Isaac Prepares to Bless Esau (1-4)

Isaac was 137 years old and assumed he was nearing the end of his life, so he called his son Esau and sent him into the wild to kill game and prepare a festive meal for the two of them to eat (1-4). It seems his weakness and delirium was due instead to a brief time of illness, for Isaac ended up living to be 180. 

Isaac also seemed to want the meal provided for him in secret because he did not prepare for the usual public ceremony of pronouncing the patriarchal blessing. The patriarchal blessing was a ritual or ceremony where a blend of benediction, prediction, and transference was passed on from one generation to another. We have come to know it as, “The Blessing.” It is as though Isaac was going behind Rebekah’s back, circumventing the prophetic word given to her that the younger would serve the older (25:23).

Esau headed for the field and the hunt. 

Rebekah’s Intervention (5-17)

It would appear Rebekah did not trust Isaac’s spiritual sensitivity and commitment to transfer the blessing, and with it the covenant of Abraham, to the son whom she knew was destined to receive it. She is found in this chapter lurking at the door, eavesdropping on her husband’s conversation with Esau. 

She then skipped prayer and conceived a deception to gain the blessing for the rightful, God-chosen heir, and with it the Abrahamic covenant (5). It was this covenant that likely caused her to leave her family before the ten-day festival in her honor and hasten her journey to the land of Canaan. 

She told Jacob what she had heard—Isaac had sent Esau to hunt game and prepare a meal for them to eat, so that after their fellowship, he might secretly and deceitfully, behind Rebekah’s back, give the blessing to Esau. 

It must be noted that Rebekah was taken to task for her deception, but Isaac was likely no less deceptive, knowing the prophetic word his wife had been given at the twins’ birth (6).

Rebekah told Jacob to go to the field, grab two young goats, slay them, bring them to her, and allow her to make the meal that would please Isaac’s stomach (7-9). She then told Jacob to take the meal she had made to his father and give it to him. Rebekah, assuming also that Isaac was about to die, thought this might be the last chance to get the blessing to the right heir (10).  

Jacob recoiled at the idea, assuming his father would easily see through the deception, him being a hairless man and Esau hairy. Jacob feared Isaac would assume he was mocking the old man's feeble mental and physical prowess and curse him instead. For Jacob to assume Isaac would find his deception a mocking of him instead of outright stealing the blessing from his brother indicates Jacob did not perceive that his father Isaac put a high value on the blessing (11-12).  

Rebekah immediately countered that she would take any and all cursing from Isaac upon herself, feeling the risk of her life being worth it to get the blessing to the right son (13).  

Jacob fetched the goats, and Rebekah mixed up a convincing gourmet illusion (14). Rebekah dressed Jacob in Esau's best fashions and put them on her 77-year-old son. She then took the goat skins and fashioned them to fit every exposed part of Jacob’s body—anywhere Isaac might touch—and attached them to Jacob. After Jacob was dressed, she put the food she had prepared into his hands, sending him off to Isaac’s tent; she had lost all confidence in Yahweh to get the blessing to Jacob apart from her scheming (15-17).   

The Next Deceiver (18-29) 

Jacob became the next deceiver in the story full of deceit. Jacob led with three lies:

• “I am Esau, your firstborn.”

• “I have done what you told me.”

• “Eat some of my game or venison” (18-19). 

  Of course, Isaac marveled that “Esau” had been so quick to find, kill, and prepare the game.
   

  Jacob told his fourth lie and stamped it with Yahweh's name:

• “The Lord your God has granted me success” (20). 

  Isaac was not nearly convinced, so he was not going to rely on voice identification but wanted to feel and touch for verification (21). As Isaac felt, he made a mental note—he was hairy like Esau, but the voice was unmistakably Jacob (22). The more Isaac felt, the more he did not recognize him to be Jacob but gave in to the evidence of the hair, finally giving Jacob the initial blessing of welcome (23). One last time, after the welcome and the trust, Isaac asked, “Are you really my son?”
  

  Jacob told his fifth lie:

• “I am (Esau)” (24).

With that, Isaac called for the food and ate it, then called for the wine and drank it (25). Isaac kissed Jacob-pretending-to-be-Esau (26), and as he smelled the garments Jacob was wearing, he began the blessing:

• Jacob had the smell of blessing on him (27).

• Jacob had the blessing of Heaven (dew and rain), resulting in lavish agricultural success (28).

• Political peoples would serve Jacob, and nations would honor him. 

• He would be a master to his brother's offspring.

• All who cursed him (Jacob’s offspring) or sought to remove him from his blessed position would be cursed. 

• All who blessed him (Jacob’s offspring) and took care of him would be blessed (29).