Written by: Jamie Fyleman

Genesis 27 v 30-35
Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. He said, “Father, rise and eat the food that your son killed for you and then bless me.”
Isaac asked, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your son—your firstborn son—Esau.”
Then Isaac trembled greatly and said, “Then who was it that hunted the animals and brought me food before you came? I ate it, and I blessed him, and it is too late now to take back my blessing.”
When Esau heard the words of his father, he let out a loud and bitter cry. He said to his father, “Bless me—me, too, my father!”
But Isaac said, “Your brother came and tricked me. He has taken your blessing.”

Notes
Isaac had been tricked. Colluding together, Jacob and his mother Rebekah had managed to trick this ageing man to bestow his blessing on to Jacob, as opposed to his elder twin brother, Esau. 

It was always part of God’s plan for Jacob to be served by Esau. He had revealed that to Rebekah before her children were born. So if that was God’s plan and purpose, was the use of trickery and deception the right way of actually making it happen?

Of her two sons, Jacob had always been Rebekah’s favourite. She’d hung onto God’s words that the eldest would serve the youngest. At the earliest opportunity, she ensured it would happen. Deceit was employed, the consequences of which, as we’ll see later, were massive. 

God has a plan for each one of our lives. We know His way is higher than our way, our wisdom is His foolishness. We know His timing is perfect. Why then, like Rebekah and Jacob, do we so often want to push God along? We want to tell God how to do it! Rather than knock on doors, we can go in like a bulldozer, leaving rubble in our wake. 

It was undoubtedly God’s intention for Esau to serve Jacob. It was always going to happen. The mother and son would have been wiser to wait for God to bring it about in His timing. We can learn from their mistakes. 

Prayer
Thank you that you have a plan for each one of our lives. Thank you that your plans are perfect and very simply your ways are higher than our ways. Help us to be people who are patient and obedient. 

Genesis 27 v 36-38
Esau said, “Jacob is the right name for him. He has tricked me these two times. He took away my share of everything you own, and now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
Isaac answered, “I gave Jacob the power to be master over you, and all his brothers will be his servants. And I kept him strong with grain and new wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”
But Esau continued, “Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me, too, Father!” Then Esau began to cry out loud.

Notes
It’s interesting how reality becomes blurred over time. How easily our mistakes become the fault of others. 

Esau, understandably, was fuming. Jacob had tricked their father and received the blessing. Isaac believed he was speaking to Esau, Jacob’s brother. 

When the deception was uncovered, Esau fumed: “He has tricked me these two times. He took away my share of everything you own, and now he has taken away my blessing.” Tricked two times? Let’s rewind a little and look at what actually happened. 

Throughout his life, Jacob always had his eye on what laid ahead. He showed determination. Esau meanwhile lived for the moment, not concerned about the future. His life focused on present pleasures.

So the first “trick” Esau complained about was the time Jacob took his share of their father’s inheritance. Was it actually a trick? The answer is no. Genesis 25 tells us how Esau came back one day hungry and tired. Jacob meanwhile was cooking a rather tasty stew. Esau wanted some and agreed to sell Jacob his birthright (his claim on their father’s estate) in return for a portion. 

How easy it is to allow instant pleasure to rob us of much greater future gain. Esau proved the point. What’s more though, he also demonstrated how easy it is to blame others – without taking responsibility for our own actions. 

It was Esau’s lack of character that led to him selling his birthright, not any trickery. 

Prayer
Father, help us to pursue the things of you. May we be focused on your ways and not be distracted by those things that will hold us back. Help us also to take responsibility for our own mistakes and not seek to blame others. 

Genesis 27 v 39-41
Isaac said to him,
“You will live far away from the best land, far from the rain.
You will live by using your sword, and you will be a slave to your brother.
But when you struggle, you will break free from him.”
After that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing from Isaac. He thought to himself, “My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. Then I will kill Jacob.”

Notes
Esau had every right to be upset. His brother had robbed him of a powerful blessing and he was left with the remnants. 

How terrible it must have been to be told he would live far away from the best land, away from the rain, and would be a slave to his brother. Not surprisingly, bitterness set in. 

Esau began to hate Jacob – a powerful and destructive feeling. He decided that once his father died he would kill Jacob. This wasn’t a shallow threat. Esau was a skilled hunter and would have had little difficulty in taking his brother’s life. 

Esau had become consumed with hatred and, like a cancer, bitterness was taking control. First his mind, then his words, later his actions. Esau was bitter. 

It’s easy to become bitter. So often the initial feelings are based on genuine wrong and injustice – Esau’s certainly were. But the thing with bitterness is it takes over – it controls. It always hurts the bitter person more than the one on which it is focused. 

Bitterness can also easily affect every part of our lives – it’s like yeast working through the dough. It doesn’t just affect our attitude and actions towards one person, but actually everyone. It peppers our thoughts, our words and our actions. 

In Ephesians we’re told: “Do not be bitter or angry or cross. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ” (Ephesians 4 v 31-32).

The key to breaking the stranglehold that bitterness has over our lives is forgiveness. Simple and yet at times difficult – the effect of it, though, profound. 

Prayer
Lord, thank you that we have been forgiven by you and that you keep no record of wrongs. Where we ourselves have failed to forgive, help us. Where we have allowed bitterness to take control, help us to weed it out. Help us to be more like you. 

Genesis 27 v 42-45
Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. So she sent for Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you. So, my son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him at once! Stay with him for a while, until your brother is not so angry. In time, your brother will not be angry, and he will forget what you did to him. Then I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons on the same day.”

Notes
Sowing and reaping is a natural and biblical principle. Having sown division and deceit, through encouraging and helping Jacob fool Isaac, Rebekah began to reap her harvest. 

With bitterness swelling inside him, Esau planned to kill Jacob. In an attempt to save her beloved son, Rebekah made plans to send Jacob to the safety of her family – telling him she didn’t want to lose both her sons on the same day. 

The sad fact for Rebekah, though, was she did lose her two sons. She was forced to send Jacob to her brother in Laban, never to see him again. Esau meanwhile remained consumed with bitterness. Rebekah’s family was divided and it was her action that led to the problem. The principle of sowing and reaping was at work. Rebekah was reaping division. 

Galatians 6 v 7-8 says this: “People harvest only what they plant. If they plant to satisfy their sinful selves, their sinful selves will bring them ruin. But if they plant to please the Spirit, they will receive eternal life from the Spirit.”

What do you want to reap in your life? Honesty or dishonesty? Unity or division? Love or hate? Generosity or stinginess? A man reaps what he sows. 

Prayer
Help us to sow the things of you. We want to be people after your own heart – sowing to please the Spirit, not our sinful nature. Help us to be generous with our time and resources – building your kingdom. 

Genesis 27 v 46 – 28 v 5
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of these Hittite women here in this land, I want to die.”
Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman. Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, in North West Mesopotamia. Laban, your mother’s brother, lives there. Marry one of his daughters. May God Almighty bless you and give you many children, and may you become a group of many peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham so that you may own the land where you are now living as a stranger, the land God gave to Abraham.” So Isaac sent Jacob to North West Mesopotamia, to Laban the brother of Rebekah. Bethuel the Aramean was the father of Laban and Rebekah, and Rebekah was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Notes
Rebekah’s scheming continued … again with Isaac an unwitting accomplice. To make it possible for Jacob to escape, she persuaded her husband to send him to her family home – on the pretext of finding a wife. 

As he prepared to leave, Isaac again spoke a blessing over his son. He asked that God would bless him and make him fruitful – that he would take possession of the land where he would be living as a foreigner. 

Isaac had every confidence that his words weren’t just “nice sounding” but would actually come to pass. His family had the same expectation. In our modern culture, we may not comprehend the true power of blessing, but we should understand the power of words. 

We’ve all heard the playground chant: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” It’s a well known phrase but one that is based on a mistruth. 

Names can hurt – because words are powerful. Words have the ability to build up, encourage, challenge and express love. They can inspire, demonstrate regret and bring reconciliation. 

Words, though, can also tear down, discourage, express hatred, show contempt. They have the power to leave behind damaged lives. 

Proverbs 12 v 8 says: “Careless words stab like a sword, but wise words bring healing.” How do you want to use your words: to pierce like a sword or to bring healing? 

Prayer
Thank you for the ability to speak and express ourselves through words. Help us, though, to take control of our mouths – to speak words that are pleasing to your ear, words that express your heart and that don’t pull others down. 

Genesis 28 v 6-9
Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to North West Mesopotamia to find a wife there. He also learned that Isaac had commanded Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to North West Mesopotamia. So Esau saw that his father Isaac did not want his sons to marry Canaanite women. Now Esau already had wives, but he went to Ishmael son of Abraham, and he married Mahalath, Ishmael’s daughter. Mahalath was the sister of Nebaioth.

Notes
Earlier we studied how bitterness had started to control Esau - first his thoughts and words, then his actions. 

Esau was fuming. Not only was he angry with his brother and mother, but also seemingly his father. He began to find ways of hurting his parents. Rebellion had set in. Despite already having a number of wives, Esau decided to do exactly what his parents had asked Jacob not to do: marry a Canaanite woman.

It’s so easy to stand in judgement of Esau, and yet his crime was something we’re all guilty of: rebellion. Let’s then stand in humility and try to learn from Esau’s mistakes.

There is no doubt Esau was a gifted man. In Genesis 25 v 27, he’s described as a “skilled hunter”. But gifting is not enough and is only truly effective in a person of noble character. The ease with which Esau sold his birthright, his anger, bitterness, threats of violence and his acts of rebellion are all the fruit of poor character. 

We find no evidence that Esau looked to address his character issues. They went unchecked and so time and time again they got him into trouble. Rebekah took his threats of murdering Jacob very seriously. Why? Because she knew he was capable of it. 

If we are to use our gifting to its full potential we need to look at and develop our character. We need to work and address our weaknesses – because if we don’t, they will confront us. 

Prayer
Father, help us to be people of good character. We want to reflect you in our words and in our actions. Help us to understand that character is more important than gifting. Show us the areas in which we are weak – and help us to make them strong. 

Genesis 28 v 10-12
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he came to a place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. He found a stone and laid his head on it to go to sleep. Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder resting on the earth and reaching up into heaven, and he saw angels of God going up and coming down the ladder. 

Notes
Go into any department store and you’ll be able to choose from a whole array of pillows: hollowfibre, clusterfibre, highfibre, foam, down and feather. As Jacob fled, he had no such comforts – his pillow for a night, a stone; his mattress, the ground. 

Forced to flee and in an unfamiliar area, Jacob found himself in a hard place in more ways than one. He was away from those who he knew most. There were no home comforts. 

It’s in this place, though, that Jacob had an awesome encounter with God. He had a vision of heaven, and God Himself spoke some promises over his life. Any fear and apprehension Jacob was feeling must have been just blown away. Jacob named the place Bethel (meaning house of God). 

It’s important that we find places where we meet with God. For many of us, one of these places will be the house of God – in other words, our church. But we also need to encounter God in the privacy of our lives, away from other people. 

Jacob had this meeting with God in a place of unfamiliarity. He was away from his normal surroundings and in a difficult period of his life. In my own life, it’s often been at the difficult and hard times in my life where God has spoken to me most clearly. Perhaps in the familiarity and comfort of our normal surroundings we feel less inclined to listen to God.

Prayer
Father, thank you that you welcome us into your presence. Thank you that you delight in us and love to spend time with us. Help us to prioritise you in our lives - in both the familiar and the unfamiliar. May we find you in both the easy and hard times in our lives. 


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes