Read Genesis 27:30–40

A backhanded compliment is often an insult masquerading as a compliment. In today’s passage we have an example of a backhanded blessing. Isaac blessed Esau as requested—but not with the blessing that Esau wanted. The blessing came after Isaac had given Jacob the blessing originally intended for Esau, the firstborn. At the instigation of his mother, Jacob had disguised himself as his brother in order to steal the blessing that God had already promised to him, taking advantage of his father’s failing eyesight.

Isaac discovered the deceit when Esau came to him for the blessing he had already unwittingly bestowed on Jacob. Jacob’s behavior was deceitful, but Esau’s complaint about him was not entirely honest, either. Jacob did not take the birthright; Esau had carelessly sold it to him for a single meal (Gen. 25:29–34). Esau despised his birthright and showed contempt for God (Gen. 25:34; Heb. 12:16–17).

We can see the destructive power of parental favoritism at work in this story, but amazingly we also see God working in the midst of this dysfunctional family to accomplish His plan. He is not yet finished working with Jacob, the deceitful schemer. And despite Esau’s godless attitude, he did receive a genuine blessing. Isaac’s backhanded blessing concludes with the promise that Esau’s descendants would eventually throw off the yoke of subjugation.

Old Testament commentator Derek Kidner describes Esau’s blessing as “the appropriate destiny of the ‘profane person’: the freedom to live unblessed and untamed.” John Calvin similarly noted that the “unbridled liberty of Esau was more wretched than any state of subjection.” For some who have scorned His promises and priorities, God’s worst judgment may be to grant us our heart’s desire.

APPLY THE WORD

Eventually Esau was grieved over the loss of his blessing, but his subsequent behavior showed that God had merely given him what he wanted. Esau was a profane or “godless” man who did not value his spiritual heritage. Has God’s plan for your life disappointed you? Perhaps He has granted you the blessing you needed rather than the one you wanted.

http://www.todayintheword.org