Failure of Deceived Blessings

Jacob impersonated as Esau, deceived his blind father and stole his brother’s blessings. Was Jacob blessed according to the blessings received? Instead of those blessings to be a master, Jacob was deceived and had to serve others for his own wife. In this post, we will explore how anything received by deception will never be a blessing for us.

Deceived Blessings

Isaac Blessing Jacob, Nicolas-Guy Brenet (France, Paris, 1728-1792)

And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field Which the LORD has blessed. Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!”

Gen 27:27-29

The dew of heaven is compared with the rain for wetting the earth as in 1 Kgs 17:1 and 2Sam 1:21. The fatness here is a reference to the best produce of the earth as in Gen 45:18. He was blessed to be a ruler and a master over his brethren. He was also given reciprocal blessings and curses.

Deceiver gets deceived

Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.” And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast. Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?”

Gen 29:21-25

Just as Jacob tricked Isaac and deceived Esau of his blessings, Laban is now tricking and deceiving Jacob.

Jacob is serving others

And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

Gen 29:26-27

It’s a sad love story. While Jacob was blessed that other people will serve him, we see Jacob serving Laban for his own wife. Jacob did not become a master to anyone but rather, he was only made a servant to Laban.

Jacob bows down to Esau

Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. … Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.

Gen 33:3, 6-7

While Jacob was blessed with nations bowing down to him being a master over his brother Esau and all Esau’s sons bowing down to him, here we see on the contrary happening. Bowing down to the ground represents a submission of being a servant before the master as used in Gen 18:2-3, Gen 19:1-2 and Gen 42:6. Bowing seven times is complete submission. Here we see not Esau but Jacob and all his children bowing down to Esau.

Lack of grains in famine

When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die.”

Gen 42:1-2

During the years of famine in the land of Canaan, Isaac’s blessing of plenty of grain and wine to Isaac didn’t help. Further, the Scriptures say that Jacob and his sons were shepherds (Gen 46:31-34) and don’t record them harvesting grains or planting vineyards.

Injustice not unchecked

And you know that with all my might I have served your father. Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me. If he said thus: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

Gen 31:6-9

Our God is righteous. While God allowed Jacob to serve and get deceived by Laban, he did not leave injustice unchecked. God gave the exact wages of what Laban set to Jacob.

True Blessing

“May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.”

Gen 28:3-4

After Isaac was aware of Jacob’s trickery, he is again blessing him. But this time, Isaac is fully aware that he is blessing Jacob and everything he said came to pass.

Conclusion

And the LORD said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”

Gen 25:23

God is giving a prophecy to Rebekkah about the descendants of Jacob and Esau. This made Rebekkah favour Jacob right from the very beginning. Isaac was blind to see God’s plan. But, God never asked Rebekkah to trick or deceive Isaac. As Jesus said in Mark 4:24, with the same measure we use, it will be measured to us. If we deceive and trick others, we will be deceived and tricked by others.

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