Genesis 27 - Dysfunctional Patriarchy
- Chad Werkhoven
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
God uses sin sinlessly.
SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF: God reaffirmed His covenant promises to Isaac during a famine, calling him to trust and remain in the land. Though Isaac prospered, he faced opposition from the neighboring Philistines over water wells. Yet God protected him and established peace, showing that His promise advances through faithful trust rather than conflict. Isaac, now old and nearly blind, asked Esau to hunt and prepare a meal so he could give him the patriarchal blessing before he died. Rebekah overheard this plan and devised a scheme for Jacob to impersonate Esau, instructing him to bring her two goats so she could prepare the meal Isaac loved.
Genesis 27:25–41 (NIV)
Jacob brought food to Isaac and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the LORD has blessed.
28 May God give you heaven’s dew
and earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.”
30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”
35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39 His father Isaac answered him,
“Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.
40 You will live by the sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.”
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”
Q&A 112
Q. What is God’s will for you
in the ninth commandment?
A. God’s will is that I
never give false testimony against anyone,
twist no one’s words,
not gossip or slander,
nor join in condemning anyone without a hearing or without a just cause.
Rather, in court and everywhere else,
I should avoid lying and deceit of every kind;
these are devices the devil himself uses,
and they would call down on me God’s intense anger.
I should love the truth,
speak it candidly,
and openly acknowledge it.
And I should do what I can
to guard and advance my neighbor’s good name.
Summary
The people of God have always been, and will always be until the Lord returns, a dysfunctional mess.
Isaac, just like his father Abraham, at times exhibits a strong faith and willingness to obey the LORD come what may. But at other times, just like his father Abraham, passively sits back and lets things happen to him. He speaks here as if the day of his death was immanent, but he'll go on to live for decades. In a sense, he's just waiting to die.
Rebekah is the one to whom the LORD had directly told that Jacob, the younger of the twins, would rule over Esau, the older. Yet there's no indication that she ever told this to Isaac. This entire sad episode wouldn't have happened had she just communicated the truth.
Esau is angry that he missed out on his father's blessing, but he has no complaint about missing out on the LORD's blessing. He bitterly cried out to Isaac for a blessing, not to the LORD.
And then there's Jacob - God's chosen patriarch - the deceiver. Rather than trust in the LORD's covenant faithfulness, he eagerly cooperates with his mother's plan to con his father.
Dig Deeper
"God uses sin sinlessly."
Those are the words one of my professors would use to explain difficult passages like this. We certainly do not want to justify Rebekah & Jacob's ruse - it was sinful to the core. But yet their con was used by God to move His plan and purposes forward.
This difficult to comprehend conundrum ought to give you comfort for two key reasons. First, you can have confidence knowing that this world is run by dysfunctional, sinful people, God remains in full control and His plan is never thwarted. God sinlessly uses our sins.
Second, your Father is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Each of these men of faith did more wrong than they did right, yet God remained faithful to them. God hated their sin and He hates your sin, but know that His grace will always be bigger and stronger than your dysfunctions.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the sovereign God who chose us to be His own by His grace alone;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll trust God enough to not manipulate people and situations to accomplish His will;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
