Genesis 27:6-29 comments: Jacob and his mother, Rebekah, deceive Isaac

Genesis 27:6 ¶  And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, 7  Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death. 8  Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. 9  Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: 10  And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. 11  And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: 12  My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. 13  And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. 14  And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. 15  And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: 16  And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: 17  And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

Genesis 27:18 ¶  And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? 19  And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. 20  And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me. 21  And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. 22  And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. 23  And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him. 24  And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. 25  And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26  And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. 27  And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed: 28  Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: 29  Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

As God’s plan of reconciling man to Himself unfolds in its particulars, the theme of the Bible, here we find the deception of a feeble old man by his wife and son. We have no evidence to say that Isaac knew what we know, that Esau had given up his birthright to Jacob for a meal. In fact, it is possible that may not have been legal from a cultural perspective anyway. The fact that Jacob felt justified, along with his mother who probably did know what Esau had been willing to do, is what matters here. It is the fulfillment of prophecy given to Rebekah, not to Isaac.

25:23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Isaac blesses Jacob, thinking he was blessing Esau, passing on authority over his siblings. He also repeated God’s blessing on Abraham to Jacob.

Genesis 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Jacob’s blessing is bit more earthy and more immediate than Abraham’s though. Rather than promising that Jacob will be a blessing to all families of the earth, which Jehovah Himself will do later, he is told that nations will bow to him and he will rule over his own siblings. He is now given the birthright and we see the foundation laid for the fulfillment of the prophecy and curse against Canaan from earlier on. The nations of Canaan will bow down and those who curse his progeny will be cursed.

Genesis 9:25  And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27  God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

To curse the Hebrews was in the hearts of Balak, king of Moab, and the other kings of Canaan. It was the commission he wanted to give to Balaam, the heathen prophet.

Numbers 22:4b …And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5  He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: 6  Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

Although Balaam refused to outright curse the Hebrews he was willing to offer counsel to subvert them and make rotten their culture and standing with God from the inside.

Numbers 31:16  Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.

But, this desire to curse the Hebrews, came back on them.

Numbers 31:8  And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

Jacob, posing as Esau, has deceived his father to gain the blessing that would have gone to Esau. But, we shall soon see that Jacob is to be sent away. He will not control his father’s wealth and he will have no opportunity to rule over his brethren. This prophecy is for future generations about to be revealed. We will see that Esau is not going to remain as unhappy as we will see him in the next passage, or as angry. Essentially Esau loses nothing but his place in God’s ministry of reconciliation, which matters little to a carnal man like himself as it does not matter to many Christians, who prefer a worldly kingdom to a heavenly one.

For centuries many countries in Europe and the United States of America viewed themselves as God’s chosen vessel. They tried to create in their minds God’s kingdom out of a temporal physical place. This Replacement Theology where an organization like the Catholic or Anglican churches or a country like Spain, Germany, England, France, Russia, or the United States declares that it is divinely inspired and God’s special country is the work of many carnal men. They failed and were judged by God and are being judged because man is an incorrigible sinner and the Christian’s home is in heaven and his capital is the New Jerusalem, not Madrid, Berlin, London, Paris, Moscow, or Washington D.C.