This is Birthrights, Blessings, Covenant Promises-Lessons Learned from the Story of Esau and Jacob, Part 1.

 

This will be the 26th Torah Reading or Parshah of the 3-year Torah Reading Cycle. Our reading is found in Genesis or Beresheit 27:30-38:9.

 

As in times past, I will be reading from Robert Alter’s Translation of Torah entitled “The Five Books of Moses.” But I will use various translations as additional references.

 

We’ll read through each consecutive verse, stopping for comments as needed.

 

But before we begin, let’s quickly review the events leading up to our reading. Then in Part 2, we’ll tackle this week’s reading.

 

Among other things—concepts—thinkings—perspectives—this reading serves as a lesson about “how worry and doubt control the decisions of human beings even in those areas where Yah has already reassured and pronounced a final decision” (Richoka; The Messianic Revolution).

 

What does this mean? Well, we’ll have to go back to the beginning of this story, which is I believe a reading ago. A reading we did not cover. But we’ll briefly cover the highlights here. But it was during Rebekah’s (aka Rivkah’s) pregnancy that Yah essentially declared unto her that Isaac (aka Ya’achov), the younger son, would receive the birthright and his father Isaac’s (aka Yitschaq’s) blessing. Which essentially means that Ya’achov was the chosen one of the twins—the older twin Esau (aka Esav) and Ya’achov the younger. This is recorded in Genesis (aka Bereshyth) 25:

 

(21) And Isaac (aka Yitschaq) entreated (in other words, Yitschaq prayed to) Yehovah for his wife, because she was barren. And Yehovah was entreated of him, and Rebekah (aka Rivkah) his wife conceived. (22) And the children struggled together within her (some English translations say these twins fought with each other within her). And she said, If it be so, wherefore do I live? (In other words, “Why is this happening within me? Or what is going on within me?) And she went to inquire of Yehovah (Gen. 25:21-22; ASV modified).

 

Two Warring Nations Within Rivkah

 

Again, Rivkah is told by Yah that she had two-nations in her womb at the time she was found to be pregnant with the twins Esav and Ya’achov (25:24). So then, who or what were would these two nations become? Well, Ya’achov represents the nation of Yisra’el of course, while Esav represents the nation of Edom.

 

Rabbinic tradition ties Edom to Christianity, the Roman Empire, and the Roman Catholic Church, this according to certain Dead Sea Scroll writings.

 

Now, apparently in Hebrew, Rome sounds a bit like Edom. Of course I couldn’t resist, and I looked this up myself on wordhippo.com. And yes, Rome in Hebrew is Edom. Imagine that.

 

Turns out that the Jews historically referred to Christians as Edomites. They did, by the way, refer to all Muslims as Isha’elites.

 

There are 2,000-year old Jewish writings that link Edom to the Roman Empire as well. And by the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D., the Rome-Edom-connection was made complete by the Jew of that time calling the Roman Catholic Church as Edom.

 

This should not be of any surprise. Certainly, history bears out how brutally Rome and the Roman Catholic Church treated Jews throughout the last two-millennia. Because Edom runs contrary to that of Ya’achov, it carries a negative connotation with the Jew, even to this day. This despite Edom meaning simply “red,” traditionally defined as red in linkage to the red lentil stew that Esav gave or despised his birthright for.

 

Well, that’s all nice to know rabbinic traditional information that doesn’t necessarily translate into reality all the time. So then, what do we know of Edom today?

 

Historically, Edom actually did become a kingdom, known as the Kingdom of Edom. Archaeologists and historians place its establishment and early existence in the Transjordan region, which was located between Moab, the Arabah, and the Arabian Desert. Today that territory is divided between Yisra’el proper and Jordan.

 

Edom, as a nation, is said to have flourished between the 13th and 8th centuries BC but was ultimately destroyed by the Babylonians sometime around 586/7 BC. (I take these dates with a grain of salt, since historians and archeologists have recently been found in error as it relates to a number of established dates for events in scripture. But for the sake of discussion, we’ll go with what has been established by the establishment for now.)

 

After the destruction of Edom, surviving Edomites migrated and settled in what we know today as Southern Judah and in parts of the Negev.

 

After the Greek conquest of the entire region, the Edomites were renamed as Idumeans/Idumaeans, with their territory given the name of Idumea/Idumaea. This should start to sound somewhat familiar to you as we find in the days of our Mashiyach and His earthly ministry, the Idumeans factored significantly into the multicultural landscape of that region and time.

 

Turns out that sometime during the 2nd century BC, the Edomites were forced to convert to Judaism by the Hasmoneans. Thus, the Edomites turned Idumeans were ingrafted, if you will, into the Jewish nation of Yisra’el during the Great Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid kingdom. The Idumeans themselves were overcome by the Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus sometime around 125 BC.

 

Here’s where this issue of the Edomites and the Idumeans might be more familiar to you. The Herods—the Kingly dynasty that was politically put into power over Judah by the Romans during the time our Mashiyach walked this earth—were Edomites—Idumeans. The insult to the Jew of Mashiyach’s day was that a non-Jew—the King of Yisra’el was supposed to be of the Tribe of Judah, but the Herods were of the tribal line of Esav.

 

So, if bitter Roman tyranny and rule weren’t enough, to add insult to injury, throw into the mix the Jewish nation being ruled by a puppet Edomite, life for the first-century Jew was simply miserable.

 

Where Did Rivkah Go to Understand What Was Going on Within Her?

 

The question of where Rivkah went to inquire of Yah as to what was going on within her is obviously not mentioned here in our text. But an ancient rabbinic source, The Jerusalem Targum, offers an interesting answer to this question. It reads: “And she went to supplicate mercy before the Lord in the beth midrash of Shem Rabba” (JTE, 1862-1865).

 

Okay, this gets somewhat weird, if you ask me. According to rabbinic sources, this Midrash of Shem Rabba was a Yeshivh. A Yeshivah is a rabbinically run educational institution that focuses on the study of the Talmud and the Torah. Well, this supposed Yeshivah was hosted or run by Shem and Eber. Shem, according to yet other ancient rabbinic sources was not only one of Noah’s (aka Noach’s) sons, but, as some have contended, also Melchizedek (aka Melek-Tzedek) of Avraham fame (Gen. 14:18). (And yes, I know. It is shocking to think that Noah’s son, Shem, would still be alive, and not only kicking in Yitschaq’s day, but also—what? Running a Yeshivah. Okay. Let’s just, for the sake of this conversation see where this takes us.)

 

Eber, by the way, was the great-grandson of Shem. But, if you dabble in some of the ancient extra-biblical texts like Jubilees and Jasher, these two—Shem and Eber—are interwoven into the stories and lives of the early Hebrew patriarchs. Rabbinic sources describe them as spiritual guides to the patriarchs, in a sense. These two supposedly had a relationship with YHVH that placed them into positions of high respect and adoration in the eyes of the patriarchs. These were sort of priests, if you will, to the ancients of the ancients. These were holders and teachers of Torah and the Oral Law (aka Talmud) according to some.

 

Apart from Eber and Shem running a Yeshivah, which I admit seems a bit out there, the thing that gets me is this “priestly” role that these two played in the lives of the ancients. It seems to me that, at least according to our so-called authorized canon of scripture, that our patriarchs had a direct-line to the Almighty. They had a relationship with Yah. So, why then would they need a priestly line to intercede on their behalf? I don’t know. Maybe they did, and I’m just not seeing it. But in all transparency, I’m sort of going along with this with a bit of caution.

 

Now, just to be clear: You won’t find any of this in our 66-book-bibles. This is all extra-biblical stuff that, if anything, lends to filling in some of the holes—missing bits of information–that our canon of scripture from time-to-time does not offer.

 

Now, according to the so-called Ancient Book of Jasher (aka Yashar):

 

(10) …she (Rivkah) went to the land of Moriyah to seek Yahuah on account of this; and she went to Shem and Eber his son to make inquiries of them in this matter, and that they should seek Yahuah in this thing respecting her. (11) And she also asked Avraham to seek and inquire of Yahuah about all that had befallen her. (12) And they all inquired of Yahuah concerning this matter, and they brought her word from Yahuah and told her…(chapter 26; Cepher).

 

And so, this is sort of an answer to some of the questions that the earlier aspects of our reading might not present.

 

The Twins Esav and Ya’achov—Two Very Different Personalities and Characters

 

Continuing on: The twins are born. Esau (aka Esav) comes out first. He’s described as “red” or “ruddy” (according to some translations) and hairy all over (Gen. 25:25). His brother, Jacob (aka Ya’achov) emerged after him, one of his hands holding on to his brother’s heel (25:26). In time, Esav became what is described as a “cunning hunter” and a “man of the field.”

 

And this brings to mind the other great hunter referenced in Torah: Nimrod. Is it conceivable that Yasher’s account of the Esav-Nimrod encounter is something linked to both being great hunters? Did perhaps the writer of our version of Yasher play upon the pass-time of these two hunters in order to explain (1) how Nimrod ultimately died; and (2) what led to Esav’s encounter with his brother Ya’achov that in turn led to Esav selling his birthright to him.

 

According to ancient Jewish tradition, this would be the second fatal bow and arrow hunting accident that the extra-biblical text of Jasher records. The first being that of Cain which the text claims was accidentally shot by Lamech’s arrow. Lamech at the time was supposedly blind. But he remained an excellent hunter. Cain apparently was mistaken for some type of game in the forest by Lamech and his son.

 

This go around, Esav is recorded to have been out hunting in the forest when Nimrod, who was also out hunting, came across his path. Startled, Esav shot and killed Nimrod. Fearing that Nimrod’s people would come after him to avenge their leader’s death, Esav fled to and took refuge in their home. This fatal hunting incident was the precipitating incident that led to him selling his birthright to his younger brother Ya’achov.

 

Ya’achov on the other hand is described as “plain man;” a dweller in tents (25:28). This plain man and dweller in tents, some Torah commentators explain is that Ya’achov was a shepherd. So, he tended to live a rather pastoral life, dwelling in tents as his flocks would graze from place-to-place throughout the seasons. The Targum Onkelos further describes Ya’achov as “a man of peace, a minister of the  house of instruction.” This plays off our previous mention of Shem’s and Eber’s Yeshiva and they being sort of priests of Yah to the patriarchs. In fact, ancient sources such as the extra-book of Yashar place Ya’achov learning Torah and whatever else, at, let’s say, the feet of Shem and Eber during his early years for some 33-years that text states (Yashar 28:18).

 

And here’s where things start to gel in respect to our reading today. The text describes Esav as being favored of his father Yitschaq because Yitschaq loved the taste of the wild game that his oldest son, Esav, frequently brought to him from his many hunts. But Rivkah “loved” (as the text describes) Ya’achov (25:28). And it is that love she had for her youngest son that compels her to insert herself into the equation of the patriarchal blessing that should have gone to Esav as the oldest son, but through her conniving and Ya’achov’s deception, it ends up going to Ya’achov instead. And we will address this concept of the patriarchal blessing in our discussion here in short order.

 

However, we must bear in mind as we proceed in this discussion that Yah had, before the twins were born, revealed to Rivkah that it was Ya’achov who would ultimately be given the privileges of being the elder—that being him receiving the coveted birthright and blessing. Esav, being the biologically older one of the twins, by biological convention, stood to receive the benefits of the birthright and the patriarchal blessing. All of which in a broader sense meant that Ya’achov was the chosen one of Yah to perpetuate the covenant that originated with Avraham.

 

 

But before the patriarchal blessing event, Ya’achov, being younger than Esav, extorts his brother’s birthright from him. After coming in from what could only have been an arduous day or days of hunting, Esav is depleted of energy and in desperate need of nourishment and sustenance. The text describes Esav’s condition as that of him being “faint” (25:28). Turns out that Ya’achov had prepared some “red stew,” which Esav demanded (25:30; ESV). Seeing an opportunity to get something that he no doubt coveted, that being Esav’s birthright, Ya’achov agrees to feed Esav in exchange for his birthright (25:31). Esav, reasoning within himself that he was in a dire physical state, and if he were to die from exhaustion and hunger, his birthright would have absolutely no value to him (25:32). So, Esav agrees to the deal and swears over to his brother Ya’achov his birthright in exchange for the “red stew” (which some commentator believe to be lentil soup or stew), the color “red” of the stew playing in with the ruddy color and texture of Esav at his birth (25:33-34).

 

Esav’s selling of his birthright to Ya’achov was backed by Esav “swearing an oath” to this foolish transaction. Such an oath was essentially unbreakable and was taken quite seriously by the ancients. It was in effect, legally binding.

 

In ancient Hebraic tradition and practice, one engaged in an oath by swearing “Chai Yehovah” or “as Yehovah lives.” Thus, it stood to reason that Esav swore that oath, invoking Yah’s holy Name in the process. This would serve as a legally binding act to the transaction.

 

Torah instructs us, when transacting certain deals, to “swear the oath” in Yah’s Name, which would have a legally and spiritually binding effect on the transaction. Our Master expanded on this mitzvah by instructing us, His disciples, to always keep our word: Such that our yeses be yes, and our no’s be no (Mat. 5:37). In other words, to avoid violating the oath in the first place, we are to make it a practice to not make promises that we don’t intend to keep. And if we make a promise, we are expected to keep that promise. One’s word was literally their bond.

 

Unfortunately, our words and promises mean very little, if anything these days. Oaths and promises have become so abused over the centuries, that very few transactions are rendered via this Torah-sanctioned method of securing a transaction.

 

The exchange or transference of the coveted birthright between Esav and Ya’achov is timely. Timely in that Esav was focused on the “here and now” of his personal situation. At the time he sold Ya’achov his birthright, Esav had no concern for his future wellbeing.

 

And so, what does this say to us today? It says that we must always be at a place in our walk with Mashiyach where we factor in the bigger picture as it relates to anything we’re thinking to do. That we not base our decisions on a perceived, immediate need or desire at the time.

 

A recent example of this here and now mindset that so many of us get caught up in, is the COVID-19 vaccine mandates that overtook the world this past year. Many brethren caved to their perceived need to keep their job or make their personal, family, and social lives more convenient and easier. For many, there was no reasoning this thing out, or talking to Yah about it. And we’re finding out nowadays that these vaccines really did not prevent one from contracting virus. Furthermore, the vaccines carried with them potential life-threatening risks.

 

How many brethren or people of faith caught-up in the fervor of these mandates and threats conceivably forfeited their birthright—in a sense—for convenience sake?

 

Now, there are two-parts to the perpetuation of the covenant here that must be kept in mind. The first being the birthright, which we just learned was extorted from Esav by Ya’achov for a meal. We’ll exposit this concept of the birthright as well in short order.

 

But now we come to the second-part of the covenant perpetuation: That being the patriarchal blessing. And here is where Rivkah, the twin’s mother, plays into the situation.

 

Clearly, Ya’achov, in possession of the birthright, knew that he next needed his father, Yitschaq’s (aka Isaac’s) patriarchal blessing to seal the whole deal for him. In other words, with the birthright, granting him a double portion of his father’s estate at Yitschaq’s death, the blessing rendered unto him (which normally went to the firstborn) would spiritually ensure his wellbeing and prosperity in the years ahead of him.

 

Interestingly, Rivkah, his sort of champion if you will, overhears a conversation between her husband Yitschaq and her oldest son Esav, that Yitschaq was prepared to render unto him, Esav, his blessing, Yitschaq believing he was close to death (27:1-5). In fact, Yitschaq was for the most part blind and bedridden.

 

So, Yitschaq asks Esav to go out and snag him some venison so that he could enjoy what would be to him, a final, hearty meal; a suitable situation and environment to render unto his eldest son Esav, the blessing that was due him.

 

And so, Esav excitedly goes forth to hunt and make this thing of the blessing finally happen. But, Rivkah had other thoughts and plans as it related to this pending blessing that Yitschaq was bent on passing on to Esav.

 

Thus, without going into the details, Rivkah devises a ruse, if you will, that involved Ya’achov dressing up and pretending he was Esav having come back from the hunt with the venison meal for his father Yitschaq. Ya’achov would, instead of the venison, bring his father Yitschaq goat stew. Knowing that Yitschaq was blind and infirmed, Rivkah’s ruse would take advantage of her husband’s deficiencies through the senses of feel (Ya’achov donning hairy goat skins) and of smell (Ya’achov wearing his brother’s smelly garments). And although Yitschaq discerned his younger son’s Ya’achov’s voice during the exchange, it was the rough, hairiness of the goat skins and the smell of his brother’s clothes that falsely convinced Yitschaq that he was his older son Esav.

 

So, Yitschaq enjoys the goat-stew meal, and then proceeds to bless Ya’achov, who once again, he believed to be his oldest son, Esav:

 

(28) May Yah grant you from the dew of the heavens and the fat of the earth, and abundance of grain and drink. (29) May peoples serve you, and nations bow before you. Be overlord to your brothers, may your mother’s sons bow before you. Those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you, blessed (27:28-29).

 

Indeed, embedded in this blessing, we see elements of the covenant that was perpetuated by Avraham and on to Yitschaq. And now, unwittingly, at least that’s what the text leads us into believing, Yitschaq is essentially passing on the covenant and promises that he’d received from his father Avraham. All of which is outrageous when you, once again, factor into what we already know, that Esav was not chosen of Yah to perpetuate the covenant. And if Yitschaq would have proceeded as planned and blessed Esav, the covenant would have effectively been passed on to Esav.

 

So, lots of questions arise here. Did Yah really intend Ya’achov and Rivkah to meddle into his affairs in order to make happen that which Yah had already established would happen? Did Yah need their help? Or was Yah more than capable of making his Will and Plans manifest on his own? Were Ya’achov’s and Rivkah’s actions sanctioned of Yah? Did these sin by doing what they felt was the right thing to do in order to move Yah’s plans ahead?

 

Indeed beloved, these are all questions that our text does not provide answers to. But we do know that Yah is sovereign and omniscient and omnipotent, and he does not need his human creation to intercede or intervene or involve themselves into his affairs in order for his Plans and Will to be brought to fruition.

 

However, Yah has this crazy way of making lemonade out of lemons. In other words, Yah can work around and even through the tinkerings and interferences of His human creation to bring about his Will and Plans in the earth. And that is what I believe we see happening in this and in previous Torah Readings. Yah’s permissive Will, if such a thing actually exists, makes allowances for human fumblings and mischief that were originally intended to move forward what is believed by them to be Yah’s divine Will and Plans. However, those fumblings and mischiefs Yah allows to take place. He works through and around those fumblings and mischiefs to bring about His eternal plans and Will. But, those fumblings and mischiefs tend to come at a great price. They tend to result in some pretty nasty consequences that are often generational in nature: Such as Yisra’el’s enemies, the descendants of Yishma’el and Esav, being dangerous thorns in their sides generations.

 

Exposition on the Hebrew Concepts of Birthrights and Patriarchal Blessings

 

 

What we’ve just covered as well as our Torah Reading this week introduces us to two very important and cultural concepts and practices that not only factor heavily into the lives of our ancient Hebrew cousins, but that also bear significant prophetic applications for the Body of Mashiyach. And those concepts and practices are: the birthright, and the [patriarchal] blessing. Both concepts and practices are, for the most part, rather foreign to us in the 21st-century West. But to our ancient cousins, these two concepts and practices were of tremendous importance to a Semitic family.

 

Let’s first see if we can gain an understanding of what a birthright was and what it meant to an ANE family.

 

The Hebrew term for “birthright” is “bekhorah,” which is derived from “bekhor.” Bekhorah or bekhor essentially means “firstborn.” The Greek is “prototokia.”

 

The firstborn of an ancient Hebrew family, unless circumstances dictated otherwise such as in the case of Reuben’s horrendous indiscretion (Gen. 49:4; Num. 3:12-13; 8:18; and 1 Chr. 5:1) and here in a previous Torah reading with Esav trading his birthright for a meal, stood to receive what is widely known and referred to as a “double-portion” of that which his father had to convey to him. Generally speaking, he would be eligible to receive a double-share of the material wealth of the parents that would ultimately be divided amongst the other sons.

 

Abba codified how the birthright was to work in a Hebrew family in Deuteronomy 21:15-17.

 

In addition to being in line to receive a double portion of the material wealth of his father, the first-born at the death of his father, became the defacto head of the family or the priest of the family. And if we’re talking about a father who was the head of the Hebrew state, the firstborn stood to inherit his father’s judicial authority, unless as in the case of David passing on his throne to Shlomo (aka Solomon) as opposed to Adoniyah, circumstances dictated otherwise (2 Chr. 21:3).

 

Beyond the firstborn receiving a double portion of his father’s wealth, any remaining sons would receive a divided portion of their father’s possessions. We saw this illustrated in the case of Avraham passing on the bulk of his wealth to Yitschaq, but then gifts to the sons of his concubines Hagar and Keturah. No doubt, although the text does not stipulate as such, Esav would be eligible to receive a portion of his father’s wealth. Conceivably, let’s just say.

 

This was all customary in the ANE.

 

In the case where the head of household had more than one wife and concubines, the firstborn who enjoyed the privilege of the birthright generally was the son who was born ahead of all his other siblings, unless mitigating circumstances dictated otherwise, as in the case of Yitschaq receiving essentially all of Avraham’s wealth over Ishma’el, Hagar’s son, and Keturah’s sons, as was stipulated in the covenant he had with Yah.

 

In the case where there was no son but instead just daughters, the family’s wealth and influence would be passed on to the daughters (Num. 26:33; 27:1-8). So those of our Faith who believe or feel that women were not respected and valued by Yah, think again. Yah was and remains a staunch defender and champion for women.

 

And the other thing that the firstborn with the birthright had coming to him, as highlighted in our Torah Reading here today, is that he would receive the [paternal] blessing, which we will address in just a moment.

 

But we must bear in mind that contrary to what may seem as conventional wisdom, the birthright was not an absolute. As we just touched upon, the birthright, as well as the patriarchal blessing, could be diverted from the firstborn, depending on the mitigating circumstances steering the father’s and the son’s lives at any given time. Just a couple chapters back, we saw that Esav sold his birthright to his younger brother Ya’achov for some pottage (Gen. 25:29-34). Ya’achov diverted the spiritual birthright and blessing from Reuben to Yosef’s boys, Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 48:8-22). Although they were wealthy at the time of Ya’achov’s blessing by virtue of Yosef’s lofty state in Egypt, the family no doubt lost that wealth over the course of their time in bitter slavery. Nevertheless, Ephraim and Manasseh retained the benefit of being named the heads of their respective tribes.

 

Interestingly, scripture seems silent in terms of any material wealth that Ya’achov would have received from his father Yitschaq, despite Ya’achov receiving both the birthright and the patriarchal blessing. It makes me wonder where did all of Avraham’s wealth disappear to if Ya’achov and Esav/Esau did not inherit it.

 

The thing about the birthright that must be kept in mind (as seen in a aforementioned examples) is that the way it played out in Torah was not as a result of one’s natural descent, nor as a result of the flesh or the will of men and women, but by the Will and Plan of Yah (Joh. 1:13).

 

From a spiritual standpoint, Yah placed a great deal of emphasis and attention on the firstborn sons of Yisra’el. In fact, Torah tells us that Yah claimed the firstborn of Yisra’el as His own. For He commanded us:

 

“Thou shalt not delay offering the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me” (Exo. 22:29).

 

These could be redeemed, leading to the Tribe of Levi serving Him in their stead:

 

(12) See, I have taken the Levites form the Yisra’elites in place of every firstborn Yisra’elite from the womb. The Levites belong to Me, (13) because every firstborn belongs to Me. At the time I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated every firstborn in Yisra’el to Myself, both man and animal. They are Mine; I am Yehovah (Num. 3:12-13; HCSB modified).

 

And if the firstborn of the people of Yisra’el and the Levites weren’t enough, Yah viewed the Hebrew nation as His firstborn among all the nation peoples of the earth:

 

“Then you [Moshe] are to tell Pharaoh: “Yehovah says, Yisra’el IS MY FIRSTBORN SON” (Exo. 4:22; CJB modified).

 

And true Yisra’el continues to be Yah’s firstborn son, including us who are grafted into the commonwealth of Yisra’el (Eph. 2:12; Rom. 11:16-36).

 

 

Now, as it relates to, what I describe as the mysterious [patriarchal] blessing(s), it stood as generally the spiritual inheritance that the father would pass on to his sons.

 

The Hebrew for blessing is “berakhah.” In the Greek blessing is “eulogia.”

 

In general, when the patriarch passed on his blessing to his sons, the blessing consisted of an invocation of good things; the wellbeing and prosperity; expressions of good wishes and blessings from Abba Father (Gen. 27:36; Deu. 33:1; Jos. 8:34; Jas. 3:10).

 

In the case of the patriarchs, it seems clear that they conveyed their blessings upon their sons under the influence or inspiration of Yah’s Spirit. Indeed, a great deal of the prophetic would customarily be included in those blessings (Gen. 9:26-27; 27:28-29, 40; 48:15-20; 49:1-28; Deu. 33:1).

 

The patriarchal blessing held even greater significance for the firstborn or the one possessing the birthright, as in addition to receiving the material wealth of his father, the certitude or confirmation of the covenant flowing from father to firstborn son would put him into a favored relationship with Yehovah. In some cases, the patriarchal blessing was just as meaningful and valuable as the birthright privileges consisting of material wealth and leadership of the family. For it would be understood by the one standing to receive the blessing, that being in Yah’s good standing guaranteed him a good and prosperous life after the passing of his father. I mean, look at Esav’s reaction upon learning that his father had given the coveted blessing to Ya’achov. He was devastated. Grief-stricken. Not only did he lose out on the material, but he also lost out on the spiritual.

 

The blessing Yitschaq bestows upon Ya’achov is one that grants him (1) fertility of the ground; (2) dominion over the nations; and (3) a return effect for curses and blessings. Certainly, invaluable to the one who can see life beyond material possessions and wealth. And as seemingly foolish and ignorant as Esav appeared in Genesis/Beresheit 25 when he sold his birthright to his brother for the price of a lentil soup meal, Esav proves that he was not entirely stupid. For he understood the value of the blessing that he should have received from his father.

 

Yitschaq’s blessing over Ya’achov underscored what would be a rich-relationship he would have with Yah. Esav’s blessing, on the other hand, did not mention any relationship with Yah. In fact, the blessing Esav received did not come from Yah. But rather, his blessing came from Yitschaq’s heart and best wishes for his favored son. The blessings that fell upon Ya’achov flowed from Yah’s Spirit and it would be irrevocable and firmly established in Yah’s covenant.

 

Ya’achov is then blessed with (A) the material, and then (B) the spiritual. Some commentators believe that in the end, it was Ya’achov who received the coveted double portion.

 

Let’s bear in mind here that this blessing makes mention of Yitschaq conveying or passing his material wealth or the covenant promises down to Ya’achov, although features of the blessing that he gives to Ya’achov are indeed present in the covenant promises. And this sort of makes sense given that Yitschaq, supposedly thinking that he was blessing Esav, would have likely known that the birthright, along with its material wealth possessions and family headship benefits, belonged to Ya’achov, not Esav. But rather, Yitschaq’s intended blessing would be the basis upon which Esav would enjoy peaceful survival and prosperity in his life ahead (27:27-29). But the fix was in, and Ya’achov ended up receiving not just the material and family leadership inheritance (although the text does not address this per se), but also the Yah inspired invocation of peaceful survival and prosperity in his life.

 

Turns out that these patriarchal blessings or pronouncements were taken quite seriously. They were also viewed and treated as binding declarations and invocations, all of which is evidenced by Esav’s outrage and grief.

 

 

We’ll pick this up in Part 2 of Birthrights-Blessings-Covenant Promises-Lessons Learned from the Esau-Jacob-Story. See you on the other side beloved.

 

 

Reference:

 

Robert Bills-https://www.highpursuitministries.com/way-of-spirit-and-truth

 

Way of Spirit and Truth | High Pursuit Ministries

 

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