What Did Jacob’s Deception Leave Behind in Genesis 27?

Jacob’s deception won Isaac’s blessing, but it also left behind Esau’s anger and the need to leave his brother and flee. Genesis 27 tells the story from the moment Rebekah and Jacob deceived Isaac to the point where Esau sought to kill Jacob and Jacob was forced to flee. In this article, we will look at how Jacob received the blessing and what happened to the family afterward.

Isaac Intended to Bless Esau

Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, and he said that he did not know when he would die. He called his older son Esau and told him to go hunt some game and make him a delicious dish. After eating it, Isaac intended to bless Esau before he died.

Rebekah overheard the conversation between Isaac and Esau. When Esau went out to hunt, Rebekah told Jacob to bring her two young goats. She planned to prepare the kind of delicious dish Isaac loved so that Jacob could bring it to him and receive the blessing.

Jacob worried that if his father touched him, he would seem like a deceiver and might receive a curse instead of a blessing. But Rebekah told him to let any curse fall on her and to do what she said.

Jacob Stood Before His Father in Esau’s Place

Rebekah put Esau’s best clothes on Jacob. She covered Jacob’s smooth hands and neck with the skins of the young goats. Then she gave Jacob the delicious food and the bread in his hands.

Standing before Isaac, Jacob said that he was his firstborn son Esau. When his father asked why he had found game so quickly, he answered that the LORD his God had granted him success. Even when Isaac asked again, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob answered that he was.

Isaac recognized Jacob’s voice, but when he touched the hairy hands, he thought they were Esau’s hands. He also smelled the fragrance of Esau’s clothes. In the end, Isaac regarded the son before him as Esau and blessed him.

Esau’s Weeping and Anger Followed the Blessing He Received

Isaac asked for the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, with abundant grain and new wine. He blessed him so that peoples and nations would serve him and that he would be lord over his brothers. After the blessing was finished, Jacob left Isaac’s presence.

Soon after, Esau returned from hunting, prepared the delicious food, and brought it to Isaac. When he revealed that he was his firstborn son Esau, Isaac trembled violently. He said that he had already blessed the one who came earlier, and that person would indeed be blessed.

Esau cried out loudly and begged for a blessing as well. He said that Jacob had taken away his blessing. When Isaac did not take back the blessing he had given Jacob, Esau hated Jacob and resolved to kill him when the time of mourning for their father was near.

The Blessing Gained Through Deception Led to the Brothers’ Separation

When Rebekah was told what Esau had said, she called Jacob. She told him that Esau was planning to kill him and settle the matter in his heart. Then she told him to flee to her brother Laban in Haran until Esau’s anger subsided.

The passage does not simply record that Jacob received the blessing he wanted. In the process of receiving that blessing, Jacob said several times that he was Esau, and Isaac accepted those words as true. After that, Esau wept and burned with anger, and Jacob was left in the situation of having to leave to escape his brother.

Today’s task is to read Genesis 27 in full and write one sentence each about the place where Jacob spoke against the truth and the result that followed. If you record both the scene of the blessing and what happened between the brothers, you will not miss the chain of events shown in the passage.

Text Basis

• Genesis 27:1-10
• Genesis 27:11-29
• Genesis 27:30-40
• Genesis 27:41-46