And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:
And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck as a disguise, together with putting Esau's clothes upon him, so that Isaac, whose sight was dim, would mistake the smooth-skinned Jacob for the hairy Esau. The verse belongs to the account in Genesis 27:1-29 in which Rebekah persuaded Jacob to deceive Isaac in order to obtain for Jacob the blessing intended for Esau, also described as the birthright and the family blessing that God had promised to Jacob. Jacob was at first unwilling but finally agreed to his mother's plan because she believed God had promised it. The deception was wrong and was not prompted by God, and by taking by fraud what would have been received by trust they showed lack of faith in God's power to fulfill His promise and purpose in His own time and way and by His own methods, when Jacob could have been blessed by God even without the privileges of the firstborn if he loved and feared God.
The fraud brought guilt, family distrust, separation, and lasting consequences, as Esau's anger, wrath, and threats forced Jacob to flee for his life, Rebekah never saw him again, and Isaac later became convinced that the blessing rightly belonged to Jacob. Jacob knew he had sinned in obtaining the blessing by fraud, yet God did not forsake him, and he had to repent of that wrong and had previously repented of it before God would hear his prayer and mercifully save and preserve his life. That sin gave Satan ground to accuse Jacob before the angels of God and claim the right to destroy him, to move Esau to march against him, and to force a sense of guilt upon him in his night of wrestling to discourage him and break his hold upon God, but because he had previously repented and learned that God is merciful, he cast himself upon God's mercy, pointed back to his repentance, pleaded for deliverance, and held fast the Angel with tears and earnest agonizing cries until he prevailed, even when reminded of his sin and driven almost to despair by review of his life. The episode teaches that concealed, unconfessed sin would leave a person unable to plead confidently for deliverance in the time of trouble, while confessed and forgiven sins have been blotted out by the atoning blood of Christ and cannot be brought against the person, so in the final struggle with evil God's people must have no unconfessed sins and no concealed wrongs, remembering God's mercy and their sincere repentance, laying hold of God's strength with tested faith, perseverance and confidence, and pleading His promises through Christ without failing when answers delay, while Satan seeks to terrify them that their cases are hopeless and their sins too great for pardon. The story is a warning against rivalry, scheming, and dishonest efforts to gain an advantage over others. Deceptions similar to Jacob's are practiced when men do secret work, show partiality and hypocrisy, handle men as machinery, bind their freedom by methods and terms, harness and drive them, pervert right principles by selfishness and covetousness which is idolatry, and grasp all they can by deceptive reasoning irrespective of their own agreements or the result to those disappointed and wronged; all such secret working is open to the eye of God, angels veil their faces at it, and God will in no case justify any attempt to turn man from his rights or excuse men for such deceptive grasping.
And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck as a disguise, together with putting Esau's clothes upon him, so that Isaac, whose sight was dim, would mistake the smooth-skinned Jacob for the hairy Esau.
The verse belongs to the account in Genesis 27:1-29 in which Rebekah persuaded Jacob to deceive Isaac in order to obtain for Jacob the blessing intended for Esau, also described as the birthright and the family blessing that God had promised to Jacob.
Jacob was at first unwilling but finally agreed to his mother's plan because she believed God had promised it.
The deception was wrong and was not prompted by God, and by taking by fraud what would have been received by trust they showed lack of faith in God's power to fulfill His promise and purpose in His own time and way and by His own methods, when Jacob could have been blessed by God even without the privileges of the firstborn if he loved and feared God.
The fraud brought guilt, family distrust, separation, and lasting consequences, as Esau's anger, wrath, and threats forced Jacob to flee for his life, Rebekah never saw him again, and Isaac later became convinced that the blessing rightly belonged to Jacob.
Jacob knew he had sinned in obtaining the blessing by fraud, yet God did not forsake him, and he had to repent of that wrong and had previously repented of it before God would hear his prayer and mercifully save and preserve his life.
That sin gave Satan ground to accuse Jacob before the angels of God and claim the right to destroy him, to move Esau to march against him, and to force a sense of guilt upon him in his night of wrestling to discourage him and break his hold upon God, but because he had previously repented and learned that God is merciful, he cast himself upon God's mercy, pointed back to his repentance, pleaded for deliverance, and held fast the Angel with tears and earnest agonizing cries until he prevailed, even when reminded of his sin and driven almost to despair by review of his life.
The episode teaches that concealed, unconfessed sin would leave a person unable to plead confidently for deliverance in the time of trouble, while confessed and forgiven sins have been blotted out by the atoning blood of Christ and cannot be brought against the person, so in the final struggle with evil God's people must have no unconfessed sins and no concealed wrongs, remembering God's mercy and their sincere repentance, laying hold of God's strength with tested faith, perseverance and confidence, and pleading His promises through Christ without failing when answers delay, while Satan seeks to terrify them that their cases are hopeless and their sins too great for pardon.
The story is a warning against rivalry, scheming, and dishonest efforts to gain an advantage over others.
Deceptions similar to Jacob's are practiced when men do secret work, show partiality and hypocrisy, handle men as machinery, bind their freedom by methods and terms, harness and drive them, pervert right principles by selfishness and covetousness which is idolatry, and grasp all they can by deceptive reasoning irrespective of their own agreements or the result to those disappointed and wronged; all such secret working is open to the eye of God, angels veil their faces at it, and God will in no case justify any attempt to turn man from his rights or excuse men for such deceptive grasping.