| Subject: Genesis 27 vss. 39-40 Post 142 |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 18:50:21 12/13/10 Mon
Genesis 27:39-40 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; 40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
Jacob has been blessed by Isaac by using deception. Esau has come in from his hunting trip to get venison for his father and finds out about the theft of his blessing from Isaac. We left Esau in verse 38 in tears for what had taken place and his plea to his father: "-- Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept." From this point we need to compare the two blessing that Isaac gave that day as see if we can glean anything from it.
Jacob's blessing was in verses 28 -29: "Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: 29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee."
Esau's blessing was: "Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; 40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck."
First we should notice that Isaac invokes God in Jacob's blessing. "God give thee--". Esau's was: "Thy dwelling shall be--" The greater blessing is definitely Jacob's concerning their dwellings, wealth and prosperity. Jacob was to be given and Esau was to live among the wealth.
In the second part of Jacob's blessing we see the broad scope of who serves whom. "Let people serve thee". Let "nations bow down to thee". "Be lord over thy brethren". "Let thy mother's sons bow down to thee" and finally the blessing or curse given to Abraham (Gen. 12:3) and his descendants: "cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee."
Close scrutiny shows the blessing of Jacob as not being aimed at Esau per se. It is a blessing of time and dominion that was to come later. As we shall see in the near future of Jacob he didn't have dominion over anything or anyone. When he comes back home with his family and wealth he received while with Laban and his kinsmen, he has to bow first to God and then to his brother Esau whom he had wronged. See Gen. 32: 24-30 and 33:1-4.
Looking at Esau's blessing we can see it is specific to Esau and his relationship with his brother. Esau is not promised he will have God's blessing concerning his wealth and home. The first part of the blessing of verse 40 is more of a curse than a blessing. God word tells us that if you live by the sword you die by the sword (Rev. 13:10) Esau was to be a bloody man and warrior and live by his sword. As it turned out his descendants would be the same.. The pronouncement continued on a personal note when Isaac told him he was to "serve thy brother". The last part of the blessing was personal to the relationship between Jacob and Esau also. "It shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck." This would take place in Gen. 33:1-16. Esau and Jacob became personally reconciled to one another but the prophecy given to Jacob would still come to pass in his and Esau's descendants. Jacob's blessing would continue to play out down through the centuries. Esau's blessing was good only for his own life time.
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