Note: When doing a study on a book in the Bible you use a lot of resources. The major influence for me on this study of Genesis is The Genesis Record by Henry Morris.
Assignment: Why did Esau lose his blessings? Find scripture in the Old Testament and New Testament to back it up.
OT-Genesis 25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he
did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau
despised [his] birthright.
NT-Hebrews 12:16 Lest there [be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau,
who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Esau foolishly chose to trade future longrange blessings form present momentary pleasures.
Even though Jacob went about it the wrong way he still desired the spiritual blessings of the future. Who in scripture is Jacob the father of?
We leave off Genesis 26 with these words
Genesis 26:34. And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the
daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon
the Hittite:
35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
Esau refused to get his wife from the family of Abraham and Rebekah. This kept the mind of Esau in sin. His only focus was self gain. He was suppose to be separate and be blessed of the Lord but he did not want this he wanted his pleasure.
Genesis 27:1. And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes
were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest
son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold,
[here am] I.
2 And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my
death:
3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and
thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me [some] venison;
4 And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring [it] to
me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
What is the sin in these few verses? Why did Esau not deserve the blessing? 1. God's will was for Jacob to have the blessing. 2. Esau had married pagan women. 3. Esau did not care anything about the birthright. Why do you think Isaac chose to do this? Gen 25:23 Isaac knew what God had told Rebekah. He knew God's will. Isaac was his favorite.
Main reason for sin. God's will was not consulted.
5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau
went to the field to hunt [for] venison, [and] to bring [it].
6. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard
thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat,
and bless thee before the LORD before my death.
8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which
I command thee.
Do you think what she is saying is right? Why do you think she did this? This will cause Rebekah to actually lose Jacob and never see him again as we will see in chapter 28.
9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids
of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father,
such as he loveth:
10 And thou shalt bring [it] to thy father, that he may eat,
and that he may bless thee before his death.
11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my
brother [is] a hairy man, and I [am] a smooth man:
12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him
as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a
blessing.
Isn't this an ironic statement. He is a deceive not that he seemed to be a deceiver. Rebakah had all this figured out.
13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me [be] thy curse, my
son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me [them].
14 And he went, and fetched, and brought [them] to his mother:
and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.
15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau,
which [were] with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her
younger son:
16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his
hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:
Being an indoors man he did not have the rough skin as Esau. He did not have the smell either. Esau probably had a very rough smell. Have you ever met a camper who has been in the woods for days camping. I read this story about two men who were working in a tight spot. One of the men finally said to the other,"Wow! I think the deodorant of one of us has quit working." The other man answered,"It must be yours because I don't use any."
17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had
prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18. And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he
said, Here [am] I; who [art] thou, my son?
Why do you think that Isaac questioned him? He forgot about his voice. So Isaac tests him.
19 And Jacob said unto his father, I [am] Esau thy firstborn; I
have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit
and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
20 And Isaac said unto his son, How [is it] that thou hast
found [it] so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy
God brought [it] to me.
Test #1: How did you find the food so fast? And Jacobs answer is "Because the LORD thy God brought [it] to me." What an answer. He tries to incorporate the Lord in this. Let it seem that it is the Lords will. How many Christians use this excuse? Any thing in the name of the Lord. If I win the lottery then I will give to the church. Oh I have to work on Sunday but I will give the money back to the Lords house.
21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I
may feel thee, my son, whether thou [be] my very son Esau or not.
22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him,
and said, The voice [is] Jacob's voice, but the hands [are] the
hands of Esau.
Test #2: The touch. He touched him to feel him and see who he was. He recognized the difference in the voice but then when he touched him he felt it was right. I had this thought come to my mind when I read this verse. Sometimes when we are searching what to do we want to go by feelings. Even though we feel like it or even we here a voice it may not be God but it may be a deception. The difference is God only does what gets him the glory not ourselves.
23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as
his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.
24 And he said, [Art] thou my very son Esau? And he said, I
[am].
25 And he said, Bring [it] near to me, and I will eat of my
son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought [it]
near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he
drank.
26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss
me, my son.
27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell
of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my
son [is] as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
Test #3: The smell: So up to this point all seemed to be right. But Isaac was deceived. Was he old and feeble and this caused this maybe but he lived another 40 yrs.
28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the
fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord
over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee:
cursed [be] every one that curseth thee, and blessed [be] he that
blesseth thee.
This was already Jacobs blessing. God had already promised this.
30. And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of
blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the
presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from
his hunting.
31 And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his
father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of
his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.
32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who [art] thou? And he
said, I [am] thy son, thy firstborn Esau.
33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where
[is] he that hath taken venison, and brought [it] me, and I have
eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, [and]
he shall be blessed.
Isaac was so mad that he trembled. He was furious wondering what happened
34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a
great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless
me, [even] me also, O my father.
35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken
away thy blessing.
36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath
supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and,
behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast
thou not reserved a blessing for me?
37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made
him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for
servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what
shall I do now unto thee, my son?
The blessings of Isaac was binding there was no changing of the mind. Esau wanted some part.
38 And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing,
my father? bless me, [even] me also, O my father. And Esau lifted
up his voice, and wept.
39 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy
dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of
heaven from above;
40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy
brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the
dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
Actually there was no blessing.
Let us analyze each Character. Issac What are his charactericts When he met Rebekah and what are they now. Rebekah what are her charactericts when she met Isaac and the servant of Abraham and what are they now. What are the charactericts of Jacob and Esau.
Isaac-man of prayer, meditated with the Lord, man of compassion, Rebekah- purity, hospitality, willingness to work without thought of reward, capacity to make decisions in accordance with Gods will, desire to seek Gods word. Now-showed partiliaty to Jacob, had fear of the failure of Jacob, decitful, dishonest, motivated by selfish interest(27:45)
ASSIGNMENT: Jesus made a reference to Jacobs ladder that we read of in chapter 28. Where was this recorded in the New Testament?
