6/4/22
Recently, as I sat on the deck behind my house, admiring the beautiful clouds with my wife and daughter, I read the story of how Jacob stole his brother Esau’s blessing from Genesis 27. In this chapter there was a great picture of what Jesus does for those who have faith in him, as well as a foreshadowing of Gods plans for his people.
Chapter 27 begins with Isaac, who is old and frail and can’t see. He calls his eldest son, Esau, to him and tells him to go hunting and to bring him some of his favorite meat so he can bless him. Rebekah overhears this, and tells their younger son, Jacob, to go kill two goats and to take the meal that she will make to his father. She says that in doing this, Jacob can get his brother’s blessing.
Jacob obeys his mother. But Jacob recognizes that he isn’t anything like his brother. Esau is hairy and spends most of his time in the field. To disguise himself, Jacob puts on his brother’s clothes and covers his smooth skin with goat’s skins.
As he approaches his father claiming to be Esau, Jacob gives him the savory meal which Rebekah had prepared. Isaac can’t see, and notices that when his son speaks it sounds like Jacob, instead of Esau. After eating the meal, he asks Jacob to come close so he can smell and feel him to be sure to it was Esau. Isaac is fooled by Jacobs disguise and proceeds to give Esau’s blessing to him.
A few key things stand out to me in this story:
- Jacob brings a “savory” meal to his father that he did not prepare by himself.
- This is paralleled in several other stories and examples throughout the Bible:
- Abraham offers the ram which God prepares instead of his own son;
- The law of Moses requires that sacrifices were to be made as a “sweet savor unto the LORD;”
- Jesus is a sacrifice of a “sweet smelling savor” unto God that we did not prepare ourselves. (Ephesians 5:2)
- This is paralleled in several other stories and examples throughout the Bible:
- Jacob wears his brothers clothes and covers his bare skin with goat skins in order to appear to Isaac as his bother Esau, and he is successful.
- Similarly, Adam and Eve were also covered by skins in the Garden of Eden to cover their bare skin.
- The older brother’s clothes along with the goat skins essentially seal the deal: if it weren’t for them, Isaac would have noticed that Jacob didn’t feel or smell like Esau.
- Because the disguise works, Isaac truly believes that he is passing on the family blessing to Esau.
- Esau is the first born in this story, while in the new testament Jesus is called the firstborn of the Father.
- Jacob is given the blessing because Isaac was giving it to Esau. We are given the blessings found in the new testament because of how God the Father blesses his son, Jesus.
- Even after the deception is found out by Isaac, he doesn’t retract his blessing, in fact, he doubles down.
- Immediately after the deception is discovered, Isaac confirms “yes, and he will be blessed.” (v.33)
- While Jacobs blessing is that God give him the dew, the fatness, and the plenty, Esau’s blessing is that he shall dwell in those things.
- We know that in the end Jacob/Israel end up fully inheritying the land and all the plentifulness of it, and just like many other examples, the first becomes last and the last becomes first.
- This forshadows God’s plan for his people, that Israel ends up not being the ultimate people who are called by His name, but rather the Church is, and God will call them His people which before were not. (Hosea 1:9-10, Romans 9:25)