Genesis 27:20
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. 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.
Genesis 27:20 records Jacob's lie to his blind, aged father when asked how the game was found so quickly, falsely claiming that God had brought it to him in order to obtain by fraud the blessing intended for Esau. The birthright and blessing were already his by God's promise, yet he failed to trust God to fulfill His purpose in His own time and way and tried by his own deceit to secure it, though God was fully able to provide for him and to bless him through righteous conduct. God did not approve or prompt the deception and does not excuse selfishness to carry out His plans. Deceit brings its own punishment, for Jacob reaped his brother's hatred and threats, flight and twenty years of exile in which he was himself wronged and defrauded, and a second harvest in the evils of his own character repeated in his sons. Afterward he sincerely repented with nothing concealed, and only because he had repented did God hear his prayer and mercifully save his life, changing his name from a reminder of sin to a commemoration of victory and giving peace of reconciliation and freedom from fear.
The Fraud and Unbelief
Genesis 27:20 belongs to Jacob's deception of his father to obtain by fraud the blessing intended for Esau. Isaac was blind and aged when Jacob deceived him to secure that blessing. When Isaac asked how the game was found so quickly, Jacob lied that the Lord his God had brought it to him. In doing so he used God's name to support the fraud.
The birthright and blessing were already his by God's promise, which Jacob knew. Yet he failed to trust God's power to fulfill His purpose in His own time and way. Instead he tried by his own efforts and deceit to bring about what God would have accomplished. God was fully able to provide for him by His own methods without deceit. He could have been blessed by God through righteous conduct even without receiving the privileges of the firstborn.
God did not approve or prompt the deception to carry out His plans. He does not excuse selfishness to carry out His plans. He will not work with devising and planning after this example.
Harvest, Repentance, and Mercy
Deceit brings its own punishment, for every deed reacts upon the doer. Jacob reaped that harvest in his brother's hatred and deadly threats, in flight for his life, and in twenty years of exile from his native land during which he was himself wronged and defrauded and at last forced to find safety in flight. He reaped a second harvest as the evils of his own character cropped out in his sons.
The guilt of that wrong returned as crushing self-reproach and terror when Esau approached with warriors bent on revenge against Jacob's unarmed and defenseless company. His return journey was made sad with misgivings despite God's favor toward him and the promises of divine help and guidance. He recognized that his own sin had brought the danger and threat upon him, leaving mercy and prayer as the only hope and defense.
Jacob afterward sincerely repented of his wrongs with nothing concealed, and only because he had previously repented did God hear his prayer and mercifully save and preserve his life, for otherwise God would not have heard him. His error as supplanter and deceiver was clearly set before him and then pardoned, his name changed from a reminder of sin to a commemoration of victory. That pardon brought the peace of reconciliation with God and freedom from fear of meeting Esau. For God does not contend forever nor remain always wroth, but sees the ways of the covetous and froward, heals and leads him, and restores comforts and peace to him that is far off and to him that is near.
Concealed, unconfessed sin left on the books overwhelms faith under fear and anguish and leaves people without confidence to plead for deliverance. Confessed sin is dealt with before judgment and blotted out by Christ's atoning blood so it cannot be brought to remembrance.
Warning and Final Application
Jacob secured by fraud the blessing his father intended for Esau, and that deception was his own sin which brought his brother's deadly threats, forced him to flee for his life, and kept him for many years an exile from home. The guilt of that wrong returned afterward as crushing self-reproach and terror when Esau approached with warriors bent on revenge against Jacob's unarmed and defenseless company, leaving hope only in the mercy of God and in prayer. In that anguish he confessed, humbled himself, made restitution to his brother, sought to disarm prejudice, and pleaded the covenant and promises for pardon and deliverance. That experience represents the experience of God's people in the time of trouble.
The claim that God had brought success in finding the food so quickly stands as an example of deceptive reasoning. Deceptions like Jacob's are still practiced by those standing in high places of trust, through partiality and hypocrisy, deceptive reasoning, selfishness and covetousness, handling men as machinery and binding their freedom. They make propositions and decisions that turn the work from straightforward channels into crooked paths, supposing that whatever their councils decide stands as the voice of God while turning away from obeying God's Word. All such secret working is open to God, it imperils souls, and God will in no case justify or excuse turning man from his rights or grasping all that can be gotten by deception irrespective of agreements or of the disappointment and wrong to others. The time has come to investigate such working in the teachings of Christ to ancient Israel.