Posted on 01/02/2016 1:25:20 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.(Hebrews 11:20)
The next part of the story of Jacob concerns the time when Isaac passed on the Patriarchal blessing. Isaac fully intended to pass it on to his favorite son, Esau, the outdoorsman,hunter, and profane bigamist who broke his parents heart by marrying two pagans!
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: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.(Genesis 26:34-35)
Isaac was old, infirm and blind, when he realized his time was short, and that he had the responsibility to pass on the Abrahamic blessing, to the chosen son. Isaac was fully aware of the pre-birth prophecy that “the elder shall serve the younger†and that Jacob, was the chosen son, not Esau.
Such is the power of human bias and favoritism, that Isaac had convinced himself of the rightness of giving the blessing to his first-born.
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. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; 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.(Genesis 27:1-4)
Rebekah, the twin's mother, had received the original prophecy and knew which one was chosen and which wasn’t, sprang into action.She disguised Jacob as Esau, and prepared a meal of mutton, disguising it to taste like venison, and sent Jacob in to receive the blessing from Isaac.
This was a total deception but there is no Divine condemnation for it whatsoever.The only ones who condemned it in scripture, were Esau and his uncle Laban. The theme of Genesis is the promise of the “Seed of the woman†and the attempt by Satan to snuff it out. Rebekah saw this as an attack on the seed and acted accordingly to preserve the blessing promised to Jacob.
After some suspicious questioning by the nearsighted Isaac, Jacob, disguised as Esau fed his father the Mutton, and came forward to receive the blessing.
And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. 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: Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: 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.(Genesis 27:26-29)
With that the Abrahamic blessing was conferred upon the rightful recipient, but how could it be said to be by faith, when it was conferred under deception?
About the time Jacob left the tent, Esau came in and announced he was now ready to prepare the venison, Isaac realized he had passed on the blessing to Jacob, and not Esau.
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(Genesis 26:33)
When Isaac realized he had been tricked, he don’t revoke the blessing, instead he assured Esau, “He shall be blessedâ€, because he realized that all was according to the real will of God. In this way He exercised faith in the blessing of Jacob and ultimately Esau.
ESAU cried, and begged his father for a blessing,
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; 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. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.(Genesis 27:39-41)
The dubious “blessing†conferred upon Esau consists of a prophecy of the development of Jacob’s twin in future history,
* You shall dwell away from the fatness of the earth and the dew of heaven…(literally)
* You shall live by your sword…(is that a blessing?)
*You shall serve your brother…
*literally,…In the latter days you shall grow restive…(NASB)
*…and throw the yoke (of your brother) off of your neck…
All one has to do is look at a satellite photo of the earth, the brown spot in the midst of the green is the world of the Edomites, arid and barren land. Islam has codified the hatred of Esau(the everlasting hatred, Ezekiel 35) and we can all see Esau’s sword these days, for the former western “yoke†(Sikes/Picot) is being thrown off as the Edomite?Arab?Muslim world has become restive.
Look at a satellite photo of the Middle East- most all of Israel is green, while everything surrounding it is brown.
Exactly! What an amazing prophesy. The book of Hebrews indicates that Esau could have been blessed by God, but found no room for repentance, but rather sought to kill his brother. Esau, Edom is the father of the Arab peoples whose victim cultures (and hatred of Israel) will only be mitigated by destruction in Obadiah and Isaiah 63 (except for those who come to Christ Jesus)
I thought the Arabs came from Abraham diddling the Egyptian slave girl Hagar, impregnating her. I do know that Ishmael married several Caananite women.
Some scholars believe both, because Esau married the daughter of Ishmael
Perhaps Alan Bennett can add his insight into the matter -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0qOD9rtOEE
Call me Ishmael, or so said Herman Melville
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