“Genesis 27:20-26”

Saturday, January 25, 2020

“Isaac said to his son, 'How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?' And he said, 'Because the Lord your God caused it to happen to me.' Then Isaac said to Jacob, 'Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.' So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.' He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. And he said, 'Are you really my son Esau?' And he said, 'I am.' So he said, 'Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that I may bless you.' And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Please come close and kiss me, my son.'”

---End of Scripture verses---

“'How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” (verse 20) Isaac was old, his health was in decline and his eyes had dimmed, but he was not a moron. He was aware that the timing just didn't add up. Esau had been gone for far too short a time to have already arrived with the food fully prepared and ready to serve, and the patriarch wanted an explanation. Jacob stooped to new depths by weaving the name of the Lord into his web of deceit. “Jacob actually invokes God's name in an outright lie! There may be an underlying idea that he really spoke better than he knew, for the hand of Providence was indeed at work.” (Nahum Sarna)

“'Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” (verse 21) “Deprived of his eyesight, Isaac summons to his aid the remaining senses of hearing, touch, taste and smell.” (Nahum Sarna) His ears had not failed him because he recognized clearly “the voice of Jacob,” but the deceiver passed the touch test with his goat-skin covered extremities feeling just like “the hands of Esau” (verse 20). The deceiver's timing was off and his voice was wrong but his physical disguise made the impression that his mother thought it would. If she had prepared the meal just exactly the way Isaac liked it the deal would be cinched.

“He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.” (verse 23) This verse tells us that the hairy hands had convinced Isaac to go through with the blessing, but it had not been given just yet. There was still a moment of wavering doubt that prompted the question: “Are you really my son Esau?” (verse 24) Can it truly be? Then, “Bring it to me, and I will eat my son's game, that I may bless you.” (verse 25) Jacob passed the touch test, now the stew that his mother had prepared must pass the taste test.

“Please come close and kiss me, my son.” (verse 26) Jacob would have to come close enough to pass the smell test as well to finally push Isaac's senses past the limits and acquire the greatly coveted final, patriarchal blessing. Tomorrow we will see that the overpowering aroma of Esau's clothing draped across Jacob's flesh was too much for Isaac to resist. Far too often we human's allow our five senses to override our intellect when we know that things just aren't right. The way that things and people make us feel frequently gets us into a world of trouble and prompts us to make the most foolish decisions. Jacob was a phony. Isaac was a fool. The Lord's will would prevail just the same.

Please read Genesis 27:27-29 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

- Louie Taylor

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