Genesis 27 -- A Bum Rap For Jacob?

I loved the way my commentary wove the characters together in this chapter.

Isaac, it said, was in decline and put himself ahead of the Lord by thinking he was surely about to die and then deciding to eat a feast of wild game and bless Esau.  He and Rebekah had caused the family feud, it said, by their selfish favoritism and instead of healing it, he was perpetuating it and destroying his family.  Knowing God had said before their births that Jacob would rule, Isaac still planned to overrule that.  He knew that Esau had despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob, and that he’d disqualified himself by marrying heathen women, yet he still tried to overrule God.

It also said Rebekah wasn’t believing without scheming.  She apparently didn’t trust God to get the job done and eavesdropped and lied and connived.  She could have taken Jacob to Isaac and reminded him of God’s message, but decided to use deception instead.

Jacob had to compound lies with more lies to pull off the deception.  Afterwards, Isaac trembled greatly with agitation.  My commentary said it was because he knew that the Lord had overruled his own selfish plan so that his favorite son did not receive the blessing.

For Esau, who’d despised a godly life, he felt it wasn’t his fault, but his brother’s.  He loved blaming others.

A footnote in my commentary said it all:  “At no time do we find God rebuking Jacob for cheating somebody … Jacob was wrong in deceiving his father, but he was right in believing God’s Word and knowing that the covenant blessing was his.  He didn’t steal the birthright; he bought it … It was Laban who defrauded Jacob … Throughout Jacob’s life, God fulfilled the basic meaning of his name, ‘God will protect’.”

Father, thank You for a new perspective on this vital story.  Help me to believe without scheming, trusting that You will protect me as well.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford