God, and the crudest of tricks can fool a believer who is out of communion. His thoughts ran after what pleased his body. His soul loved wild game, and the tasty meal blinded his mind… What blocked his faith was the lowest of bodily appetites — a liking for tasty food. Yet the lowliest enemy, like the greatest, can be beaten only by the same power, and that power is always faith in God.
The one sense that told Isaac the truth was his ear. One writer reads it as a picture with a wide reach:
Yet the majority verdict was wrong, and only the evidence of his ear was right. In this we see a picture of a very important principle: God-given faith comes by hearing. Faith is not sight, as we know. But many people seem to think faith comes by feeling. You find this not only among those who want assurance of salvation, but also among those who are saved. They would rather go by feelings or other natural senses than by simple faith in the word of God. We live in an age in which God speaks to us, not through sight or feeling, but through the hearing of faith. We can safely trust His voice, even if all our natural senses say otherwise.
Another writer turns the same scene into a simple test of where certainty comes from:
If I am in a dark cellar, I must feel my way. But if I have a light to go by, I do not have to trust my feelings. God's word is the lamp that gives us light and makes us sure. I dare not trust my feelings. Isaac trusted his feelings and was fooled… He made a disastrous mistake. He went by feelings instead of by the voice. Only the voice of God can give us certainty. And the Scriptures are the voice of God.
Isaac's request forced Jacob to keep up the act, and the deceit did not stop there. Note who taught him:
Rebekah, on the other hand, knew what God's purpose was, but in her anxiety for the blessing of her favourite she resorted to a calculated course of deceit in order to trick her blind husband. She instigated the deceit and Jacob practised it with success. Later episodes in Jacob's life reveal him to us as a man who was a master of artful and even underhand designs. It is a solemn thought that he got the earliest recorded lesson in this kind of thing from his mother.
This chapter spares nobody in the family, and yet God comes out of it unchanged:
Isaac, who was usually blameless, let his appetite get the better of him. He lost sight of how godless his elder son was, and of Jehovah's will and choice of Jacob. Rebekah was right about the goal, but she had no conscience at all about the means. Jacob did have some conscience and fear about the deceit he was about to work on his blind father… But what a God we have to deal with! He is unmoved in His purpose of grace… It may not be that He brings good out of evil, as people say. Rather, it is His own good, given to do us good, rising above every fault and dishonour.
- Blind. Isaac had lost his sight, so touch, taste and smell became his judges. Rebekah had rigged all three.
- Outvoted. Three senses said "Esau," one said "Jacob." Isaac followed the majority and got it wrong.
- Deafened. He heard the right voice and ignored it. One writer traces that dullness to a heart set on his favourite meal instead of on God.
- Lamp. A man in a dark cellar must feel his way; a man with a lamp need not. God's word is that lamp, and faith comes by hearing it.
- Unmoved. The chapter lays bare Isaac's appetite, Rebekah's scheming and Jacob's lying. Yet God's purpose of grace rises above every fault.
And Jacob drew near to Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
Isaac is blind. He calls his son close and tests him by touch. The test contradicts itself: his ear says one son, his hands say another. Which witness he trusts, and why, is one of Scripture's sharpest lessons on how we come to certainty.
Isaac could not see, so four senses were all he had left. Rebekah's plan aimed at each one, and only one of them told him the truth.
Rebekah's clever cooking served up the meat of young goats as if it were venison, so his taste was deceived. Putting Esau's clothes on Jacob deceived his sense of smell. Her plan of covering Jacob's hands and neck with the hairy skin of the killed goats fooled his sense of touch just as well. One sense remained, that of hearing, and Isaac recognized the voice as that of Jacob. It was a case of three senses against one... Isaac accepted the verdict of the majority and blessed the son he could not see.
The minority report was the right one. The same writer draws a principle out of that reversal.
Yet the majority verdict was wrong, and only the testimony of his ear was right. We see in this an allegory, illustrating a very important principle, namely that God-given faith comes by hearing. Faith is not sight, as we know... We are living in a time when God is addressing Himself, not to sight or feeling, but to the hearing of faith. We may safely trust His voice, even if all our natural senses contradict.
So how does certainty come? One writer sets feeling and God's word side by side.
If I am in a dark cellar, I must feel my way... But if I have a light to go by I do not have to trust to feelings. God's word is the lamp that gives us light and makes us certain. I dare not trust my feelings. Isaac trusted his feelings and was deceived... He made a disastrous mistake. He went by feelings, instead of being guided by the voice. The voice of God alone can give us certainty. And the Scriptures are the voice of God.
The trick was crude. Goat skin on a wrist is not a convincing disguise, and Isaac knew the voice. Something had already gone wrong before the deception ever began.
Isaac was deceived in a way in which no man of the world, with common sense, would have been. How did it happen? He was not in communion with God, and a believer out of communion can be deceived by the crudest means. His thoughts followed the flesh; his soul loved venison, and the tasty meat blinded his mind.
The chapter refuses to give us a hero. Start with Jacob himself.
Not content with bold lies, he went on to hypocritical lying; for no sin grows smaller or better the more it is used.
The same writer widens the charge to everyone in the story. Yet he does not read this as a story about God's plan being hijacked.
At this point every one of them showed how bad his moral state was. Isaac, usually blameless, let his appetite get the better of him. He lost sight of two things: how little his elder son cared for holy things, and Jehovah's will and choice of Jacob. Rebekah may have been right about the goal, but she had no scruples at all about the means... But what a God we have to deal with, unmoved in His purpose of grace!
The story does not end with the deception. Finding out what he had done changed Isaac.
Then he realised what he had done — his attempt to set aside God's order and choice. He trembled greatly. Then faith awoke, and the scales fell from his eyes. God's will, that the younger should rule over the elder, came back to his memory. In spite of his earthly preferences he said, "Yes, and he shall be blessed." He sees how God kept him from giving the promise to the wrong man... This was his one great victory of faith.
One writer turns the mismatched voice and hands into a picture of the believer who means one thing and does another.
In this matter the believer is often as puzzled about himself as blind Isaac was. Isaac felt the hairy hands of Esau but heard the voice of Jacob... The believer does not have to stay in the dark about why, when his voice says, "I go, sir," his feet stay where they are or go the other way.
- Voice. Only the ear told Isaac the truth. Hearing is the sense God addresses, and we can trust His voice even when every other sense says no.
- Hands. Taste, smell and touch all voted for Esau — and all three were wrong. Feelings outvoted the word and lost.
- Cause. A crude trick fooled Isaac because he was out of communion with God, and his appetite had already clouded his judgement.
- Spread. The failure was not his alone. Rebekah schemed, Jacob lied and then lied worse, since no sin improves with use.
- Outcome. Isaac's faith woke and he confirmed the blessing. Every person failed, and God's purpose of grace stood unmoved.
And he did not discern him, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands; and he blessed him.
Isaac is blind, and the goatskins on Jacob's hands convince him he is touching Esau. The wrong son gets the blessing — so how did a clumsy trick fool a man of God, and why did God let it stand?
Isaac had lost his sight. One writer counts what his other four senses told him.
Of the five senses we all have, one was missing in poor Isaac. His sight was gone, so he was left with the other four. This striking story shows that all four were used. Rebekah's clever cooking presented the flesh of the young goats as though it were venison, and it deceived his taste. She put Esau's clothes on Jacob, which deceived his sense of smell. Her plan of covering Jacob's hands and neck with the hairy skin of the killed goats deceived his sense of touch just as well. One sense remained, that of hearing, and Isaac recognised the voice as Jacob's. It was a case of three senses against one. Isaac accepted the verdict of the majority and blessed the son he could not see.
The same writer draws the lesson from the one sense that was right.
Yet the majority verdict was wrong, and only the testimony of his ear was right. This story pictures a very important principle: God-given faith comes by hearing. Faith is not sight, as we know. But many seem to think it comes by feeling. That is true of people wanting assurance of salvation, and of those already saved. Such people would rather be guided by their feelings or other natural senses than by simple faith in the word of God. We live in a time when God addresses Himself, not to sight or feeling, but to the hearing of faith. We may safely trust His voice, even if all our natural senses contradict it.
The disguise was crude. One writer traces Isaac's failure to the state of his soul, then follows him to the moment he realised what he had done.
How did Isaac come to be deceived by such a clumsy trick? He knew the voice. Were the neck and wrists, covered with the skin of a young goat, a surer test than the voice? Isaac was deceived in a way that no man of the world with common sense would have been. How did it happen? He was not in communion with God, and a saint who is not in communion is liable to be deceived by the grossest means. His thoughts were fleshly; his soul loved venison, and the savoury meat blinded his mind... When he became aware of what he had done, he trembled greatly. Then faith woke up, and the scales fell from his eyes. God's will, that the younger should rule over the elder, came back to his memory, and he said that Jacob would have the blessing. He condemns his own part in it, and takes God's side.
God had already settled which son would serve the other. Rebekah and Jacob schemed anyway.
Two great points come out in Jacob's history. One is God's purpose of grace. The other is nature plotting and scheming to reach what that purpose would certainly have brought about anyway, without any plot or scheme at all... God did not need the help of Rebekah's cunning and Jacob's blatant deceit to carry out His purpose. He had said, "the elder shall serve the younger." That was enough for faith. It was not enough for nature, which must always take its own way, and knows nothing of waiting on God.
The chapter is a record of failure. One writer points to God's own verdict on it:
Genesis 27 tells the story of Isaac blessing his sons. It is a sad chapter in which every member of the family breaks down, and we can find little evidence of any faith in it. There Isaac looks like a man ruled by his appetites, acting according to nature. Yet God, who sees behind all outward failure, lets us know it was by faith that Isaac blessed his sons concerning things to come.
Jacob got the blessing. He also got, measure for measure, the treatment he had given his father.
No doubt he often had to suffer from Laban's deceit. But was there not a reminder here of the deceit he had practised himself? He is deceived about his wife, deceived about his wages, deceived about everything. Yet how had he dealt with his father, not to speak of his brother? Deceit must meet with deceit under the repaying hand of God.
- Purpose. God had already said the elder would serve the younger. The blessing was never in danger; only the way of getting it was wrong.
- Shortcut. Nature schemed to grab what God would have given anyway. The cunning added nothing but sin.
- Blindness. A believer out of communion with God falls for the clumsiest trick. Appetite had dimmed Isaac's mind long before the goatskins touched his hands.
- Voice. Three senses said Esau, one said Jacob, and the one was right — God speaks to the hearing of faith, not to feeling.
- Harvest. Jacob deceived his father, then Laban deceived him about wife, wages and everything else. God still made him the heir He had promised.
And he said, Art thou really my son Esau? And he said, It is I.
Isaac has felt the goat skins. He has heard a voice that does not match the hands. Now he asks one last time. Jacob's answer is a lie.
Isaac's senses disagreed with each other. His question shows he was still uneasy.
Isaac was not too sure that it was Esau speaking to him, and as Jacob expected, he wanted to feel him to be certain. It is a lesson for us that we cannot always depend on our sight or on our feelings either. But Isaac allowed his feelings to persuade him, though his hearing told him it was Jacob's voice. Still, he pressed further in asking if Jacob was really his very son Esau, and Jacob flatly lied to him, saying, "I am."
The claim to be Esau was not one slip that got out of hand. Jacob went on adding to it.
Jacob showed himself an expert as if born to it. "I am Esau your firstborn," he replied to his hesitating father; "I have done as you told me." Not content with bold falsehoods, he went on to hypocritical lying. No sin grows smaller or better through use.
The saddest part is that the lie was not needed. God had already promised the blessing.
Jacob's history brings out two great points. On one side stands God's purpose of grace. On the other stands nature, plotting and scheming to reach what that purpose would certainly have brought about anyway, without any plot or scheme at all... God did not need help from things like Rebekah's cunning and Jacob's gross deceit to carry out His purpose. He had said, "the older shall serve the younger." That was enough for faith. It was not enough for nature. Nature must always take its own way, and knows nothing of waiting on God.
The blessing still held. But God did not simply ignore the lie.
Neither Esau's "running" nor Isaac's "willing" could set aside God's purpose. As the apostle says in Romans 9:16, "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy." Without His mercy not one could inherit the blessing. But that does not stop His moral government in the meantime. It passes over no fault in His children, because He hates their wrongs and loves them. If they were not truly His sons, He would leave their sins to meet their just doom at the last day.
That government caught up with Jacob in kind. Years later he was the old man being deceived.
While no one can excuse the wickedness of his sons, we cannot help seeing in this scene that Jacob is only reaping what he had already sown. Thirty years before, Jacob had deceived his father with "the skins of the young goats." Now, after long years, his own sons deceive him with "a young goat." There may be long years between the sowing and the reaping, but at last the reaping time comes.
The story reaches past Jacob. It warns anyone tempted to hurry God along by bending the truth.
Note too that Jacob was a child of God. As a result, he suffered for the next thirty years from the consequences of his sin. He gained nothing by it, for God would have given him everything in due time... Have any of my readers fallen into this sin? Making haste to be rich, or to improve their position, or in some way running ahead of God, have they ever, from selfish motives, told a lie? If so, I am sure they have suffered since; and there can be no real restoration until that lie is confessed not only to God but to man.
Scripture could have left this scene out. Keeping it tells us something about God.
The blots, the failures and the errors of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have been perfectly washed away... but their history remains on the page of inspiration, to display God's grace and to warn God's people in every age. And further, that we may clearly see that the blessed God has not been dealing with perfect men and women, but with people who have "a nature like ours."
- Unbelief sows. Jacob lied to grab what God had already promised. Nature schemed for what grace would have given anyway.
- Sin grows. One lie led to a worse one. No sin gets smaller through use.
- Purpose stands. Isaac's preference and Esau's effort could not overturn God's choice. Mercy decided it, not human will or exertion.
- Government reaps. The purpose held, but God overlooked no fault. Goat skins deceived Isaac; thirty years later a young goat deceived Jacob.
- Grace remains. The failure stays on record. It shows God dealing with people like us, and warns us never to lie for our own advantage.
And he said, Bring [it] near to me, that I may eat of my son's venison, in order that my soul may bless thee. And he brought [it] near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
Blind Isaac eats and drinks from the hand of a son he cannot see. That meal opens the door to a blessing meant for the other brother, and it sets three things against each other: a father's appetite, a son's lie, and a purpose of God.
The wording ties the blessing to the same part of Isaac that wanted the meal. Writers note that Scripture regularly attaches appetite and taste to the soul rather than to the spirit.
Scripture never makes the spirit responsible for animal desires such as eating and drinking. Yet it says the soul loves eating and drinking, or hates certain foods. See for example Genesis 27:25; Numbers 21:5; Deuteronomy 12:20, 14:26; Job 33:20; Proverbs 13:25, and many other places.
Isaac's call for food was no small detail. God had already said which son would have the blessing, and Isaac's appetite pushed that word aside.
The Scriptures do not spare us the lesson we need about what man is, even man whom God has chosen. It is painful reading, and meant to be, but full of profit. Many believers are slow to admit that the flesh in them is no better than the flesh in this family. Each of them showed here how bad his moral state was. Isaac, who was usually blameless, gave in to his appetite so far that he lost sight of two things: how godless his older son was, and how Jehovah had willed and chosen Jacob.
Isaac was about to do something priestly — to speak the blessing over his son. One writer is struck by how he got ready for it: with food and wine.
We may all be aware how much of our nature stains our holy things, and how much of the mere excitement of the flesh can be mistaken for the easy, strong current of the Spirit. We may notice it even in the place of communion with God. This should be our sorrow and our humbling. We are to confess it as evil, or at least as weakness, and to guard against it. But to get ready for it by mixing the wine and strong drink with care, and taking a deep drink — that goes further still in defilement.
Jacob did not stop at one falsehood. Asked how the game came so fast, he answered by dragging God's name into the fraud.
Not content with audacious falsehoods, he went on to hypocritical lying; for no sin grows less or better in the use. His father wondered how the food came so quickly, and Jacob answered with daring: "Jehovah your God brought it to me." His voice did raise a doubt even in the dull Isaac. But the touch of the goat skins that covered his neck and hands so cleverly, and the smell of Esau's best clothes, above all after tasty food and wine, took away any further question from the old man.
Isaac's blindness left him four senses to judge by, and the meal fooled his taste.
One sense remained, that of hearing, and Isaac recognized the voice as that of Jacob. It was a case of three senses against one. Three senses declared that the son he could not see was Esau, and only one declared that it was Jacob. Isaac accepted the verdict of the majority and blessed the son he could not see.
The same writer draws a practical lesson from which sense was right.
We are living in an epoch in which God is addressing Himself, not to sight or feeling, but to the hearing of faith. We may safely trust His voice, even if all our natural senses contradict.
Isaac ate, Isaac blessed, and God's declared choice stood — not because of the trick, but despite it. Later, when the fraud came to light, Isaac bowed.
When he saw that God had overruled, he did not turn on his wife and his younger son. He bowed and judged himself, and he trembled with a very great trembling. In faith he sealed the words his lips had spoken without knowing, yet under God: "Yes, and he shall be blessed." He felt that, whoever else was to blame, the error was his own. God was only making sure now of what He had said before the sons were born.
God's purpose held, but nobody in the room escaped the cost.
Isaac is set aside, Rebekah never sees Jacob again, and the schemer who had pushed his brother out of place now finds himself in hard work, wrongs and hardships. He is pushed out and deceived himself again and again, and for twenty long years he is a stranger, far from his father's house.
- Appetite — The blessing came from Isaac's soul, the seat of taste and desire. A craving for a favourite dish opened the door.
- Deception — Jacob's first lie bred a worse one. No sin gets smaller the more it is used.
- Senses — Taste, smell and touch all agreed, and all were wrong. Only Isaac's ear told the truth. God still speaks to the hearing of faith, not to sight or feeling.
- Government — Everyone paid. Isaac lost his place, Rebekah lost her son, and Jacob lost his home for twenty years and was cheated in turn.
- Purpose — God chose Jacob before the twins were born, and that choice still stood. Isaac's trembling "Yes, and he shall be blessed" is a man's will breaking and faith agreeing with God.
And his father Isaac said to him, Come near, now, and kiss me, my son.
Isaac is blind and near the end of his life. He calls his son close for a kiss before handing on the family blessing. But the son beside him is Jacob, dressed in his brother's clothes. How was a man of God fooled? And how did God's purpose still stand?
Blind Isaac had to judge his son by his other senses. One writer counts them off.
We all know that people have five senses. Poor Isaac had lost one of them. His sight was gone, so he was left with the other four. This striking story shows that all four were used. Rebekah's clever cooking served the meat of young goats as though it were venison, so his taste was deceived. She brought out Esau's garments and put them on Jacob, and that deceived his sense of smell. She covered Jacob's hands and neck with the hairy skin of the killed young goats, and that deceived his sense of touch just as well. One sense remained, that of hearing, and Isaac recognised the voice as that of Jacob. It was a case of three senses against one.
Isaac trusted the majority. The same writer draws the lesson from that:
Yet the majority verdict was wrong, and only the testimony of his ear was right. This illustrates a very important principle: God-given faith comes by hearing. Faith is not sight, as we know. But many think it comes by feeling. That includes people who want assurance of salvation, and also people who are already saved. Such people would rather follow feelings or other natural senses than simple faith in the word of God... We may safely trust His voice, even if all our natural senses contradict.
Isaac asked questions before he asked for a kiss. Jacob had an answer for each one.
Not content with bold falsehoods, he went on to hypocritical lying; for no sin grows less or better by use. He meets his father's surprise at how quickly the food came with his daring answer, "The LORD your God granted me success." His voice raised a difficulty even for dull Isaac. But the goat skins so cleverly covered his neck and hands that they felt right. Esau's best clothes smelled right too, especially after tasty food and wine. So the aged father asked no more questions.
The failure is not Jacob's alone.
The Scriptures do not spare us the needed lesson of what man is, even God's chosen man. It is painful reading, and meant to be, but full of profit. Many believers are slow to admit that the flesh is no better in them than in this family. Every one of them showed at this point how bad his moral state was. Isaac was usually blameless, but self-indulgence in his appetite so overcame him that he lost sight of the older son's contempt for holy things, and of the LORD's will and His choice of Jacob. Rebekah was right about the end in view, but completely unscrupulous about the means. Jacob was not without conscience and fear about the deceit he was to practise on his blind father... He dreaded a curse instead of the blessing he valued. But what a God we have to do with — unmoved in His purpose of grace!
The clothes Jacob wore for this kiss came back to haunt him.
In Genesis 27 we read how Jacob deceived his blind father Isaac by wearing Esau's garment. Scripture calls Esau's garment his best, and as he was the elder it may have been something very like Joseph's robe of many colours. By fine clothing Jacob deceived his father. By fine clothing his sons deceived him. As he measured out, so it was measured back to him. God's government of His people works with great precision.
The blessing Jacob came for follows straight after the kiss.
Fully deceived, Isaac blessed him. Verses 28 and 29 give the terms of it, and we notice that it was all concerned with earthly things. He was to have plenty to eat and drink. His brothers and other nations were to serve him, and they would themselves be cursed or blessed by their attitude to him. There was no word about God being his shield and reward, as we find with Abraham. Still, such as it was, it indicated the blessing on earth that was to be his. His descendants have forfeited it, as we know, but God will make it all good to them in the coming thousand-year reign.
Isaac came close to wrecking everything here. Yet that is not how this scene is remembered.
Notice the crisis in his ways when his foot had nearly slipped in the matter of his two sons (Genesis 27). Grace overruled here; and he was saved, yet only as through fire. How striking it is that such a scene should be singled out to his credit in Hebrews 11:20! "By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau."
- Appetite blinds. Isaac's love of tasty food made him lose sight of God's choice of Jacob.
- Senses mislead. Taste, smell and touch all voted for Esau. Only his ear was right: faith comes by hearing, not by feeling.
- Lies escalate. No sin grows smaller with use. Jacob's cover story grew until he used the LORD's name to back it.
- Government repays. Jacob took a blessing in another man's clothes. His own sons later deceived him with clothing too. God measures back with precision.
- Grace overrules. Everyone in the tent failed, yet God's purpose of grace stood. Hebrews still calls this scene Isaac's act of faith.
And he came near, and kissed him. And he smelt the smell of his clothes, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed.
Isaac is blind and believes he is dying. He pulls close the son he cannot see, smells the borrowed clothes, and blesses him. Two questions follow. How was a father of faith fooled so easily? And how could words spoken under a lie still be prophecy?
Isaac tested the son in front of him. Every test but one failed him.
Of our five senses, poor Isaac was missing one. His sight was gone, so he had to rely on the other four, and this striking story shows that all four were used. Rebekah's clever cooking served up the flesh of young goats as though it were venison, so his taste was deceived. She brought out Esau's garments and put them on Jacob, and that deceived his sense of smell. She covered Jacob's hands and neck with the hairy skin of the killed goats, and that deceived his sense of touch just as well. One sense remained, hearing, and Isaac recognised the voice as Jacob's. It was three senses against one. Isaac accepted the verdict of the majority and blessed the son he could not see.
The scent that convinced Isaac came from clothes that were not Jacob's. Years later the same trick was played on Jacob himself.
In Genesis 27 we read how Jacob deceived his blind father, Isaac, by wearing Esau's garment. Esau's garment was one of his "best garments." Since he was the elder, it may have been something very like Joseph's "robe of many colours." By fine clothing Jacob deceived his father; by fine clothing his sons deceived him. What he gave out came back to him in the same measure. God's government of His people works with great precision.
The scene is written to be uncomfortable. Every person in it is in the wrong, and the purpose of God holds anyway.
The Scriptures do not spare us the needed lesson of what man is, even chosen man. It is painful reading, and meant to be, but full of profit. Many believers are slow to admit that the flesh is no better in them than in this family. Isaac was usually blameless. But self-indulgence in his appetite so overcame him that he lost sight of the elder son's godlessness, and of the LORD's will and choice of Jacob. Rebekah was right about the end in view, but she had no scruples about the means. Jacob was not without conscience and fear about the deceit he was to practise on his blind father, and about pretending to be Esau by lying. He dreaded a curse instead of the blessing he valued. But what a God we have to deal with! He is unmoved in His purpose of grace — otherwise it could never stand. He is unchanging in His righteousness too. It disciplined every one of them for their good, and it was painful, because of their sins.
These words were not a fond old man's wish for his boy.
A priest blessed by reason of his office, and there was nothing prophetic or oracular in his words. With the patriarchal blessing it was clearly different. There was a prophecy or an oracle in Isaac's words on Esau and Jacob here in Genesis 27. The same was true later, in Jacob's words on his children in Genesis 49, and in his words on Joseph's children in Genesis 48. It was true earlier too, in Noah's words in Genesis 9 on Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Read on its own, the chapter looks like appetite and trickery. Scripture elsewhere calls it faith.
Isaac is next set before us as an example of one who walked in the light of the future, for we read that "By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau." The story of the blessing of his sons is given in Genesis 27, and as we read that sad chapter in which every member of the family breaks down, we can find little evidence of any faith. There Isaac appears ruled by his appetites, seeking to act according to nature. Here, God, who sees behind all outward failure, lets us know that it was by faith that Isaac blessed his sons concerning things to come.
Isaac's picture of a blessed field points forward to a coming day for the earth.
He will come down on the earth once judgment is over, like gentle showers on thirsty ground, and so the righteous will flourish in His days. In that day there will indeed be "the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed." The blessing Isaac gave to the son who supplanted his brother, the son who became Israel, will find a glorious fulfilment.
- Failure. Taste, touch and smell lied to Isaac. Only his hearing told the truth, and he followed the three that lied.
- Fault. Isaac's appetite, Rebekah's scheming and Jacob's lies leave no one in the family blameless — the chapter shows what people really are.
- Faithfulness. God's purpose of grace stands unmoved through the whole mess, because otherwise it could never stand at all.
- Fairness. Fine clothes deceived Isaac; years later fine clothes deceived Jacob — God measures back with precision.
- Fulfilment. The blessing was prophecy, and God calls it faith; its "field that the LORD has blessed" still waits for a coming day.
And God give thee of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of corn and new wine.
Isaac is old and blind, and the son kneeling in front of him is not the son he means to bless. Yet the words he speaks — dew, fatness, grain and wine — land exactly where God meant them to. So whose blessing is this really?
Isaac does not say "I give." He asks God to give. The outcome never rested on the old man's preference.
Is God going to be thwarted? Is He going to be hindered in His purposes? Never! Isaac himself did not realise it at the time, yet he spoke with full authority. He gave the fullest blessing to Jacob, though he thought he was blessing Esau. That was faith. Not faith in his own purpose, for God ruled that. His faith was in giving the blessing, and in seeing, once he had done it, that it stood as the act of God, and that he could not reverse it.
"The dew of heaven" is not decoration. The image runs right through the Bible.
Dew was the familiar sign of God's favour. It was largely what made the land fertile, and without it the land would have been dry and barren. Isaac, in pronouncing the blessing on Jacob, uses this figure (Gen. 27:28). Moses repeats it in his closing blessing on the tribes (Deut. 33:28). Elijah shows God's judgment on the land by declaring that dew should not fall (1 Kings 17:1)... And Hosea describes the restoration of the nation, when God will bless them again. He pictures Him saying, "I will be as the dew to Israel."
Jacob and Esau are both promised dew and fatness, but not in the same order. Jacob hears of heaven first. One writer traces the reversal in Esau's line.
Poor Esau was promised these blessings in reverse order. Earthly things would come first for him. Look at his descendants and relatives today. Where are all the oil wells being fought over today? Esau's descendants have had the blessing of the fatness of the earth, but their lot has been miserable, with all their wars and fighting. The dew of heaven has also fallen on them, but they have hardly noticed.
Compare this blessing with what God promised Abraham, and something is missing.
Verses 28 and 29 give the terms of the blessing, and we notice that it was all concerned with earthly things. He was to have plenty to eat and drink, and be served by his brothers and other nations... There was no word about God being his shield and reward, as we find with Abraham. Still, such as it was, it indicated the blessing on earth that was to be his. His descendants have forfeited it, as we know, but it will all be made good to them in the coming millennial day.
One writer sees the three gifts as pictures of what God gives the believer, and of what a parent may ask for a child.
His blessing first voices the desire that God would give his son of the dew of heaven. This is typical of the living refreshment of the Spirit of God. Added to this is an abundance of grain and wine. The grain speaks of the Lord Jesus as the food of the believer... The new wine pictures the joy of a new life in Christ based on the value of the shedding of His blood. Every Christian father or mother may well desire such blessing for all of their children.
Rebekah and Jacob cared about God's blessing. But they reached for it by deceit, and the result was shame.
The sin of Isaac threw everything into confusion, and gross evil followed on the part of Rebekah and Jacob. The situation was so tangled that Esau, ungodly as he was, seemed more an object of pity at this sad and shameful moment than anyone else involved. Meanwhile those who really cared for the Lord's will and blessing brought dishonour on His name by the deceitful means they used to gain it. What sorrows and shame people make for themselves when they forget that God cannot fail to carry out His own purpose! In their haste for a good end, they do not hesitate to use wicked means.
- Source — the verse asks God to give. The blessing is His act, not Isaac's. It stood even though Isaac thought he was blessing Esau.
- Sign — dew is the token of God's favour. Without it the land is barren. God withholds it in judgment and promises it again in restoration.
- Order — Jacob hears of heaven first, then earth. Esau's order runs the other way, and his line has had the fat of the earth without noticing the dew.
- Scope — food, drink and rule over nations. The blessing is earthly all through. Jacob's descendants forfeited it, but God will yet make it good to them.
- Shortcut — Rebekah and Jacob used deceit to seize the blessing. They made sorrow and shame for themselves. God's purpose never needed their lie.
Let peoples serve thee, And races bow down to thee. Be lord over thy brethren, And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be they that curse thee, And blessed be they that bless thee.
Isaac could not see which son knelt before him. Yet his words handed Jacob rule over peoples, nations, and his own brothers. Two questions follow. Can a blessing gained by lies still stand? And what did Isaac promise here?
Isaac blessed in covenant, but the goods he handed over were earthly. One writer notes the two names of God in the blessing, and how it narrows from nations in general to Isaac's own family:
And the blessing was given, both from Jehovah in covenant, and from God in sovereignty. Yet its terms mainly consisted of earthly plenty from the favour of the heavens. They also covered the subjection of peoples and races of mankind in general, and of his brothers and his mother's sons in particular. It closes with a double sentence of larger and deeper meaning: "Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you."
What the blessing leaves out matters as much as what it names:
Verses 28 and 29 give the terms of it, and we notice that it was all concerned with earthly things. He was to have plenty to eat and drink. His brothers and other nations would serve him, and their attitude to him would bring them a curse or a blessing. There was no word about God being his shield and reward, as we find with Abraham... His descendants have forfeited it, as we know, but it will all be made good to them in the coming millennial day.
Isaac meant every word of this for Esau. That it landed on Jacob instead is the point of the whole scene:
Is God going to be thwarted? Is He going to be hindered in His purposes? Never! Without knowing it at the time, but with the full sense of authority, Isaac gives the fullest blessing to Jacob. He was under the impression that it was Esau. That was faith. Not faith in his own purpose, for God ruled that, but faith in giving the blessing. Once he had done it, he realized it would stand as the act of God, and he could not reverse it. It is a striking illustration of the power of divine purpose.
When Isaac learned what had happened, he did not take the blessing back:
His eye is opened. He discovers what he had been doing, and how Jacob had got the blessing he had prepared for Esau. He now sees plainly that he had been resisting God and could not prevail, and his soul seems to awaken as from sleep... The flesh he had been feeding could not support him in such a moment, and he does not look for it. It has been exposed to him. In the light and energy of the better life he acts by faith. Speaking now of Jacob, and no longer of Esau, he says, "I have blessed him, yes, and he shall be blessed."
"Let peoples serve you" has never yet been true of Jacob's descendants. Commentators read it as a prophecy still waiting, with a double reference — to the nation and to the One born from it:
Jacob was to be the father of the nation of Israel, and other nations would eventually bow to them. Above all, Christ would be born of the line of Jacob, and the force of the prophecy is mainly that all must bow to Christ... The ultimate fulfilment of this prophecy has never taken place yet. It will not come until Israel is recovered from her present unbelief and bows to the Lord Jesus, the true Messiah of Israel.
The last line repeats words God spoke to Abraham. Balaam takes it up, and its settling day is a scene of judgment:
Balaam therefore ends his parable with the words of God to Abraham. "Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you." Matthew 25 shows how this is fulfilled. There the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory. He separates the nations one from another by how they treated one of the least of His brothers, the children of Israel... How fully are the interests of His people bound up with Himself!
The way Jacob got the blessing came back on him:
No doubt he often had to suffer from Laban's deceit; but was there not a memorial here of the deceit in which he had acted himself? He is deceived about his wife, deceived about his wages, deceived about everything; but how had he dealt with his father, not to speak of his brother? Deceit must meet with deceit under the hands of God, who repays.
- Decree. God's purpose ruled the scene. Isaac's intention for Esau could not overturn it.
- Deceit. Jacob took by fraud what God's purpose would have given him, and Laban later paid him back in kind.
- Dominion. The blessing is earthly: food, drink, and peoples in subjection. There is no word of God as shield and reward.
- Direction. Nations bowing points past Jacob to Christ, born of his line, before whom all must bow.
- Day. The full sweep of it waits for Israel's recovery, when the Son of Man settles the blessing and the curse from His throne.