GENESIS CHAPTER 27: HOW MUCH IS A BIRTHRIGHT WORTH

Introduction: Esau learns the true meaning of the value of a birthright through the loosing of his.

1. And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, "My son": and he

said unto him, "Behold, here am I." 2.  And he said, "Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: 3. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; 4. And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die". 5. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. 

Now the Lord had told Rebekah that the older son would serve the younger, so she devised a plan to deceived her husband so that the younger son would get the fathers blessing for the inheritance. When we take a situation that God has plans for into our own hands the ending is not as good as it would have been if we had just let God's plan come to fruition.  
 

 6. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, "Behold, I heard they father

speak unto Esau thy brother, saying 7. 'Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.' 8. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. 9. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: 10. and thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death" 11. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: 12. My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing." 13. And his mother said unto him, "Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them." 14. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.

15. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which ere with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: 16. and she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: 17. And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. 

Now Jacob was already uncomfortable in doing this thing that his mother had devised, but he trusted that she new what she was doing. The bible does not tell us that Rebekah shared her message from God with her son Jacob or even her husband Isaac. In any event we have the woman making the decision to mislead her husband (as Eve did, but Adam made the choice to follow Eve's leading). Have you noticed that sin trait's seem to follow families? Until the sin is forgiven? I have. 

18. And he came unto his father, and said, "My father": and he said, "Here am I; who art thou, my son?" 19. And Jacob said unto his father, "I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me; arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me." 20. And Isaac said unto his son, "How is it that thou hast

found it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the Lord thy God brought it to me." 21. And Isaac said unto Jacob, "Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not." 22. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice,but the hands are the hands of Esau." 23. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him. 24. And he said, "Art thou my very son Esau?" and he said, "I am".  25. And he said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee." 26. And his father Isaac said unto him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son". 27. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, "See the smell of my son is as the smell of the field which the Lord hath blessed:" 28.Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: 29.Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." 

Now Jacob must have been very apprehensive to the goings gone of that moment. Earlier Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew, now

through this devised plan of his mothers Jacob is now receiving the birthright blessing from his father through lies and deception which would become a life lesson of how to or not to manage people under his household. God uses many different means to teach us life lessons to mold us into the person he had mint us to be. How much we fight those lessons or learn from them,  depends on how long it takes us to realize that God is in control of our lives not ourselves. Once this lesson is learned and learning from the other molding lessons the sooner we will be living a free and satisfied life here on earth and preparing ourselves to be part of the population in Heaven. For Heaven is not the training ground, earth is, Heaven is our reward for obedience to God's statutes and laws. And the very first one is to "Have no other God's before Him". 

30. And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, and Esau his brother came in from his hunting.  31. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me". 32. And Isaac his father said unto him, "Who art thou?"And he said, "I am thy son thy firstborn, Esau." 33. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, "Who? where is he that hath taken venison and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed." 34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, " Bless me, even me also, O my father." 35. And he said, " Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing". 36. And he said,  "Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me:"37. And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, "Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?" 38. And Esau said unto his father, "Hast thou but one blessing, my father: bless me, even me also, O my father." And Esau lifted up his voice, and

wept. 39. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, "Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; 40. And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. "

 This is such a sad scene, the fruit of deception and the heartbreak of it. When Esau sold his birthright to Jacob he was not serious, he was thinking of himself and how hungry he was, he did not consider that Jacob was serious and that he would be accountable for the words he spoke to Jacob that day. Did Esau take his birthright seriously? Only when it came to the time that he should receive it. He took it for granted that he would receive the birthright. But God had other plans for the leader of that family. God knew that Esau's personality was flawed, and that Jacob had the traits that was needed to prosper the family and the lineage. How did God know this....because he designs us all and knows us before we are born, and has a plan for each of us in this world.

41. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, " The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob." 42. And these words of Esau her eldest son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, "Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. 43. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; 44. And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away : 45. Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?" 46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth,, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me:"

Through her actions Rebekah witnessed the strife that Esau had for Jacob for stealing the birthright that he had actually sold to Jacob halfheartedly. She also soon became a widow because Isaac was very old and would pass soon. Then she also had to send Jacob away to her family to save his life but also to gain a wife of her family and blood line, with the same beliefs and customs as were according to God's laws and statutes.  I wonder how Rebekah reasoned all of this in her mind. and how differently things wold have turned out if she had waited on the Lord to have this situation work out His way? How deep was the hurt in her heart to see her child Esau grow so bitter against Jacob who was only following her instructions. How the relationship between Isaac and Rebekah must have been strained because of these actions. When man tries to do God's work-- things become so complicated, so tangled with needless hurt all the way around the situation. How much better it would have been to let God's plan be played out by God who knows all the out comes. 
4I Praise Him because He knows us so well and makes plans B, C , and D

because we are so heard headed and stubborn.  He is so long-suffering for our happiness and our learning that he has so many back up plans already worked out for us to learn our life lessons. Jesus wants all of us to be saved through His blood. That is why He died on the cross. That is why he suffered so horribly, because that is what we will be receiving if he had not paid  our sin debt through his suffering and by His Blood and Death. Praise Jesus and God the Father that Jesus rose up again on the third day of His death to conquer death and hell so that we would also have eternal life with Him and the Father and the Holy Ghost in Heaven.