Rage and Redemption || Genesis 27:30 - 28:4 || Session 45 || Verse by Verse Bible Study

What happens when deception tears a family apart? In this gripping verse by verse Bible Study episode, we unravel the intense moments of Genesis 27, where Jacob's cunning plan robs Esau of his blessing, leading to Isaac's angry realization that his planned show of favoritism to Esau has been thwarted. We dissect the perilous consequences of favoritism within families, exploring how Esau's regret over trading his birthright for a mere meal spirals into a future of hardship for his progeny. Our discussion sheds light on the destructive power of anger, as Esau's rage festers into a murderous plot against his brother, illustrating the deep scars left by betrayal and resentment. Join us for a thought-provoking journey through these ancient family dynamics, trusting in God's wisdom to guide our understanding and paths.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:19

Hello and welcome. We are Reasoning Through the Bible. We do verse-by-verse Bible study through the Word of God. Today we're in Genesis, chapter 27, and we're at the part of Genesis where Jacob has just deceived his father, isaac, into getting his older brother's blessing. The next part his brother, esau, returns from a hunting trip and is going to realize what has happened to his brother and his blessing. We'll start reading now in Genesis 27, starting in verse 30.

Speaker 1 0:53

Now it came about as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father that Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting. Then he also made savory food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father let my father arise and eat of his son's game that you may bless me, isaac. His father said to him who are you? And he said I am your son, your firstborn Esau. Then Isaac trembled violently and said who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me so that I ate of it before you came and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.

Speaker 1 1:32

When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father. Bless me even me also, o, my father. And he said your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing. Then he said is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright and behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said have you not reserved a? What can I do, my son? Esau said to his father Do you have only one blessing my father. Bless me even me also, my father. So Esau lifted his voice and wept. Then Isaac, his father, answered and said to him Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, and away from the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve. But it shall come about when you become restless that you will break his yoke from your neck.

Speaker 1 2:50

With this, esau has returned from this hunting trip and prepares food for Isaac. Isaac figures out what happened and that he'd been tricked. He trembles violently. Remember, esau should have gotten the blessing because he was older. But we know from earlier in the book God had already said that the older will serve the younger. Isaac should have known who was going to get the blessing. Now he's realizing what he'd been doing here is not in God's plan. He trembles violently. Why would he tremble violently?

Speaker 2 3:25

That's the point. He's going against what the will of God is. God had given this information to Rebecca earlier. You know that Rebecca has told this to Isaac through the years and Isaac is still wanting to give Esau the blessing, even though Esau no longer has the birthright. Yes, he's the oldest. Yes, isaac likes the hunting and the meat that he brings back. Isaac is trying to give him this blessing when it's not rightfully Esau's blessing anymore. Yet he's still trying to force this blessing onto Esau. So whenever it's foiled, he is shaking violently because what he's trying to bring around on his own accord is not working. It's been thwarted.

Speaker 1 4:09

I think that's exactly right. Isaac knew the prophecy, he knew what God's word was and Isaac was trying to bypass that. He was trying to put his favorite—remember we had talked earlier about the parents had favorites. Isaac favored Esau because he was the hunter and Isaac liked the game. The mother Rebecca. She liked Jacob Because they were playing favorites.

Speaker 1 4:34

Here's the problems that happened. Isaac knew God's word, he knew the prophecy and he was trying to bypass that and put the blessing on his favorite child. And it didn't work. He trembles violently because, in spite of his desire and his motivation, god's will came through and Isaac realizes now that he's right in the middle of God, doing the opposite of what Isaac wanted to do. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a God that you've just tried to bypass their will. If we look at the other motivation here, esau now realizes the consequences of selling his birthright years earlier. Now he's had the blessing taken from him. He's frustrated as well. Well, we've got all of this emotion going on in this family, all because they were playing favorites and not bending the will to the word of God, trying to bypass God's word. In verse 36, esau blames Jacob for taking his birthright. But who really is responsible for the birthright?

Speaker 2 5:41

Steve Esau is responsible for the birthright. It was his birthright, he sold it. Not only did he sell it, but he sold it for a bowl of beans, which proves, as Hebrews says, that he despised his birthright.

Speaker 1 5:53

That's exactly it. Esau blames Jacob, but really he's in denial. He's in denial that it was really his fault that he sold the birthright. But God's hand again works through these free will actions of all these people. God had already said what's going to happen.

Speaker 1 6:10

Esau does get a blessing, though, and we read that. But if we look at that blessing, it says away from the fertility of the earth is what Esau's blessing was, which means that he will not be near fertile lands, which means he's going to be poor. It also says by your sword you shall live, which means he's always going to have to fight others and be a man of violence. He's going to be having conflict most of his life and he's going to not have much money because he's away from the fertile lands. And it says your brother you will serve. That means that Jacob is going to be the leader of the family and Esau is not going to inherit the land of promise. Esau is realizing the consequences of his own actions and he's realizing what goes on here when we don't take God's word seriously. Esau is going to have a hard life, he's going to be poor, he's going to be fighting people and he's going to serve his younger brother. That's going to create even more tension in the family. So, steve, this reminds me of some of the families. We see these stories way back here in Genesis. It brings us up to today, because some of our families are nice and everybody gets along, but many of them have struggles. However, isaac tells Esau that he will eventually break from being underneath his brother.

Speaker 1 7:34

And two things here I find very interesting. One, the scheming of the mother, rebekah, with Jacob. It really accomplished nothing that they would have not already gotten, because God had already predicted at the birth that the older will serve the younger. If they would have just gone along with God's will, then all this would have happened without all the animosity. The other thing I find interesting is that, even though they sinned, god still is that. Even though they sinned, god still worked through Jacob. He still blessed Jacob. God does what he wants and even if it frustrates our will, then God has a plan and he's going to bring about his plan. Moving on to the next one, steve, if you could start at verse 41 and read down through 46, we find out what Esau does in response.

Consequences of Deception and Blessing

Speaker 2 8:24

So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said to himself the days of mourning for my father are near, then I will kill my brother Jacob. Now, when the words of his elder son, esau, were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son, jacob, and said to him Behold, your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice and arise, flee to Haran. To my brother Laban, stay with him a few days until your brother's fury subsides, until your brother's angry against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day? Rebecca said to Isaac I'm tired of living because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?

Speaker 1 9:22

Esau realizes that his blessing and his birthright have been taken by his younger brother and it makes him angry. It makes him so angry that it's said in this passage that he will kill his brother. He's already plotting to murder his brother. He's angry at being deceived and having these things taken from him. Steve, what can anger do to a person and what can anger do in a family Exactly this.

Speaker 2 9:51

It's going to be a premeditated event. Esau says once my father dies, then I'm going to kill Jacob, I'm going to take care of this when my dad passes away. This is something that will just eat away at Esau, just like anger will eat away at people in general. It's going to be what? Another 25 years or something like that before Isaac passes away. Here we have this anger. It's just not something good because it can take and eat at you. It can also bring into your mind something to do that's against God's will for sure.

Speaker 1 10:29

Anger can do exactly what this passage says, which is cause people to plot murder of people that they should be loving. We already saw in Genesis that when Cain and Abel got into revenge and a jealousy situation, then Cain killed his brother Abel. What did Jesus say? He says it's what's in our hearts is what comes out. If our hearts have sin in them and anger in them, then it comes out as murder. Things like this.

Speaker 1 10:59

Esau's in a bad spot because now he's got anger in there and he's already plotting to kill his brother. Very precarious place to be in. If we look at this, though, esau at least with the blessing part of it. He was legitimately wronged. Jacob defrauded him of the blessing part of it. He was legitimately wronged. Jacob defrauded him of the blessing part that was just flat stolen, the birthright part. Esau was blaming Jacob for it, but part of it was his fault for not caring about it enough, but this blessing part, jacob just flat stole it. Esau had a legitimate beef because he was legitimately wrong, but is murder the solution for being legitimately wrong?

Speaker 2 11:40

Murder is not the solution, because when you go to that extent now you bring something onto yourself that is an abomination to God and against his will.

Speaker 2 11:52

I want to stick up, though just a little bit, for Jacob here. I totally agree that Jacob went along with this, but his mom, Rebecca, she's the one that initially comes up with the scheme. He follows along with it. He does lie directly to Isaac whenever Isaac asks him to direct questions. But then at the end of this section that we read here, we also see Rebecca's kind of scheming again whenever she wants to send Jacob up to Haran. At the very end there she goes to Isaac and says, oh, my heart's going to be broken if Jacob marries somebody from here, like Esau did. She's making a preparation for Isaac to send him away. So we kind of see Rebecca making her scheming things behind the scene here. The other thing is one last thing is that whenever she goes to Jacob and says, hey, your brother's wanting to kill you for what you did, she's not taking any responsibility for coming up with the scheme in the first place. So a little bit of insight into Rebecca's character.

Speaker 1 12:57

Rebecca, as you rightfully said, was the one that hatched this plan of deception. She's going to end up reaping some of the consequences of that as well, because in this passage, verse 45, she's sending her son Jacob to her brother and she thinks, oh, he's just going to be gone for a few days until Esau kind of calms down and I'll bring him back. Well, jacob ends up staying there a long time I mean it's many years. Rebecca ends up not seeing her favorite son because of this, because of her plotting and her instigating this thievery. Then she suffers the consequences as well, which her son ends up living in another place and not being in fellowship with her. We never get away with the sin. To wrap up this chapter, verse 46, she's concerned that her son Jacob will marry a godless woman. Son Jacob will marry a godless woman. She says in there I'm tired of living because if he takes a wife from the daughters of he mentions these other places, then my life's no good to me anymore. Now she's sort of a bitter place. She's in a very depressed and destitute spot simply because she feels like she's losing her son.

Speaker 1 14:15

All of these plots of deception always have consequences. That's the lesson out of here. We never really get away with it. If we would just follow God's will pray to him Again. Nowhere in here do we see people. God, what should I do? They're just doing this of their own accord. We read King David. He's always praying Lord. What do you want me to do next? Should I go here? Should I stay? Should I fight? Should I not? God guides him. He doesn't have a lot of these kind of issues. Moving on to the next chapter, we find out next what happens when Isaac calls in Jacob and blesses him for this next part. So, steve, if you could read the first four verses of Genesis, chapter 28.

Speaker 2 14:57

So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him and said to him you shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.

Speaker 1 15:32

Isaac calls Jacob back in and blesses him, even though he had just realized that Jacob lied to him to steal his brother's blessings. Imagine lying to your father to steal something that rightfully belonged to your brother. The only way this makes any sense to me is if Isaac finally realizes that God's hand is in this and that God was working in this all along. So he says, ok, I might as well go along with this, because he gives Jacob guidance on how to proceed to resolve this. Because, remember, esau said I'm going to kill you, or at least he was plotting to kill him, and he was a man that had the skills to do it. Remember, he was an outdoorsman, a hunter, he knew weapons of battle and had the skills to take the life of Jacob.

Speaker 1 16:22

Rebecca and now Isaac are sending Jacob away to protect his life. This is fulfilling this prophecy that God had given many years earlier. The end of verse one Isaac didn't want Jacob to take a wife from the people of Canaan. Now, we've asked this before, steve. But why is it important for Isaac that his son not marry from the people that lived in?

Speaker 2 16:43

Canaan, there's pagan worship all and idol worship all around. They're not, in general, worshipers of the god Yahweh, which Isaac and his family are. He's telling them don't take brides from among the pagans here.

Speaker 1 16:59

I find it interesting that, even though they were not following the word of God and in some cases, attempting to bypass the Word of God, they nevertheless held in very high regard marriage and said we have to make sure that our sons marry godly women that worship the true God. We should take that as an example. Many of us are honest with ourselves and realize, hey, we've not lived perfect lives, we've got issues before God that we have to deal with, but nevertheless we should take marriage in a very high regard. Christians should always and only marry other Christians, because when you don't, then issues arise. When families that are following and respecting the Lord end up with spouses in them that don't respect the Lord, there's always conflict and there's always trouble and it ends up frustrating everybody on both sides.

Speaker 1 17:56

Then, in verse three and four, isaac gives this blessing to Jacob. What do you think, steve, of this idea of, before a person dies, to pass on a formal blessing? I've always found that ceremonies are very powerful. You know, we have wedding ceremonies and we have funeral or remembrance memorial ceremonies, and for special occasions there's a ceremony. I always found ceremonies to be very powerful. Is it ever wise to have a blessing ceremony when somebody gets older to pass on a message to their children or their friends.

Speaker 2 18:39

I think it is something. It's never anything that in my particular family that we ever did, but I can see the power behind it. I can see the value of it. It's kind of like a settling between a person that is fixing to pass on. They bring their young ones in and they pronounce this blessing on them. I can see that it helps with closure. I think it's a good practice to do, although personally I have never been involved with it.

Speaker 1 19:08

I instituted in my family ceremonies when my children got to be 13 years old, to realize what's about to happen with adolescence. We did a formal ceremony there. We did another formal ceremony when they got to be about 18 years old and were about to move out of the house. We did another formal ceremony there, did one at weddings, of course, or ceremonies, and so I find these to be very powerful things. That's what's going on here is that Isaac's getting old, his son's about to leave. He does this very formal, or at least for their day formal ceremony. I think Christians should consider this. If you want to pass on your faith to the next generations, turn it into a formality and do it very purposeful.

Speaker 2 19:53

Then in verse 4,.

Speaker 1 19:55

What were the parts of the blessing that Isaac gave to Jacob?

Speaker 2 20:00

He talks specifically about the blessings that were given to Abraham, that they would be passed on to Jacob. Of course, isaac is son of Abraham and the land we see, that the land is in a very important portion of this Abrahamic blessing, that the land in which he travels, which is going to be the land that was given by God to Abraham and Isaac. Isaac is basically saying may the Lord pass this down to you. God had come to Isaac and told him specifically stay in the land and I'm going to give you this land. In essence, I think he's telling Jacob the same thing and giving him encouragement and asking for God to come to him and give him those same blessings and those same particulars of the blessing which were given to Abraham and Isaac. Hopefully they'll be taken and given to Jacob. I think that's part of what this blessing here in verse four is from Isaac.

Speaker 1 21:02

He specifically says the exact words may you get the blessing of Abraham. Isaac understood the Abrahamic covenant and he understood that it would be passed on through Jacob. And he understood it to include the land. We've mentioned that every time it comes up, because the land is a central part of the Abrahamic covenant, Exactly which land was spelled out back in chapter 15, verse 18. So he mentions the land.

Speaker 1 21:30

Isaac was ensuring that Jacob knew the Abrahamic covenant. He was making sure that he understood, just as all Christians should make our children understand, what is important about our faith. God has the power to bring about what he had promised many years earlier to Abraham, and now God's promises are being faithfully passed on from generation to generation. That's what's going on here in this passage. Christians, be sure that your faith is passed on. Be very intentional about it. Be very open. Don't let the church have the job of giving your faith to your children. That should be the parent's job. Let them know how important your faith is to you and how much it was important to your ancestors. In this we would hold this covenant is still in place today.

Trusting God in Genesis

Speaker 1 22:19

Romans 4 and Galatians 3 both say our salvation is based on the Abrahamic covenant and Israel is to inherit the land forever. We talked about that several times. One last thing here in verse 3, it talks about God being the Almighty God. It brings in one more concept of God's character that God is the Almighty God. He's not just any old God, he's not just a powerful God, he is an all-powerful God. God has all-powerful and all-wisdom Steve. He is the one that is the one that has the ability to bring these things about. He said that the Abrahamic covenant would flow through the descendants. He said the younger will be over the older, and that's what's going on here.

Speaker 2 23:08

In this passage we see God's hand moving through this, and that is the point that God does move through all of these. If they just would have listened and gone to God, it would have all been straightened out without all of this drama that's going on. But that's what we see.

Speaker 1 23:26

With that. We'll wrap up today because we're out of time, but we trust that you'll be back here with us next time as we continue to reason through Genesis.

Speaker 2 23:34

Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.