Genesis 27:15-29 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 27:15-29. Let’s go!
Genesis 27:15-29 (NIV)
15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.
16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.
17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18 He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.”
20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God gave me success,” he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied.
25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
28 May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness– an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”
On verses 15-29: Rebekah dresses Jacob in Esau’s clothes (v15) and places goatskins on his hands and neck to mimic Esau’s hairiness (v16). Carrying his father’s favourite meal (v17), Jacob then approaches his father Isaac in hopes of getting the blessing that was meant for Esau (v18-19). Isaac is put off by two things. First is the fact that the meal he requested was prepared so quickly (v20). Second, the person approaching him sounds like Jacob but his hands feel like those of Esau (v21-22). After being reassured by Jacob that the son before him is indeed Esau, Isaac eats the meal presented to him, asks the son before him to give him a kiss, and then blesses him. Thinking he is blessing Esau, Isaac prays over Jacob a blessing of prosperity (v28), lordship over his brothers (v29) and protection.
What can we learn from this? When I see the way Jacob received Isaac’s blessing, a blessing that was meant for Isaac’s firstborn son Esau, I am reminded of the way that we received our Heavenly Father’s blessing, a blessing that was meant for His Son Jesus. For example:
Just as God allowed a deceitful sinner like Jacob to get the blessing even though he did not deserve it, so God allows deceitful sinners like us to get the blessing even though we don’t deserve it.
Just as Rebekah covered Jacob in the best clothes of Esau so that Jacob could receive his father’s best blessing, God covered us in the best clothes of our “older brother” Jesus Christ, the robes of His righteousness, so that we could receive the Father’s best blessing.
Just as Isaac could only smell Esau when Jacob approached him, God doesn’t smell the stench of our sin but instead He smells the aroma of Christ on our lives when we receive Christ into our lives.
Just as Jacob, clothed in his brother’s clothing, could approach his father and give him a kiss, so we, clothed in Christ’s righteousness, can approach our Heavenly Father and enjoy a close and intimate relationship with Him. (By the way, I find it interesting that Isaac’s favourite meal from his son was a meal of “game” (v19); it’s a reminder that whenever I have my GAME time (my God And Me Experience time) with God each day and draw close to God with a sincere and humble heart, I’m offering to God a meal that He enjoys.)
Just as Isaac blessed Jacob as if he were Esau, so our Heavenly Father blessed us as if we were Jesus.
Just as Isaac’s firstborn Esau suffered in order for Jacob to be blessed instead, so Jesus Christ, who is called the firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15), suffered so that we could be blessed instead.
Just as Isaac’s blessing on Jacob was full and without limit, so God’s blessing on our lives is full and without limit. Praise God! Whether you are an older child, a middle child, a younger child, or an only child in your family, because of Jesus Christ we all get the Father’s fullest blessing.
As Ephesians 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
Despite all the similarities between the way Jacob received his father’s blessing and the way we received our Heavenly Father’s blessing, there is at least one major difference: whereas Isaac honestly thought he was blessing Esau and not Jacob, our Heavenly Father knew all along that He was blessing us in place of His Son Jesus. We did not pull off a rouse on God. Rather, God poured out His grace on us.
How do you receive the Father’s fullest blessing? You receive it by faith, by believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and that He rose again from the grave and is alive today. By faith, the Father’s highest blessing is yours.
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me heaven’s highest blessing, not because I earned it or deserved it, but because You placed Your Son Jesus’ robes of righteousness on me, You covered me in His blood, and You sprinkled His scent on me, so that I can approach You and be blessed by You. I receive Your blessing today and I thank You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
