A Work in Progress….

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.

Genesis 26:31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.

Commentary says of today’s scripture that Isaac enjoyed a “rich season of blessing” during this time. And while that’s true, I maintain as I said the other day, that we are all richly blessed by God daily and that we should strive for gratefulness and thankfulness instead of just defaulting to #blessed.

Genesis 26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 

I used to have these periods that I called “blue funks” when everything just felt….off. And something I would do to try to lift myself out of the funk was to count my blessings. Literally. 1. Air in my lungs, 2. A roof over my head, 3. Clothes on my back, 4. People who love me….Every blessing had a number, and I would count until I reminded myself that I truly was richly blessed, even though everything felt wrong. Then I was usually able to switch to praise for those blessings.

Genesis 26:33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing.

Precious Savior, Forgive me when I cannot see the blessings for the hardships in my life. Help me to remember, always, that I am richly blessed because I am Your child. Even when life is difficult, even when things are rocky and chaotic, even when life breaks my heart, even then, You are with me, Your presence blesses me richly. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 26:34-35 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Have a blessed day.

Genesis 26:25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

If I were Isaac, I would be tempted to use my position of power (favored by God) in some sort of retaliation for the earlier behavior of the Philistine herdsmen. They filled in multiple wells (which were timely and expensive to dig). They chased him out of town. Now they want a sworn agreement? Now that they see God is with him?

Genesis 26:26-27 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”

Thankfully, Isaac responds with a cooler, more godly head than I would have. He makes a feast for them, invites them to the table. He uses his status as God’s child for reparation instead of further division.

Genesis 26:28-29 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”

Precious Savior, Sometimes life is contentious, sometimes people are cruel. But always we have the power to act as Your hands and feet, to use our status as You children to facilitate reparation instead of further division. Forgive us when we choose poorly. Help us always to strive to shine Your light. Amen.

Genesis 26:30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

Have a blessed day.