Note that Jacob in conversation with Isaac (verse 27:20), referred to God as the “Lord your God.” Isaac by this time had a relationship with God that was evident to his son. In verse 28:1, he knows Him as “God Almighty.”
Isaac had demonstrated the same temptation to lie for his security with which his father had struggled. His son perhaps learned deception from his example, and that deception was turned against him. These two examples remind us that our children observe things of which we might be unaware. Their observations teach them things that we might not know we are teaching them. How important it is for us to have redeemed characters, if that is what we want to teach our children. This reminder from today’s reading is an opportunity for us to search ourselves and ask God to transform us as needed to make us what we want our children to become!
We may not appreciate the importance of the parent’s blessing, but this culture obviously did. Esau had no regard for his birthright as the eldest son, which meant inheritance of wealth and status; but he valued his father’s blessing enough to beg for it. Rebekah and Jacob valued the blessing enough to scheme for it. Were they in error, or are we? If my blessing can truly bless my children and impact their futures, the practice is worth my investigation.
Jacob was not his father’s favorite (!), but Isaac had to acknowledge that God’s promise was going to be through him. Note the blessing he gave Jacob in verse 28:3, “that you may become a company of peoples.” That will be fulfilled by the next time he sees Jacob. In his blessing of Jacob he was referring to the covenant God had made with Abraham. Then Jacob meets with God on his way to the place Isaac had sent him….
Jacob had not called on the name of the Lord, but God appeared to him in his dream and gave him the three-fold promise He had given Abraham. God appeared to him in this miraculous and dramatic way and gave him those great promises, and Jacob’s response was “if God will be with me” and keep me safe and meet my needs and bring me back safely to my home, then I will accept him as my God. He expected so much less of God than God had offered! He did not accept God’s promise in faith as Abraham had done! Jacob was a dunce! But he was wise enough to set up the remembrance of God’s meeting with him and promises to him.
The remembrance is necessary, for the enemy wants to snatch from our memories our meetings with God. If we do not establish some form of remembrance, such as a monument or a journal entry or a sound testimony, for example, God’s meetings with us are in danger of being forgotten or at least reduced in our memories. If you’re not a writer or a speaker, how about establishing another form of remembering? My nephew designs tattoos, for example, so that each tattoo he has on his body is a remembrance of what God has done for him. As he shares with admirers the story of each tattoo, he is not only remembering what God has done in his life and relationship with him, he is also witnessing about the life-changing reality of Jesus. What about establishing significance to something you collect, which will enable you to remember and witness?