Quick Note – Genesis 27 – The Greatest Blessing

Genesis 27:35-38 – But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.”  Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob?  For he has cheated me these two times.  He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.”  The he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”  Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him.  What then can I do for you, my son?”  Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing my father?  Bless me, even me also, O my father.”  And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

I always feel bad for Esau when I read this story in Genesis 27 of the Bible.  This story describes how Jacob tricks his father Isaac in order to get the blessing that was meant for Esau.  For those who don’t know the story, let me give you a short summary, although I encourage you to read it for yourself.  Esau and Jacob were the two sons of Isaac and Rebekah.  Jacob loved Esau the most, while Rebekah loved Jacob.  When Isaac was getting old, had become basically blind, and was near death, he told his son Esau to prepare a meal for him to eat and then to receive his blessing.  So Esau went out to hunt for game and prepare that meal.  Rebekah, overhearing what was said, cooked up a plan to get that blessing for Jacob instead.  She prepared a meal, dressed Jacob up in Esau’s clothes, and sent him to get the blessing from Isaac.  Jacob then went in, deceived his father by claiming he was Esau, and received the blessing, which included bountiful harvests, lordship over his brothers, and more.  After the blessing was given, Esau returned from his hunt, prepared the meal, and went to Isaac for the blessing, only to find out that the blessing had already been given away to Jacob.  Jacob had tricked his way into getting Esau’s blessing.  It was then that Esau said these words in our passage today, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 

Now, it is true that Isaac basically blessed Jacob with everything here.  He blessed him with material wealth, power over his brothers, and even the blessing of blessing to those who blessed him and cursing to those who cursed him; but there was a blessing that was not given – the blessing of Abraham – the blessing that God gave to Abraham and his offspring that they would inherit the land of their sojourning and would become a blessing to the world.  This blessing was reserved for the person that God had chosen to give it to.  It was a blessing given to Abraham, then given to Isaac, and would eventually be given to Jacob.  But at this time, it had not yet been given to Jacob, so it makes me wonder why Esau never asked for this blessing.  Why was it that when Isaac asked Esau, “What then can I do for you, my son?” that Esau didn’t ask for the blessing of Abraham?  In just the next chapter, Isaac would bestow this blessing on Jacob, so during this time, it could have still been asked for by Esau (although it likely would not have been given, because it was meant for Jacob by God all along).  However, Esau could have asked.  Esau was so focused on the loss of physical and monetary blessings that he forgot to ask for the most important blessing of all – the spiritual blessing of having a close relationship with God, a relationship that Abraham his grandfather had and Isaac his father had.  Often, we can get caught up in all the physical things in this life that we forget that the most important blessing that God has given us in this life is a relationship with Him.  We forget that there is nothing greater than being called children of God, walking with Him, and getting to know Him better.  Instead, when we don’t get more money, don’t get a promotion in our workplace, don’t get the latest and greatest technological toy, we think that God either abandoned us or forgot about us.  But rather than focusing on the here and now, we should always keep our eyes on Jesus Christ.  Our treasure should be stored up in heaven rather than on this earth.  Let us take joy in the greatest blessing that we can have – Jesus Christ. 

Quick Note – Hebrews 12:15-16

Hebrews 12:15-16 – “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.”

There is a show on TV called “Let’s Make a Deal.”  In that game, a person is given a starting object of known worth and is asked to make a deal with the host on countless other prizes which may be hidden behind the doors.  Sometimes, the prizes are much better than that simple starting item, but other times, the people end up making deals for absolute junk.  They may have started with a $100 and either come out with thousands or nothing.  But no matter what the result, the choice was his whether to make that deal or not.  In the Christian life, we as disciples of Christ are constantly tempted by the world to trade the great treasures that Christ has for us for the temporary things of this earth.  We are asked to trade eternal value for something passing, something that lasts as long as a short breath.  The story of Esau, which was first told in the Old Testament and recounted in this verse in Hebrews, tells the story of how Esau traded his birthright (his position as firstborn with all the blessings and inheritance it came with) for a measly bowl of soup.  It was nothing but lentils; there was not even any meat.  He traded something of significant value for something literally worthless, for he was unwilling to wait for the great treasure that would come.  In the same way, many people today have traded the eternal value of Christ for the temporary pleasures of this world, for it is hard to wait for something you cannot see.  They are unwilling to be like the heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11, who though they did not see by faith trusted God.  Even worse, Christians have adopted this principle of trading down, trading Christ and a close relationship with Him for things like money, houses, and even friendship.  We need to remember that our Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest gift that God gave us, for He gave of Himself.  Not only that but by treasuring Him we get to partake in an infinite number of other blessings.  To share a personal story, I also struggle with this, for I trade Christ for things I enjoy like comic books and television and games – all things which provide entertainment for an hour or two but leave me unfulfilled in the end.  But Christ is fulfilling and complete and everything we could ever want.  Let us never trade Christ for anything.