Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
God was asked to grant rich material prosperity from sky and soil, abundant grain and wine. The blessing was meant for Esau as the favored firstborn son, but Jacob received it, to whom it already belonged by God's promise and purpose. Jacob secured it by deceiving his father with Rebekah's help, from lack of trust that God would fulfill His own word in His own time and way, which God did not prompt and did not excuse. The fraud brought Esau's murderous hatred and forced Jacob into long fugitive exile where he was himself wronged, and later returned upon him in terror before Esau's warriors and in the evils of his sons. The wrong had to be sincerely repented of and confessed before God heard his prayer for deliverance and pardoned him, changing Jacob to Israel in peace. That pardon shows God's people must have sins confessed beforehand to prevail in the final trouble, and warns that all conniving and underhand dealing for advantage over others must be cleansed away.
Blessing's Content and Recipient
The prayer asks God to give material prosperity from both heaven and earth, in the form of heaven's dew, the earth's richness, and plenty of grain and wine. It opens Isaac's blessing and pronounces abundance from above and below upon the one who receives it. That blessing was intended for Esau as the firstborn and favored son, yet Jacob is the one who received it. Although spoken over Jacob, it had been meant for Esau, and Jacob obtained by deception what Isaac designed for his elder son.
At the same time the birthright blessing already belonged to Jacob by God's promise and purpose to fulfill His word through him. He knew God had promised it to him, and God's purpose was to bring about His own word through Jacob in His own time and way. The promised prosperity itself could come only from God, who gives prosperity or brings adversity according to the recipient's conduct. Receiving the firstborn's blessing therefore did not guarantee God's favor to an unrighteous person, nor did its fulfillment and continuance follow the mere words apart from God and the recipient's course.
One who loves, fears, and reveres God in a righteous course would be accepted and blessed even without the privileges usually given to the firstborn. Jacob could have been so blessed by God for loving and fearing Him and for holding a righteous course, apart from those customary privileges. By contrast, one who rejects God and His commandments would not receive His blessing.
Fraud and Its Consequences
Jacob secured the blessing that opens with the gift of dew from heaven and richness from earth through fraud and deception practiced upon his father Isaac, with Rebekah's help, acting as supplanter and deceiver. The blessing so obtained had been intended for Esau. The fraud came because he did not trust God's promises and ability to fulfill His purpose in His own time and way, but sought by his own effort to bring about what God Himself would have accomplished. God did not prompt the deceit, does not connive at selfishness to carry out His plans, and was fully able to provide for Jacob by His own methods, so the divine purpose neither made the fraud right nor required the family to force it by deceit.
That deception at once brought Esau's hatred and deadly threats of revenge with danger to Jacob, forcing him to flee for his life into long exile. He entered exile as a fugitive, and the direct result was twenty years away from his native land, during which he was himself wronged and defrauded until forced to flee for safety. He returned from Padan-aram in obedience to divine direction with an accusing conscience, his sin ever before him, with remorse and fear that he had forfeited divine protection, making his journey sad even as he also remembered God's favor and the promises of divine help and guidance.
The fraud later returned upon him as self-reproach and terror when Esau approached with warriors while Jacob's company was unarmed and defenseless, leaving prayer for God's mercy as his only hope. It yielded also a second harvest when the evils of his own character cropped out in his sons, showing that every deed reacts upon the doer.
Repentance and Present Warning
Taking the blessing by fraud was sin and wrong, a secret working for selfish advantage carried out as supplanter and deceiver. It was an act of partiality and hypocrisy, open to the eye of God, which He will not tolerate, justify, or excuse. That sin gave Satan ground to accuse Jacob before God and to claim the right to destroy him.
The wrong had to be sincerely repented of and confessed before God heard Jacob's prayer and mercifully saved and preserved his life from Esau. Without that prior repentance he could not have confidently pleaded with God in his later crisis, and unconfessed sin would have left him without confidence to plead for deliverance. The sin in obtaining the blessing was set before him and then pardoned, with the change of his name from Jacob to Israel as evidence that he was forgiven. With that pardon the crisis of his life was past, doubt and remorse were replaced by the peace of reconciliation with God, fear of meeting Esau was removed, and God could move Esau's heart to accept Jacob's humiliation and repentance.
Jacob's holding fast for deliverance in the night of wrestling prevailed only because he had already repented and cast himself on God's mercy. It shows that in the final time of trouble God's people must have all sins confessed and blotted out by the blood of Christ beforehand, or despair will cut off faith and prayer for deliverance will fail. The episode stands as a warning against the same deceptive dealing that turns men from their rights and wrongs others for gain, which is still practiced and must be exposed. God did not prompt the deceit, does not connive at selfishness to carry out His plans, and will not work with any devising or planning after that example.
The spirit of rivalry and all conniving and underhand dealing to obtain advantage over brethren must be cleansed from mind and heart, for this unholy work hurts and finally ruins every soul who engages in it. Even so God will not contend forever nor be always wroth, but sees, heals, leads, restores comforts to mourners, and gives peace to him that is far off and to him that is near.
God was asked to grant rich material prosperity from sky and soil, abundant grain and wine. The blessing was meant for Esau as the favored firstborn son, but Jacob received it, to whom it already belonged by God's promise and purpose. Jacob secured it by deceiving his father with Rebekah's help, from lack of trust that God would fulfill His own word in His own time and way, which God did not prompt and did not excuse. The fraud brought Esau's murderous hatred and forced Jacob into long fugitive exile where he was himself wronged, and later returned upon him in terror before Esau's warriors and in the evils of his sons. The wrong had to be sincerely repented of and confessed before God heard his prayer for deliverance and pardoned him, changing Jacob to Israel in peace. That pardon shows God's people must have sins confessed beforehand to prevail in the final trouble, and warns that all conniving and underhand dealing for advantage over others must be cleansed away.
Blessing's Content and Recipient
The prayer asks God to give material prosperity from both heaven and earth, in the form of heaven's dew, the earth's richness, and plenty of grain and wine. It opens Isaac's blessing and pronounces abundance from above and below upon the one who receives it. That blessing was intended for Esau as the firstborn and favored son, yet Jacob is the one who received it. Although spoken over Jacob, it had been meant for Esau, and Jacob obtained by deception what Isaac designed for his elder son.
At the same time the birthright blessing already belonged to Jacob by God's promise and purpose to fulfill His word through him. He knew God had promised it to him, and God's purpose was to bring about His own word through Jacob in His own time and way. The promised prosperity itself could come only from God, who gives prosperity or brings adversity according to the recipient's conduct. Receiving the firstborn's blessing therefore did not guarantee God's favor to an unrighteous person, nor did its fulfillment and continuance follow the mere words apart from God and the recipient's course.
One who loves, fears, and reveres God in a righteous course would be accepted and blessed even without the privileges usually given to the firstborn. Jacob could have been so blessed by God for loving and fearing Him and for holding a righteous course, apart from those customary privileges. By contrast, one who rejects God and His commandments would not receive His blessing.
Fraud and Its Consequences
Jacob secured the blessing that opens with the gift of dew from heaven and richness from earth through fraud and deception practiced upon his father Isaac, with Rebekah's help, acting as supplanter and deceiver. The blessing so obtained had been intended for Esau. The fraud came because he did not trust God's promises and ability to fulfill His purpose in His own time and way, but sought by his own effort to bring about what God Himself would have accomplished. God did not prompt the deceit, does not connive at selfishness to carry out His plans, and was fully able to provide for Jacob by His own methods, so the divine purpose neither made the fraud right nor required the family to force it by deceit.
That deception at once brought Esau's hatred and deadly threats of revenge with danger to Jacob, forcing him to flee for his life into long exile. He entered exile as a fugitive, and the direct result was twenty years away from his native land, during which he was himself wronged and defrauded until forced to flee for safety. He returned from Padan-aram in obedience to divine direction with an accusing conscience, his sin ever before him, with remorse and fear that he had forfeited divine protection, making his journey sad even as he also remembered God's favor and the promises of divine help and guidance.
The fraud later returned upon him as self-reproach and terror when Esau approached with warriors while Jacob's company was unarmed and defenseless, leaving prayer for God's mercy as his only hope. It yielded also a second harvest when the evils of his own character cropped out in his sons, showing that every deed reacts upon the doer.
Repentance and Present Warning
Taking the blessing by fraud was sin and wrong, a secret working for selfish advantage carried out as supplanter and deceiver. It was an act of partiality and hypocrisy, open to the eye of God, which He will not tolerate, justify, or excuse. That sin gave Satan ground to accuse Jacob before God and to claim the right to destroy him.
The wrong had to be sincerely repented of and confessed before God heard Jacob's prayer and mercifully saved and preserved his life from Esau. Without that prior repentance he could not have confidently pleaded with God in his later crisis, and unconfessed sin would have left him without confidence to plead for deliverance. The sin in obtaining the blessing was set before him and then pardoned, with the change of his name from Jacob to Israel as evidence that he was forgiven. With that pardon the crisis of his life was past, doubt and remorse were replaced by the peace of reconciliation with God, fear of meeting Esau was removed, and God could move Esau's heart to accept Jacob's humiliation and repentance.
Jacob's holding fast for deliverance in the night of wrestling prevailed only because he had already repented and cast himself on God's mercy. It shows that in the final time of trouble God's people must have all sins confessed and blotted out by the blood of Christ beforehand, or despair will cut off faith and prayer for deliverance will fail. The episode stands as a warning against the same deceptive dealing that turns men from their rights and wrongs others for gain, which is still practiced and must be exposed. God did not prompt the deceit, does not connive at selfishness to carry out His plans, and will not work with any devising or planning after that example.
The spirit of rivalry and all conniving and underhand dealing to obtain advantage over brethren must be cleansed from mind and heart, for this unholy work hurts and finally ruins every soul who engages in it. Even so God will not contend forever nor be always wroth, but sees, heals, leads, restores comforts to mourners, and gives peace to him that is far off and to him that is near.