A Blessing Wrought in Deception (Gen 27.7, 12–13, 27–29; 28.2-4)

Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the LORD before I die.’

I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me.”

So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
May God give you of the dew of heaven,
and of the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien—land that God gave to Abraham.

(Gen 27.7, 12–13, 27–29; 28.2-4)

Background

These prayers are another set of chain-prayers: prayers that are connected and repeated as part of the same event. This passage one of the more troubling stories in Genesis—both the story itself and the questions it raises about God. A mother (Rebekah) helps her youngest son (Jacob) deceive her old, blind husband (Isaac) to gain the blessing that belonged to the firstborn son (Esau). When the father discovers the deception, he tells the older son that there is little he can do. When the older son threatens the younger, the younger runs away. Not only does God allow this to happen, but He also accepts the ill-gotten blessing as valid. The prayer-blessing is a key element in this story: it is repeated or referred to twenty-three times within fifty-two verses!¹ There is also a curse connected with it in three other places (27.12, 13, 29). 

In the ancient world, the oldest son inherited the status, position, and half the wealth of his father. Upon the death of the father, the household would become his and his own sibling become subservient to him. The official blessing of the father on the eldest son was a sacred event, often coming near the time of death. The blessing solemnized the transfer, much like a marriage ceremony or the covenant birth ceremony in a previous prayer passage.²

Yet this story is more complicated than just a mother playing favorites. Long before the deception takes place, Esau gave away his inheritance to his brother Joseph for some food. Was that a valid transfer of birthright? Did Rebekah know of it? Some suggest that the problem is all Esau’s fault: he was so cavalier with his inheritance, he deserved to have it taken from him. But if that is true, and the transfer was binding, then why was the deceit necessary? Esau may be at fault, but Rebekah and Jacob are not worthy characters in this story.

Even God’s response is troubling. Though He judged others for their wrong actions within a family (Cain and Abel, for instance), here he treats Jacob as the heir despite his deceptions. The younger receives a blessing; the older receives a curse! Why does God condone this behavior? The prophet Malachi will later write that “God loved Jacob, but hated Esau.” Paul quotes this passage in Romans 9.13. How are we to understand such a prayer of blessing that seems so unfair?

First, the quote about “hating and loving” comes from a prophet, the words of which can rarely be read literally. In the book of Malachi, “Jacob” stands for the nation of Israel and “Esau” stands for the nation of Edom. Edom had been devastated, and Israel was trying to rebuild their city after their return from Exile. People were questioning God. Why do some do well and others not? Saying, “God loved Jacob but hated Esau” is a poetic and symbolic way of saying, “some of the ways of God are a mystery.”

Still, we wonder. Did God want Jacob to be the patriarch rather than Esau? If so, why? He was not the older son. Did God just make the best of what happened after it was over? Jacob is not an admirable character until much later in his life. He bargains with God (e.g., Gen 28.20-22), deceives his father-in-law (30.37-43, 31.20), and more. 

Meaning

In our prayer lives, we should learn to embrace mystery. God does some things; He does not do others. He in control, He will do what He knows to be best, and sometimes His reasons or purposes will lie beyond our understanding. We are called to believe and trust—not to understand everything—because He is God. We do not always have to make sense of His actions; we only have to follow.

That is one lesson about prayer that we can take from this story. But there is another. God does not reject us because we sin. We might even deceive our spouse or father, but He does not reject us. What matters is that we stay in relationship with God and keep trying. This is the second thing we can learn about prayer from this story. In prayer, we can—and should—struggle with these kinds of issues. We should wrestle with God. That may sound strange, but note this: God later changes Jacob’s name to “Israel” (yisra-el), which means, “one-who-struggles-with-God” (Gen 32.28). Jacob struggled with God physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. He was not always noble, and he was not always right. He was in a relationship with God, fighting and wrestling to find his place. He never gave up on God, and God never gave up on him.

We often rationalize our actions, just as Jacob did. “He sold the inheritance to me!” We all tell white lies (at least!), and bend the truth for selfish gain. The hopeful message of the blessings in the story is this: even if we do such things, God’s plan will still be fulfilled. We do not thwart the plans of God. If we allow Him in our lives and never stop wrestling with Him, He can pick up the pieces of our mess and bring healing and change. And bless us when we don’t deserve it.

Application

Think of someone you believe does not deserve a blessing. Perhaps it is you. Write the name down in your journal and ask for a blessing upon that person, because that is what God does: blesses us even though we don’t deserve it. You might use the two blessings in this story as a starting point for your prayer. First, ask that the person be wealthy and well-fed. Then, request that they have plenty of help, to be honored and blessed by others, for their enemies to be stopped, for their children to be healthy, and for them to live happily in the land.

1. Gen 27.4, 7, 10, 12, 19, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 41; 28.1, 3, 4, 5, 6. ↩
2. See “Intercession and Petition for a Child (Gen 25.21, 22).” ↩

Become a supporter of the Praying Through the Bible project for only $5 a month. Support our ministry, and get access to all posts, discounts on our books, excerpts of upcoming books, free books, and more. Cancel any time.