Genesis 27:30–40 (ESV),
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me.” His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
The Deception Exposed
In this story, Esau arrives and the deception of Jacob is exposed. Isaac trembles violently. He realized that he has been overruled by God. Now we have to realize that in this era, in the patriarchal times, when a blessing was given by a father, it was considered to be irrevocable. So once spoken, they could never be taken back.
Esau's bitter cry reveals the weight that he attached to his father's word, and he blames Jacob for taking both his birthright and his blessing. But notice, even in that, Esau doesn't take any responsibility for these things, even though Esau sold his birthright for a pot of stew, and with it, therefore, his own blessing.
Isaac responds and his response shows us that the blessing has already been spoken. It's been set out for Jacob over his brothers. There's very little left that he can give to Esau. The lesser blessing foretells that Esau's descendants, which ultimately becomes the nation of Edom, will live by the sword and they'll eventually break free from Jacob's dominion over them. But that's the only blessing that the father can now give the son—that they shall live violently and that they will ultimately be set free only through violence.
What We Learn: Reaping What We Sow
Now what are we to learn from this? Well, I think one of the main points of this passage is that we reap what we sow. Esau has despised his birthright earlier, but now he wants the blessing from it, and when he comes for the blessing, he finds that it is gone. Hebrews chapter 12 tells us that he could not regain his blessing even though he sought it with tears.
Again, we see in Isaac's trembling, his violent trembling, that he had resisted God's revealed will, but even now realized that even though he resisted and schemed against God, he had to ultimately submit to God's plan. So it can be with us. Often we want to fight God's plan with our lives, and yet at the end of the day, fighting God is never a good idea.
John Calvin remarks that God's purposes stand even when human beings act against it. So Isaac pronounces a blessing that he cannot revoke because God had already decreed it. It was part of God's revealed will.
Applications for Our Lives
When we think about what this means for us, I think it means a few things. Firstly, we should recognize that we cannot take God's blessing lightly. Esau despised his birthright, despised the place where God had put him in his life and in his family simply for a meal. We often, I think, undervalue the spiritual privileges we have. We have the privilege of the gospel. We have the privilege of fellowship with our church and our friends. We have the hope of eternal life. We are to treasure these things while we are still here, while there is still time.
But more than that, this passage directly calls all who read it to submit to God's sovereign purposes. Isaac here trembled. He violently trembled, as we said, I think because he realized that he could not thwart God's plan. He was so angry that he shook because despite everything he tried, he could not get away from God's plan.
Our responsibility as Christians is to align ourselves to the plans that God has revealed for us in His Word. We need to trust that His purposes are wise in our lives and that our own plan for life needs to align with what God plans for our life.
Pointing to Jesus
Finally, this passage points us to Jesus. You know, Esau here wanted an inheritance from his father. But we as Christians already have an inheritance. All Esau had was a bleak future which he could only escape through violence. But in Jesus Christ, all believers have already received an imperishable inheritance that cannot spoil or fade or pass away.
No matter what happens to us, we need to recognize that nothing can snatch us from the love of God the Father. No matter what our circumstances in life are, no matter what pain we are going through, no matter what suffering we encounter, and no matter how far away from our plan for our lives our lives have turned out to be, we need to recognize again with faith and gratitude that God has ordained what he has and that he is using whatever is happening to shape us for this eternal inheritance we have in Christ Jesus.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you that we have such a great blessing of being included in your covenant people and in your family because of the work of Jesus on the cross. We pray that you will help us to submit to your sovereign purposes for our lives. Help us to look to you for what we are to do with our lives and where you are calling us to serve you. And help us to always look forward to the new age that is to come, where our lasting inheritance in Jesus will be made fully complete. Help us to look forward to that day, especially when days on earth here are hard for us. And we pray this in your mighty name. Amen.