Genesis 27:4, commentary and pictures

Isaac, believing his death was near, asked his elder son Esau to prepare the venison feast he loved and bring it to him to eat, so that he might then give him the solemn blessing of the firstborn. He favored Esau and planned to bless him secretly despite Rebekah and Jacob's opposition, even though Esau had sold and sworn away his birthright to Jacob and God had revealed that the blessing belonged to the younger son. That request gave the occasion for Rebekah and Jacob to seize the blessing by deception, a course God did not prompt and could have accomplished for Jacob by His own means without deceit. Jacob thus obtained the blessing already promised to him by God through fraud and a failure to trust God, a wrong that required repentance and which he afterward truly repented. Only because he had repented did God hear his later prayer for deliverance from Esau's anger and revenge and mercifully preserve his life in his flight, though he fled in fear and distress for his sin, showing that unconfessed sin leaves one unable to trust God while confessed sins are blotted out and remembered no more.

Isaac's Blessing Feast Plan

Isaac, feeling his death was near, asked Esau to prepare savory meat, the venison he loved, and bring it to him to eat, so that afterward he might give him his blessing before he died. The meal was to be a feast held according to custom before pronouncing a solemn blessing. That blessing was the one intended for the firstborn, whom Isaac regarded as Esau his elder son and intended heir.

Though he knew God's revealed purpose concerning Jacob the younger son, Isaac favored Esau and intended to bless him as firstborn. He planned to do it secretly because he knew Rebekah and Jacob opposed it. He made the request despite Esau's having sold his birthright and sworn it over to Jacob. Prosperity and God's blessing depended on a person's conduct toward God, not merely on receiving the firstborn's privileges.

The request set the occasion for Rebekah and Jacob's deception to obtain Isaac's blessing. That deceit was not prompted by God, for God could have provided for Jacob by His own methods without deceit.

Fraud, Flight, and Repentance

Genesis 27:4 belongs to the account in which Jacob obtained his father's blessing by fraud and deceptive dealing, the blessing that was intended for Esau and that God had already promised to Jacob. His course is set forth as an example of deceptive dealings practiced against others. In so obtaining what God had already promised him, Jacob sinned by failing to trust that God could fulfill His purpose whatever the circumstances.

That fraud in obtaining the blessing and the birthright was a wrong that required repentance, and Jacob afterward truly repented of it. When he later pleaded with God for deliverance from Esau he pointed back to that repentance and held fast to God's mercy. Only because he had previously repented did God hear his prayer and mercifully preserve his life from Esau, and without that repentance God would not and could not have heard him.

The deception led Jacob to flee for his life from his brother's anger and afterward to face the danger of Esau's threatened revenge. His own sin added to his fear and distress as he faced that danger. Though Jacob knew he had sinned, God did not forsake him. His experience shows that unconfessed sin would leave people unable to trust God for deliverance in the time of trouble, while confessed sins are blotted out and no longer brought to remembrance.