Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!" Then Esau wept aloud. —Genesis 27:38
In the days when Isaac was old and his eyesight was poor, preparations for his death and departure were made by his family. Isaac had two sons: Jacob and Esau. It was the custom in those days that the blessing spoken over Abraham would be passed or assigned to the oldest brother. This was done through a simple ceremony of laying one’s hands on the person who was to receive and then speaking the blessing over them. In this case, Esau was the oldest by just a few seconds. Jacob had followed Esau out of the womb grasping the heel of his twin.
God had already spoken to their mother saying, “The older will serve the younger.” When it came time for the blessing to be transferred, she thought it would only be right for Jacob to do whatever it took to get the powerful words of the blessing spoken over him. Jacob had already legally traded a bowl of stew for his brother’s birthright, but without the blessing, it was worthless. So his mother dressed him in his brother’s clothes and gave him the food his father had requested from his older brother. Jacob then went in and presented himself to his father as Esau.
Since Isaac couldn’t see, he relied on his senses of smell, touch and hearing to identify the firstborn. Mistaking Jacob for Esau, he bestowed upon the younger son the only blessing he had. He transferred the blessing of Abraham to Jacob. When Esau found out about this deception, he cried like a baby because he realized the power that the blessing contained. There was nothing left for Isaac to do but to proclaim Esau’s servitude to his younger brother.
The reality is that there is only One who is blessed. The promise and blessing that was given to Abraham was never talking about a nation of biologically related people. Becoming a great and powerful nation was a benefit of carrying the blessing to the seed, Jesus. Jesus is blessed with every blessing of God. This happened after the resurrection when God made Jesus both LORD and Christ! All of the blessing of heaven and earth has been decreed, assigned and given to Jesus.
Just like Esau, you can cry, bawl and babble like a baby all day long in the presence of God, but if you’re not in Christ you’ll never access the blessing. All of the blessing and all of the promises are yours in Him. We are joint heirs with Him and co-heirs in the blessing. We have been qualified to receive all of the goodness of God through the finished work of the cross. We don’t have to beg God to enter into it; we’re already there. Now that we’ve made Jesus the Lord of our lives, we can approach God boldly when it comes to the blessing because we are in Christ and He is in us. There is one blessing and One who is blessed. Because we are in Him, we are blessed right along with Him.
Scriptural Context Genesis 27:1-46
Concept Reinforcement Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. —Romans 8:17
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. —Ephesians 3:12
…giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. —Colossians 1:12
Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. —Hebrews 12:17
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