READ | SERMON NOTES
SUMMARY l Blessings and families are often closely intertwined. Family is typically the place where we experience relationship, intimacy, flourishing and fruitfulness. It is often the primary place from which blessing is experienced. At the same time, the Bible is honest about the struggles and brokenness within families, showing how individual failings and attempts to secure blessings on our own terms can cause blessing to become a curse.
1. One Family’s Story: Isaac, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob
A. Isaac: allowed his appetites and senses to shape his decisions – this was his downfall
– His desire for a final meal before passing on his blessing set in motion a chain of deception. He was both physically and spiritually blind, relying on his senses rather than trusting God’s timing and purposes.
- Taste (v4): Fearing his death (which ironically happened only 20 years later), Isaac requests Esau to hunt and bring him his favorite tasty food ‘so that I may give you my blessing before I die’.
- Sight (v1): his physical blindness prevented him from recognising his sons
- Touch & Hearing (v16,21, 22-23): he mistook the goatskins draped on Jacob as Esau’s hairy body. He was confused that he was hearing the voice of Jacob but touching Esau’s hairy hands
- Smell (v27): he took the smell of Esau’s clothes on Jacob as confirmation that he was speaking with Esau
– Isaac pursued what he wanted in the moment, even treating his children as a means to fulfil his own desires. Like many today, we focus on satisfying our wants e.g. a better home, car, status, sometimes risking treating our own children as a means to an end.
B. Rebekah – the key instigator of deception (v11-13)
– Rebekah was convinced that God’s promise needed her intervention and rationalised that the end justified the means.
– In seeking the blessing for Jacob, she compromised her integrity. She underestimated the cost of her actions and wrongly believed that she could bear any negative consequences, even on Jacob’s behalf.
C. Esau – laments that Jacob has taken away his birthright and now also his blessing (v36)
– On several occasions, Esau is seen to have rejected his birthright and heritage:
- He, without hesitation, gave up his birthright to Jacob for some stew (Gen 25:29-34)
- When he was forty years old, he married 2 Hittite wives. This was a source of grief for his parents. (Gen 26: 34-35)
– He desired only the blessing of his family’s covenant heritage, failing to realise that his birthright and blessing were intertwined, and bound to his future.
D. Jacob – typecast by his family as a deceiver at birth, even before he had done anything wrong
– Growing up, he was the quiet one (‘tam’ in Hebrew), meaning upright, honest, blameless (Gen 25:27, NRSVUE)
– He comes from a family line of deceivers; a product of his family’s bad choices
- His grandpa Abraham deceived Pharaoh (Gen 12) and Abimelech (Gen 20)
- His dad Isaac deceives Abimelech (Gen 26)
- His mom Rebekah is the mastermind and instigator of Jacob’s own deception of his father (Gen 27)
– As a result, Jacob came to believe that blessing could only be obtained through deception and by being someone else.
When does blessing become a curse? When you take it instead of receiving it
2. The Human Story
Since Adam and Eve, humans have falsely believed that God’s blessings are scarce, limited and being withheld from us. The serpent manipulated and deceived Eve by suggesting that God was holding out on her and she had to take control if she wanted to be like God (Gen 3:5).
Just as Eve had taken what seemed desirable, each member of Isaac’s family sought to seize blessing through their own efforts.
- Isaac demanded his desired delicacy from Esau.
- Rebekah took matters into her own hands to fulfil God’s promise for Jacob (Gen 25:23).
- Esau and Jacob both sought blessing by moving away from their God-given identity.
In the end, the blessing became a curse and broke up the family.
- Esau was consumed by anger and wanted to kill his brother Jacob
- Jacob was forced to flee for his life
- Rebekah never again saw her beloved son Jacob
Isaac and Rebekah’s family failings are not unique. These themes of familial dysfunction echo through Genesis 1-11.
- Gen 9: Ham, Noah’s son takes advantage of his father’s vulnerable state
- Gen 4: Cain killed Abel out of jealousy over God’s blessing and favor
- Gen 3: Adam & Eve take the forbidden fruit:
i) Rebekah as Eve - Adam ‘listened to the voice’ of his wife Eve (Gen 3:17), mirroring Rebekah instructing Jacob to listen to her voice (Gen 27:8).
- Eve saw that the tree was desirable and took from it (Gen 3:6). In parallel, Rebekah took the desirable garments of Esau for the deception (Gen 27:15).
ii) Rebekah as the Snake, co-opting Jacob in her deceptive, snaky behavior - She tells Jacob to take two goats for her so that he might give Isaac the meal he desires to eat (Gen 27: 9-10)
- She dresses him in animal skins that he might lie to Isaac (Gen 27:16)
God’s blessing is not scarce. He desires to bless all abundantly.
Isaac acted as though there was only one blessing available, but God’s covenant with Abraham was always intended to overflow across generations and nations (Gen 12:2). Scripture consistently reminds us that God’s blessings are abundant.
- Jacob blessed all 12 of his sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel (Gen 49).
- God blessed not only Isaac but also Hagar’s descendants, demonstrating that His blessings are not restricted to His chosen people (Gen 16:10).
In the New Testament:
- God has called us into the riches of His glorious inheritance and the incomparable greatness of His power (Eph 1:18-19)
- In Christ, we are God’s children, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:16-17)
- Through Christ, the blessing given to Abraham extends to all who belong to Him, and we also receive the promised Spirit (Gal 3:13-14,29)
When we trust that God’s blessings are abundant and His timing is perfect, we are freed from the need to take and compete for what He has already promised to provide.
(Sermon notes by Stella Chiam)
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Study Scripture: Read Genesis 27:1-40
a. What do you notice about the different ways Isaac, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob each try to secure what they want in this chapter? What does each person believe they need to do to get “blessing”?
b. How does Genesis 27 echo some of the earlier stories in Genesis 1-11?
c. Look again at Genesis 27:33-40. What is striking about Isaac’s words to Esau? In what sense might Esau’s “blessing” actually be an anti-blessing – a blessing that has become a curse because blessing has become something to be competed over and taken? - Recall Sermon
a. Isaac, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob all contribute to the breakdown of the family in different ways. Where did you see yourself most clearly in this family?
b. What kinds of “blessing” are we most tempted to compete for today – success, recognition, money, status, security, attention, our children’s achievements, being right, being loved? How does our desire to secure these things for ourselves sometimes come at the cost of other people? - Relate Personally
a. Where am I tempted to grasp for something that God has not given me, rather than trust him to provide what I need?
b. Are there people I am tempted to see as competitors for blessing rather than people with whom I can share God’s blessing? What does that reveal about my understanding of God’s provision?
c. Where might my pursuit of blessing be creating relational damage in my family, friendships, workplace or church? - Commit to Action
a. Is there someone I have treated as a competitor rather than a recipient of God’s blessing? What would it look like to actively seek their good this week?
b. What is one concrete way I can use something God has blessed me with – my time, money, abilities, influence or attention – to extend blessing to someone else?
c. When I feel the need to secure my own status, success or approval, what could I do to remind myself of the gospel: Christ took the curse so that I could receive his blessing?
