A Work in Progress….

Genesis 27:39 His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.

I’ve told the story before of how I ended up in Taylorsville all those years ago. I didn’t choose this place. In fact, of all the places I interviewed that summer (14 in total), I boldly proclaimed that the only way I would end up here was if this were the only job offer I received.

Genesis 27:40 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.”

Fast forward thirty years. I’ve been in “the Ville” the whole time. I’ve been married to my love for 28 of those years. I’ve got two amazing children. I’ve got close friends whom I love dearly. I’ve got colleagues whom I cherish. I’ve touched the lives of more students than I can honestly count. If I had had my way, I would have missed all of this, this beautiful life that I love.

Genesis 27:41 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.”

Precious Savior, Thank You that Your thoughts are nothing like my thoughts and Your ways are beyond anything I can imagine (Is 55:8). Forgive me when I get set in my ways and get angry when Your ways don’t coincide. Thank You for the beautiful future You have for me. Help me to praise You. Always. Even when I struggle with a change of plans. Amen.

Genesis 27:42 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.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:34-35 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!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

Verses 34 and 38 are so sad with Esau imploring Isaac to “Bless me too,” that if you didn’t know the whole story–Esau despised his birthright, then sold it for a bowl of stew, Isaac and Esau openly set out to ensure Esau received the birthright blessing that was promised to Jacob by God at birth –you’d feel sorry for him.

Genesis 27:36 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?”

As it is, I’m having a hard time feeling sorry for Esau…except that I know the bitterness that can come from the “poor me” attitude that he is espousing here. I know what it feels like to think I’m entitled to something and not get it. So, in a way, I do feel a bit sorry for Esau because I know how what he’s feeling can eat at him, causing all sorts of issues in his thoughts, feelings, and behaviors towards others.

Genesis 27:37 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?”

Precious Savior, We all know what it’s like to feel entitled to something and not get it. We all know the sting of that rejection. Many of us know the bitterness, anger, and resentment that can come from how we deal with those feelings. Help us to put You first–Your will, Your word, Your way. We can never be worthy of Your love, Jesus, but we can strive to be more like You each day. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:31 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.”

Commentary says that Isaac realized during today’s verses that “he would always lose when he tried to resist God’s will, even when he didn’t like God’s will.” The wording of this revelation bothers me. The idea that being in God’s will constitutes losing is troubling.

Genesis 27:32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

I get it. If this is a battle of wills between Isaac and God, Isaac loses because he doesn’t accomplish his will–to bless his favorite, Esau. However, the thought of being in God’s will for me and considering it a loss is difficult for me. If I’m living God’s will for me, isn’t that the ultimate win?

Genesis 27:33 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!”

Precious Savior, My life should not be a battle of wills between You and me. Help me to sink my roots so deeply into Your word that Your will *is* my will, that when I am walking in Your will, all I can see is that I am winning at life because I am Yours. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:34 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!”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:27 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.

I am the third of four children. My husband is an only child. We have two children of our own. More than once as our boys have squabbled over something that belonged to one and was used by the other, my husband was baffled about why it mattered. Couldn’t they share? Meanwhile, I respect the rules of what’s mine and what’s yours. I can’t take what’s yours. That’s not fair.

Genesis 27:28 May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine.

Isaac and Rebekah, Esau and Jacob don’t seem to understand those boundaries. Isaac was determined to bestow upon Esau the blessing God had promised to Jacob. Rebekah was just as determined that Jacob would have that blessing. Esau was willing to engage in the deception as was Jacob. Did any of them “win” in this situation? Even Jacob. He got the birthright, but at what cost?

Genesis 27:29 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.”

Precious Savior, “At what cost?” weighs heavy on my mind as I read today’s scripture. Help me to seek Your will in my life. Help me to work towards that will in a positive way that brings You glory. I don’t want to ever gain the world and lose my soul (Matt 16:26). Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 

In verse 19, after Isaac asks “Who is it,” Jacob commits to the lie by saying he is Esau. I wonder if Isaac’s question in verse 24 is because he suspects deceit (the game was acquired awfully fast and the voice sounded like Jacob’s) or because Isaac’s own deceit made him question everything?

Genesis 27:24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied.

Regardless, Jacob’s answer cements his deception (as if the disguise and the food in his hands weren’t enough). I wonder if that question was God giving Jacob an out, an opportunity to do the right thing? What if Jacob had said, “No. It’s Jacob. The birthright has been promised by God to me, so you can’t give it to my brother”?

Genesis 27:25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 

Precious Savior, You give us the ability to have difficult conversations. Thank You. Help us to use that ability, to use our words, to talk with one another when things are not as they should be. Help us, instead of trying to deceive each other, to work together to find solutions. Help us, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

Jacob knew that God had promised him the birthright blessing (“the older will serve the younger” Gen 25:23). Not only that, but Jacob had secured an oath from Esau, giving him that same birthright (which the Lord already promised him) in exchange for a bowl of stew: “But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob” (Gen 23:33). So why does he feel the need to engage in this deception in chapter 27?

Genesis 27:20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.

Ok, so that is a rhetorical question. I know the answer. I bet you do, too. Sometimes when I want something really, really badly, I decide to try to help God out a little. I trust Him, but… He could use my help, right? Maybe I justify myself by saying that I don’t go to the deceitful lengths of Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob, but my heart is the same: I am afraid and I act to achieve the ends I want to see.

Genesis 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I am stubborn and headstrong, so locked into what I feel is my due that I run all over You and others to try to orchestrate things to turn out my way. Help me, always, to glorify You–in my words, in my thoughts, in my actions. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 

Isaac wanted to bestow the birthright blessing on Esau. Esau agreed to Isaac’s plan, even though he sold his birthright to Jacob for food. Rebekah wanted Jacob, her favorite, to have the birthright blessing God promised. Jacob went along with his mother’s scheme. No one in this family acted honorably in this situation.

Genesis 27:16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 

Additionally, they all seemed to lose sight of the fact that God had chosen Jacob for the birthright blessing, to be the one whose line leads to Jesus. That fact alone should have settled the matter, yet no one seemed to trust that God was in control, that He would do what He promised. I know that that comes uncomfortably close to my own actions at times.

Genesis 27:17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

Precious Savior, Forgive us when we get so caught up in what *we* want that we forget Your will, Your word, Your sovereignty. Help us to trust You. Always. Help us to live out our faith daily. Amen.

Genesis 27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin.

Isaac is determined to give the blessing to Esau, even though God declared at birth that Jacob would receive it. Rebekah is determined that Jacob will get the birthright blessing, no matter what deceit may be involved. Jacob is worried about getting caught and bringing a curse upon his head, seemingly the only part of Rebekah’s plan he is concerned about.

Genesis 27:12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”

Again, I have to remind myself that these are God’s holy people, His chosen ones. The Messiah will come from their line. Again, it brings me a small bit of comfort that these people are just as human and messy and fallible as I am. God doesn’t choose perfect people because none of us are perfect and we are who He wants to be His hands and feet.

Genesis 27:13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”

Precious Savior, I feel so unqualified to be Your beloved child. I feel like I have to somehow earn that status, and I know that I can never earn it. Thank You for Your fierce love of me, exactly as I am. Thank You that You can use me, messiness and all. Help me to shine Your light. Always. Amen.

Genesis 27:14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:5-6 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau,  

Was this a case of Rebekah scheming to get her way? Was this Rebekah, afraid that Isaac was going to give his promised blessing, the blessing God indicated was Jacob’s, to his, Isaac’s, favorite son? Was this a case of Rebekah doing what she felt she had to do to preserve what God had promised?

Genesis 27:7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’

Honestly, based on the words of scripture alone, it’s hard to tell. It is said (though not in the Bible) that God helps those who help themselves, but deceit is not something God calls us to. We have to put in the work as well as the prayers, but if we cross over into scheming and deceit, we’ve crossed a line from doing God’s work to ensuring we get our own way.

Genesis 27:8-9 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 

Precious Savior, It is easy to get so focused on what I want that I lose sight of what Your will is for me. Forgive me. Help me to put in the hard work, to be Your hands and feet, to stay in Your will for my life. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 27:10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered.

On its surface, this scene seems like a very sweet scene of a father on his deathbed and the son of inheritance. In reality, Isaac will live another 37 years, Esau was not the son God deemed inheritor, and there was a lot of deceit and mistrust within this house.

Genesis 27:2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 

I have to keep reminding myself that these are God’s chosen ones. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob who becomes Israel, ancestor to Jesus through his son Joseph…are so utterly, fallibly, messily human. Just like me. Just like you.

Genesis 27:3 Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.   

Precious Savior, Thank You that You can use me, no matter my faults and flaws. Thank You that perfect is not and has never been a requirement for those who love You. Help me, always, to shine Your light, to be Your hands and feet. Use me, faults and all, to do Your will. Amen.

Genesis 27:4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”

Have a blessed day.