Daily Devotions
Genesis
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find." Romans 7:18
Text: Genesis 27:1-46
THE FINAL ACT
Jacob had listened to his mother’s advice. The die had been cast! He put on the clothes of his brother. He donned the skin of the kids of the goats. With his heart in his mouth, Jacob approached his father. This was the final act.
“So he went to his father and said, ‘My father.’
And he said, ‘Here I am. Who are you, my son?’
Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your firstborn;
I have done just as you told me; please arise,
sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.'”GENESIS 27:18-19
There was now no turning back! The final attempt to deceive Isaac in order to obtain the firstborn blessing had been launched! It was do or die! Jacob had to lie that he was his brother Esau. He had to lie again that he had gone to the fields to hunt and had returned successfully. Did these words gag him? He was deceiving his blind father! How low could a person go? The power of sin had gripped Jacob so completely, he could not do anything else.
THE SUSPICION OF ISAAC
Isaac’s suspicion was aroused. He may have been blind, but surely he was not deaf as well? Could this really be his beloved firstborn Esau speaking to him?
“But Isaac said to his son, ‘How is it that you have found it
so quickly, my son?’
And he said, ‘Because the Lord your God brought it to me.’
Then Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Please come near, that I may feel you,
my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.’
So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said,
‘The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.’
And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy
like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.
Then he said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’
He said, ‘I am.'”GENESIS 27:20-24
The voice was certainly not that of Esau! That much Isaac knew! But how could Jacob have Esau’s hands? Isaac struggled within himself! How could he be sure? Was this really Esau? Isaac wanted to believe that it was Esau who had entered his tent! Surely, Jacob would not dare to deceive him thus!
He had to decide! But how could he decide? He could not call Rebekah to help him. There was an obvious rift between the two of them, on account of the fact that each had chosen one son to love almost exclusively. He couldn’t call any of his servants to help out. This was a family affair! How tragic to come to this state of affairs!