Genesis 27:1 - Meaning and Application

Here, first, we see Isaac’s plan to make his will and declare Esau his heir. The promise of the Messiah and the land of Canaan was a great trust first given to Abraham. It pointed beyond itself to spiritual and eternal blessings, and God later passed that trust on to Isaac. Now Isaac is old, and he does not seem to be fully guided by God’s word that the older son would serve the younger. So he decides to pass the honor and power connected with the promise to Esau, his firstborn son.

In this, Isaac is guided more by natural affection and by the usual custom of inheritance than he should have been. This would have been wrong if he knew, as is likely, what God had already shown him about this matter. We are very likely to take our direction from our own judgment instead of from God’s revelation, and then we miss the path. We think the wise, the wealthy, and the noble should inherit the promise, but God does not see as man sees (1 Samuel 16:6-7).

Second, we see the directions Isaac gave Esau to carry out this plan. He calls Esau to him (Genesis 27:1). Esau, though married, had not yet moved away. He had greatly grieved his parents by his marriage, yet they had not cast him off. Instead, they seem to have been partly reconciled to him and were making the best of the situation. Parents who are rightly offended by their children must still not become hard and unforgiving toward them.

Isaac then explains why he wants to do this now (Genesis 27:2). He says, “I am old, so I must die soon, though I do not know the day of my death.” In other words, he knows his time is near, even if he does not know exactly when it will come. He will therefore do now what must be done sometime. Older people should be reminded, as their strength fails, to do quickly all the good they can with the little strength they still have (Joshua 13:1). And since we do not know when we will leave this world, we should stay ready and keep both our hearts and our homes in order, because the Son of Man comes when we least expect him.

Isaac then tells Esau to prepare for the solemn act of carrying out his last wishes, by which he meant to make Esau his heir (Genesis 27:3-4). Esau is to go hunting and bring back some game, which Isaac will eat, and then he will bless him. Isaac seems to want this not mainly for his own pleasure, though the meal would refresh him, but to receive one more sign of his son’s love and duty before giving him this honor. Perhaps since Esau had married, he had been bringing his game to his wives instead of to his father, as he had done before (Genesis 25:28). So Isaac wants him to show this respect again before he blesses him.

It is fitting that if the lesser is to receive a blessing from the greater, the greater should be served and honored by the lesser. Isaac says, “Then my soul may bless you before I die.” Prayer is work of the soul, not just of the lips. Just as the soul must bless God (Psalm 103:1), so it must be truly engaged in blessing ourselves and others. A blessing will not reach the heart if it does not come from the heart. We must do the work of life before we die, because it cannot be done after death (Ecclesiastes 9:10). It is a good thing, when our time comes, to have nothing left to do but die.

Isaac lived more than forty years after this, so no one should think they will die sooner just because they make their will and prepare for death.