Why did Isaac want to bless Esau?
Question:
Hey there.
Regarding Genesis 27. Why does Isaac intend to bless Esau when the prophetic voice had already declared, "The older shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23)? Also, why does Isaac twice indicate that he suspects that Jacob is pulling a trick on him, yet does nothing? It seems very peculiar. I understand that the trick was justified because Rebecca thought that she was fulfilling the prophecy, which Isaac seems to have resisted because he loved Esau.
Thank you.
Answer:
We are not told directly, but there are some hints:
- Many years had passed since God made His prophecy to Rebekah
- Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah (Genesis 25:20).
- Isaac was 60 years old when Esau and Jacob were born (Genesis 25:26)
- Esau married Canaanite women when he was 40 years old, making Isaac 100 years old (Genesis 26:34)
- Jacob was 130 years old when he moved to Egypt (Genesis 47:9).
- This took place in the second year of the great seven-year famine (Genesis 45:11).
- This would be nine years (seven years of plenty plus two years of famine) after Joseph was put in charge of Egypt at the age of 30 (Genesis 41:46).
- This means Jacob was 91 when Joseph was born.
- Joseph was born after Jacob had completed his service to Laban (Genesis 30:25).
- Jacob served Laban for 14 years (Genesis 29:18, 21, 27). This means Jacob was 77 when he went to Mesopotamia.
- This means Isaac was 137 years old when he tried to give the blessing to Esau.
- In those days, the blessing typically went to the firstborn son. Although Isaac was Abraham's sole heir, he was Abraham's second son. Isaac should have understood that God would override custom as He saw fit.
- Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed the meat Esau brought in from his hunts (Genesis 25:28).
Perhaps Isaac thought Esau was the better choice to be the head of the family because he was strong and manly and brought in meat. Though God prophesied that it would be Jacob, I could see Isaac thinking that it had been a long time ago, and things had changed. However, there are hints that Isaac knew he was going against God. He didn't make his intention publicly known. It was going to be done privately — just between Esau and himself. He also sent Esau off to get game "so that my soul may bless you" (Genesis 27:3-4). He felt he had to get into the proper mood before giving the blessing.
As to why Isaac allowed himself to be talked into accepting Jacob's deception, I suspect that God was encouraging it. "For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness" (II Thessalonians 2:11-12). When someone is unconcerned with the truth, they are vulnerable to being deceived and often deceive themselves about what they want to be true. Keep in mind that Isaac seems to be trying to keep what he is doing quiet, so he may have felt pressured to complete the blessing before Rebekah found out about it. His rush limited his caution.
