GENESIS
July 15, 2017
By Pastor Kim Hickcox
(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)
In chapters 27 and 28 we are pretty much leaving Isaac, or shall I say that Isaac is leaving us and we are going to the next generation – Jacob; Jacob, who was chosen to father the 12 patriarchs of God’s people! Can you think of a greater honor? Jacob must have been a pillar of integrity! Let’s read:
Genesis 27:1-10 “And it was that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son and said to him, ‘My son.’ And he said to him, ‘Here I am.’ 2And he said, ‘Behold now, I am old, I do not know the day of my death. 3Now take, I beg you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow and go out to the field and take me some venison. 4And make me savory meat, such as I love and bring it to me, so I can eat, so I can bless you before I die.’ 5But Rebeccah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison and to bring it.
“6And Rebeccah spoke to Jacob her son saying, ‘Behold, I heard your father spoke to Esau your brother saying, 7“Bring me venison and make me savory meat, so I may eat and bless you before the LORD before my death.” 8So now, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. 9Go now to the flock and fetch me from there two good kids of the goats, and I shall make savory meat for your father, such as he loves. 10And you will bring it to your father, so he may eat and so he can bless you before his death.’” Go Mom?
But I have to think that the Lord had His hand in this. Remember the short bio we got about Esau in the last chapter? “And Esau was forty years old when he took for wives Judith the daughter of Be’eri the Hittite, and Basemat the daughter of Elon the Hittite.35And they were a source of a bitter spirit for Isaac and Rebeccah.” (Genesis 26:34-35)
So as Esau was not the one who was selected to head God’s people in the first place, although that is not to say that the Lord could have done a miracle in his heart, Jacob received that majority of his father’s blessing. And He certainly had work to do in Jacob and did it, but Jacob was the chosen one, like Isaac was over Ishmael. Ishmael and Esau had this in common – both were born first, but neither were chosen by the Lord to birth His people.
The remaining portion of this chapter tells us how Jacob tricked his father, at the encouragement of his mother, probably due to Esau’s choice of wives and we can only assume general nonchalant attitude toward the family. And let’s not forget Esau’s selling his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup also.
So Rebeccah and Jacob did everything they had to, to fool the near-blind Isaac:
“And Rebeccah took clean garments of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands ad upon the smooth nape of his neck, 17then she gave the savory meat and the bread, which she had prepared, to the hand of her son Jacob.” (Genesis 27:15-17) I know that’s gross! But you have to admit – Jacob was an obedient son.
So Isaac was fooled and blessed Jacob with the blessing of the first born: “May God give you of the dew of the heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. 29Let people serve you, and nations bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.” (Genesis 27:28-29) How could Esau have received this blessing? He couldn’t. Isaac gave his son the same blessing the Lord gave Abraham before Isaac was ever born. This blessing was for the descendants of Abraham yes, but obviously not all of them, as he fathered many nations before his death.
Remember his second wife Keturah? “And she bore him Zimran, Yokshan, Medan, Midian, Yishbak, and Shuakh. 3And Yokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4And the sons of Midian; Ephah, Efer, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6But to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts and sent them away, eastward, to the east country from Isaac his son while he yet lived.” Genesis 25:2-6
But the Lord chose Isaac just as He chose Jacob. Therefore the ruse worked and Esau, unfortunately, did not get the blessing of the firstborn, although he fared well also and became a chief of multitudes. He became the father of the Edomites which eventually became enemies of Israel throughout the generations, the first seeds of which were planted right here: “And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I shall slay my brother Jacob.’” (27:41) So Esau’s heart was nowhere near the Lord or anything that He was about, i.e.: love! Esau was continually hurting his parents with his choice of wives, selling his birthright, and we don’t even know what else, but we do know that we don’t have the full picture, only that which the Lord felt we needed to know.
So there were actually two reasons for Jacob’s next adventure in life, the first was to get out of Dodge so his brother didn’t kill him the minute their father died, and the second was to find a wife outside of Canaan, because his mother said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?” (27:46)
Wanting to make his wife happy and I’m sure knowing this was a good thing, as his father Abraham did the same, he told Jacob, “‘You will not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, so to Padan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s brother.3And God Almighty will bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so you will be an assembled multitude of people, 4and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you, so you may inherit the land in which you are living, which God gave to Abraham.’ 5And Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Padan-Aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebeccah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.” (Genesis 28:1-5)
[Just a side note: The Old Testament is written mostly in Hebrew, but also there are portions of Aramaic, mostly in the Book of Daniel. And Y’shua spoke both of course, but anyone who has seen The Passion has seen that it was also scripted in Aramaic with subtitles. Mel Gibson therefore had Y’shua speaking the native tongue of Abraham, the father of the Hebrew people, which would be why both languages were intermixed as part of the Hebrew culture.]
Now here is where I think Esau did his best to try and make amends. In his heart, I believe this was his way of apologizing and it kind of makes me feel sorry for him. “When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan-Aram, to take a wife for himself from there, and that as he blessed him gave him a charge saying, ‘You will not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.’ 7And Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and went to Padan-Aram. 8And Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan were bad in the eyes of Isaac his father, 9Esau then went to Ishmael, and took Mahalath to be his wife, in addition to the wives that he had. She was the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.” (Genesis 28:6-9)
Esau tried, but he had too much of the world in him. He was a polygamist and his father was not. He married heathen women and his father did not. He was much too self-centered to carry on the legacy of Abraham, which was why the arranged deception went through basically without a hitch.
None of us are perfect but where is our heart? That has been the key as long as mankind has existed. “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his countenance or at the height of his stature because have refused him! For the LORD does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” 1st Samuel 16:7. Therefore, “Do not gather treasures on the Earth for yourselves, where moth and rust are destroying and where thieves break in and steal: 20but build up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and do not steal: 21for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Matthew 6:19-21
Revival starts on the inside of each of us, in our hearts. Let’s have revival!! It’s time the world knows Who their real God is and we’re the only ones who can tell them!!
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