Lesson 58

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Bible Study          1 - Genesis 27

Series # 5:             FAMILY – FOOLISHNESS - FAITHFULNESS

Lesson 58:            Genesis 27:1-46 WHAT IS GOD’S WAY FOR THE FAMILY?

 

NOTE: In this Bible Study I have chosen the translation of the Bible called – “The Message Edition” or “The Bible in Contemporary Language” -  third edition. Copyright: 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. This is for easier reading and understanding in today’s vernacular.

 

“1. When Isaac had become an old man and was nearly blind, he called his eldest son, Esau, and said, “My son.”  “ Yes, Father?” 3. Do me a favor: Get your quiver of arrows and your bow and go out in the country and hunt me some game. 4. Then fix me a hearty meal, the kind that you know I like, and bring it to me to eat so that I can give you my personal blessing before I die.” 5. Rebekah was eavesdropping as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. As soon as Esau had gone off to the country to hunt game for his father, 6. Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob. “I just overheard your father talking with your brother, Esau. He said, 7. ‘Bring me some game and fix me a hearty meal so that I can eat and bless you with God’s blessing before I die.’ 8. “Now, my son, listen to me. Do what I tell you. 9. Go to the flock and get me two young goats. Pick the best; I’ll prepare them into a hearty meal, the kind that your father loves. 10 .Then you’ll take it to your father, he’ll eat and bless you before he dies.” 11. “But Mother,” Jacob said, “my brother Esau is a hairy man and I have smooth skin. 12. What happens if my father touches me? He’ll think I’m playing games with him. I’ll bring down a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 13. “If it comes to that,” said his mother, “I’ll take the curse on myself. Now, just do what I say. Go and get the goats.” 14. So he went and got them and brought them to his mother and she cooked a hearty meal, the kind his father loved so much. 15. Rebekah took the dress-up clothes of her older son Esau and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16. She took the goatskins and covered his hands and the smooth nape of his neck. 17. Then she placed the hearty meal she had fixed and fresh bread she’d baked into the hands of her son Jacob. 18. He went to his father and said, “My father!” “Yes?” he said. “Which son are you?” 19. Jacob answered his father, “I’m your firstborn son Esau. I did what you told me. Come now; sit up and eat of my game so you can give me your personal blessing.” 20. Isaac said, “So soon? How did you get it so quickly?” “Because your God cleared the way for me.” 21. Isaac said, “Come close, son; let me touch you—are you really my son Esau?” 22. So Jacob moved close to his father Isaac. Isaac felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23. He didn’t recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s. But as he was about to bless him. 24. He pressed him, “You’re sure? You are my son Esau?”  “ Yes. I am.” 25. Isaac said, “Bring the food so I can eat of my son’s game and give you my personal blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate. He also brought him wine and he drank. 26. Then Isaac said, “Come close, son, and kiss me.” 27. He came close and kissed him and Isaac smelled the smell of his clothes. Finally, he blessed him, Ahhh. The smell of my son is like the smell of the open country blessed by God. 28. May God give you of Heaven’s dew and Earth’s bounty of grain and wine. 29. May peoples serve you and nations honor you. You will master your brothers, and your mother’s sons will honor you. Those who curse you will be cursed, those who bless you will be blessed. 30. And then right after Isaac had blessed Jacob and Jacob had left, Esau showed up from the hunt. 31. He also had prepared a hearty meal. He came to his father and said, “Let my father get up and eat of his son’s game, that he may give me his personal blessing.” 32. His father Isaac said, “And who are you?” “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33. Isaac started to tremble, shaking violently. He said, “Then who hunted game and brought it to me? I finished the meal just now, before you walked in. And I blessed him—he’s blessed for good!” 34. Esau, hearing his father’s words, sobbed violently and most bitterly, and cried to his father, “My father! Can’t you also bless me?” 35. “Your brother,” he said, “came here falsely and took your blessing.” 36. Esau said, “Not for nothing was he named Jacob, the Heel. Twice now he’s tricked me: first he took my birthright and now he’s taken my blessing.” He begged, “Haven’t you kept back any blessing for me?” 37. Isaac answered Esau, “I’ve made him your master, and all his brothers his servants, and lavished grain and wine on him. I’ve given it all away. What’s left for you, my son?” 38. “But don’t you have just one blessing for me, Father? Oh, bless me my father! Bless me!” Esau sobbed inconsolably. 39. Isaac said to him, “You’ll live far from Earth’s bounty, remote from Heaven’s dew.” 40. You’ll live by your sword, hand-to-mouth, and you’ll serve your brother. But when you can’t take it any more you’ll break loose and run free. 41. Esau seethed in anger against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him; he brooded, “The time for mourning my father’s death is close. And then I’ll kill my brother Jacob.” 42. When these words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she called her younger son Jacob and said, “Your brother Esau is plotting vengeance against you. He’s going to kill you. 43. Son, listen to me. Get out of here. Run for your life to Haran, to my brother Laban. 44. Live with him for a while until your brother cools down, 45. until his anger subsides and he forgets what you did to him. I’ll then send for you and bring you back. Why should I lose both of you the same day?” 46. Rebekah spoke to Isaac, “I’m sick to death of these Hittite women. If Jacob also marries a native Hittite woman, why live?”

 

INTRODUCTION

 

There was an article in Time magazine, July 10, 2006 about a study conducted by Katherine Conger of the University of California. It revealed how she devised a study to test how widespread favoritism is in the family. She assembled a group of 34. adolescent sibling pairs and their parents, visiting them three times over three years and questioning them all about their relationships, their sense of well-being and more. To see how they interacted as a group, she videotaped them as they worked through sample conflicts. Overall, she concluded that 6% of mothers and 70% of fathers exhibited a preference for one child – in most cases the older one. What’s more, the kids know what’s going on. (18% of people polled say their parents favored one child to another.)

 

The family today all across the world, and especially in America stands in troubled waters. Men and women become intimately involved with one another and begin to think about marriage and a family and usually never stop to question if this is God’s will for their lives. In society today, the thing for people to do is co-habit or live together outside of wedlock, or the old fashion way of putting it is, “They just shack up together.” Some claim they go this route for financial reasons. Some say they have been hurt in previous relationships and marriage is out of the question and they will never do that again. Still others just refuse to make any kind of commitment and certainly not one that involves a lifetime relationship. The list of excuses (not reasons) could go on and on.

 

Couples are separating and divorcing at a record rate for every reason under the sun. Many of them with innocent children at home left to suffer the most difficult and hurtful blow of all. Children are being forced to grow up with a single parent rather than having the beneficial influence of a biological mother and father under the same roof. Many children, for the most part, are being left alone to try to understand life and the empty void that has taken place in their life. Many are filling this void with dangerous activities, dishonest friends, and deadly drugs and alcohol. Numbers of children and young people today are never learning the importance of respect for themselves, their parents, the laws of the land, authority of any kind, or others in general. Thus we have disrespect and rebellion on every hand at every age and as they become older anger, violence, disruption, and chaos evolves. Then America sits back puzzled and wonders why this is happening.

 

The chapter before us is a prime example of what happens when we only focus on seeking our will and way instead that of God’s. This is a prime example of what happens when we think we are so smart and cunning that we can determine what is best for our own selfish lives in spite what God wants for us. People scheme and dream of ways they can get what they want regardless of the damaging fallout left behind. Most people do not want wise council or advise and they certainly do not want anyone else telling them what to do. People want what they want!

 

The path to God’s will is not one of rebellion or subversion, but it is one of compliance or submission. Seeking God’s will and God’s way, seeking His timing and guidance for all things, is a constant struggle and a lifetime lesson for a believer. However, defiance and insubordination brings trouble into our lives, turmoil upon others, and reprimand from God.

 

The co-dependent and double-crossing relationship of the two brothers Jacob and Esau with their parents, as expected, was headed for an ugly confrontation, collapse, and conclusion. One of the twins would shed tears, one would split, but both parents were heartbroken for individual reasons. Esau never got any better, Jacob got even worse, and the entire family just disintegrated into pieces. Which stands to prove that the end does not justify the means!

 

What is God’s way for the family? Why is it better to follow God’s way than to follow our instincts or to follow bad advice? How can relationships be saved, sustained, and strengthened?

 

INTERPRETATION

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUST IN THE FAMILY AND ITS WORTH

 

Verses 1-5 tell us, “1. When Isaac had become an old man and was nearly blind, he called his eldest son, Esau, and said, “My son.”  “Yes, Father?”  3. Do me a favor: Get your quiver of arrows and your bow and go out in the country and hunt me some game. 4. Then fix me a hearty meal, the kind that you know I like, and bring it to me to eat so that I can give you my personal blessing before I die.” 5. Rebekah was eavesdropping as Isaac spoke to his son Esau.”

 

A mother crab was having a hard time teaching her young the correct and distinguished way to walk when they were scampering at the beach one day. No matter how often and how firm she taught her son, he still did not get it right. In fact, he was way off spot and discouraging beyond rectification. In extreme anxiety, the mother crab gave her son a talking to and said to him: “How many times do I have to tell you to walk straight! Stop walking sideways! It’s much more appropriate to stroll forward than walk sideways.”

 

The equally aggravated young crab complained: “I will, Mother, just as soon as I see how. Show me how to walk, and I’ll walk like you.”

 

It’s been said, “The apples do not fall far from the tree.” The family is the foundation that shapes a person’s personality, fortune, and destiny. There is no doubt that the beliefs and behavior of parents are the most essential dynamics in the development of a child’s future. Parents that are active, mature, and godly are much less likely to produce lazy, disruptive, or rebellious children.

 

In the six scenes revealed through chapters 25-27 of Genesis the family was never in the same setting together at one time. They did not share an honest meal, a solitary moment, or an optimistic experience together. In Genesis 27, the family members were always peeking through the door, plotting the next step, communicating in hush tones, and undermining one another’s authority or actions.

 

The parents never checked with each other, had a discussion about an issue together, or worked out a problem together. In the turn of events, the mother “overheard” the father, and the father made a decision without any kind of communication of working together what so ever, and the parents only spoke to their favorite child. Rebekah, the mother, had an unmistakable part in the plot. We see in verse 9 that she was the coach. We see in verse 9 that she was the chef. We see in verse 15 that she was the costume designer.

 

The twins didn’t do any better in the situation. Even though they were seconds apart in birth, they were miles apart in attitude, appearance, and activity. We clearly notice in chapter 27 that they also did not converse with each other. The older son stole his father’s heart but the younger son stole his brother’s blessing. This family unit was on the verge of collapse because the family members did not value, build, uphold, or convey the greatest desirable quality in the family which is trust. Without trust in the family, any action or advice is worthless, and the chances of improving one another’s lives are slim and hopeless. When there is trust in the family, there is honesty, strength, and respect in the family. When there is trust in the family, the members are more willing and likely to listen to, lean on, and look after one another.

 

EXPLANATION

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF TURNING TO GOD AND HIS WORD

 

In verse 18-24 we see that, “He went to his father and said, “My father!” “Yes?” he said. “Which son are you?” 19. Jacob answered his father, “I’m your firstborn son Esau. I did what you told me. Come now; sit up and eat of my game so you can give me your personal blessing.” 20. Isaac said, “So soon? How did you get it so quickly?” “Because your God cleared the way for me.” 21. Isaac said, “Come close, son; let me touch you—are you really my son Esau?” 22. So Jacob moved close to his father Isaac. Isaac felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23. He didn’t recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s. But as he was about to bless him 24. He pressed him, “You’re sure? You are my son Esau?”  “Yes. I am.”

Turning to God on decision-making was never a strong suit in Isaac’s family. Chapter 27 exposes the exaggerations, the trappings, and the excesses, again, in the family. Isaac’s Achilles’ heel was his love for tasty food which is recorded for us to see, in verses 4, 8, and 14. In the Hebrew the word “unsavory” means “tasty food,” or “delicacy” which is revealed in verses 4, 7, 9, 14, 17, and 31. Later, in Proverbs 23:3 and 6, Solomon would warn against the fondness for tasty food which is the only other two Hebrew verses where it is used in the Bible outside this chapter. In speaking of his desire for this “tasty food” Isaac exaggerated his closeness to death however, he would not die for at least another two decades. As a matter of record, according to Genesis 31:41 he lived to be a grandfather many times over compared to Jacob’s many children as mentioned in Genesis 35:27.

 

Isaac’s weakness set the stage for his downfall. He was deceived by the words out of his mouth and his five senses failed him. There was the sense of touch in verse 21 where he said, “Come close, son; let me touch you—are you really my son Esau?”    There was the sense of sound in verse 22, “So Jacob moved close to his father Isaac. Isaac felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice but the hands are the hands of Esau.” There was the sense of sight in verse 23, “He didn’t recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s. But as he was about to bless him.”  There was the sense of taste in verse 25, Isaac said, “Bring the food so I can eat of my son’s game and give you my personal blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate. He also brought him wine and he drank.” There was the sense of smell in verse 27, “He came close and kissed him, and Isaac smelled the smell of his clothes. Finally, he blessed him, Ahhh. The smell of my son is like the smell of the open country blessed by God.” Therefore, with that, curiosity being satisfied, Isaac defiantly chose Esau over Jacob even though the former had married outside the faith.

 

The mother, Rebekah, used the strictest term on Jacob to convince him to follow her orders. She said in verse 8, “Now, my son, listen to me. Do what I tell you.” The English word “tell” is the Hebrew word for “command.” In verse 6 we can see her instigation, “Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob. “ I just overheard your father talking with your brother, Esau.” In verse 8 we can see her idea, “Now, my son, listen to me. Do what I tell you.”  In verses 14-17 we can see her inventiveness from the start, “So he went and got them and brought them to his mother and she cooked a hearty meal, the kind his father loved so much. 15. Rebekah took the dress-up clothes of her older son Esau and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16. She took the goatskins and covered his hands and the smooth nape of his neck. 17. Then she placed the hearty meal she had fixed and fresh bread she’d baked into the hands of her son Jacob.”

 

The younger son, Jacob, was a big liar, a good actor, but a joyless winner. Mark Twain said famously, “One of the striking differences between a cat and a lie is that the cat has only nine lives.” Lies have many faces, countless lives, and lame cover-ups. A famous Hollywood director once said, “You can tell a great lie, if 80% is the truth.”

 

Worse, Jacob knew he was an accomplice from the start. He said in verses11-12, “But Mother,” Jacob said, “my brother Esau is a hairy man and I have smooth skin. 12. What happens if my father touches me? He’ll think I’m playing games with him. I’ll bring down a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” In verses 19-20 and 24 Jacob lied to his father as often as he was asked and each time his lie got bolder. When Isaac asked, “Which son are you?” 19. Jacob answered his father, “I’m your firstborn son Esau. I did what you told me. Come now; sit up and eat of my game so you can give me your personal blessing.” 20. Isaac said, “So soon? How did you get it so quickly?” “Because your God cleared the way for me.” In verse 24, He (Isaac) pressed him, “You’re sure? You are my son Esau?”  “ Yes. I am.” Answering less with each question from his father and sounding more convincing. Jacob carried out his mothers plan as the final process of his mother’s plan with favor. Jacob brought into play God’s name and assumed his brother’s name, identity, appearance, habits, and therefore, the blessing.

 

First Jacob fooled his brother, then he fooled his father, but ultimately Jacob fooled himself, thinking he could get away with all his deception and lies in order to unworthily gain his brothers fortune. Someone once said, “A truth told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent.”

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF THINKING OF OTHERS AND THEIR WELFARE

 

Obviously, according to verse 41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. After Esau confronted Isaac about the lies of Jacob and pleaded with his father to bless him, Isaac told Esau it was too late and now there was nothing Esau could do. As the event is stated in verses 41-45, “Esau seethed in anger against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him; he brooded, “The time for mourning my father’s death is close. And then I’ll kill my brother Jacob.” 42. When these words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she called her younger son Jacob and said, “Your brother Esau is plotting vengeance against you. He’s going to kill you. 43. Son, listen to me. Get out of here. Run for your life to Haran, to my brother Laban. 44. Live with him for a while until your brother cools down, 45. until his anger subsides and he forgets what you did to him. I’ll then send for you and bring you back. Why should I lose both of you the same day?”

 

In the Getty Center in Los Angeles there is the most impressed by a painting titled “An Allegory of Fortune,” painted by Dosso Dossi, who was an obscure 16th century Italian painter. The seven-foot painting was first discovered at a flea market and purchased for a modest sum. Later, the tycoon Getty paid $4 million for it in 1989.

 

The allegorical painting appropriately describes how temporary fortune is and how fragile her wealth is. Dossi painted the goddess Fortune as a seductress with her hands full of worldly goods. However, with all her riches, she is painted sitting on a big soap bubble, wearing just a single shoe, with fierce wind blowing the drapery in the background.

 

“Fortune,” for all its possessions, pull and promise, is like a bubble that is about to pop at any moment. By definition, “fortune” come and goes, enters and exits, make a gesture and passes. Fortune is sitting pretty and biding her time, but she is just waiting for the last shoe to drop.

 

A Swedish proverb wisely reveals the way to the good life, which has little to do with riches: “Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours.”

 

The real losers in the family conflict were not Isaac and Esau, but Rebekah and Jacob. Later, Rebekah admitted she had lost the affection, goodwill, and respect of her older son, Esau in verse 45. “…Why should I lose both of you the same day?”

 

Jacob was also the loser because of his hollow victory over an older but weakened brother. Esau’s life went downhill from day one. He had already lost his birthright and leadership role in the family back in Genesis 25. Then he lost his father’s favor and his family’s spiritual heritage in chapter 26 and verse 34, because of his polygamous marriage and pagan practices. The family inheritance was Esau’s to lose and Jacob’s to inherit. Now however, Jacob who did not have the patience to wait on God will have decades to get clear-headed and think about his deeds.

 

Jacob paid a heavy price for preeminence, prosperity his father lavished upon him when Isaac said to him in verse 28, “May God give you of Heaven’s dew and Earth’s bounty of grain and wine.” Jacob paid a heavy price for his blessing of domination over nations, and his own brother. After Jacob had left Isaac verse 37 says, “Isaac answered Esau, “I’ve made him your master, and all his brothers his servants, and lavished grain and wine on him. I’ve given it all away. What’s left for you, my son?” Jacob paid a heavy price for the blessing of his domination over others. Verse 29 says, “May peoples serve you and nations honor you. You will master your brothers, and your mother’s sons will honor you. Those who curse you will be cursed, those who bless you will be blessed.” Esau more than bore a grudge against Jacob; he “hated” his brother who deceived him. Verse 41 says, “Esau seethed in anger against Jacob (which means he hated Jacob) because of the blessing his father had given him; he brooded, “The time for mourning my father’s death is close. And then I’ll kill my brother Jacob.” The Hebrew word in verse 41 is “hate,” not begrudge. The word “hate” appears here for the first time in the Bible and is the same feeling that Joseph’s brothers feared to be in Joseph after the death of their father in Genesis 50:15)

 

Jacob lost the trust of his father in verse 35. Jacob lost the goodwill of his brother and the presence and affections of his mother in verse 41. Verse 44-46 we read that Rebekah said, “Son, listen to me. Get out of here. Run for your life to Haran, to my brother Laban. 44. Live with him for a while until your brother cools down, 45. until his anger subsides and he forgets what you did to him. I’ll then send for you and bring you back. Why should I lose both of you the same day?” 46. Rebekah spoke to Isaac, “I’m sick to death of these Hittite women. If Jacob also marries a native Hittite woman, why live?” Rebekah sent her precious son away on the pretense of getting him a wife to save his neck. From there Jacob will wander from home for the next twenty years. In Genesis 31:41 we read “For twenty years I’ve done this: I slaved away fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flock and you changed my wages ten times.” Jacob will not see his beloved mother again, know of her death, or attend her funeral. Jacob left home empty-handed and filled with fright. He left poorer, lonelier, and sadder than ever before. George Bernard Shaw once said, “There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it.” Rebekah and Jacob gained nothing that God would not have given them anyway, but instead they lost much. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden because it is hurtful.”

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

God’s way is always the best way. The way to trust God is submission to Him, giving Him all your fears and hopes. The consequence of distrust is suspicion, subversion, and spite. If parents want the best for their children they must raise their children with Godly instruction and with Biblical values. Parents must teach their children to value brotherly love, neighborly love, and God’s love. Parents must never discourage or frustrate their children. Parents must never dismiss or fear their responsibility. Parents must never dishonor and misrepresent God themselves but teach them by example first and foremost. Do not ever expect your children to rise above your level of obedience and faithfulness to God.

 

If you want children who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, then you must not only teach and talk about Christ, but be a living example of Christ likeness in your daily lives, events, and experiences before them every day. Let those children see your faith, faithfulness, and follow through by the way you live before them. That is the only way to substantiate what you teach in word. However, you cannot do that unless you are personally saved yourself. That is GOD’S WAY FOR THE FAMILY!

INVITATION

There Is One Correct Life! There Is One Correct Path!

There Is An Earthly One! There Is A Spiritual One!

Which One Have You Chosen? Yours or God’s?

 

DO YOU NEED SOME HELP?

To find more help in receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior please go to the Bible Study Title Page “ETERNAL LIFE.” Please send me an email and let me know about any decision for Christ you make so that I may pray for you. Feel free to send me any questions, comments, or responses you may have as well. For those who are already Christians I invite you to also please let me know of any decisions you make in your Christian life for Jesus. Please send me your questions, comments, or responses and let me know if the Bible Studies are helping you. I really need to hear from you – so please send me a comment about the Bible Studies to:

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ALWAYS REMEMBER!

The support of your local Church ministry and the ministry of your Pastor should be the first priority of your Christian life and your service to the Lord. Be faithful to prayerfully prepare and attend Sunday School and Worship Service this Sunday and participate in worship as your Pastor preaches the Word. Do not forget to give the Lord at least your TITHE through your local church from your gross income – that is your first fruits. Any other other giving is an offering to a ministry unto the Lord. Honor the Lord in all you do and with all that you have. Always remember that everything you have and all you are belongs to the Lord. It is on loan to you – so manage it well! There will be an audit one day! Make sure the Books Balance!

 

All Bible Studies Are Prepared by Pastor Frank Denning And May Be Be Used By Permission.