ISAAC BLESSES JACOB Isaac confiscated the birthright from his brother Esau, for the price of a meal of stew; and now, his mother plotted for him to confiscate as well, his father Isaac’s blessing instead of Esau. 1- Isaac calls Esau 1-4. 2- Rebecca supports Jacob 5-25. 3- Jacob gets his father’s blessing 26-29. 4- Esau deprived of his father’s blessing 30-40. 5- Esau holds a grudge against his brother 41-46. 1- ISAAC CALLS ESAU “Now it came to pass when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, then he called Esau his older son and said to him, ‘My son,’ and he answered him, ‘Here I am.’ And he said, ‘Behold now, I am old, I do not know the day of my death. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die” (Gen. 27:1- 4). Isaac had previously found out that he “The older shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23), he heard how, for a meal of stew, Esau had disgracefully sold his birthrights, being frivolous concerning them; and he foresaw how Esau would take two pagan wives, to be a grief of mind to his parents. Yet he called him to eat from his game, to bless him before he dies; and to let him inherit the blessing he got from his father Abraham. Was Isaac motivated by his human fatherly emotions, or he unknowingly undertook a prophetic task?! If we blame Rebecca for interfering in a human way, to let her beloved son Jacob get the blessing instead of his brother Esau, even if in that, was to be a realization of the divine decree that the older shall serve the younger, yet we can not help noticing the weakness of Isaac, in his wish to bless Esau, despite his knowledge of that divine proclamation. St. Jerome presents to us a concise symbolic interpretation, quoted from the writings of St. Hippolytus, revealing in it the symbolic prophetic work, that this chapter carried, proclaiming the Messianic era, which we may summarize as follows: Isaac, in his call to his son Esau, to bless him as his eyes grew dim with old age, refers to the heavenly Father, who called, at the fulfillment of time, the Jewish people, being the firstborn, yearning to grant them the biblical blessing, and let them enjoy the eternal salvation, to reign together with the Lord Christ, and to keep the new Sabbath. As to Rebecca, she refers to the Holy Spirit who, knowing that the older shall serve the younger, she cared for the congregation of the Gentiles (the younger son) to get the biblical blessing instead of the Jews, who rejected faith in the Messiah, the Savior. If the ‘kid of the goats’ refers to the salvation of sinners, the two choice ‘kids,’ offered by Jacob as food for his father, refer to some of the Jews joining with the Gentiles. Rebecca let her son Jacob put on the clothes of his older brother, as reference to men of the New Testament who acquired, by the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures and drew from the Jews the Law, the covenants, and the prophecies that were their clothes which they took off by their denial of Jesus Christ. As to the skins of kids of the goats that Rebecca put on Jacob’s hands and on the smooth parts of his neck, they refer to the sin that the Lord Christ carried on our 4 behalf, although not his sins, as He is Holy One. The food that he presented is the unique sacrifice that brings pleasure to the Father’s heart, through which the Church was granted His blessing, while Esau (the Jews) got the curse because of his denial. Jacob’s escape to Haran out of his brother’s face was a symbol of the setting forth of faith to strangers, namely the Gentiles, having been opposed by the Jews. Through this concept of the Fathers, we can comprehend the true mystery of the call to Esau to get the blessing, to be violated by Jacob, through a plot by his mother Rebecca. 2-REBECCA SUPPORTS JACOB Rebecca heard what her husband Isaac said to Esau, and now in her love for her son Jacob, she told him all what happened. It is strange that neither she nor Jacob ever felt any remorse for what they did; and even Isaac never rebuked them for their behavior, after discovering their deceit, but confirmed his blessing for Jacob. He probably realized that they were right, although they used an unethical way. St. Augustine1 believes that the Scripture intended to clarify that Jacob’s behavior was not out of shrewdness or deceit, but it was in faith and innocence of heart; as it was previously proclaimed that “Esau was a skilled hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents” (Gen. 25:27). According to the Greek text, the word “mild” came as ‘faultless or simple;’ that is why he was worthy of the blessing. It was expected from Rebecca, as a prudent mother and a loving wife, to be loyal to Isaac, opening her heart to remind him of the divine voice concerning the blessing of the younger son. Yet God used, even her weakness, for the good, even though she tasted the bitter results of her impulsive conduct. Rebecca mastered her role perfectly: she prepared for Isaac his favorable meal, she enticed Jacob to wear his brother’s clothes, bearing his smell, and to put the skins of kids of the goats on Jacob’s hands and on the smooth part of his neck. This is how, through taste, smell, and touch, Isaac was convinced that it was his elder son and blessed him. Concerning the clothes, some scholars believe that Esau, being the firstborn, had a priestly garment to put on in the days of his father’s old age, to offer the sacrifices on behalf of the family. As for the skin put on Jacob’s arms neck, according to St. Augustine, it referred to him, carrying the sins of others2. There is no doubt, that Jacob here, represents the Lord Christ, the Head of the Church, who offered his life as a sacrifice of love, a heavenly food, that brings pleasure to the heart of God the Father. He puts on our clothes and garments, carried our sins, to receive, in our name, and for our benefit, the eternal glory, and the pleasure of His heavenly Father. Isaac said: “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Gen. 26: 22), and he blessed him! It is a living portrait of the Lord Christ: His voice is that of the Son, the Only-begotten. Yet, His hands are ours, as he carried our nature in Him! Although being the righteous Jacob, yet He, as Esau, carried our weaknesses and our sins! 3- JACOB GETS HIS FATHER’S BLESSING “Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come near now and kiss me, my son,’ and he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed 1 City of God 16:37. 2 City of God 16:37. 5 him and said, ‘Surely the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord had blessed. Therefore, may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let people serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you; and blessed be those who bless you” (Gen. 26:26-29). Isaac ate and drank wine and asked his son to approach and kiss him the kiss of love and respect, to get the fatherly blessing, through the abundance of fulfillment in Isaac’s life, and the good reputation he carried all his days. He smelled his clothes, as Esau’s valuable clothes were in the midst of delicate fragrance that stimulated in him the smell of the fields with their delightful flowers and fruits. So he began his blessing by saying: “The smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord had blessed,” praying God to give him of the dew of heaven, that transforms the barren land into a Paradise, of the fatness of the earth, namely its fertility, and plenty of grain and wine, a sign of fulfillment and joy. He prayed for him as well, to let nations be subjected to him, and his brethren to bow down before him. Here, St. Irenaeus says that we should interpret this blessing literally, but accept the symbols spiritually, that are realized through the blessings of the New Testament. He explains this blessing as such: [If somebody does not understand these things, as referring to the designated kingdom (the Messianic), he will fall into contradiction as did the Jews, who were utterly confused: It was not just, that the nations have not served Jacob during his life; but he, himself, after receiving the blessing, left his home, and served his uncle Laban the Syrian, for the duration of 20 years (Gen. 31:41). Not only he did not become a master to his brother, but he bent and bowed before Esau, his brother, upon his return, from Mesopotamia, to his father’s house, presenting him with many gifts (Gen. 33:3). Add to all this the manner in which he inherited plenty of grain and wine here, he who immigrated to Egypt because of the famine that befell the land where he dwelt; and submitted himself to Pharaoh who ruled Egypt at that time?!1] Therefore, we should not take that blessing on a literal basis; as it was spiritually realized by the coming of Christ the Lord, when Jacob - namely, the Church enjoyed the spiritual kingdom. According to St. Augustine, [The blessing of Jacob is the proclamation of Christ to all nations, which is realized now... Isaac is the Law and the prophecy. Even through the mouth of the Jews, the blessing of Christ was proclaimed through the prophecy, through someone who did not know or comprehend it. The world is like a field full of the sweet fragrance of Christ; His blessing is like the dew of heaven, namely the rain of divine words; The fertility of the earth is the gathering together of nations. His blessing is the abundance of grain and wine, namely, the multitudes that partake of the bread and wine, through the sacrament of His body and blood. Nations minister to Him, and princes bow down before Him. He is the Master of His brethren, for He reigns over the Jews. The children of the Father worship Him - those who are the sons of Abraham according to faith, as He is, according to the flesh, a descendant of Abraham. Cursed be everyone who curses Him, and blessed be those who bless Him2.] In our Lord Jesus Christ, each one of us becomes Jacob, who hears the blessing from his father’s mouth as such: “Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field 1 Adv. hear. 33:3. 2 City of God 16:37. 6 which the Lord had blessed. May God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine... Be master over your brethren.’ Indeed in Jesus Christ, our heart becomes like a field, like a Paradise, that smells of fragrance that brings pleasure to the heart of the Groom, to say: “I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends! Drink, yes, drink deeply’ O beloved ones! “ (Song 5:1). St. Gregory of Nyssa says in his interpretation of the Book of the Song of Songs: [He comes to His garden... and gathers its spices, mixed with the fruits of its virtues; He then talks about His enjoyment of the feast, saying to His spouse: “I have come to My garden, My sister, My spouse1.”] What is the dew of heaven, but the sanctification of the soul, that becomes like a heaven carrying the grace of God, as dew used by the Holy Spirit to irrigate plenty of land; the fertility of the earth refers to the fertility of the body, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, to have all its energies, feelings, and capabilities, working in harmony with the dew of heaven. The abundance of grain reveals the fulfillment of the soul, by its Groom, the bread coming down from heaven, and that of wine, refers to the abundance of the inner spiritual joy. Finally, enjoyment of authority, refers to the status of the spiritual man, as a king of authority, and a master who, if he says to this thought to come, it would come; and if he says to that though to go, it would go. He would have authority by the Lord over his thoughts, as well as over his senses and his depths! 4- ESAU DEPRIVED OF HIS FATHER’S BLESSING Some people may probably wonder: Where had Esau gone wrong, to be deprived of the blessing usurped by his brother, through a plot from their mother, Rebecca? Did he not cry with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, when he heard his father telling him how his brother stole the blessing when he asked his father to bless him as well? That can be answered by saying, that Esau has been negligent with what he already had - the birthright – so, as result, he lost the blessing. This, and his whole conduct, deprived him from getting the blessing. Esau’s exceedingly great and bitter cry, means that he, according to the apostle, “sought the blessing diligently with tears” (Heb. 12:17), but he did not seek it with a spiritual concept. He sought it for worldly blessings, proved by his request to get a blessing as well, saying to his father: “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (Gen. 27:36). It is one blessing only, through which he would enjoy Christ the Lord coming from his seed. So how could this blessing belong to two brothers?! 5- ESAU HOLDS A GRUDGE AGAINST HIS BROTHER Despite his grudge against his brother, we cannot deny Esau’s noble reaction. He refused to kill his brother for the sake of his father’s old age. He expected a quick death for his father, without anticipating that he was to live for a long time afterwards. Perhaps Rebecca feared to inform Isaac about Esau’s grudge against Jacob, so, she asked him to instruct Jacob to depart to Haran to marry from there, instead of taking a wife of the daughters of Heth, as his brother Esau did. Thus, she found a way for Jacob to get his father’s blessing before fleeing from his brother’s face. Finally, as a result of her plot, and after deceiving her man, Rebecca was deprived from her beloved son Jacob. However, St. Ambrose sees in Rebecca’s last 1 Ser. 10. 7 action a kind of wisdom, her natural motherly instincts prevailed, in order to spare Esau from anger, and avoid missing him together with his brother Jacob, he said: [The good counsels prevail over the natural feelings1.] 1 Duties of the Clergy 1:24. 8 CHAPTERS 25-50 GOD’S DEALINGS WITH JACOB 1. God’ presence had been manifested in the life of Abraham and Sarah. And their son Isaac received God’s blessings to them, and enjoyed their hope in salvation. The Lord Himself came to Isaac, to confirm His promises to his father Abraham... Now Jacob receives, in his turn, the blessings of his parents Isaac and Rebecca, namely God’s blessing to them, to live, carrying on their faith, and enjoying their hope, striving all the days of his sojourn on earth for the sake of the Lord. 1- Jacob the wrestler in his mother’s womb (Gen. 25). 2- Jacob supplants his father’s blessing (Gen. 27). 3- Jacob and the open heaven (Gen. 28). 4- Jacob labors for his uncle Laban (Gen. 29-30). 5- God blesses Jacob’s uncle (Gen. 31). 6- Jacob wrestles with the Angel (Gen. 32). 7- Jacob overcomes Esau with love (Gen. 33). 8- Shechem violates Dinah, Jacob’s daughter (Gen. 34). 9- Jacob returns to Bethel (Gen. 35). 10- Jacob and his beloved son Joseph (Gen. 37-50).
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