How to Be Blessed
Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.” (Genesis 27:33)
What a mess!
Before the twins Esau and Jacob were born, God announced (Genesis 25:23) that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). This was out of the ordinary. Normally, the older was preferred, especially if he was a firstborn son.
Yet, for some reason, the father of the twins (Isaac, the son of Abraham) decided that he would bestow the family and covenant blessing on Esau, not on Jacob. Then, the mother of the twins (Rebekah) plotted to deceive her elderly and almost blind husband, by tricking him into blessing Jacob instead of Esau.
Everyone in this story – Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob – each one acted in man-centered wisdom and energy, not according to divine or spiritual wisdom and energy. Even Esau, in agreeing to Isaac’s plan to give him the birthright, disregarded his promise to give Jacob the birthright (Genesis 25:29-34). In this story, none of them trusted each other, and they didn’t trust God.
The worst aspect of all this is they seemed to regard the covenant blessing as magical, as something separate from God’s wisdom and will. But in giving the blessing, the most Isaac could do was to recognize God’s call and blessing on Jacob. Only God could truly grant the blessing. Esau could receive the “blessing” from Isaac a hundred times, but it only mattered if God in heaven honored it.
When Isaac discovered that he had, despite his intentions, blessed Jacob instead of Esau, then Isaac trembled exceedingly. The use of this strong phrase means that Isaac began to shake convulsively. He was overcome with a deep sense that something had gone wrong in his plan to bless Esau instead of Jacob.
Isaac trembled and was troubled because he knew he had sinned in attempting to work against the plan God revealed in Genesis 25:23 – and God defeated his effort. At this moment, Isaac realized he would always lose when he tried to resist God’s will, even when he didn’t like the Lord’s will. And he came to learn that despite his arrogance against God’s will, God’s plan was good, even glorious.
The New Testament later explains that Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau by faith (Hebrews 11:20). Isaac’s faith was demonstrated after his attempt to redirect the will of God was defeated and he said of Jacob, and indeed he shall be blessed.
Have you received the blessing of knowing that it is useless to struggle against God’s will, His plan? It’s amazing that sometimes we forget this basic truth, and God must bring us to the place where we understand what Isaac learned when he trembled exceedingly – that God is God, and as far as we understand His plan, we should submit to it. Then, indeed we shall be blessed!
