Genesis 27 Today

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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Genesis 27:1-46 -
Jacob Steals Esau's Blessing
1When Isaac was old and almost blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, "My son?" "Yes, Father?" Esau replied.
2"I am an old man now," Isaac said, "and I expect every day to be my last. 3Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game for me. 4Prepare it just the way I like it so it's savory and good, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die."
5But Rebekah overheard the conversation. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game, 6she said to her son Jacob, "I overheard your father asking Esau 7to prepare him a delicious meal of wild game. He wants to bless Esau in the LORD's presence before he dies. 8Now, my son, do exactly as I tell you. 9Go out to the flocks and bring me two fine young goats. I'll prepare your father's favorite dish from them. 10Take the food to your father; then he can eat it and bless you instead of Esau before he dies."
11"But Mother!" Jacob replied. "He won't be fooled that easily. Think how hairy Esau is and how smooth my skin is! 12What if my father touches me? He'll see that I'm trying to trick him, and then he'll curse me instead of blessing me."
13"Let the curse fall on me, dear son," said Rebekah. "Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats."
14So Jacob followed his mother's instructions, bringing her the two goats. She took them and cooked a delicious meat dish, just the way Isaac liked it. 15Then she took Esau's best clothes, which were there in the house, and dressed Jacob with them. 16She made him a pair of gloves from the hairy skin of the young goats, and she fastened a strip of the goat's skin around his neck. 17Then she gave him the meat dish, with its rich aroma, and some freshly baked bread. 18Jacob carried the platter of food to his father and said, "My father?" "Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it—Esau or Jacob?"
19Jacob replied, "It's Esau, your older son. I've done as you told me. Here is the wild game, cooked the way you like it. Sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing."
20Isaac asked, "How were you able to find it so quickly, my son?" "Because the LORD your God put it in my path!" Jacob replied.
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come over here. I want to touch you to make sure you really are Esau." 22So Jacob went over to his father, and Isaac touched him. "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's," Isaac said to himself. 23But he did not recognize Jacob because Jacob's hands felt hairy just like Esau's. So Isaac pronounced his blessing on Jacob. 24"Are you really my son Esau?" he asked. "Yes, of course," Jacob replied.
25Then Isaac said, "Now, my son, bring me the meat. I will eat it, and then I will give you my blessing." So Jacob took the food over to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the wine that Jacob served him. Then Isaac said, 26"Come here and kiss me, my son."
27So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said, "The smell of my son is the good smell of the open fields that the LORD has blessed. 28May God always give you plenty of dew for healthy crops and good harvests of grain and wine. 29May many nations become your servants. May you be the master of your brothers. May all your mother's sons bow low before you. All who curse you are cursed, and all who bless you are blessed."
30As soon as Isaac had blessed Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunting trip. 31Esau prepared his father's favorite meat dish and brought it to him. Then he said, "I'm back, Father, and I have the wild game. Sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing."
32But Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "Why, it's me, of course!" he replied. "It's Esau, your older son."
33Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, "Then who was it that just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him with an irrevocable blessing before you came."
34When Esau understood, he let out a loud and bitter cry. "O my father, bless me, too!" he begged.
35But Isaac said, "Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has carried away your blessing."
36Esau said bitterly, "No wonder his name is Jacob, F83 for he has deceived me twice, first taking my birthright and now stealing my blessing. Oh, haven't you saved even one blessing for me?"
37Isaac said to Esau, "I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine—what is there left to give?"
38Esau pleaded, "Not one blessing left for me? O my father, bless me, too!" Then Esau broke down and wept.
39His father, Isaac, said to him, "You will live off the land and what it yields, 40and you will live by your sword. You will serve your brother for a time, but then you will shake loose from him and be free."
Jacob Flees to Paddan-Aram
41Esau hated Jacob because he had stolen his blessing, and he said to himself, "My father will soon be dead and gone. Then I will kill Jacob."
42But someone got wind of what Esau was planning and reported it to Rebekah. She sent for Jacob and told him, "Esau is threatening to kill you. 43This is what you should do. Flee to your uncle Laban in Haran. 44Stay there with him until your brother's fury is spent. 45When he forgets what you have done, I will send for you. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I'm sick and tired of these local Hittite women. I'd rather die than see Jacob marry one of them."
FOOTNOTES:F83: Jacob means "he grasps the heel"; this can also figuratively mean "he deceives."
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

~ Lena’s Journalin’
The root of Esau’s name is: accomplishments, performance, attendance to, laborers, commitment to. It’s what is acquired and passed on. Pressed and squeezed, worked, maintained, established…yielded.
Esau meant “hairy”, which for some reason denotes strength and vigor, possibly has something to do with being under a covering. Submission brings the power of God and thus the covering and strength of God on situations. Esau become Edom when he was “betrayed”, Edom means “red” which refers to earth’s color, the color of dirt, a symbol of the temporary world, in which the natural man is one with, in comparison to the spiritually alive man being one with the plans of God for the earth, a man who’s been born again, redeemed by supernatural blood and who’s citizenship has been changed unto a heavenly kingdom while yet still on earth.
It seems Esau had a spiritual eternal destiny set by God and also set by his natural father, when he was “betrayed” or gave up his right, he relinquished that eternally natured destiny and became as any natural man would. His destiny was merely earth centered, temporary centered. His purposes would be more focused in the earth realm and the working of earth things rather than heavenly matters worked out on earth.
Esau’s destiny was set on a heavenly call for the working of the kingdom of God on earth, as every human being is also called. Choices deem the outcome of this destiny. The destiny is set by God, an offer of sorts, we can take it or leave it, it is always, and always will be, up to us. Anyone can have it, anyone who will take it.
matthew 11:12And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize--a ‡4 share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied up until John.14And if you are willing to receive and accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come [before the kingdom]. 15He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider and ‡5 perceive and comprehend by hearing.
To force means to actively obtain, to take it over on purpose, knowing clear well with thought out plan and strategies, as in warfare. An assembled force. One who seizes.
So, anyone at all can have it, if they want it. Let’s just say the offer stood for both Jacob & Esau. Yes the motivations and actions were not up to par. We can see here how Jacob got his deceptive nature. But look who obtained the inheritance.
We have an inheritance to obtain, eternal life for ourselves and for as many others as we can influence in a lifetime. Jesus said- such (who do evil and live for evil) will not inherit the kingdom of God, The kingdom of God IS our inheritance!
There are forces of evil, in the evil realm, who are relentless until they obtain their “prizes”, right? Have you ever seen someone after an addiction? They’ll do anything at any cost, even to the loss of life, even towards great debt, etc to get their fix. It is so sad and of course the perverted extreme, but they are driven with passion for something they HAVE to obtain and they go after it, till they get it. How many of us behave this way about the call of God on all of the peoples of the earth?
Ok, say Esau is me also Jacob is also me. I was told directly by God that my inheritance was now available to me. Or I overheard or was told by someone else that my inheritance was now available for the taking. Both were given the same request, just through different avenues. One directly, the other indirectly The deal?. Get what the father wants, go do what it takes to feed the father, to do what he wants. One is destined, it is his destiny to have the inheritance, he is the heir. He knows he’s the heir, he’s not in any rush, why would he be? He wants to do it just right, just so, like he’s always done in the past. His father knows how he contributes to the family. He deems to make sure he has every detail correct and in correct earthly order, that what he presents his father, whenever he gets there, will be acceptable – in his surmise of the task at hand. He is who he is, he doesn’t need to change, because his father loves him as he is and that’s good. He’ll get what is due any good son.
The only “problem” with this thinking is the time has changed, there are others who heard the plan, who heard the destiny and they can have what’s mine if they want it also. They can change into another man and get it, they have a sense of urgency and they go after it with vigor. Time is of the essence with them. They are more passionate for them, it is as if it is the first time for them, in fact it may very well be for them, a first time, but there’s no time like the present to get what may be coming, what’s available. They go for it as though it is now, now is the time.
They go after the same things, they have to prepare the same meal and plus add in that the element of change, that should have taken them longer to get there ahead of their brethren, BUT they get there in time and the blessings are given, to them. They took the task more seriously than the ones who thought they had it coming to them as a son. The sons did not see enough to think anyone would move in on the situation, while they were thinking about it casually, someone else moved in and took over what was the other’s true destiny to have. This was not even motivated and acted upon by a direct word, from God, but from a passed along word of another who heard the sound of the father‘s voice, an over hearer acted on the words of the father! Someone who overheard!
How many words of God do you act on that others have heard? Or do you wait to hear that word for yourself, your own personal word, before you act? If so, you may someday arrive in your place, a place destined by the father for you to be in, but another may have already taken what was meant for you to have.
Don’t hate the brother who took your place. He was willing to change, he was willing to act quickly, urgently at the overheard word of the father.

Daily Repetitive Verses:

Isaiah 58:12 – in multiple translations….
The Amplified Bible
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
The Holy Bible, New International Version®
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.
The New King James Version
Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
GOD'S WORD
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the foundations of past generations. You will be called the Rebuilder of Broken Walls and the Restorer of Streets Where People Live.
New Life Bible
And your cities which were destroyed long ago will be built again. You will set up the stones of the bases of the old buildings. You will be called the one who builds again the broken walls, and who makes the streets on which people live like new.