How many enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles? Normally, we turn all of the pieces face-up; set aside those that have a straight edge (the outside frame) and start assembling those first. Then we begin to assemble the rest of the pieces, looking for pieces that more obviously fit in a section, and work on that section. In the process of putting the puzzle together, sometimes we get frustrated and try to force a piece into a certain place that actually shouldn’t be there, or when we lose a piece (story of Christmas with a family, dog ate the pieces of the puzzle). It is easy to get so focused on that one piece and miss the most important component which is the big picture on the box. It is the picture that provides the vision of what is being assembled. Without the big picture it makes it difficult to see what each piece brings to the puzzle.
In the book of Genesis, God continually speaks to us about the big picture and included in it is the master plan of salvation, redemption, and restoration, why it was necessary, and clues to what it will look like in the end. It’s like a big jigsaw puzzle where every piece plays a vital role in creating the puzzle. We’ve been putting the pieces together from the Fall, to God calling out one person, who will one day be a nation to represent Him on the earth, and through whom the whole earth would be blessed. And the next piece of the big picture is Abraham’s sons, Isaac and Esau another piece of the puzzle in the big picture.
If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Genesis chapter 27 starting at verse 1.
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
What can we see in these first four verses?
1. Isaac’s plot
Many years have passed since chapter 26 and we are not sure just how old Isaac was at this time (some speculate close to 140 years old). But we do know that he was old and his eyes were failing him. Some Bible commentaries interpret this as Isaac becoming spiritually blind because as we see Isaac aging, he is losing sight of the big picture and is only focusing on himself.
In his old age, Isaac had given himself over to willfulness and self-gratification and he was determined to have his way despite God’s word. Isaac was more focused on what gave him pleasure, than on following what the Lord had said. Because of this self-centeredness, he plotted his next moves covertly.
He called Esau and said, “I am old - I did not know the day of my death.” Based on the uncertainty of the future, he wanted to put things in order and wanted to bless his first son, Esau. Whether he had forgotten the oracle from God or never took it to heart is difficult to say. In either case, his intent to bless the older son, the one who had sold his birthright to the younger son, created a major crisis.
Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die”
(Gen 27:3-4).
Esau was Isaac’s favorite because he was a hunter and Isaac had a taste for wild game (Gen 25:28). That’s a really good reason to want to bless his son Esau with all his resources, with all the promises and blessings that he had received from God, don’t you think? And Isaac wished "with all his heart" to bless and to pass on his lifetime of blessing to Esau.
What’s interesting to note is that Esau and Isaac were actually a lot alike. Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentils and Isaac was willing to go against the overarching plan of God for all the nations of the world and give away all of God’s blessing to the wrong person, in exchange for a steak dinner. In his later years in life, he lost sight of the big picture of God’s plan of blessing and redemption for the “whole world” because of his near-sightedness or spiritual blindness. Because he became so inward-focused, he didn’t consider the negative repercussions of his plot. He was trying to force a piece into God’s puzzle. But as we will see, his plot was providentially unearthed and then witness:
2. Rebekah’s counterplot
In vv. 6-17, we see that Rebekah overheard Isaac plotting with Esau about the birthright blessing and inheritance and because she knew this wasn’t part of God’s plan, and because Jacob was her favorite, she devised a counterplot. She knew this wasn’t according to the prophecy that God spoke to her - that the older would serve the younger (Gen 25:23-26), so what did she do? She could have told Isaac, “Now look - Esau sold his birthright to Jacob so it’s rightfully his, etc., etc. etc.” But instead she countered Isaac’s deception with her own (the whole family was totally dysfunctional at this point).
What would have happened if Rebekah had not heard, or if she had done nothing? We may only speculate… that even if it was the case that the Lord would somehow have overruled the effort by some unusual means.
In vv. 8-10, Rebekah sees that time is of the essence and convinces Jacob of the urgency of the situation. Jacob must act now or forever lose his opportunity to obtain the blessing. Rebekah commands him to bring her two goats from the flock so she can cook them up just the way Isaac liked them so that he could get in before Esau. Jacob isn’t worried about his mother concocting a lie and the two of them deceiving Isaac but worried about getting caught. The whole family dysfunction is sad and as one scholar, Derek Kidner brought out:
Rebekah and Jacob, with a just cause, made no approach to God or man, no gesture of faith or love, and reaped the appropriate fruit of hatred.”
She takes the goats to create a dish she knows Isaac will love, puts Esau’s finest clothes on Jacob, and takes the goat skins and covers his hands and neck. Now the stage is set and the curtains open to Jacob’s performance. Isaac plotted, Rebekah counterplotted and …
3. Jacob enters the scene (vv. 18 - 29)
Jacob brings the meal to Isaac, and his father at first isn’t convinced it’s Esau because the voice was Jacob’s and he got back from the hunt too fast. Jacob not only lies about his identity but invokes the name of God to legitimize or validate his dishonesty.
Let's read vv. 21- 29
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!
28 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you,and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
Isaac asked Jacob to come close and embrace him so he could feel his hand and smell his clothes. He was eventually lured into believing it was Esau, and Isaac in disobedience, pours out the blessing of natural and material wealth, universal dominion and God’s protection on Jacob. This blessing of Abraham’s seed envisioned an individual king as the focus of the patriarchal promise, the “seed of Abraham.” This king will come through his family line, through the line of Judah and be the Savior of the world.
Why would Isaac want to give that incredible blessing to someone who saw no value in it, who actually despised his own faith and birthright? But Isaac was trying to force a foreign piece into the puzzle because he had lost sight of the big picture. His focus was so small, so shortsighted.
God has an overarching plan in the big scheme of things and because He is omniscient, foreknew about all the plotting, scheming, and counterplotting that would take place. But did Rebekah and Jacob have to lie in order for God’s plan to come about? Because He is sovereign and all-powerful, He would not have ultimately let it happen. This was an incredible test for Rebecah and Jacob who could have sought God’s face, could have trusted Him to bring His plans and promises to pass in a supernatural way, but they didn’t. They were so focused on the little picture, on their little piece in the puzzle and on material things and God let it play out. So we see in vv. 30-34 that as soon as Jacob leaves, Esau comes into the room and Isaac is completely confused. Isaac said:
Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.
Isaac knew he was caught in his duplicity and was shaken. Many scholars believe that Isaac knew that the Lord had overruled his own selfish plan so that his favorite son did not receive the blessing.
Alfred Barnhouse said:
Isaac had put his personal love of Esau ahead of the will of God. Down came his idol, and the edifice of willful love collapsed before the shaking power that took hold of him. The arrogant pride which had slyly planned to thwart God toppled to the ground, broken beyond repair. When Isaac trembled exceedingly, all his desires were shattered.
Isaac had to surrender to God’s will and knew Jacob would receive the blessing and there was nothing he could do to reverse it.
Verse 35 says that Esau cried out with a bitter cry and pleaded with Isaac to bless him. Hebrew 12:15-17 tells us that Esau was not sorry that he sold his birthright, he was just sorry for the consequences. We may forget our decisions, but our decisions don’t forget us.
There was no blessing left for Esau, just a prophetic word about his future - that he would be driven out of the land of plenty and would be subservient to his brother. By the end of chapter 27, we see:
4. Esau’s revenge
Esau, who now really hates his brother, consoles himself by plotting to kill Jacob. Rebecca (providentially) overhears this and sends Jacob away to live with her uncle until Esau calmed down and also because she doesn’t want Isaac to marry outside of the family like Esau had. In the end, it wasn’t a happy Hollywood ending. Rebecca may have won and Jacob may have received the blessing but at a great cost.
One scholar said:
The mother lost her son; Jacob had to flee for his life, she thought he would be back after a few days but he was gone for 20 years, for all we know, Rebekah never saw him again. And Jacob lost all the comforts of home, and all those possessions his father had accumulated. He had to flee with nothing but his staff, an outcast to begin the world for himself. From this first false step onwards to his death, he was pursued by misfortune, until his own verdict on his life was, "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life."
This was a real-life drama with so many twists and turns and God allowed it to play out as a lesson for all of us today. Everyone in the family seemed to be seeking the blessings of God without God. This family was fraught with ambition, jealousy, envy, lying, deceit, covetousness, malice, manipulation, stubbornness, and shortsightedness. And everyone lost.
But what could not be changed despite many poor decisions and lost opportunities was the providential plan of God. God’s overarching plan will always prevail despite our choices in life. We, ourselves, will reap the consequences of our decisions good or bad but these decisions can’t touch what God has already determined. God fulfilled his promises despite Isaac’s willfulness, despite Rebekah and Jacob’s manipulation, and despite Esau’s indifference. God’s plan continued but they each missed out on the blessings of the big picture. Even if we are faithless God is faithful because He cannot deny himself.
What wisdom do you think the Lord is trying to impart to us? As we are working through the little pieces of the puzzle trying to figure out where they fit or if they fit in at all? Are we being shortsighted - fixated on the little things that affect our own lives, our own comfort or reputation, our need for affirmation or fulfillment, when God wants us to fix our eyes on the big picture? What things matter now and for all eternity?
When we begin to feel anxious or overwhelmed, misjudged or offended, occupied with our needs and self-gratification, take a few steps back and take time to look at the big picture. Get God’s perspective on things and trust Him to bring all of life pieces together as He promises to.
God has called us to a glorious inheritance - let’s not allow shortsightedness rob us of our birthright and inheritance as His people.
