Book of Genesis - Ch. 27, Vs. 1-46 (01/07/2001)

Genesis 27 -1, And it came to pass that when

Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called

Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son, and he said unto him,

Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold, now I am old,

I know not the day of my death. Isaac was 137 years old.

He was preparing to make his last will an act of the gravest importance, especially as it included the conveyance through a prophetic spirit of patriarchal blessings.

Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the field and take me some venison.

Now first of all, we have to see that this covenant was deemed binding, or was not deemed binding unless the parties ate together, that to convey this blessing some rite of this kind was necessary, and that Isaac's strength was now greatly exhausted, insomuch that he supposed himself to be dying.

And make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and my soul may bless thee before I die.

The carnal affections he had for his son made him forget what God had spoken to his wife.

This has been some time after the great incident of the birthright, and Rebekah heard when

Isaac spake to Esau his son, and Esau went out to the field to hunt it for venison and to bring it.

Now, Rebekah heard, normally she would not hear, so this tells me that she is listening not only to this conversation, but any others that Isaac might have.

Rebekah knew that the blessing was intended for Jacob and expected he would have it, but she wronged

Isaac, deceiving him. She wronged Jacob by tempting him to do wickedness.

She put a stumbling block in Esau's way and gave him a pretext for a hatred to Jacob and his religion.

All of these characters were to blame in this. Rebekah spake unto

Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto

Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the

Lord before my death. She prized this blessing as invaluable.

She knew that God intended for her younger son to have it, and in her anxiety to secure its being conferred on the right person, she acted in sincerity of faith, but was crooked politics with unenlightened zeal on the false principle that the end would justify the means.

Does it ever do that? No. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which

I command thee. Now, please notice she's putting herself first, that I command thee.

This trickery is worthy of blame because she should have waited for God to perform this.

Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of thy goats, and I will make them savory meat for thy father, which he loveth.

And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.

And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I'm a smooth man.

What do you see there? What is?

Esau is an outdoorsman. Well, that's true.

This tells you something of Jacob. Jacob was afraid to get caught. Yes, when he should have been afraid to do it.

It's remarkable that his scruples were founded on the evil of an act, but on the risk of consequences of deception.

Not founded on the evil, but on the consequences of deception. My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver, and I shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing.

I shall bring a curse upon me, for even in those early times, now, the spirit of the

Saul was understood, Deuteronomy 27, 18, Cursed is he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way.

And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse.

My son, only obey my voice, go fetch me them. Go fetch me them.

Do you think that his mother knew what she was saying? Upon me be thy curse.

I don't think she didn't know what I was saying. I think when he obviously is willing to allow his mother to bear his curse.

Boy, we're getting in deep. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse.

It has been revealed to me by prophecy that the curses which will come upon thee, will not come upon thee, my son.

On Calos wrote that. Where he got it,

I don't know. What a dreadful responsibility did this woman take upon herself at this time.

And he went and fetched and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory meat such as his father loved, and Rebecca took goodly raiment of her eldest son

Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob, her younger son.

The scheme planned by the mother was to be executed by the son in the father's bedchamber.

And it is painful to think that the deliberate falsehoods, as well as daring profanity, he resorted to, the disguise, the wanting, and one thing which had nearly upset the whole plot, succeeded in misleading

Isaac, and the goodly raiment is going to do it. Now, what about this goodly raiment?

Well, Mr. Ainsworth thinks that the priest in the law had holy garments to wear, or to minister in, and whether the firstborn before the law had such to minister, we don't really know.

It's not explained, but it is probable that this was kept in the house of the mother, not by his wives or in his own house.

She had probably stored them away in herbs of some kind that would help drive out the mauls.

But she put the skins of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck, and she gave the savory meat and bread which she had prepared into the hands of her son

Jacob. And he came into his father and said,

My father, and he said, Here am I. Who art thou, my son? Who art thou, my son?

Although Jacob was assured of this blessing by faith, yet he did evil to speak of it by lies, even more because he abuses

God's name through it. See how he's sinning.

One sin calls for another, and it calls for another, and that yet a third. And Jacob said unto his father,

I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou bidest me.

Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son?

And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.

You see how one thing leads to another. This was aggravation of a falsehood.

When Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son

Esau or not, he had a problem. He connected the voice with Jacob, but everything else was with Esau.

So he wants him to come over where he can feel him. And he feels of him.

He sees that he doesn't see, but he feels that he is his son.

This declares that he suspected something, yet God would not have his decree altered.

Jacob went near enough unto Isaac his father, and he felt him, and said,

The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are hands of Esau. How can that be?

And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother

Esau's hands, so he blessed him. The telling of one lie often leads to the telling of another, and another, and another.

The beginning of iniquity is like the letting out of the water of a dam. You let a little out, and then more, and then more, until finally it's all gone.

And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, Yes, I am he.

Very emphatic. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of it, my son, eat of my son's venison, that my soul may be blessed, and be brought near to him.

And he did eat, and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father

Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. Well, the smell of the garments and the goodly raiment which had been laid up in the house conveyed the right thought.

The kissing was customary, but Isaac wanted to smell of him too.

And he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of the raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of the field which the

Lord hath blessed. Now don't connect this, get this confused with Isaac being in the field.

This is a different smell. Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, plenty of corn and wine.

Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee. Be, Lord, over thy brethren, and let the mother's son bow down to thee.

Cursed be every one that curses thee, and blessed be he that blesses thee.

Though the evil doing and the well doing amend, God fulfills his infinite wisdom, holy and benevolent designs.

Well, it came to pass, as soon as Isaac was gone, it made an end of blessing, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing

Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out of the presence of his father, that Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting.

He came in just as though nothing had happened before. As far as he knew, nothing had happened.

And Esau, he had made, and he also had made savory meat, and brought it unto his father, and he said unto his father,

Let my father rise in heed of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.

Isaac, his father, said unto him, Who art thou? And he said,

I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau. And Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said,

Who? Where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me? And I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him, yea, and he shall be blessed.

Now, the Hebrew, Isaac trembled with a great trembling.

He was very, very angry that someone had taken advantage of his blindness, had pulled the wool over his eyes.

He shall be blessed. In other words, he couldn't retract it. It was done, and therefore he could not undo it.

And when Esau heard the words of his father, and cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father,

Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said,

Thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away thy blessing.

And he said, Is it not rightly named? Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he hath supplanted me these two times.

What other time is he referring to? But he didn't trick him then.

But Esau now is including that in the trick. For he hath supplanted me these two times.

He took away my birthright, and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said,

Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? Wicked men are prone to ascribe their calamities to other men's sins, rather than their own, and to exercise pride, envy, and revenge, the first thing he wanted, rather than humility, repentance, and forgiveness.

And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, And Esau, behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have

I given to him for servants, and with corn and wine have

I sustained him, and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father,

Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also,

O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. But we're told in Hebrews, For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

So just because there's tears doesn't mean true repentance. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him,

Thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and the dew of heaven from above, and by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother.

And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

And Esau hated Jacob, because the blessing wherewith his father blessed him.

Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand, then will

I slay my brother. Now Jacob's going to run away pretty soon. The last words he remembers ringing in his ears is,

I'm going to get you. There is an intimate connection between hatred and murder.

The indulgence of one often produces the intention of the other. These words of Esau, his elder son, were told to Rebekah, and she sent and called

Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.

Now therefore, my son, obey my voice and arise. Flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran.

He hopes to recover his birthright by killing you is what he wants. And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him.

Then I will send and fetch thee thence. Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?

You notice that she says, Until that which thou hast done to him, not we, not me, but you.

Same. And Rebekah said to Isaac, I'm weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth.

If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as all these which are the daughters of the land, what good would my life be?

So she's embarking upon another incident to get rid of Jacob.

She sends him to a far country. And he's going to have a great lesson to learn as he goes into that country.

He thinks he's a trickster. He's going to be tricked. He's going to learn from one end to the other.

So we come to the close of a small incident, but a great one.

A big one in his life. Is there any words from anyone? Yes.

All this demon possession, all this, was it not in the plan of God that this was created?

I'm sorry to talk about it, but how is it created? Here's the thing.

Well, I have to say yes, because it happened.

But from man's view, it wasn't like that. Anything else?

Well, we'll stand and be dismissed. The rest will dismiss us, please.

Thank you very much. Thank you.