We’re now at a point in the book of Genesis where the differences between Isaac’s sons Esau and Jacob are highlighted. Remember how we saw that from birth the Lord had declared their differences in person and in purpose.
Then we saw how Jacob gained his older brother’s birthright by taking advantage of Esau’s weakened and worldly mindset.
And then we saw Esau marry pagan women which caused serious stress in the family.
[Read Genesis 26:34-35.]
Thirty-seven years go by and chapter 27 shows us that things are not well in the family. It’s a divided home that’s riddled with deception by everyone. And this deception is motivated by Isaac and Rebekah playing favorites with the kids.
[“Step-daughter” at Bethel story.]
Isaac preferred his first-born son Esau. Rebekah preferred the younger son Jacob. And both parents were determined to have their favorite son be in charge of the family when they died – no matter what God had said! Now what had God said? That Jacob would be in charge.
[Read Genesis 25:23.]
Isaac and Rebekah knew that God had determined that Jacob would be the one through whom the covenant would pass through.
Jacob had even secured his brother’s birthright to be the legal head of the family.
[Read Genesis 25:33.]
And of course, Esau showed poor judgment by marrying pagan women.
It should have been evident to Isaac that Esau wasn’t the one to lead the family. It also should have been evident to Rebekah that God didn’t need her conniving to establish Jacob as the head of the family. But they and their kids decided to guarantee their own wishes by deceiving one another. And a family built on deception will inevitably become a divided family.
I. Isaac and Esau scheme against Rebekah and Jacob
[Read Genesis 27:1-4.]
Isaac thought he would soon die. After all, he’s 137 years old at this time. His eyesight was failing. His health was failing. He needed to make some plans before he died. So this was his last effort to legally pass on his family blessing to his favorite son Esau before he died. This was his attempt to help Esau regain his birthright that he had foolishly traded to Jacob for a hot meal. This was nothing less than a deceptive scheme against Rebekah and Jacob.
After all, it was no secret that Rebekah favored Jacob. It was also no secret that God had spoken to Rebekah and had told her of His plan for Jacob to rule over Esau.
Now I’m not sure what Isaac was thinking at this point. In his mind he not only had to discount Jacob’s potential leadership ability but God’s wishes for Jacob as well.
Maybe he wasn’t walking with God as closely as before. Maybe he was getting stubborn in his old age. Maybe a little senile. We don’t really know what he was thinking other than he was going to make sure that Esau, not the appointed Jacob, would have his blessing.
Esau was all too eager to go along with the plan that would enable his preeminent position in the family over Jacob.
But there was one thing that Isaac and Esau didn’t account for – the hearing ability of a Mother! I mean to tell you what, a Mother can hear everything! You can’t get away with anything when Mom’s around! My Mom’s hearing was so good she could hear sign language!
Rebekah heard Isaac and Esau’s plans so she came up with some plans of her own.
II. Rebekah and Jacob scheme against Isaac and Esau
[Read Genesis 27:5-13.]
Whenever I read this passage it grieves me that these spouses schemed against each other like this. I mean, lies only harm a relationship. Even if the lies get you what you want, it will always cost you in the end. That’s what we’ll eventually see as a product of all these lies.
Jacob went right along with Mom’s plans to purposefully deceive his own father and brother. His only objection was concerning getting caught – not whether what they were doing was right or wrong. He just didn’t want to loose that birthright that he had gotten from his older brother. So his mom assures him that she’ll take the fall if the plans fail. So we next see:
III. Rebekah and Jacob carry out their plans
[Read Genesis 27:14-27.]
I tell you what, Jacob and his mom went to extraordinary means to deceive Isaac.
- Cooking goats in a way that it tasted like game
- Having Jacob wear Esau’s clothes so he would feel and small like Esau
- Putting goat skins on Jacob’s hands so he would feel hairy like Esau
But even with all this deception, Isaac still had some doubts. It’s almost like he might
have expected something like this because he gives Jacob sever opportunities to come clean.
[Read Genesis 27:20-24.]
Jacob had every chance to man up and admit his deception. He could have even blamed it on his mother since she “commanded” him to “obey her voice”. But he didn’t. Jacob repeated lied to his own dad to secure his blessing.
And it worked. He got his dad’s blessing. But what’s ironic is that when Isaac was mistakenly blessing Jacob, he thought he was blessing Esau. You see when Isaac blessed Jacob he thought he was carrying out his plan of securing Esau’s blessing. And at the same time Esau was out in the field hunting some game for Isaac. So we now see:
IV. Isaac and Esau carry out their plans
[Read Genesis 27:28-31.]
They thought that they had succeeded in their deceptive plans to secure the blessing for Esau. But their plans failed.
[Read Genesis 27:32-38.]
The shock of their failure was dramatic. Esau’s hope for his future was now nonexistent. It’s almost like when Esau was younger he didn’t care much about his future. But now that dad’s about to die and Esau’s birthright belonged to Jacob, Esau’s a little worried about his financial future.
[Traveling couple/retirement commercial example.]
Esau now has nothing.
But I think that Isaac’s reaction was based on conviction from God. Remember, Isaac loved his wife and loved the Lord. He knew what God’s plans were. And I think that when all his plans came crashing down he realized that he wasn’t really scheming against Rebekah and Jacob – he was attempting to thwart the plans of God. You can see that in the way he concedes to God’s will and pronounces Esau’s future to him.
[Read Genesis 27:39-40.]
Everyone at this point understands what’s going on. Two huge realizations have been accomplished in this family:
1. Jacob will lead the family after Isaac’s death
2. No one can be trusted
So we now see just some of the consequences of all this deception.
V. The family splits up
[Read Genesis 27:41- 28:5.]
Jacob is sent away from the family so he can not only be safe from his brother’s wrath but also so he can get a good woman to marry from within the family. But Jacob wouldn’t be the only one to leave home.
[Read Genesis 28:6-9.]
Esau saw how Jacob was sent away to marry from within the family as to avoid marrying from the pagan Hittite women – something he had already done. So he goes to the other side of the family, the cursed side of uncle Ishmael, to marry from within the family and please his parents. Maybe he thought this would get him back in good graces with dad. Esau just didn’t get it and never did.
So Isaac and Rebekah are now left to themselves. The kids are gone. The ‘empty-nest’ atmosphere was upon them. I wonder if they ever got past their history of lying to one another. Can you imagine the arguments they would have had?
You see, even though Rebekah and Jacob’s deception got them what they wanted, it also gained them some unintended consequences as well.
1. Rebekah and Jacob never saw one another again
2. Jacob would be exiled from the family for years
3. Jacob and Esau are now life long enemies
4. Jacob would be deceived by his uncle Laban
5. Jacob’s family would be full of conflict
6. Rebekah and Isaac’s marriage would never be the same
Was it worth it? They got what they wanted, but at too costly a price.
Sometimes we want something that isn’t what God wants. Isaac and Esau wanted Esau
to be in charge but that wasn’t God’s plan. They failed in their attempts to change God’s will for their family. When we do this we just asking for a rude awakening.
[Lisette and I being deceived into helping at VBS story.]
Sometimes we aren’t patient enough to wait on God to fulfill His promises so we manipulate circumstances with deception to accomplish what we think God’s will is.
[Friend lied into taking a job at a church story.]
Lying always gets us more than we bargained for. Even though it’s sometimes hard to be honest with each other, it’s always the right thing to do. Even though it’s hard to be patient, it’s always the right thing to do.
We need to trust God so much that we trust Him with the results of honesty and patience. “I’m going to do the right thing Lord. The results are up to you.” And it’s so good to know that we have a God that can be trusted.
