Genesis 27:25
And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank.
Isaac was old and nearly blind and favored Esau, and he asked for prepared meat to eat before giving his dying blessing, and Jacob came with food and wine which Isaac ate and drank as the feast before the blessing intended for Esau, obtaining it by posing as his brother. God did not prompt this fraud to secure the promise already given to the younger son, but Jacob acted from lack of faith and tried by his own deceptive effort to bring about what God was fully able to accomplish in His own time and way. That deception brought sorrow and lasting retribution, forcing Jacob to flee for his life into twenty years of exile where he was himself wronged and defrauded, with the evil cropping out again in his sons. His wrong made him a supplanter and deceiver until he truly repented before his night of wrestling and prayer, when his sin was forgiven and his name changed to commemorate victory, without which repentance God would not have heard his plea for deliverance from Esau. Concealed, unconfessed sin leaves a person unable to plead confidently for deliverance in trouble, so past fraud must be repented and put away and blotted out before God will save in the final struggle.
The Meal and Deception
Isaac was old and nearly blind and favored his firstborn, and he asked the son he believed to be Esau to bring him prepared meat so that he could eat and then give him his blessing before he died. He planned this blessing for Esau even though Esau had already sold his birthright, and even though he knew God's purpose was for Jacob to receive the promise. The meal in the verse is that feast before the blessing Isaac intended for Esau, with Jacob bringing food and wine and Isaac eating and drinking. Jacob came as his son under deception to obtain that blessing, carrying out the fraud by bringing what his father ate and drank.
God did not prompt Jacob and Rebekah to deceive Isaac, and the blessing and the foretold place of the younger son were not to be secured by fraud. Jacob showed lack of faith and did not trust God's promises, but sought by his own efforts to bring about by deception what God was fully able to accomplish in His own time and way without fraud. God was fully able to provide for Jacob by His own methods without fraud, and He has not changed and will not connive at selfishness to carry out His plans nor work with any devising or planning after this example. Rebekah and Jacob should have trusted God to fulfill His purposes in His own way and time rather than forcing His purpose through fraud.
The act means deceptive reasoning used to grasp advantage and turn a man from his rights, joined with partiality and hypocrisy. It was covetousness, selfishness, ambitious pride, rivalry, conniving at evil, and underhand dealing to gain the advantage of a brother in order to obtain the blessing. God in no case justifies or excuses such dealing, and angels veil their faces at it. Such principles must be cleansed from mind and heart, for this unholy work hurts and finally ruins every soul who engages in it.
A father's blessing or firstborn privilege could not by itself ensure God's favor. God alone gives prosperity or adversity according to a person's conduct, so Jacob would have been blessed if he loved and feared God even without those privileges, while a corrupt, God-defying course brings rejection. The blessing's outcome was not dependent on Jacob's deception, for prosperity depended on loving and reverencing God.
Consequences, Repentance, Warning
The fraud to gain what was already his by God's promise brought sorrow and lasting consequences, for Esau's hatred and threats forced Jacob to flee for his life as a fugitive from his native land. That flight led into twenty years of exile in which he was himself wronged and defrauded until forced to find safety in flight. There was a second harvest when the evils of his own character cropped out in his sons. The deception directly caused fear, self-reproach, and an accusing conscience when Jacob later faced the danger of meeting Esau, for he recognized his own sin had caused it. When he left Padan-aram in obedience to God's direction and retraced the road home, the memory of that sin was ever before him and made his journey sad and full of misgivings day and night, even as he also remembered God's favor toward him and God's promises of help and guidance.
The account shows the retributions of human life, where every deed reacts upon the doer. Yet it does not end without hope, for this wrong did not cause God to forsake Jacob. God will not contend forever nor be always wroth but will heal, lead, and restore comforts and peace to him that is far off and to him that is near. Obtaining the blessing by fraud was sin that made Jacob a supplanter and deceiver, and the name Jacob remained a reminder of that sin until it was forgiven and changed to commemorate victory. Jacob truly repented of that wrong before his night of wrestling and prayer, pointing back to that repentance when he pleaded for deliverance, and without that prior repentance God would not have heard his prayer and mercifully saved his life from Esau.
Concealed, unconfessed sin leaves a person unable to plead confidently for deliverance in a time of trouble. Only those whose sins have gone beforehand to judgment and have been blotted out can plead with confidence for deliverance. If unconfessed sins remained, fear and anguish would overwhelm faith and cut off prayer, so past fraud must be repented and put away before God will deliver in the final struggle. The same deception is practiced by men standing in high places of trust who handle men as machinery, bind their freedom, and rule as lords over God's heritage, wronging others by deceptive practices. God has not changed and will not connive at selfishness to carry out His plans nor work with any devising or planning after this example, and such principles of covetousness, selfishness, ambitious pride, rivalry, conniving at evil and underhand dealing must be cleansed from mind and heart, for this unholy work hurts and finally ruins every soul who engages in it.