And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
Isaac's words record that the blessing intended for Esau was taken away by his brother coming with subtilty, and that subtilty fits Jacob, whose name means supplanter and deceiver, for he obtained the blessing by fraud and deception. The fraud included both the earlier obtaining of the birthright and the later obtaining of the blessing pronounced by Isaac. Esau had rashly sold his birthright to Jacob with a solemn oath, trading it for food because he was reckless and controlled by appetite and despised its value. The blessing that Jacob received would have belonged to Esau himself had he not so sold it.
The birthright and its blessing were already Jacob's by God's promise, and prosperity in the blessing depended on God and on a person's conduct rather than merely on firstborn privilege. Esau would have been blessed or would have faced adversity according to his actions, and Jacob could have received God's blessing even without the privileges usually given to the firstborn. The deception by which Rebekah and Jacob sought to secure it was a sinful, wrong course that should not have been used to bring about God's purposes. It sprang from distrust of God and His promises and from impatient effort to accomplish by human means what God was abundantly able to perform in His own time and way, and God does not excuse, tolerate, or sanction even the least wrong in His children.
The deed reacted upon Jacob in retribution, producing his brother's hatred and twenty years of exile in which Jacob himself was wronged and defrauded until forced to flee for safety. That wrong drove him into exile and later brought fear of Esau's revenge with painful self-reproach when Jacob faced danger. A second harvest came when the evils of his own character cropped out in his sons, proving that what a person does is the fruit of what he is. His sin was opened before him when he wrestled in bodily conflict with the heavenly messenger, and there through humiliation, repentance, self-surrender, and pleading God's pledged word he as a penitent and broken mortal received pardon and the blessing for which his soul longed, with rest and peace in assurance of restored favor. Though wroth with his covetous iniquity, God does not contend forever nor remain always wroth, but promises after seeing his ways to heal him, to lead him, to restore comforts to him and to his mourners, and to give peace to him that is far off and to him that is near, and He will not cast off and leave to despair and destruction those who are deceived and tempted and betrayed into sin.
Jacob repented of that fraud before his night of wrestling for deliverance, and because he had already repented God heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his life and saved him. His experience proves that concealed, unconfessed sin must be repented of beforehand and blotted out, having already gone before to judgment, in order to have confidence with God in the time of trouble. Remaining unconfessed sin leaves fear and anguish to overwhelm faith to plead for deliverance, cutting off confidence to seek deliverance. Esau was greatly distressed when he learned the blessing was taken from him, and his bitter repentance and great sacrifice could not restore what he had lost, for his sorrow came too late to remedy his rash act.
Esau's loss warns that the unrighteous who count the redemption purchased by Christ of little value and trade their inheritance of heaven for selfish pleasure, perishable treasures, unhealthy appetite, corrupt passions and hurtful lusts will find in the day of God that they cannot recover it. They will find no place for repentance, although they seek it carefully and with tears, even as Esau sought with tears what selfish gratification had bartered away. The same kind of subtilty and deception is now practiced by those standing in high places of trust through secret working, deceptive reasoning, partiality and hypocrisy, turning away from obeying God's Word. The time has come to investigate Christ's teachings to ancient Israel concerning this wrong.
Isaac's words record that the blessing intended for Esau was taken away by his brother coming with subtilty, and that subtilty fits Jacob, whose name means supplanter and deceiver, for he obtained the blessing by fraud and deception. The fraud included both the earlier obtaining of the birthright and the later obtaining of the blessing pronounced by Isaac. Esau had rashly sold his birthright to Jacob with a solemn oath, trading it for food because he was reckless and controlled by appetite and despised its value. The blessing that Jacob received would have belonged to Esau himself had he not so sold it.
The birthright and its blessing were already Jacob's by God's promise, and prosperity in the blessing depended on God and on a person's conduct rather than merely on firstborn privilege. Esau would have been blessed or would have faced adversity according to his actions, and Jacob could have received God's blessing even without the privileges usually given to the firstborn. The deception by which Rebekah and Jacob sought to secure it was a sinful, wrong course that should not have been used to bring about God's purposes. It sprang from distrust of God and His promises and from impatient effort to accomplish by human means what God was abundantly able to perform in His own time and way, and God does not excuse, tolerate, or sanction even the least wrong in His children.
The deed reacted upon Jacob in retribution, producing his brother's hatred and twenty years of exile in which Jacob himself was wronged and defrauded until forced to flee for safety. That wrong drove him into exile and later brought fear of Esau's revenge with painful self-reproach when Jacob faced danger. A second harvest came when the evils of his own character cropped out in his sons, proving that what a person does is the fruit of what he is. His sin was opened before him when he wrestled in bodily conflict with the heavenly messenger, and there through humiliation, repentance, self-surrender, and pleading God's pledged word he as a penitent and broken mortal received pardon and the blessing for which his soul longed, with rest and peace in assurance of restored favor. Though wroth with his covetous iniquity, God does not contend forever nor remain always wroth, but promises after seeing his ways to heal him, to lead him, to restore comforts to him and to his mourners, and to give peace to him that is far off and to him that is near, and He will not cast off and leave to despair and destruction those who are deceived and tempted and betrayed into sin.
Jacob repented of that fraud before his night of wrestling for deliverance, and because he had already repented God heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his life and saved him. His experience proves that concealed, unconfessed sin must be repented of beforehand and blotted out, having already gone before to judgment, in order to have confidence with God in the time of trouble. Remaining unconfessed sin leaves fear and anguish to overwhelm faith to plead for deliverance, cutting off confidence to seek deliverance. Esau was greatly distressed when he learned the blessing was taken from him, and his bitter repentance and great sacrifice could not restore what he had lost, for his sorrow came too late to remedy his rash act.
Esau's loss warns that the unrighteous who count the redemption purchased by Christ of little value and trade their inheritance of heaven for selfish pleasure, perishable treasures, unhealthy appetite, corrupt passions and hurtful lusts will find in the day of God that they cannot recover it. They will find no place for repentance, although they seek it carefully and with tears, even as Esau sought with tears what selfish gratification had bartered away. The same kind of subtilty and deception is now practiced by those standing in high places of trust through secret working, deceptive reasoning, partiality and hypocrisy, turning away from obeying God's Word. The time has come to investigate Christ's teachings to ancient Israel concerning this wrong.