Genesis 27:18 - Meaning and Application

Here we see, first, the skill and confidence with which Jacob carried out this plan. Who would have expected this quiet man to play his part so well in something like this? His mother had shown him what to do and encouraged him, and he quickly turned to methods he had never been used to and had always disliked. Lying is learned quickly. The psalmist speaks of people who speak lies as soon as they are born (Psalm 58:3), and Jeremiah says the same (Jeremiah 9:5).

It is hard to see how honest Jacob could so easily say, “I am Esau your firstborn” (Genesis 27:19). I do not think the attempt to excuse him by saying he meant, “I am made your firstborn,” by purchase, really helps him. When his father asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” he answered, “I am” (Genesis 27:24). How could he say, “I have done as you told me,” when he had received no order from his father, but was obeying his mother? How could he say, “Eat of my venison,” when he knew it had come, not from the field, but from the flock? Even more troubling, how could he bring God’s name into the lie and say, “The Lord your God gave it to me” (Genesis 27:20)?

Is this Jacob, this Israel, the man described as without guile, meaning without deceit? This record is surely written, not for us to copy, but to warn us. Let the person who thinks he stands be careful, lest he fall. Good people sometimes fail exactly where they have been strongest.

Second, we see how this plan succeeded. Jacob had some trouble, but he did get the blessing. Isaac was at first uneasy, and would have found out the fraud if he had trusted his ears. The voice was Jacob’s voice (Genesis 27:22). In his providence, God has given people different voices as well as different faces, and that helps keep us from being deceived. A voice is not easy to disguise. This can also picture a hypocrite. His voice is Jacob’s voice, but his hands are Esau’s. He talks like a saint, but acts like a sinner. Still, in the end, judgment will go by the hands.

At last Isaac gave in because the hands were hairy (Genesis 27:23), and he did not think how easy it would be to fake that. Jacob then kept up the act well, set the meat before his father, and waited on him carefully until the meal was finished and the blessing was given at the end of the sacred feast. One thing that somewhat lessens the guilt of Rebekah and Jacob is that their trick was meant, not so much to speed up God’s promise, as to keep it from being wrongly blocked. The blessing was about to be given to the wrong son, and they thought it was time to act.

Now let us see how Isaac blessed Jacob (Genesis 27:26-29). He embraced him, showing special affection. Those whom God blesses are welcomed with the love of his own heart, and they, by love and loyalty, honor his Son (Psalm 2:12). Isaac also praised him. He smelled his clothes and said, “The smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed,” meaning something rich, pleasant, and fruitful. It showed that God had blessed Jacob, and so Isaac was ready to bless him too.

Isaac also prayed for him, and in doing so, he spoke prophetically about Jacob’s future. Parents should pray for their children and bless them in the Lord’s name. In that way, and also through baptism, they do all they can to keep God’s covenant alive in their families. This was, however, an unusual blessing. God arranged it so that Isaac gave it to Jacob without knowing what he was doing, so it would be clear that Jacob received it from God, not from Isaac.

Jacob is blessed here in three ways: with plenty (Genesis 27:28), with power over his brothers, especially Esau and Esau’s descendants (Genesis 27:29), and with favor from God and a strong place in heaven. “Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you.” In other words, let God treat Jacob’s friends as friends, and Jacob’s enemies as enemies. This blessing contains more than appears at first glance. It includes the promise of the Messiah, who would come through Jacob’s line, and the church, which would be specially owned and favored by heaven.

First, it means that from Jacob would come the Messiah, who would rule with sovereign authority on earth. He would be the chief branch of the family, one whom peoples and nations would serve. See Numbers 24:19, “A ruler shall come out of Jacob,” and the picture of the star and scepter (Genesis 27:17). Jacob’s rule over Esau was only a picture of this greater rule (Genesis 49:10).

Second, it means that from Jacob would come the church, which would be especially loved and protected by heaven. This was part of Abraham’s blessing when he was first called to be the father of the faithful (Genesis 12:3), “I will bless those who bless you.” So when Isaac later confirmed the blessing to Jacob, he called it the blessing of Abraham (Genesis 28:4). Balaam also explains this (Numbers 24:9).

The best and most desirable blessing is to belong to Christ and his church, and to share in Christ’s power and the church’s favor.