Think Speak Run

When it comes to receiving the blessing of Abraham, spoken through Isaac into his firstborn son, Jacob is helped to deceive his father to ensure he receives the blessing. 

The Bible tells us that “Isaac loved Esau… but Rebekah loved Jacob” (Genesis 25:28). Due to this favouritism, Rebekah conspires with Jacob to ensure he will receive the blessing of the firstborn. She instructs Jacob to dress in his brother’s clothes and wrap his hands and neck in goat skins so that he will smell and feel like Esau. Rebekah’s plan exploits the deceitful nature expressed in Jacob’s name, and Jacob is willing to go along with the deception so long as he is not cursed. His concern is recorded thus: “My father… will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing”. Jacob doesn’t stop his actions because of concern about his relationship with his father. He goes ahead with his mother’s plan after her assurance, “Upon me be thy curse, my son” (Genesis 27:13). Clearly, he doesn’t care too much about his mother either. He wants the benefits of birthright and blessing without the weight of responsibility or the potential curse of consequences. He is every bit as much of a fool as his brother: Esau despised position; Jacob despises relationship. 

As Jacob now has the birthright he is in line to obtain the associated blessing. However, he accesses it through trickery – the same method he employed to steal Esau’s birthright. He remains true to his deceitful nature. Jacob convinces Isaac – who is blind – that he is Esau, despite Isaac saying, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau”. Jacob lies to his father several times and claims to be Esau, in order to secure Isaac’s blessing. Technically, he now is Esau, the firstborn, as he is the one in possession of the birthright, so the blessing must come to him. But it is sad that he chooses to obtain both parts of the heritage by deception. 

The Bible’s perception of Esau is that he is a ‘profane person’. It cautions against the careless behaviour that cost him his heritage: “…for one morsel of meat sold his birthright” (Hebrews 12:16). The next verse reveals the consequences of Esau’s choice: “…afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears”. God deems it wickedness (profanity) to reject the birthright and the blessing for which He positioned Esau, and the same is true today. When we reject Jesus, we give up the birthright and the blessing He died to give us. He is the firstborn among many brethren, and He places us in His position of righteousness so that we can receive the right to be called the sons of God. He willingly gives us His birthright, His blessing, His favoured relationship with His Father. It is wickedness to reject Him. Let’s learn the value of position and relationship as demonstrated by Jesus, so that we don’t miss out on either His birthright or His blessing.