Good Morning.
So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. (Genesis 27:22-23)
Isaac was obviously suspicious. In the text, he indicated at least twice that he wasn’t quite sure if the one standing before him was Esau or not. The most obvious expression of his doubt came in the words,“The voice is Jacob’s.” Now, did he mean that the tenor of his voice sounded like the son he knew as Jacob or was it that the manner of speaking was that of Jacob and not of Esau. In other words, when asked how he was able to find game and cook it so quickly, the response was, “The LORD your God brought it to me.” Would the real Esau have acknowledged the LORD in this way? Nevertheless, Isaac concluded that the hands, because they were as a hairy goat, were the hands of Esau.
We could argue back and forth whether or not Jacob should have followed through with this but the fact remains that he did deceive his father in order to obtain the blessing. Later, Isaac admitted that Jacob had deceived him and had obtained Esau’s blessing (Gen. 27:35). So as it turns out Isaac’s suspicions were warranted but, because of his diminished eyesight, the ruse was successful. If Isaac truly wanted Esau to obtain the blessing, he should have trusted his gut.
The lesson for us today is understand that, sometimes, seeing isn’t believing. Sometimes we can’t trust what we see but must go with what we know. In other words, there are times when what is on the surface doesn’t truly reflect what is beneath the surface and, therefore, we must be guided by the truth of the Word.
Remember that the Adversary deceived the woman by seducing her to partake of a tree that appeared good but was also evil. He continues to use the same tactic today, and so, we mustn’t let our spiritual vision decline. More importantly perhaps, we mustn’t let our spiritual hearing be dulled. We are living in a day when we must be able to hear His Voice above all others and have the confidence to trust His Voice if we are going to overcome the snares and devices of the Adversary.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
Recent Comments