Genesis 27 contains details of the blessings bestowed on Jacob and Esau. The Hebrew word for "blessing" is "bārak." In the context of how the word will be used in this post, it means to speak words invoking divine favor. Isaac prayed a prayer over Jacob that God would give him Heaven's dew, Earth's richness, and an abundance of grain and new wine. Isaac also prayed that nations would serve Jacob and people would bow down to him. He prayed that those who cursed Jacob would be cursed and those who blessed Jacob would be blessed.
Isaac had intended the blessing for Jacob's brother, Esau, but Jacob and his mother, Rebekah, deceived Isaac, using his poor eyesight against him, making him think that Jacob was actually Esau. By the time Esau arrived, it was too late. The blessing had already been bestowed on Jacob. Therefore, Isaac's "blessing" on Esau could hardly be called a blessing at all. Isaac said that Esau's dwelling would be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of Heaven above. Esau would live by the sword and serve his brother Jacob. But Isaac did say that when Esau grew restless, he would throw Jacob's yoke from off his neck.
Esau accused Jacob of stealing his birthright the same way he had just stolen his blessing. Technically, Esau was not 100% accurate in that statement. Jacob did not hold a gun to Esau's head and force him to give over his birthright, and that's not just because guns weren't invented yet. The point is Esau was not forced to do anything. He gave up his birthright for the temporary satisfaction of one meal because he was "starving." So Jacob didn't steal the birthright from Esau. Jacob may have had a part to play in it, coming up with the deal that Esau foolishly and short-sightedly accepted, but no one forced Esau to do what he did.
There is something that I have found a bit confusing. I have been under the impression that the birthright and the blessing Esau was talking about were the same things. But as I was preparing for this study, I saw Esau distinguish between the two. "He has taken my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing! That would lead one to think that they were different. Esau was godless because he sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son for a single meal. He wanted to inherit the blessing afterward, but he was rejected even though he sought the blessing with tears. When Esau sold his birthright, he just got up and left after the meal. There is no record of remorse. But he wept aloud when his blessing was taken. Sometimes it seems like the birthright and the blessing are the same, and other times they sound different. So I had to dig a little deeper before I could continue writing this. And here is what I discovered: The matter of the birthright is not in dispute here. It had been resolved long before Genesis 27. What we're witnessing here is about the blessing--in this case, about the division of wealth--not a decision about who is the firstborn. But what Isaac tries to do is play a game of semantics. He is not technically trying to change who has the title of the firstborn. He is just trying to take much of what goes along with being the firstborn away from Jacob and give it to Esau via the blessing. "Sure, give Jacob the official birthright, but let Esau have all the benefits and responsibilities that go along with having it." Isaac's intention here is an end-run around Jacob to get things how Isaac and Esau wanted them to be. But Rebekah and Jacob were one step ahead of Isaac and Esau, so they tricked Isaac into blessing Jacob instead of Esau.
God promised to make Abraham into a great nation, blessing Abraham and making his name great so that he could be a blessing. God then told Abraham he would bless those who blessed him and cursed those who cursed him, and all peoples on Earth would be blessed through Abraham. Later, God blessed Sarah, giving Abraham his promised son by her so that she would be the mother of nations and kings of peoples would come from her. Even Ishmael, the product of Abraham and Sarah's attempt to accomplish in their own way and time what God had promised with the help of Sarah's slave Hagar, was blessed and made fruitful so that he significantly increased his numbers. Ishmael became the father of 12 rulers and was made into a great nation. God's ultimate plan to bless Abraham and make his descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore, making it to where they could take possession of the cities of their enemies, would not be thwarted. And as we saw in my last podcast, God promised to be with and bless Isaac, giving him all the lands and confirming the oath God swore to Abraham.
From the examples we have seen so far, we see that the primary blesser is God himself. But we have also seen in this study that the head of a family can invoke divine blessings. God can bless anyone, and so can we, but not everyone is blessed. Blessings are good, but the ability to bless can be limited based on a previous blessing, as we have seen in this example with Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. Blessings for large families, exaltation, honor, glory, wealth, power, status, success, victory, and land can all be conferred upon the one being blessed. But the most important thing to remember is that God is the source of blessing, based on the operation of his supreme power and authority. Going all the way back to the beginning, we see God blessing all the different living creatures he created, enabling them to be fruitful and increase in number. And as I have already said, God is the source of the blessing, but people can also confer blessings upon others. That is why words are so important. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. The tongue has the power of life and death. Like Deuteronomy 30, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment