A Daily Genesis

Genesis 27:26-29b

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[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 27:26-27 . .Then his father Isaac said to him: Come close and kiss me, my son. And he went up and kissed him. And he smelled his clothes and he blessed him, saying, Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of the fields that the Lord has blessed.[/B]

Esau probably always smelled like that and Rebecca took full advantage of it. He should have washed his clothes once in a while. Good grief the man had two wives. What the heck did they do all day? Neglect their chores to watch Oprah, Dr. Phil, Judge Judy, and the Soaps?

I bet if you visited Esau's home the kids were running around in dirty underwear and snotty noses all the time. You probably had to kick a path to walk and wouldn't dare sit down because something might stick. Poor Rebecca. What a pair of daughters-in-law. I bet when they all got together on holidays, Judith and Basemath sat around on their tushes and gossiped while Rebecca and Jacob did all the dishes.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 27:28 . . May God give you of the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth, abundance of new grain and wine.[/B]

The Hebrew word for the "fat" pertaining to Abel's offering is [I]cheleb[/I] (kheh' leb); or [I]cheleb[/I] (khay'-leb) which don't always indicate fleshly fat, but mostly mean the richest and/or the choicest parts.

The Hebrew word for the "fat" pertaining to Isaac's blessing is [I]mashman[/I] (mash-mawn') which, again, doesn't always indicate fleshly fat; but also richness; e.g. a rich dish, a fertile field, and or a robust man. In other words; Isaac's blessing is agricultural.

The benediction, first of all, regards things in nature necessary for prosperity in an agrarian economy-- rain, fertile soil, and abundant yields. Rain is an especially precious resource in the country of Israel where today it's confined to just one season a year lasting only three months. In the old days, they had two rainy seasons; the early rains and the latter rains.

City folk hate rain. It's so inconvenient. It gets their hair wet; they have to run the wipers; it floods their streets and storm drains, their gutters overflow from clogged downspouts, they can't wear flip-flops-- caring little that the foods available in the supermarkets and convenience stores are utterly dependent upon adequate rain. I think that some people actually think their foods are manufactured in sweat shops rather than grown in the dirt. They just can't make the connection.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 27:29a . . Let peoples serve you, And nations bow to you;[/B]

Jacob's progeny has exercised dominance over many nations in the past, most especially during Solomon's period. Today they're in a slump. But that benediction isn't dead yet; no, not by a long sea mile. In the future, Israel will be the seat of world power and the center for religious studies. You'd never know it to look at Jacob's condition today; but it's going to happen.
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[COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 27:29b . . Be master over your brothers, and let your mother's sons bow to you.[/B]

The magic words! --and the very ones I'm sure Rebecca was anxiously waiting to hear. His "mother's sons" right then only amounted to (in Isaac's mind) just one: Mr. Jacob. But Rebecca became a grandma and today her sons can't even be numbered. Every one of them are supposed to honor Jacob and bow in respect because he, along with Isaac and Abraham, is a member of the elite league of senior patriarchs.

The bestowal of the patriarchy upon Jacob was done with God as a witness, who has, so far, neither interfered nor intervened; nor has He seen fit to alert Isaac to Jacob's deception, nor said a single word about the whole fraudulent business.

In short, the Almighty God, of all people, is apparently condoning Jacob's funny business. It seems to me, that the only way to understand this situation is to conclude that, whatever may be wrong with the stratagem and deception of Jacob and Rebecca, the sin of Esau and Isaac was infinitely more grievous.

Yes, it's true that God doesn't usually condone lies; and I'm sure Jacob and his mom well knew it. They were spiritual people; both of them. But I really think that as bad as deception might be in God's sight, it had become a desperate necessity in this case to prevent a much worse sin: that of blasphemously presuming to impart the most holy of God's offices to a man who neither appreciated its depth, nor would honor it-- and to do so directly in the face of God's commandment against it.

Such an eventuality surely would have incurred God's most severe discipline upon both Isaac and Esau; and I am convinced that Rebecca felt she must prevent that occurrence at all costs, even if it meant alienating her husband and infuriating Esau to the point of seeking Jacob's death.

Isaac, because of the solemn nature of what he was doing, (conveying holy covenant promises and blessings to a son, who in turn would be responsible for their transmission and implementation in his own family) was no doubt under the influence of the power of God that day and was carried along in the scheme even though he half suspected the son in the room with him wasn't Esau. No. Jacob was getting that blessing, and there was nothing short of Heaven and Hell themselves that could prevent it.

The Almighty Himself, who had made His solemn covenant with Abraham, and renewed it with Isaac, certainly was present in that room during the whole affair. What would have happened if Esau was instead standing there that day we can only surmise.

But it seems highly probable that the consequences would have been tragic for both father and son. The Almighty God's holy promises and covenants are never to be dispensed as trifles, subject to the whim and preference of self centered mortals who are swayed to make important decisions simply upon the taste of their favorite foods.

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