Blessing (Genesis 27)
I run into a problem when I get to Jacob’s story. In Creation, in Adam, in Noah, and in Abraham, it is apparent what is happening. God has made everything; God is sovereign. Mankind rebelled against God’s rule and marred the good blessings God had prepared; but God had a plan to rescue things. God’s holiness could not abide the violence and evil filling creation and hit a near complete reset. God chose a man to be His and through whose line He would save all mankind.
But with Jacob, I have a hang-up. I still think the through-line is clear, but I have to first weed-out a lot of misunderstanding and bad teaching that has clouded my thinking specifically in this section. It isn’t anything that I was ever directly or specifically taught. I think it just permeated the church tradition in which I grew up. No matter how hard we try to avoid it, I think Pharisaical thinking threatens to rear its head over time. We really have to be on guard against it.
Bad thinking tells me Jacob somehow earned or stole God’s favor. Esau rashly sold him the birthright. Jacob and Rebekah stole God’s blessing by deceiving Isaac. Esau squandered what God could have done. All of that falls apart when we remember 25:23. God said from the very start that He had chosen Jacob, not Esau.
What we see in Genesis 27 is a pretty terrible family. This is God’s chosen family, on the way to being God’s nation, and they are majorly screwed up. Isaac and Rebekah show blatant favoritism. Rebekah actively tries to thwart Isaac’s plans and cheat her own son. Isaac refuses to truly bless both of his sons, declaring that he only has one blessing in him, then goes on to bless Jacob twice! It is shocking stuff, but also encouraging when we realize that it is all a part of God executing his plan to save sinful humanity, right in the midst of said sinful humanity.
God alone blesses. To be sure, parents can be a blessing (from God) to their children. People can be a blessing to each other. But God is the source of all good, all blessing. And what we have in the Biblical record is the story of God blessing all of creation by orchestrating history to lead up to the moment where He sends His Son to be the ultimate blessing to all who will turn to Him.
And, as Jacob’s story continues, we see how God’s blessing blesses and changes Jacob.
But with Jacob, I have a hang-up. I still think the through-line is clear, but I have to first weed-out a lot of misunderstanding and bad teaching that has clouded my thinking specifically in this section. It isn’t anything that I was ever directly or specifically taught. I think it just permeated the church tradition in which I grew up. No matter how hard we try to avoid it, I think Pharisaical thinking threatens to rear its head over time. We really have to be on guard against it.
Bad thinking tells me Jacob somehow earned or stole God’s favor. Esau rashly sold him the birthright. Jacob and Rebekah stole God’s blessing by deceiving Isaac. Esau squandered what God could have done. All of that falls apart when we remember 25:23. God said from the very start that He had chosen Jacob, not Esau.
What we see in Genesis 27 is a pretty terrible family. This is God’s chosen family, on the way to being God’s nation, and they are majorly screwed up. Isaac and Rebekah show blatant favoritism. Rebekah actively tries to thwart Isaac’s plans and cheat her own son. Isaac refuses to truly bless both of his sons, declaring that he only has one blessing in him, then goes on to bless Jacob twice! It is shocking stuff, but also encouraging when we realize that it is all a part of God executing his plan to save sinful humanity, right in the midst of said sinful humanity.
God alone blesses. To be sure, parents can be a blessing (from God) to their children. People can be a blessing to each other. But God is the source of all good, all blessing. And what we have in the Biblical record is the story of God blessing all of creation by orchestrating history to lead up to the moment where He sends His Son to be the ultimate blessing to all who will turn to Him.
And, as Jacob’s story continues, we see how God’s blessing blesses and changes Jacob.
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