“Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac
spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and
bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father
say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to
eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I
die.”
Genesis
27:5-7
Esau’s
promise to give Jacob his birthright meant nothing if the birthright blessing
was spoken over his brother, Esau. So Rebekah devised a plan to ensure that
Jacob received Isaac’s blessing. Rebekah told Jacob to bring her two choice
goats and she prepared some tasty food for Isaac, just the way he liked it.
Then she took Esau’s best clothes and put them on Jacob. Because Esau was a
hairy man, she covered Jacob’s hands and the smooth part of his neck with
goatskin just in case Isaac reached out to touch him. When all this was done, she
sent Jacob in with the meal to receive the promised blessing.
When Esau
returned and heard what Jacob had done he was furious! He blamed Jacob for
stealing his birthright and his blessing:
“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?”
Genesis 27:36
Although
Esau claimed that Jacob deceived him out of his birthright, scripture is clear that
he sold it for a bowl of stew. Esau lived contrary to God’s righteous
standards. His actions demonstrated a lack of interest in God’s covenant
blessing. The writer of the book of Hebrews called him godless- meaning he was
worldly, secular, unspiritual or irreligious. He ignored God’s Word until it
was too late. It cost him God’s blessing!
Esau was so
angry he vowed to kill Jacob once Isaac had died. So Jacob fled from Esau, meaning
that Esau ended up with all the inheritance. He ended up with all the authority
and became the head of the family after Isaac’s death. The blessing, however,
went with Jacob! In the end, it wasn’t the “stuff” Esau wept for; it was the
blessing:
“Esau said to his father, “Do you have only
one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.”
Genesis
27:38
Esau tried to live the way he wanted,
pursue his own wants and desires, do what he thought was right and then try to
slip in at the end and get the blessing! He forfeited God’s blessing for a bowl
of stew and today many people are making the same mistake!
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