Genesis 27:30-46 comments: Jacob forced to leave his family

Genesis 27:30 ¶  And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31  And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me. 32  And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. 33  And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. 34  And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. 35  And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. 36  And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? 37  And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, 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 unto thee, my son? 38  And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. 39  And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; 40  And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

It doesn’t take long for Isaac to realize what has been done to him. He was suspicious but with Esau’s immediate entry after Jacob’s departure it was pretty obvious. Verse 33 shows that Isaac, even if deceived, was not going to revoke his blessing. Indeed, there is no indication that it was even possible to revoke a blessing already made. God had blessed Ham and Noah’s prophecy, after Ham’s behavior, was directed at Ham’s son, not Ham.

Genesis 9:1 ¶  And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…24 ¶  And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25  And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

Esau begs for a blessing but Isaac acknowledges that Jacob came with subtilty, a trait we learned about Satan in chapter 3, a trait which will come back to haunt Jacob as he is tricked by his uncle shortly in a similar manner.

Verse 36 tells us Jacob’s name should mean supplanter, someone who replaces, who takes someone’s place, and Strong’s dictionary, although not the only authority and which should never be taken as equal to the Bible itself, agrees. Esau accuses Jacob of taking away his birthright when he willingly gave it to Jacob and here, in truth, he accuses Jacob of taking his blessing, which was the ultimate consequence of his surrendering his birthright.

Esau pleads for a blessing but Isaac tells him there is none left. He has made Jacob his heir. So, Isaac does bless him, in a manner of speaking, although Esau will hate Jacob for that blessing. He will take that blessing and make it his excuse for wanting to kill Jacob when his father dies.

Isaac does give Esau a blessing but it is the blessing for a person who must live off the land, living by the sword, until he frees himself from his brother’s yoke. This, too, is a prophecy for a future time, as we will see, although Esau takes it very personally and immediate.

2Kings 8:22  Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day.

Genesis 27:41 ¶  And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. 42  And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. 43  Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; 44  And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away; 45  Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day? 46  And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

At this point Esau planned on killing Jacob once their father had died. Someone, perhaps a servant or even Esau himself, told Rebekah who told Jacob. She told him to run away to his Uncle Laban. A few days clearly just means a period of time until Esau’s heat of anger dies down. In fact, Esau will not be full of rage at Jacob when they meet again. God did not permit Esau’s wrath to fester and turn into a quest for revenge. Rebekah promises to call Jacob from his exile. And, she tells Isaac that she wants Jacob to leave lest he, too, take Hittite wives.

Proverbs 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.