Genesis 27-28: A Stolen Blessing

When Isaac became old and near his death, it was time for him to pass on his blessing to his firstborn son. Traditionally, this blessing was received only by the firstborn son and not by any other son in the household. There was no division of the inheritance between family members-- so Isaac's son Esau would get all of the blessing and wealth, while Jacob would have to make his own way.

And Jacob did make his own way...or rather his mother did. She encouraged Jacob to deceive his old, vision-impaired father, to trick him into believing he was his brother Esau and therefore receive the blessing. This is exactly what Jacob did.

Unfortunately for Esau, there were no "take-backsies" in his homeland at this time. And unfortunately for Isaac, he only had one blessing to give-- and he had given it to Jacob. What a scandal this must have been! Esau was deathly furious, and don't you think Isaac was as well? But it was too late. Now even Isaac had to see Jacob as his heir, no matter how mad he was.

Jacob was sent away by his father to his kinsman, Laban's home to find a woman to marry there. And he quickly obliged-- eager to get out of the area where Esau might have found him and killed him. It was on his journey there, that God appeared to Jacob in a dream and said,

"Know I am with you, and I will watch over you no matter where you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all I have promised you." 
Genesis 28:15, The Voice

Isn't this crazy? God decided to honor the mistaken blessing of Isaac-- a stolen blessing given to a deceptive son. But God can use even the most twisted and wrong situations to bring about His plan. He didn't even mention Jacob's wrongdoing in the dream. You think God would have said, Jacob you wronged your brother and don't deserve this land, but I have to honor the blessing anyway. But no! He just said, I will be with you and I will do what I have promised.

I know sometimes I don't think God can use me because I mess up all the time-- and sometimes I sin on purpose! What an ugly truth. But what God sees when He looks at me is His promise. And the truth is that there is nothing I can do to invalidate His promise. There is no rule I can break, no horrible thing I can do that will cause Him to break His covenant with me.