Fathers Day---A Blessing Or A Curse?

Father’s Day Blessing or Curse

6-20-10 Father’s Day New Liberty Christian Church, Rich McQuinn, Minister

TEXT: Genesis 27:25-46

To get his good-night kiss he stood beside my chair one night,

And raised an eager face to me, a face with love alight. "

As I gathered in my arms the son, God gave to me,

I thanked the boy for being good, and hoped he’d always be.

His little arms crept around my neck, and then I heard him say,

Six simple words I will never forget, six words that made me pray.

They turned a mirror on my soul, on secrets no one knew.

They startled me. I hear them yet. He said, ‘Dad I’m going to be just like you”.

Fatherhood has changed a lot over the years. I heard this past week about a father being asked who was in charge at his home. He answered, "Well, my wife bosses the children, my children boss the dog and the cat, and I can say anything I want to the geraniums.

Fatherhood may have changed a bit in our society, but I don’t think God’s perception of what the father is to be and what he has to do has changed.

So this morning I’d like for you to turn to the 27th chapter of Genesis, to the story of Isaac bestowing his blessing to Jacob. Of course, the blessing was intended for the oldest son, Esau. Through deception the blessing was given to Jacob instead. You will soon find out that any deception in the family or elsewhere is very sad.

As you may remember, Isaac & Rebecca had twin sons, Esau & Jacob, who were not anything alike. Esau was an outdoorsman with hairy arms and hands. He loved to hunt and fish. Jacob was more of a homebody, and he spent a lot of time with his mother.

In the 27th chapter of Genesis, their father, Isaac, has grown old and is almost totally blind. He has decides it is time to pass on the blessing to his oldest son.

Jewish father’s blessing was a formal passing on of the father’s honor & authority to his oldest son. Since the oldest son was assuming the leadership responsibilities of the family or tribe, he also received a double share of his father’s possessions. So the bestowing of the blessing was a very important event indeed.

In verses, 2-4, Isaac tells Esau, "I am now an old man and I don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your weapons - your quiver and bow – and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 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."

So Esau leaves, and while he is gone, Rebecca seizes the opportunity to secure the blessing for Jacob, who was her favorite. She quickly prepares some tasty food and tells Jacob to put on Esau’s best clothes. To help fool blind old Isaac, she puts goat skin on Jacob’s hands and arms to make them feel hairy. Then she sends him in with the food to ask for the blessing. Have you ever in your life ever seen a wife trying her best to deceive her husband and using her favorite son besides?

Listen to verse. 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.’"

Now Isaac was suspicious because Jacob’s voice didn’t sound like Esau’s. So he asked, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" Jacob replies, "The Lord your God gave me success."

Then in verse 21, "Isaac said to Jacob, `Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.’ 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.’ He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him."

Now the blessing that was given is found in verses 27-29. "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. May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness - an abundance of grain and new wine.

"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."