Jacob doesn't mind deceiving his father, but he's afraid of getting caught. We concluded our study yesterday with Jacob telling Rebekah that his father would curse him instead of blessing him if he realizes he's being deceived. "His mother said to him, 'My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.'" (Genesis 27:13) "Them" is the two young goats she's going to pass off as wild game hunted by Esau.
"So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made." (Genesis 27:14-17) Esau is an extremely hairy man, so hairy that if the blind Isaac touches the goat skins on Jacob he will think he's touching Esau.
"He went to his father and said, 'My father.' 'Yes, my son,' he answered. 'Who is it?' Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.'" (Genesis 27:18-19) It's not necessary for Jacob to add "your firstborn" when he claims to be Esau. Isaac knows Esau is his firstborn. But I think Jacob adds that detail to keep his father's mind on what (to Jacob) is the main event of this day, which is bestowing the blessing of the firstborn.
It would have taken some time for Jacob and Rebekah to get everything ready to pull off this ruse, but not as long as it would normally take Esau to hunt and kill wild game, field dress it, bring it home, and cook it. But they didn't dare drag out the process very long for fear Esau would find game too quickly and return before Jacob obtained the blessing. This little detail of the timing almost trips Rebekah and Jacob up. Isaac is suspicious about how swiftly food was brought to him. "Isaac asked his son, 'How did you find it so quickly, my son?' 'The Lord your God gave me success,' he replied." (Genesis 27:20) I cringe a little when I hear Jacob lying about the Lord. But what's really interesting to me is that he doesn't say, "My Lord gave me success," or, "My God gave me success." Instead he says, "The Lord your God gave me success." Jacob doesn't claim God as his own at this point in time. He believes in God, and something in his heart yearns to know God well enough to become the spiritual leader of his family, but he doesn't yet have a personal relationship with God. He's still depending on himself to get things done, but God is going to work on that. Jacob isn't always going to be the way we see him here in Chapter 27. Aren't we thankful the Lord keeps working on us? He sees who we can be. He doesn't see who we are right now and give up on us. Instead He works toward helping us fulfill our spiritual potential. He isn't put off by who Jacob is in Chapter 27 because He sees who Jacob can be.
Isaac isn't placated by his son's statement that the Lord gave him immediate success while hunting game. Something doesn't feel right. He isn't sure this is Esau. "Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.'" (Genesis 27:21) Does Isaac suspect that his son Jacob has it in him to be a deceiver? Maybe. We know Jacob and Esau are at least forty years old by now. (Genesis 26:34) Isaac has had plenty of time to observe the character of his sons. However, I'm not sure how much discernment Isaac has when it comes to judging character. He intends to make Esau his heir even though the Lord said Jacob would be the leader of the family. Isaac either doesn't recognize Esau's inability to carry out the duties of family leader or else he is blinded to Esau's faults because Esau is his favorite child. If it's true that he's turned a blind eye all these years toward Esau's shortcomings, then it's ironic that he's now literally blind, for it's that very blindness that allows him to make his less-favorite son his heir.
I am not sure if Isaac is aware of Jacob's willingness to deceive or whether, since he is blind and is becoming old and feeble, he simply fears being taken advantage of by others. On top of that, something doesn't sound right to him about the voice he's listening to. It sounds like Jacob's voice and not Esau's. "Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 'Are you really my son Esau?' he asked. 'I am,' he replied." (Genesis 27:22-24) Isaac is confused and frustrated. He feels very uncomfortable with the situation. On the surface, everything seems right. The food smells like the food he asked Esau to get for him. The voice speaking to him claims to be Esau. The person claiming to be Esau has hairy hands. The person claiming to be Esau is wearing Esau's robes. But the voice sounds like Jacob, so Isaac asks one more time if this is really Esau. This time he accepts the answer, maybe because he thinks to himself, "My hearing is going now too, as well as my sight."
The lack of respect Jacob shows his father is sad, but his father's extreme favoritism toward Esau is sad too. There is dysfunction in this family. Was it Isaac's obvious preference for Esau that caused Rebekah to love Jacob more than her other son? Did she see the lack of attention and affection directed toward Jacob and decide to make up for it by lavishing him with love and by promising him he was chosen by God to be the heir and family leader? On the one hand we can see why Isaac might have had to show more attention to Esau in order to groom him to take over the estate someday, but that's no excuse for not loving his sons equally. On the one hand we can understand Rebekah focusing more on Jacob since the Lord told her personally that Jacob would have the preeminence over his brother, but that's no excuse for not loving her sons equally. In any family the children are going to have different personalities and different talents. Some personality traits may be more pleasant than others. Some talents and skills may seem more likely to make the child successful in their career later on. Some children are easy to raise and some are more difficult to raise. But most parents love all their children equally and are as willing to work hard and sacrifice and even die for any of their children if necessary. In families where the love is not equal, there is going to be dysfunction. There is going to be resentment. There is going to be disrespect and deception. And that's what we see in the family we're studying in the Bible right now.
We can't place all of the blame on Jacob for what's happening here. He's somewhat a product of his upbringing. That doesn't excuse his sin of lying, but it helps us to understand where he's coming from. I don't think the Lord glosses over his sin, for Jacob himself will be deceived in a similar manner later on so that he will understand how terrible it is to deceive and so that he will learn the lesson not to do it again, but the Lord certainly extends mercy to him even though in Genesis 27 he's quite the liar. Jacob will reap what he sows but the Lord is not going to change His mind about which of Isaac's sons He has chosen to lead the family and to become the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. God understands where we're coming from and He understands why we do the things we do. Although He doesn't excuse our sin, and although we might have to learn some hard lessons from our mistakes, He offers mercy and forgiveness to us. Just as He did with Jacob, He keeps working on us if we'll let Him.
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