Jacob’s Deception Of Isaac

JACOB’S DECEPTION OF ISAAC

Gen. 27:14-30

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: When God Rocks Your Boat

1. In the late ’50s I was ­working construction, leveling the corner of a house that we had jacked about 4 inches above the ground. One of the jacks slipped and the house came down with a loud bang.

2. The next thing we knew, the owner, who was a minister, ran out and looked up at the sky. “I thought the Lord was ­coming!” he told us. We all had a good laugh. [Reader’s Digest]

B. TEXT

14 So [Jacob] went and got them[goats] and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 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. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. 18 He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?” 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.” 20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied. 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.” 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.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied. 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. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” 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. 28 May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. 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.” 30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. Gen. 27:14-30

C. WHY ‘DECEPTION’ IS A BIG DEAL

1. The deception of Isaac by Rebekah and Jacob is one of the most startling deceptions found in the Bible. The consequences were vast. The deception was brazen.

2. Jacob, in person, impersonated his brawny, manly brother Esau and was able to deceive his father into giving him the family fortune. What relevance does this have with us? It points out how easy it is to be deceived.

3. One of the greatest dangers of the Last days is deception. According to Scripture all the world will be deceived.

4. The very nature of deception is that you don’t know you’re being deceived. Many people are willingly deceived. Ex.: More than one in five smokers think the dangers of smoking are exaggerated, and half of smokers don't consider lung cancer to be a smoking-related illness. Reader's Digest April 2009, p. 18. Some things can appear to be true, but not be.

5. Or like Adam and Eve in the Garden, the devil implants a half-truth. As someone pointed out, rat poison is 99.99% good food. It’s the 1% poison that kills you!

6. It’s the same with the deception. You can be mostly right but still go to Hell. The Pharisees knew the Scriptures and lived righteously, but they went to Hell because they didn’t accept Jesus as their Savior!

7. A plane that was only off it’s flight pattern by 1% ended up 1,000’s of miles off course, ran out of fuel, and ditched into the ocean.

8. The title of tonight’s message is “Jacob’s Deception of Isaac.” In considering deception we’re going to look at four things that brought about the deception of Isaac.