Why was a father's blessing so highly valued in the Old Testament?

The blessing of the children seems to flow from this. It was an act performed in the combined virtues of a prophet and a priest, which, as we see, the fathers of the families carried in their own persons. They received a communication of the divine mind, and then uttered it, as "oracles of God;" and, being separated or priestly representatives of God to their children, they pronounced His blessing, God's blessing, upon them.

But ere I speak of the relief or comfort which this has for us when thinking of Isaac, I take occasion to inquire, What was the nature or character of this blessing by the patriarchs upon their children, which we find again and again in the Book of Genesis?

I shall just offer a remark here upon Isaac, Rebekah, and Esau. It is very interesting to observe how, notwithstanding the exhibition of nature's excessive weakness, in the opening of Genesis 27, Isaac maintains, by faith, the dignity which God had conferred upon him. He blesses with all the consciousness of being endowed with power to bless! He says, "I have blessed him; yea, and he shall be blessed … Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him; and what shall I do now to thee, my son?" He speaks as one who, by faith, had at his disposal all the treasures of earth. There is no false humility, no taking a low ground by reason of the manifestation of nature. True, he was on the eve of making a grievous mistake — even of moving right athwart the counsel of God; still, he knew God, and took his place accordingly, dispensing blessings in all the dignity and power of faith. "I have blessed him; yea, and he shall be blessed." "With corn and wine have I sustained him." It is the proper province of faith to rise above all one's own failure and the consequences thereof, into the place where God's grace has set us.

Is God going to be thwarted? Is He going to be hindered in His purposes? Never! Isaac himself, unconsciously at the time, but with the full sense of authority, bestows the fullest blessing upon Jacob, although he was under the impression that it was Esau. That was faith; not in his purpose, (for God ruled that,) but in bestowing the blessing, and realizing, after he had done it, that 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. Here is one who, contrary to his own intention, bestows the blessing just where God would have it! I do not enter upon Jacob's machination, and Rebekah's. He paid dearly for it all. God had no need of his deception, for His purposes will be carried out in spite of nature on the one hand or the other.

How came Isaac to be deceived by such a clumsy artifice? He knew the voice; were the neck and wrists, covered with the skin of a kid, a surer test than the voice? Isaac was deceived in a way in which no man of the world, with common sense, would have been. How came it to pass? He was not in communion with God, and a saint 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. "Bring me savoury meat, that my soul may bless thee" — give thee the blessing — "before I die." When he became conscious of what he had done, of his attempt to set aside God's order and choice, of the mistake in not recognising Jacob beneath his disguise, he trembled exceedingly. Then faith awoke, and the scales fell from his eyes. God's will, that the younger should rule over the elder, came into his remembrance; and, spite of his earthly preferences, he said, "Yea, and he shall be blessed" — yea, shall have the blessing. He sees how God prevented his giving the promise to the wrong man. He judges himself. He takes God's side of the question. "Thy brother came with subtlety." Jacob deserved to lose the blessing; by his meanly lying conduct he forfeited the place given by promise. Where would he have been, and the nation called after his name, if grace had not covered his sin at the very outset of his career? Isaac, had he allowed his natural feeling to work, would have been more likely to curse him rather than bless. But the eye of faith is now wide open, and he will not recall the blessing which he unwittingly pronounced upon Jacob, but sinfully wished to give Esau. Faith being restored to exercise, he puts his Amen to what God had said — "Yea, and he shall be blessed." This was his one great victory of faith. In the conflict he had not been scatheless, for a while he was under his enemy, and it was with fear and trembling that he rose. Not like Abraham, whose victory was over parental affection, a thing righteous in itself, and pleasing to God. The arena of Isaac's combat was of a mulch lower character. That which hindered his faith was the lowest of animal appetites — something savoury and pleasant to the taste. Nevertheless, the meanest foe, as well as the greatest, can be overcome only by the same power, and this invariably is, faith in God. And for this reason it is written, "By faith Isaac blessed (ton) Jacob and (ton) Esau concerning things to come." Not Esau and Jacob together, but Jacob first, and Esau in a lesser way.

But he found that it was he who was too late. Isaac was shocked when Esau told him who he was (vv. 32-33). At first he questions who had already come, but of course he knew the answer to this. He tells Esau he has blessed the first one who came, and adds positively that “he shall be blessed.” In this way God had overruled Jacob's inexcusable deceit in order that the blessing should be given to the younger son, as God had decreed.

But he found that it was he who was too late. Isaac was shocked when Esau told him who he was (vs.32-33). At first he questions who had already come, but of course he knew the answer to this. He tells Esau he has blessed the first who came, and adds positively that "he shall be blessed." In this way God had overruled Jacob's inexcusable deceit in order that the blessing should be given to the younger son, as God had decreed.

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, whether it may be barley (typical of His character of lowly humiliation on earth) or wheat (symbolizing the higher truth of Christ glorified at God's right hand). Both are valuable in providing needed nourishment for the Christian life. The new wine pictures the joy of a new life in Christ based upon the value of the shedding of His blood. Every Christian father or mother may well desire such blessing for all of their children.

But more than this: Isaac desires and virtually prophesies that people will serve his son. Nations would bow down to him. He would be the master of his brothers. His own mother's sons would bow down to him. Those who cursed him would be cursed, and those who blessed him would be blessed (v. 29).

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, whether it may be barley (typical of His character of lowly humiliation on earth) or wheat (symbolizing the higher truth of Christ glorified at God's right hand). Both are valuable in providing needed nourishment for the Christian life. the new wine pictures the joy of a new life in Christ based upon the value of the shedding of His blood. Every Christian father or mother may well desire such blessing for all of their children.

But more than this: Isaac desires and virtually prophesies that people will serve his son. Nations would bow down to him. He would be the master of his brothers. His own mother's sons would bow down to him. Those who cursed him would be cursed, and those who blessed him would be blessed (v.29).

But God is pitiful as well as holy. He would not repent Him of His own election. Yet He strengthens Isaac to pronounce a second blessing upon Esau. By faith He blessed him also, touching things to come. A rich and ample promise was the portion of the first-born. But it was a material blessing only. If strength should come one day to break his brother's yoke, the Lord was the Avenger of His own (Obadiah, passim).