And it came to pass that when Isaac was old, and his ears were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son. And he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold, now I am old, I know not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the field. and take me some venison, and make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die.' And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, bring me venison, and make me savory meat that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savory meat for thy father such as he loveth. And thou shalt bring it to thy father that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. My father, peradventure, will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver, and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son. Only obey my voice, and go fetch them me. And he went and fetched and brought them to his mother. And his mother made savory meat, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob, her younger son. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck, and she gave the savory meat and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob. And now, from 18 through 29, we have the words of our text. I'll read them just this once, 18 through 29. And he came unto his father and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, who art thou my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.' And Jacob went near unto 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 discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands, So he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat. And he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.' And he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. Therefore God gives thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee. Be Lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee. Thus far, the Word of God. Beloved in the Lord, In the half a chapter or so that precedes our text this evening, we don't find much faith on the part of Isaac, Rebekah, or Jacob. On the other hand, we find much evidence of a lack of faith. Isaac, old and blind, hangs on to Isaac, whom he loved, and for the things which Isaac could do for him he hangs on to the flesh, even when he is near the day of his death. Rebekah and Jacob did not reveal a strong faith either. for they decided together that the only way the word of God could come to pass is for their resorting to lying and deceit and trickery. Even though they had a great love for the promise of God, they did not place their trust in the God of the promise. And even though they were willing to strive for the cause of the covenant, They did not strive lawfully. Now, in our passage this evening, God will work. God will keep his promise, and God will work according to his own way and his own schedule. And when God works, he uses means. The means which God chooses to use is faith. It is of faith that it may be of grace, Paul writes to the Romans and to us. And God will not change his mind and bless Esau as Isaac wished. God will not allow deceit and trickery to be the means of blessing his people. But God works faith, and faith has the victory. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Faith is always victorious. Faith is the victory over every enemy and in every circumstance of life. Faith is especially the victory over our natural inclinations, our sinful desires, and all the weaknesses of the old man of sin. There is in the life of the child of God, no matter what his age may be, a fierce struggle between a God-given and God-worked faith and his natural inclinations or desires. And faith must dominate. Faith must control the entire character, the whole man or woman or young person. Wherever there is conflict, wherever there is struggle between the old and the new man, the outward and inner man, faith must overcome and stand forth in its beauty and its strength to the glory of God who gave it. We're talking about natural desires. Those natural desires are strong, are they not? They're hard to ignore, hard to put down, and to deny. We learn as we grow older that the hardest thing in life is to deny ourself. That is, to say no to those things that we know are wrong, but that we enjoy nonetheless. For example, Scripture instructs us that we are to forgive one another for Christ's sake. We know that. We know God requires that of us in the Church. But we don't want to do that. That goes against our grain. That's hard for our pride to forgive someone who dares to sin against us and hurt us. By nature, it's impossible for us to stoop so low as to forgive and forget an offense that's committed against us. But by faith, we're able to do that. Faith in God, faith in Christ, faith that receives the forgiveness of the cross is able to extend forgiveness to the brother or the sister. Here, too, in the life of the congregation, faith has the victory. Now Hebrews 11 verse 20 tells us that by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Perhaps we wonder how Isaac ever made it into the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. A chapter which records faith in the lives of many children of God, the strength and the beauty of faith. How can Isaac be included there, especially for his act of blessing Jacob and Esau? Well, we'll have to learn something from Genesis 27 this evening. Isaac had faith, and by that power of faith he overcomes his weaknesses. At the same time, we will have to be learning something about ourselves tonight. We are just like Isaac in many, many different ways, and I for one am happy, I'm thankful to God that the name of Isaac is found in Hebrews chapter 11. Let's consider together Isaac's blessing of Jacob by faith. Isaac's blessing of Jacob by faith, we notice first of all his intense spiritual struggle, then the rich blessing that's pronounced upon him, and then his victory by faith alone. Although the scriptures do not tell us in so many words, beloved, we can well imagine what thoughts are running through the heart and mind of this aged saint as he waits for Esau to come back from the field with his platter of savory meat. You know what savory meat is, children? Savory meat is spicy meatloaf. Spicy meatloaf. And very likely he's not sleeping, but he sits trying to justify in his own mind the things that he has determined steadfastly to do, and that is to bless Esau. That's the characteristic of a person when he has decided to do what he knows is wrong. He begins to justify himself, to excuse himself before the bar of his own conscience. His thoughts were like this. In spite of all that Rebecca has said to me, in spite of all the harping she has done to me regarding her love for Jacob and her suspicions concerning Esau, nevertheless, I'm going to bless Esau. that has always been the divine rule, and that the firstborn should be blessed. And why should that rule be set aside when it comes to my own children? And, although it's true that Esau has so far in his life shown himself to be a profane person, profane, godless, no spirituality at all, He doesn't show any interest in spiritual matters. Nevertheless, he's not too old to be converted. Someday he may change. Perhaps he's only having a fling. He's sowing some wild oats, as young men like to do. But when he's older and comes to his senses, then he will change, then he will sober up, and take up his covenant responsibilities. And God the Lord is almighty, and he is full of mercy. He will make straight that which is crooked, and he will fulfill his covenant with me in the normal way that is with Esau. Besides, Esau is not only the elder, but he is the stronger. And I find in Esau strength of character, I find in him leadership qualities and abilities that are absent in Jacob. Esau would be better equipped to take my place as the head of my family when I'm gone. Jacob has certain traits that I cannot always approve of. He's not always above reproof. Clever, cunning, sly, Esau will be able to do a better job of managing my affairs. And anyway, it's all settled. I have told Esau my intention of blessing him, and I cannot go back on my word. Thoughts such as these must have run through the mind of this aged saint. And then suddenly his thoughts are interrupted by the appearance of Jacob in the door of the tent, and his exclamation I don't want to repeat everything that we find in the narrative of Genesis 27. I do want to make a few points, nevertheless. First of all, we ought to notice how thoroughly the deception has been planned and how every eventuality has been prepared for. When Isaac expresses surprise that Esau has returned so quickly with the venison, Jacob has an answer already, because the Lord thy God brought it to me. That was a master stroke. Esau was not a person who easily took the name of God upon his lips except to curse and to swear. Certainly Esau did not call God the Lord his God, because he did not know the Lord. And therefore Jacob cleverly says, The Lord thy God, O Father, has blessed me in hunting, and sent it to me. That was not a slip on Jacob's part, but he spoke as if he were Esau. The voice bothered Isaac, So he thought he would have his son come close to his bedside, that he might touch him, for as you children know, Esau was extremely hairy. So he tells his son to come near, that he may stroke his hands. This also had been prepared for. Rebecca had taken the skins, the hides of the goats, put it on his neck and upon his arms and hands, so that when Isaac touched him, he cries out, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Next, Isaac says, come near now and kiss me, my son. He wants to rely now on the sense of smell. He has smelled the clothes of Esau often. They always smelled of the field. They smelled of animals. They smelled of the blood of animals. They reeked with the smell of game. But, of course, Jacob was wearing Esau's clothes, which his mother had given him. He kisses his father. Isaac smells the clothing that is Esau's, and so he blesses him. We can only be amazed at the lies Jacob told his own dear father. Over and over again, he lies. I am Esau, father. The Lord thy God sent me that dear so quickly, father. On and on, the whole plan was based on deceit. It was all a lie. And one lie begets another lie. You children know that, don't you? Your parents have told you that, warned you about that. Maybe your teachers and others have told you that one lie leads to another lie. And if you tell a lie, there's one thing to do. It is repent and stop lying. Because one lie leads to another, and another, and pretty soon you don't know what you said anymore. One way to break the vicious circle of lying is to confess your sin and stop that evil practice. But what we have to see in these verses especially is that Isaac was undergoing an intense inward spiritual struggle. Even though it was his intention to bless the older son, There's much evidence in the text to show that he has doubts concerning who the son is, doubts concerning this was Esau before him, and evidence even that he knew it was Jacob. Let me repeat that. The passage we read shows that Isaac had doubts that the son before him was really Esau, and some evidence, conviction, that the son before him was Jacob. It's true that he was confused. It's true his old nature was giving him a very difficult battle. It's true even He did not want to give in to what he knew the will of God to be. He is stubborn, Isaac is. Nevertheless, our passage makes clear that he was struggling in such a way that gradually he did that which was right. Notice that for a few moments. Verse 18, Who art thou my son? Who is he expecting? His son to return. Verse 20, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? Verse 21, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. Verse 22, After he had felt him, he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Verse 24, Art thou my very, my true son, Esau? And then, verse 26, come near unto me, and kiss me, my son. And when he smelled the smell of the field which the Lord had blessed, he blessed him. And the Bible does not tell us exactly what Isaac was thinking when he gave the blessing to Jacob, posing as Esau. But we certainly must see that he had all kinds of reservations, all kinds of suspicions as to the true identity of his son. The best way we have of describing his mental state, his spiritual condition, is to say that he was struggling deep down in his soul with what he wanted all his life to do, Bless the elder son, and on the other hand, what God had revealed to him all his life, the one he must bless. Many more steps belong to that struggle. We mentioned six different things a moment ago from our passage to show his doubts and his fears. And finally, after all of that conflict, all of that struggling, all that weighing in the balances of his mind and soul, we read that Isaac blessed his son. The question is, whom did he bless? That is, whom did Isaac bless as far as his own mind and heart are concerned? We know that he blessed Jacob. But what did Isaac understand about all this? I'm not going to try to answer that question. I'm going to let the Bible answer that for us. And the Bible says Isaac blessed Jacob, and he did that knowingly by faith. We learn that in Hebrews 11, verse 20, when we are instructed that this great struggle culminated in the blessing of Jacob and Esau by faith. We don't have to be worried by the fact that both Jacob and Esau are mentioned in Hebrews 11, verse 20. We understand that only Jacob was blessed. Only Jacob. That's why he is mentioned first. But there was no blessing in any sense, in any degree, for Esau. If we look ahead in our chapter to verse 39 of Genesis 27, we find these words, the correct translation, Thy dwelling shall be far from the fatness of the earth. We read in the King James as if he will receive all kinds of crops and herds and so on there. Not so. Thy dwelling, Esau, shall be far from the fatness of the earth, and then later by thy sword thou shalt live. Hebrews 12 verse 17 makes that even clearer. When Esau would have inherited a blessing, he was rejected by his father. For he found no place for repentance, even though he sought it carefully with tears. Esau did not seek repentance carefully. He sought the blessing carefully, crying all the while, begging his father Do you only have one blessing? Is there something you can give me? And Jacob, rather Isaac, says no. He was rejected totally. But the point is that Isaac did this by faith, and faith is not unknowing. or unwitting, faith is knowledgeable and faith is conscious. So that we'll have to say that the long struggle that Isaac underwent many years of his life, which culminated so sharply in these last few moments, was a struggle that produced a strong act of faith. Perhaps better to say, a struggle that produced an act which can only be explained by a strong faith. The struggle actually goes on just a bit longer than our passage, than our text tonight. We look ahead a few moments to the time when Esau returned from the field, and that's when everything became crystal clear to the aged Isaac. When Esau identifies himself, we read in verse 33 that Isaac trembled. Literally, he trembled with a great trembling. He lay there shaking like a leaf. How that trembling has been, I say, that trembling has been given different interpretations. For example, some say it was due to the deceit that Jacob had committed against his father. Not that. Isaac trembled because he saw the hand of God. And he saw how God brought about his own will, nevertheless. He saw how closely he came to defying the word of God. He trembled in the presence of God and he trembled at his word. And thus when he explains that Jacob has come and Jacob has been blessed, Isaac ends with the words, and he shall be blessed. No doubt about it. The blessing that was pronounced upon Jacob was a very rich blessing. You know from catechism and sermons that the birthright blessing had three parts to it. We find those three parts in the verses 28 and 29. Three elements in a slightly different form, perhaps, than we're used to seeing. The dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, plenty of corn and wine. This refers to earthly blessings in Canaan, which always had a spiritual idea behind it. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. Plenty of food, crops, herds will be given to the eldest son. That corresponds to the double portion. And in this family of two brothers, Jacob would receive two-thirds to one-third for Esau. But in this case, Esau got nothing. Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee. Be Lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. It's clear there that the younger son would rule the family after the father had died, not the elder but the younger. In fact, that ruling is extended outside the family to nations. Jacob is Israel, Esau is Edom, and Jacob will rule. Thirdly, there are the sober and important words, Cursed is everyone that curseth thee, And blessed be he that blesseth thee. Those words come from a blessing that God had pronounced upon Abraham when Abraham had left Ur of Chaldea and then left Haran to the north for the land of Canaan. Now blessing and cursing belong to God. No man has the right to speak blessings and cursings over anybody else of himself. God says he will bless those that bless Jacob and he will curse those that curse Jacob. That means that the curse of the law has been removed from Jacob. That means that in the eyes of God there is only blessing for this young man for this patriarch in Israel. This means that Jacob is God's friend, that God is pleased with Jacob, has only thoughts of blessing him. And Jacob is not merely an individual, but Jacob stands for Israel. He stands for all the true people of God, the church. The true Israel of God shall be blessed and not cursed, and those that fight against the church to destroy it, they shall be cursed and never blessed. The question arises at this point whether Jacob actually attained to the blessing spoken over him by his father. Did he attain this blessing? Or did he fail to receive it? If we look at the history of Jacob in the Old Testament, it would seem that there are times when he is servant rather than Lord. This is true even in respect to his immediate family. It seems that Esau gets the best of him. It certainly seems that Edom, the descendants of Esau, get the best of Israel. It seems that the nations round about get the best of Israel. Israel became the plaything of the nations. Egypt to the southwest, Syria to the northeast, made a plaything, a toy, out of Israel. And they marched back and forth in their battles, ravaging the land. And Israel, Judah, was even taken into captivity for 70 years. And therefore, we must view this blessing and the fulfillment of this blessing in Jesus Christ and in no one else. Apart from Christ, no one is blessed Temporally or eternally? Apart from Christ, there is only the curse. But in Christ, the curse is removed from the elect church of God. In Christ, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yea, all the true seed of Abraham attain unto the promise spoken here over Jacob. Christ battles Satan. the world and our sinful flesh, all alone, all alone, because no one would stand with him. Christ is exalted to heavenly glory and sits down at the right hand of God with a name above every name, and with Christ all the elect also have dominion. He has set every child of God also in this life, in heavenly places. Jacob Israel is the truly blessed one. Christ takes away his curse and our curse. Christ blesses Jacob and us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. That's the great blessing that belongs to the people of God. This is the great blessing that Isaac pronounces upon Jacob so that his faith has the victory. That faith that God worked in Isaac's heart is the same faith that you and I have. I know in the Center of Reformed Doctrine we have a lesson on faith. We'll get to that in a month or two, young folks. There's miraculous faith, temporary faith, and historical faith. You'll define them, you'll have examples of them, and they don't amount to a hill of beans. They aren't worth a thing. They're all counterfeit. miraculous, temporary, and historical faith doesn't help anyone, like it did not help King Agrippa in the Book of Acts. There's only one kind of faith, and really you don't have to put saving in front of it either. There's just faith, true faith, and faith always has the victory It overcomes every weakness, every obstacle, every foe. Because faith, true faith, has for its object the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith joins a man or a woman or a young person, even a little child. Faith joins the elect sinner to the risen, victorious Christ. Are you a giant of faith? Are you a hero of faith? Where do you stand in this matter? Would you dare to put yourself in the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews? Hebrews 11 is not a chapter that gives us the heroes of faith, as it is sometimes said, but Hebrews 11 gives us a many-sided picture a complete description of faith. It's the chapter of the beauty of faith, the strength of faith, the loveliness of faith, and the overwhelming power of faith. And there's only one faith. Every child of God has the same faith, the same faith Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had. No, I'm not a hero of faith. I'm not an outstanding example of faith in my generation. But I know this, and I'm thankful to God for this. I had the same faith as Isaac had, and his father and his son had. And that means that for me also, faith is the victory that overcomes it all. the devil, the world, and my own sinful flesh. Faith led Isaac step by step. God didn't give him the victory all at once. Not very early in his life either. It was almost at the end of his life. First, he proudly asserts that Esau is going to get the blessing no matter what. Then gradually he sees some doubt as to the identity of his son, but he continues. He goes on, and even with some doubts remaining, Isaac blesses Jacob. Later, when Esau returns, he trembles in the presence of God. Isaac does. And almost immediately his strong faith asserts itself. And he shall be blessed. And in the very next chapter, as Jacob flees to Laban back in Haran, because Esau is going to murder him, Isaac continues to speak in faith. He says, God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people. And give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee, and to thy seed with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave to Abraham." That's where you have the complete victory of faith, the perfect realization of the text when it says, by faith, Isaac blessed Jacob. The gift of faith overcame the carnality The flesh that was such a big part of Isaac in his life. In our case, the weakness, or let me make it a plural, the weaknesses that we have is love for the world. The things of the world. Pleasure seeking. Sports craziness. Used to be by the time a young fellow gets married, he's pretty much through that stage. Not anymore. Oh, no. He'll keep playing his favorite sports or two or three till he's fifty-something. Secret sins that we cherish. Those are the things which cause us to stumble and which rob us of so much joy in our lives. But if we have the principle of faith and we do, then that faith is going to overcome. It's going to conquer. It would not be the case if faith were our own work. But faith is God's gift to us, and faith is worked by God in us. And now I come what I call the high point of the sermon. This is it. This is what I've been aiming at all along. The Canons of Dort, Head 3-4, Article 14. I bring this up when I was teaching catechism. I brought it up constantly. I bring it up in a sermon, wherever it fits, and here we go. Head 3-4, Article 14. Faith is not offered to be accepted or rejected at man's pleasure by his free will. Not that. But God produces the will to believe and the act of believing. God produces the will to believe in Isaac, in you, and in me, and then the act of believing. Tell that to your Arminian acquaintance next time you chat over the fence or at the workbench on the job. No, that's not what faith is. Mr., Mrs., neighbor, faith is the gift of God. Well, yes, everybody agrees with that. It says it in the Bible so many times. Faith is the gift of God, not that he offers it to us to be accepted or rejected by our free will. Faith is the gift of God in that he produces the will to believe and the act of believing. Through faith, God reveals his strength, and what a strength that is, in our weaknesses. And therefore, we can never boast in what we have done, but always in the grace and mercy of God. In the strength of such a faith, we will conquer our sin. We will conquer the whole world. And it will be said of you and you and you and you, and of me, and of every child of God, yea, and they shall be blessed. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank thee for the gift of faith by which we see heaven, our place in heaven, the way to heaven, the way of salvation, what marvelous things thou dost reveal to faith. And we are not worthy of such a gift. May we not hide it. May we be ready always to give an answer concerning our faith and our hope to every man who asks us a reason for it. May we give our answer with fear and trembling that we might not giving thee the glory. Thou art worthy to receive thanksgiving and honor and praise and glory. Strengthen our faith. Strengthen the faith of our young people and our children and grant that we may live by faith and not by sight. To thy name's glory, Amen.