Genesis 27:25-29 And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless you. And he brought it near to him… I. First, we shall consider WHEREIN ISAAC'S BLESSING CONSISTED. 1. Plenty, heaven and earth combining to enrich the happy possessor. 2. Power, almost unlimited, especially over his own brethren. 3. And last, though not the least, a mighty influence with God and a great interest in the courts of heaven. "Cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." Or, in other words, "Let God be an enemy to all thy enemies, and a friend to all thy friends." 4. Now these, doubtless, were very desirable mercies, and they belonged, by right, to the first-born; though God was pleased sometimes to revoke that taw, and to transfer these blessings from the elder to the younger, as instanced in the case before us, and also in that of Cain and of Reuben. These, I say, were very desirable mercies, and, when accompanied with the Divine sanction, of untold value. But still, after all, they were but temporary. They lasted only for this life; and Jacob, I doubt not, might have managed very well without any one of them. The blessing of Isaac, therefore, must have comprised something more than what we have here recorded; otherwise we may be well assured that Jacob would never have risked so much to obtain it, nor would his mother ever have placed him in so hazardous and perilous a situation. But the fact is, these temporal blessings were but the "shadows of better things to come." They were, to use an apostolic phrase, "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." They included all those good things which were more particularly specified to Abraham when God entered into covenant with him. They intimated, for instance, in the first place, that from him should descend the Messiah — He who was to be the "Prince of the kings of the earth... before whom all nations should come and worship... and who was to rule them with a rod of iron, and to break them to shivers as a potter's vessel." And, in the second place, that from him also should come the church that was to be specially owned and blessed by God; and consequently we find Isaac, when afterwards confirming the blessing to Jacob, calling it the "blessing of Abraham." II. What were THE MEANS THAT REBEKAH ADOPTED to secure the blessing for her favourite son Jacob. They were little else than a tissue of lies and deceit. III. Let us now see what LESSONS we may gather up from a contemplation of the whole subject. 1. In the first place, then, it reads a very solemn and affecting warning to parents. It teaches the folly and danger of making invidious distinctions between the different members of your families — of showing an undue partiality for one child more than another. It is a withering curse. It introduces discord and dissension into every family wherever it finds a footing, and it is the fruitful source of all evil, social and moral. Whenever, therefore, you feel its chilling influence beginning to steal over you, oh, remember Rebekah, and in the name and strength of your God shake it from you. Give it no encouragement; or, if you must, keep it to yourself. Let no one else ever see or feel it. In the second place, learn from this subject the way in which our Heavenly Father will have us to seek for His blessing. We must come to Him for it in and through our Elder Brother. We must come clothed in His "goodly raiment," even that pure and spotless robe which He wrought for us on Calvary. There is no other way under heaven whereby we can be saved. And if you ask me by what means we are to get this goodly raiment — this pure and spotless righteousness, I answer, simply by asking for it. "Ask," says your God and Saviour, "and you shall have." And although it cost Him a great price — even His own precious blood — yet He offers it to you without money and without price. Oh, go to Him, then, and ask Him for this precious gift; for "the gift of God is eternal life." (E. Harper, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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