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: Genesis 27:36b-38 – The Greatest Blessing

Genesis 27:36b-38 – “…Then 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 servant, 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.” 

Have you ever seen the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie?  There was a scene in that movie, where Dave, the man who found and took care of the chipmunks, bought a Christmas gift for his three “boys.”  What he bought them was something a real parent would give to his children – investment bonds.  He was thinking about their future and caring for them just like a real parent would.  Of course, like children during Christmas, they were quite disappointed with their gift.  On the other hand, their manager brought them a bag full of toys and goodies; so many toys and goodies that the chipmunks completely ignored their gift from Dave.  They lost sight of a true blessing and instead were enamored with the temporary toys.

When I was much younger, during a Christmas many years back, I remember also having that same attitude with a Christmas gift my parents gave me.  My parents bought me a really nice digital camera so that I could learn to shoot, but I had only wanted some new trading cards for my trading card game collection.  When I saw that camera, I was really disappointed, since I didn’t get the toy I wanted.  But years later, when I learned to shoot, I was grateful that I had such a camera.  That one gift trained me to the point, where I now love photography and have even won an award that got one of my pictures posted on a cruise ship (“Royal Princess”).  On that Christmas day, I didn’t appreciate the true blessing I had and would have done anything to trade it for the temporary printed cardboard that I wanted, but now, I know that I had actual received a greater gift and blessing.

Interestingly, the Bible tells the story of a person who also desired a temporary blessing so much that he forgot about an even more important blessing.  Genesis 27 tells the story of how Jacob, the eventual father of the twelve tribes of Israel, deceived his father Isaac and took the blessing that was meant for his brother Esau.  Under his mother Rebekah’s direction, he dressed up like Esau and convinced Isaac to give him the blessing instead of his brother in the suggestion that he was actually his brother.  In that blessing, he received everything from abundant harvests to rule over his brothers.  When his brother Esau returned and asked for his father’s blessing, to both of their surprise, the blessing had been given to the wrong person, Jacob.  This information sets the background for our passage today, where Esau asks his father if there is another blessing for him.  If we look carefully at the blessings that Isaac had given Jacob in vss. 27-29, we see that Jacob was given the blessing of bountiful harvests in both grain and wine (vs. 27-28), lordship over nations (vs. 29), lordship over his brothers (vs. 29), and the awesome blessing of “Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

“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!”

Although these blessings of power, fame, and fortune sound great and all-encompassing, Isaac left a specific greater blessing out – the blessing of Abraham – the blessing that God gave to Abraham and to Isaac and eventually to Jacob in Genesis 28 – the covenantal blessing of Abraham that ensured that his offspring would be multiplied, that his offspring would inherit Canaan, and that his offspring would be a source of blessing to all the nations of the earth (the promise of the Messiah coming from that lineage).  This blessing was not given in the verses above, yet you don’t even see Esau mentioning it, when Isaac said, “What then can I do for you, my son?”  It was clear that this blessing had not been given out (“I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servant, and with grain and wine I have sustained him.”), but Esau never asks for it.  It is true that this blessing was not Isaac’s to give, for only God could establish this covenant, but Esau could have asked for it.  He could have shown a desire for it.  He had no excuse of not knowing about it or having it emphasized, for Isaac must have mentioned it quite often while sojourning in that land.  Esau just forgot about it in light of losing the temporary blessings of power, fame, and fortune.  He lost sight of the greatest blessing of the covenant of Abraham as he only desired these temporary blessings.

We, as Christians, tend to do the same thing in our lives; we lose sight of things which have eternal value in the light of the temporary things of this earth.  Why do you think Christ emphasized that His disciples could not serve both God and Mammon in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:24)?  We ask God for more money, higher career positions, and even more recognition in ministry but fail to ask for a closer walk with Him.  We need to start seeking the ultimate blessing of God Himself instead of all the things He could give us.  We must stop seeking the temporary blessings of this earth like money, houses, and cars and instead invest in things of eternal value like souls.  We must stop seeking fulfillment in relationships, friendships, and even familial relations and instead seek to build our relationship with God.  We must stop seeking the applause of men in our careers, hobbies, and sports activities and must instead seek the praise of our Heavenly Father.  All these things on earth are not wrong, but we must never desire it above God.  No one can out give God, so why try to find happiness anywhere else?  Let us remember the great blessing of Christ and a relationship with Him and desire that blessing more than anything else.  There is no greater blessing than Christ.