HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 396
G EN ES IS 2 7
20 Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly,
my son?”
“The Lord your God put it in my path!” Jacob
replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so
I can touch you and make sure that you really
are Esau.” 22 So Jacob went closer to his father,
and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s,
but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said. 23 But he
did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands
felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to
bless Jacob. 24 “But are you really my son Esau?”
he asked.
“Yes, I am,” Jacob replied.
25 Then Isaac said, “Now, my son, bring me
the wild game. Let me eat it, and then I will
give you my blessing.” So Jacob took the food
to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the
wine that Jacob served him. 26 Then Isaac said
to Jacob, “Please come a little closer and kiss
me, my son.”
27 So Jacob went over and kissed him. And
when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,
he was finally convinced, and he blessed his
son. He said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like
the smell of the outdoors, which the Lord has
blessed!
28
29
“From the dew of heaven
and the richness of the earth,
may God always give you abundant harvests
of grain
and bountiful new wine.
May many nations become your servants,
and may they bow down to you.
• Selfishness
G E NE S IS 2 7 :1 -4 0
Jacob was like most of us: One moment
he was capable of breathtaking insight
into God’s call on his life; the next
moment he could steal you blind. Here,
and in the story of his taking Esau’s
birthright (Genesis 25:27-34), Jacob was
motivated, not by a noble pursuit of God,
but by selfishness and ambition. Jacob’s
selfishness created painful consequences
that dogged him much of his life. He
deceived his father, he had to leave
home and never see his mother again,
and he lived twenty years in the fear of
his brother’s revenge. God redeemed
Jacob’s mistakes but not before
selfishness had caused much brokenness
and pain. Ask God to reveal and root
out any selfishness in your life before it
poisons your relationships.
page 26
May you be the master over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down
to you.
All who curse you will be cursed,
and all who bless you will be blessed.”
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing
Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his
father, Esau returned from his hunt. 31 Esau
prepared a delicious meal and brought it to
his father. Then he said, “Sit up, my father,
and eat my wild game so you can give me your
blessing.”
32 But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn
son, Esau.”
33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and
said, “Then who just served me wild game?
I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just
before you came. And yes, that blessing must
stand!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he let
out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what
about me? Bless me, too!” he begged.
35 But Isaac said, “Your brother was here,
and he tricked me. He has taken away your
blessing.”
36 Esau exclaimed, “No wonder his name is
Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice.* First
he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he
has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven’t you saved
even one blessing for me?”
37 Isaac said to Esau, “I have made Jacob your
master and have declared that all his brothers
will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an
abundance of grain and wine—what is left for
me to give you, my son?”
38 Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one
blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then
Esau broke down and wept.
39 Finally, his father, Isaac, said to him,
40
“You will live away from the richness of
the earth,
and away from the dew of the heaven
above.
You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you decide to break free,
you will shake his yoke from your neck.”
Jacob Flees to Paddan-Aram
41 From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because
their father had given Jacob the blessing. And
Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be mourning
my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother,
Jacob.”
42 But Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans. So
she sent for Jacob and told him, “Listen, Esau
is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. 43 So
27:36 Jacob sounds like the Hebrew words for “heel” and
“deceiver.”