Genesis 27:30-46 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 27:30-46. Let’s go!
Genesis 27:30-33 (NIV)
30 After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.
31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him–and indeed he will be blessed!”
On verses 30-33: Esau comes in to present his meal to his father and to receive his father’s blessing, but he is seconds too late, as Jacob has just finished impersonating him and has taken his father’s blessing in his place. Why couldn’t Isaac just revoke his previous blessing on Jacob and bless Esau instead? It’s because the kind of blessing at issue was, in Isaac’s culture, not just any blessing, but a special, irrevocable, once in a lifetime blessing from a father to a favoured son that could not be reversed, whether Isaac and Esau liked it or not.
Thankfully, the way our Heavenly Father blesses is different from the way Isaac blessed. For example:
– Unlike Isaac, who wasn’t sure who he was blessing, God never blesses you by mistake. Whenever God blesses, He always does so purposefully, knowing full well whom He is blessing.
– Unlike Isaac, who couldn’t revoke his blessing to Jacob, when God gives a blessing to a person, with many of the blessings God gives God retains discretion either to let that person keep the blessing or to take that blessing away (Job 1:20).
– Unlike Isaac, who couldn’t conjure up another blessing for Esau because he had already given it to Jacob, God’s blessings – in particular the blessing that Jesus Christ “the firstborn of all creation” deserved – is made available to all who are willing to trust in Him. God’s blessings are not limited and irrevocable the way that Isaac’s blessing was.
– Unlike Isaac, who couldn’t give Esau another chance to receive his fatherly blessing, your Heavenly Father gives us chance after chance to receive His Fatherly blessing.
– Unlike Isaac who couldn’t do anything after a deceiver stole the blessing from his intended recipient, when Satan the deceiver stole the blessing that God originally intended for humankind, God found a way to bless us anyways and to an even greater extent through Jesus Christ.
Genesis 27:34-40 (NIV)
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me–me too, my father!”
35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39 His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.
40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”
On verses 34-40: To me Esau’s weeping aloud at missing his father’s blessing is a reminder that when we live apart from the blessing our Heavenly Father wants to give us, it is an empty and miserable life, one that is “away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above” (v39) where we begrudgingly serve those we don’t want to serve (v40).
What does it mean that “when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke off your neck” (verse 40b)? Scholars have suggested various interpretations. One interpretation is that this is referring to the future conflict between Jacob’s descendants the Israelites and Esau’s descendants the Edomites (and later the Idumeans), as these two nations would be enemies for centuries. Another interpretation, suggested by Pastor Jon Courson in his application commentary, is that the anti-Christ who will rise up in the end times to attack Christ’s kingdom will descend from the line of Esau. Thus “throw his yoke off your neck”, Courson suggests, is a reference to the anti-Christ rising up to attack Christ’s kingdom and is the reason God would later say “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Romans 9:13). Still another interpretation that may be worth considering is that “”throw his yoke off you neck” is speaking of Esau’s own personal growth, the idea being that Esau would not always be angry and vengeful against his brother Jacob but that later in life Esau would set himself free by learning to forgive and extend grace to his brother (Genesis 33:4-9).
Genesis 27:41-45 (NIV)
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you.
43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides.
45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
On verses 41-45: Upon hearing that Esau planned to kill Jacob, Rebekah warns her son Jacob and tells him to flee to her brother Laban’s house in Haran. Jacob would follow his mom’s advice. Rebekah’s hope was that when Esau’s fury had subsided, she would send word for Jacob to come back. However, this would be the last time Rebekah and Jacob would see each other. As I mentioned when talking about Genesis 27:1-14, though Rebekah meant well by trying to protect her son Jacob and his destiny, Rebekah took a deceitful and wrong shortcut to get what she wanted. As a result, she would unwittingly end up losing the very son she was trying to protect, and in the process also severely damaging her relationships with her husband Isaac and her other son Esau as well as her reputation. When we do things our way instead of God’s way, the result is usually short-term gain at the price of long-term pain.
Genesis 27:46 (NIV)
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”
On verse 46: Rebekah says this to Isaac so that Isaac would recommend that Jacob go live with Rebekah’s brother Laban. Little did Isaac know that this plan was something that Rebekah herself had already decided should be done. Rebekah certainly had her sly, clever way of getting what she wanted. However, the ordeal with Rebekah helping Jacob get Isaac’s blessing should teach us an important lesson: if you are a driven go-getter who is smart and effective at getting your way, be careful that your driven-ness, initiative, desires and smarts do not lead you to do things which are manipulative or dishonest, lest you find yourself in situations that you will later regret.
Heavenly Father, thank You that You never bless by mistake, but always with a purpose knowing full well whom You are blessing. Thank You that even when Satan the deceiver tried to steal away the blessing You originally wanted to give people, You found another way to give us Your blessing through Jesus Christ. Since You are the best at blessing, may I trust You, Your ways, and Your timing, and not rely on my own smarts and understanding alone. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
