DIGGING DEEP NO. 1015 – December 19, 2023 LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON – ALMOST (PART 3) Gen 27: 1 – 29.

The prayer every believer should pray is “Lord, help us to end well”. A good beginning doesn’t guarantee a good ending. That’s one of the repeated lessons taught in scripture. People like Lot, Gideon, Samson, King Saul, King Solomon, Demas and others. We may add Isaac to that list. If ever a man was blessed with a great beginning, it was Isaac. Yet, he ended his life under a cloud.

Let’s consider some of his problems:

He put himself ahead of the Lord – Gen.27: 1- 4 Isaac was sure he was going to die, and yet his greatest desire was to enjoy a great meal at the hand of his favorite son and cook, Esau Gen.25: 28. When Isaac’s father, Abraham prepared for death, his concern was to get a bride for his son and maintain the covenant promise. When King David came to the end of his life, he made arrangements for the building of the temple; and Paul’s burden before his martyrdom was that Timothy be faithful to preach the Word and guard the faith. But Isaac who meditated and prayed in the fields at evening Gen.24: 63; who petitioned God on behalf of his wife Gen.25: 21 wanted only one thing: a savory meal of venison. Instead of seeking to heal the family feud that he and his wife caused by their selfish favoritism. Isaac perpetuated the feud and destroyed his own family.

He disobeyed God’s command. Before the boys were born, God had told Isaac and Rebekah that Jacob, the younger son, was to receive the covenant blessing Gen.25: 19- 23; yet Isaac planned to give the blessing to Esau. Surely Isaac knew that Esau had despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob and that Esau had disqualified himself by marrying heathen women. Had Isaac forgotten that his father had sent a servant five hundred miles to Haran to get him a suitable wife? Did Isaac really think he could fool God and give the blessing to worldly, unbelieving Esau?

He lived by his feelings.  Isaac rejected the way of faith and depended on his own senses: taste Gen.27: 4, 9, 25, touch Vs. 21, hearing Vs. 22, and smell Vs.27. He took the scientific approach and it failed him. Isaac was living by the natural instead of the supernatural, and trusting his own senses instead of believing and obeying the Word of God Prov.19: 21.

Rebekah: deception – Gen.27: 5- 17 faith is living without scheming and we have to remember that faith means obeying God no matter how we feel, what we think, or what might happen. The obedience of faith was the secret of Abraham’s life Heb.11: 8, but the absence of obedient faith brought trouble to the home of Isaac and Rebekah.

Eavesdropping – When Isaac sent for Esau to come to his tent, Rebekah noticed it and stayed close by to learn what was happening. Later, when Esau revealed that he planned to kill his brother, Rebekah also heard that Gen.27: 42; so she must have been adept at eavesdropping and keeping abreast of family affairs.

Scheming – Sir Walter Scott wrote “O what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”. Gen.27: 6- 10 knowing that Jacob was chosen to receive the covenant blessing, Rebekah immediately took matters into her own hands to make sure her favorite son got what the Lord has promised him. Had she and Jacob talked with Isaac while Esau was out hunting, perhaps he would have seen the light and agreed with them. Instead, Rebekah chose to control Jacob and deceive her husband.

Isaac’s philosophy was “If it feels good, it is good; but Rebekah’s philosophy was “The end justifies the means”. She couldn’t trust God to fulfill His plan; she had to help God out because it was a good cause. But there is no place for deception in the life of the believer; for Satan is the deceiver 2Cor.11: 3 and Jesus Christ is the truth Jh.14: 6.

Gen.27: 11- 17 Jacob’s concern wasn’t is it right, but is it safe? He was worried about the eleventh commandment: “Thou shall not get caught”. See how one lie led to another, for deception can be defended only by more deception. He lied about his name; he claimed to be Esau Vs.18- 19. He claimed to have obeyed his father’s wishes; he called the goat’s meat “my game”. He lied about God for helping him find it so quickly.

Gen.27: 21- 27 He also betrayed his father with a hypocritical kiss Lk.22: 48.

Gen.27: 29 Isaac blessed Jacob with natural and material wealth; he also added political authority with reference to his own people and other nations. He assured him not only of God’s blessing, but also of God’s protection by quoting the Lord’s original promise to Abraham Gen.12: 3.

In Conclusion – The deed was done. Isaac couldn’t revoke the blessing, and nobody in the family could alter the consequences.