In verses 1-4, we are told that Isaac was old and his eyesight faded, he thought he was near to his death. Since he does not know how much longer he will live, he made arrangements with Esau to pass on to him the blessings due to the firstborn son.
It is interesting that Esau makes no mention to Isaac that he sold his birthright to Jacob for some lentil stew.
Isaac instructs Esau to take his bow and arrow and fetch some venison and make savory meat which Isaac loves.
On hearing this, Rebekah devised a plan to deceive Isaac into blessing Jacob instead. Rebekah made Jacob aware of Isaac’s plan to bless Esau, and told him of her deceptive plan. Rebekah instructed Jacob to prepare two goats so she could make savory meat for Isaac. Then, she told Jacob to take it to him, so he can eat, and gain the blessing from him before he dies.
Jacob does not blink as this plan of trickery, but embraces the plan. Jacob tells his mother that Isaac will find him out for Esau is a hairy skinned man and he is smooth skinned. He was fearful that if he was found to be a deceiver, that Isaac would curse him instead.
The plot thickens and Rebekah took an article of Esau’s clothing and put them on Jacob. Then she put the skins of the kid goats upon his hand and neck. Rebekah then had Jacob take in the bread and stew to Isaac. Jacob said, “Here am I. Isaac asked basically are you Esau or Jacob?
Jacob said, “I am Esau thy first born.” He went on to tell his father that he done as he request and had the venison to eat. He asked his father to sit up and eat, so that he could gain the blessing.
Isaac inquired as to how he found and made the dish so quickly. Jacob now lies and said, “Because the LORD thy God brought it to me.” Deceitfulness only gets compounded.
The LORD told Rebekah that the elder would serve the younger. Rebekah and Jacob took matters in their own hands. It reminds me of Sarah when she did the same and offered Hagar to Abraham in order to obtain an heir. Sarah was also told she would have a child, but she didn’t fully trust the promise.
Isaac wanted Jacob to come near so he could feel him in order to know if he was Esau. So, Isaac must have had some question as to the truthfulness of the situation. Jacob came near and Isaac touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” Isaac determined it was Esau. Isaac asked Jacob again, “Art thou my very son Esau?” And Jacob replied ‘yes’. Then Isaac ate of the venison. After the meal, Isaac asked for a kiss and when Jacob came close – Isaac smelled him and then blessed him. Isaac must have had some reservation to call Jacob over in order to smell him. But as was stated earlier, deception only grows and Jacob gets deeper into his lies. Isaac blesses Jacob (verses 28-29).
Jacob no more leaves and Esau came in from hunting. Esau had his savory meat and asked Isaac to eat so that he could receive the blessing. Isaac asked, “Who are you?” And he said, I am your firstborn Esau. Isaac was upset and said, ‘I blessed the person that was just here, who gave me savory meat, and I have blessed him and he shall remain blessed’.
Esau cried out bitterly and asked his father to bless him also. Isaac told Esau that Jacob came with subtilty and stole the blessing. There is another that came who was described as ‘subtil’. This was Satan, when in the garden he used deceitfulness to steal from Adam and Eve their blessings…and took dominion from them by trickery.
Esau laments and says that ‘Jacob is rightly named for he supplanted me two times…he took away my birthright and now he stole my blessing’. Esau pleads with Isaac for a blessing. It is interesting, that Esau took no responsibility for selling his birthright for a bowl of stew.
Isaac tells Esau that he has made Jacob his lord and that he and his descendants will be as servants to him. Again, Esau asked for just one blessing and wept. Then Isaac gave Esau a blessing. Issac said that Esau’s dwelling ‘shall be like the fatness of the earth’ meaning he would prosper and by the sword shall he live, and that he will serve Jacob but not forever.
Esau hated Jacob and said in his heart that after the days of mourning for his father then he will murder Jacob. Rebekah was told of the things Esau was saying and she told Jacob that Esau was going to kill him. So, Rebekah told Jacob he would need to go to her brother Laban in Haran; and that he would need to stay there until Esau was no longer angry. Then, she would call for him to return home.
Rebekah told Isaac that she was weary that Jacob would take a wife from the daughters of Heth, and that he should go to her home country. As we pick up the story in chapter 28, we will see that Isaac sends Jacob to Haran.
As it turned out, Isaac did not die for about another twenty years.