Genesis 27:32
But his father Isaac replied, "Who are you?" "I am Esau, your firstborn son," he answered.
Sermons
Isaac's Blessing -- the Parent's WarningE. Harper, B. A.














Isaac, like his father, has his time of sojourn among the Philistines. The events of his intercourse with the Abimelech of his day resemble those of the former patriarch, though there are differences which show that the recurrence is historical.

I. GOD REPEATS HIS LESSONS that they may make the deeper impression. The intention of the record is to preserve a certain line of Divine guidance. Isaac trod in the footsteps of Abraham. We have Isaac's wells, oaths, feast, Shebah - all following close upon those of the preceding generation.

II. The SAME PRESERVATION OF THE COVENANT RACE in the midst of heathens confirms that covenant. The same lesson of special providential protection and blessing is thus repeated and enforced. Again the same contrast of man's infirmity with God's unchangeableness. The perversity of the fleshly-minded man forming a marriage connection with heathen people, and bringing grief of mind to his parents, reveals the distinctness of the world from the kingdom of God. - R.

God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine.
I. WITH TEMPORAL BLESSINGS.

1. A fertile soil.

2. Abundance of provision.

3. Political pre-eminence.

II. WITH SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.

1. The channel of spiritual blessing to mankind.

2. A test of character.

(T. H. Leale.)

I. First, we shall consider WHEREIN ISAAC'S BLESSING CONSISTED.

1. Plenty, heaven and earth combining to enrich the happy possessor.

2. Power, almost unlimited, especially over his own brethren.

3. And last, though not the least, a mighty influence with God and a great interest in the courts of heaven. "Cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." Or, in other words, "Let God be an enemy to all thy enemies, and a friend to all thy friends."

4. Now these, doubtless, were very desirable mercies, and they belonged, by right, to the first-born; though God was pleased sometimes to revoke that taw, and to transfer these blessings from the elder to the younger, as instanced in the case before us, and also in that of Cain and of Reuben. These, I say, were very desirable mercies, and, when accompanied with the Divine sanction, of untold value. But still, after all, they were but temporary. They lasted only for this life; and Jacob, I doubt not, might have managed very well without any one of them. The blessing of Isaac, therefore, must have comprised something more than what we have here recorded; otherwise we may be well assured that Jacob would never have risked so much to obtain it, nor would his mother ever have placed him in so hazardous and perilous a situation. But the fact is, these temporal blessings were but the "shadows of better things to come." They were, to use an apostolic phrase, "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." They included all those good things which were more particularly specified to Abraham when God entered into covenant with him. They intimated, for instance, in the first place, that from him should descend the Messiah — He who was to be the "Prince of the kings of the earth... before whom all nations should come and worship... and who was to rule them with a rod of iron, and to break them to shivers as a potter's vessel." And, in the second place, that from him also should come the church that was to be specially owned and blessed by God; and consequently we find Isaac, when afterwards confirming the blessing to Jacob, calling it the "blessing of Abraham."

II. What were THE MEANS THAT REBEKAH ADOPTED to secure the blessing for her favourite son Jacob. They were little else than a tissue of lies and deceit.

III. Let us now see what LESSONS we may gather up from a contemplation of the whole subject.

1. In the first place, then, it reads a very solemn and affecting warning to parents. It teaches the folly and danger of making invidious distinctions between the different members of your families — of showing an undue partiality for one child more than another. It is a withering curse. It introduces discord and dissension into every family wherever it finds a footing, and it is the fruitful source of all evil, social and moral. Whenever, therefore, you feel its chilling influence beginning to steal over you, oh, remember Rebekah, and in the name and strength of your God shake it from you. Give it no encouragement; or, if you must, keep it to yourself. Let no one else ever see or feel it. In the second place, learn from this subject the way in which our Heavenly Father will have us to seek for His blessing. We must come to Him for it in and through our Elder Brother. We must come clothed in His "goodly raiment," even that pure and spotless robe which He wrought for us on Calvary. There is no other way under heaven whereby we can be saved. And if you ask me by what means we are to get this goodly raiment — this pure and spotless righteousness, I answer, simply by asking for it. "Ask," says your God and Saviour, "and you shall have." And although it cost Him a great price — even His own precious blood — yet He offers it to you without money and without price. Oh, go to Him, then, and ask Him for this precious gift; for "the gift of God is eternal life."

(E. Harper, B. A.)

1. That parents ought to bless their children; too many do curse, and not bless them.

2. Children ought to fear the causeful curses of their parents. The better son feared the curse of his father (ver. 12).

3. Parents ought rather to gather a stock of Divine promises, that they may bless their children more out of faith than out of form, praying for them out of a promise, as Isaac did then for his son Jacob, praying that the blessing of Abraham might come upon him (Genesis 28:4).

4. A wishing our children's weal customarily without a praying for them believingly, is neither enough for parents, nor is it all (or at all) that is warranted by Isaac's blessing Jacob here. There is much difference between a formal wish and a faithful prayer for their good.

5. Spiritual blessings must be sought and sued for in their proper season. Here Esau came too late for the blessing, which was bestowed before he lost the right season (which is a part of time above all other parts, even the shine and lustre of time), so could not obtain it, no, not with tears (Hebrews 12:16-17).

(C. Ness.)

People
Esau, Haran, Heth, Isaac, Jacob, Laban, Rebekah
Places
Beersheba, Haran
Topics
Esau, Firstborn, First-born, Isaac, Oldest
Outline
1. Isaac sends Esau for venison.
6. Rebekah instructs Jacob to obtain the blessing.
14. Jacob, feigning to be Esau, obtains it.
30. Esau brings venison.
33. Isaac trembles.
34. Esau complains, and by importunity obtains a blessing.
41. He threatens Jacob's life.
42. Rebekah disappoints him, by sending Jacob away.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Genesis 27:32

     5704   inheritance, material

Genesis 27:30-39

     5688   firstborn

Library
There is a Great Question About Lying, which Often Arises in the Midst Of...
1. There is a great question about Lying, which often arises in the midst of our every day business, and gives us much trouble, that we may not either rashly call that a lie which is not such, or decide that it is sometimes right to tell a lie, that is, a kind of honest, well-meant, charitable lie. This question we will painfully discuss by seeking with them that seek: whether to any good purpose, we need not take upon ourselves to affirm, for the attentive reader will sufficiently gather from the
St. Augustine—On Lying

Epistle Lii. To Natalis, Bishop .
To Natalis, Bishop [1463] . Gregory to Natalis, Bishop of Salona. As though forgetting the tenour of former letters, I had determined to say nothing to your Blessedness but what should savour of sweetness: but, now that in your epistle you have recurred in the way of argumentation to preceding letters, I am once more compelled to say perhaps some things that I had rather not have said. For in defence of feasts your Fraternity mentions the feast of Abraham, in which by the testimony of Holy Scripture
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Blessing of Jacob Upon Judah. (Gen. Xlix. 8-10. )
Ver. 8. "Judah, thou, thy brethren shall praise thee; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; before thee shall bow down the sons of thy father. Ver. 9. A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey, my son, thou goest up; he stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion, and as a full-grown lion, who shall rouse him up? Ver. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto Him the people shall adhere." Thus does dying Jacob, in announcing
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Letter xxxv. From Pope Damasus.
Damasus addresses five questions to Jerome with a request for information concerning them. They are: 1. What is the meaning of the words "Whosoever slayeth Cain vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold"? (Gen. iv. 5.) 2. If God has made all things good, how comes it that He gives charge to Noah concerning unclean animals, and says to Peter, "What God hath cleansed that call not thou common"? (Acts x. 15.) 3. How is Gen. xv. 16, "in the fourth generation they shall come hither again," to be reconciled
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

Touching Jacob, However, that which He did at his Mother's Bidding...
24. Touching Jacob, however, that which he did at his mother's bidding, so as to seem to deceive his father, if with diligence and in faith it be attended to, is no lie, but a mystery. The which if we shall call lies, all parables also, and figures designed for the signifying of any things soever, which are not to be taken according to their proper meaning, but in them is one thing to be understood from another, shall be said to be lies: which be far from us altogether. For he who thinks this, may
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Conflict.
"Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against themselves, that ye
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

First Withdrawal from Herod's Territory and Return.
(Spring, a.d. 29.) Subdivision C. The Twelve Try to Row Back. Jesus Walks Upon the Water. ^A Matt. XIV. 22-36; ^B Mark VI. 45-56; ^D John VI. 15-21. ^d 15 Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone. [Jesus had descended to the plain to feed the multitude, but, perceiving this mistaken desire of the people, he frustrated it by dismissing his disciples and retiring by himself into the mountain.] ^a
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Genesis
The Old Testament opens very impressively. In measured and dignified language it introduces the story of Israel's origin and settlement upon the land of Canaan (Gen.--Josh.) by the story of creation, i.-ii. 4a, and thus suggests, at the very beginning, the far-reaching purpose and the world-wide significance of the people and religion of Israel. The narrative has not travelled far till it becomes apparent that its dominant interests are to be religious and moral; for, after a pictorial sketch of
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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