Exciting First Baptist Church, Jasper
"Passing on the Blessing" (Genesis 27)
Every person longs for the "blessing" of his or her parents. It is an incredibly powerful, life-forming act that touches deep reservoirs inside us! In fact, if we don’t receive this from our parents, we will search elsewhere for it, trying to fill up the hole left vacant at home. It's that important! But what is this blessing, and how is it conveyed? We'll walk out of the sanctuary with some valuable keys to the future success of your child, handed to us by Isaac.
Locations & Times
Jasper's First Baptist Church
1604 4th Ave, Jasper, AL 35501, USA
Sunday 10:15 AM
When Abraham and Sarah had their miracle baby Isaac, Abraham passed on the blessing to him. Isaac, in turn, had two sons—Esau and Jacob. Ordinarily, the eldest son received the special birthright blessing of the family, which meant the future management and spiritual oversight of the family was passed to him. But in this particular situation, God had other plans. He willed that the youngest son, Jacob, receive the blessing of this family (Gen. 25:23).
This didn't sit well with Isaac, who wanted his favorite and oldest son Esau to receive the family blessing. He quietly orchestrated a defiant little ceremony to secretly pass on the blessing to Esau. But Isaac’s wife got wind of the plot, and pulled a fast one on her all-but-blind, 137-year old husband. She urges Jacob to dress in Esau’s clothing and mimic Esau’s profuse hairiness by attaching strips of goat’s hair to his arms and neck. She cooks up Isaac’s favorite wild game dish just like Esau makes it for Jacob to bring to his father. The plot involved Jacob impersonating his brother Esau, tricking Isaac, and stealing the blessing.
You're right--this is one messed up family. But don't miss how significant the blessing is. Look at Genesis 27:30, where Isaac is convinced he has just pronounced his blessing over Esau, even though it was Jacob in disguise. Notice what happens next.
This didn't sit well with Isaac, who wanted his favorite and oldest son Esau to receive the family blessing. He quietly orchestrated a defiant little ceremony to secretly pass on the blessing to Esau. But Isaac’s wife got wind of the plot, and pulled a fast one on her all-but-blind, 137-year old husband. She urges Jacob to dress in Esau’s clothing and mimic Esau’s profuse hairiness by attaching strips of goat’s hair to his arms and neck. She cooks up Isaac’s favorite wild game dish just like Esau makes it for Jacob to bring to his father. The plot involved Jacob impersonating his brother Esau, tricking Isaac, and stealing the blessing.
You're right--this is one messed up family. But don't miss how significant the blessing is. Look at Genesis 27:30, where Isaac is convinced he has just pronounced his blessing over Esau, even though it was Jacob in disguise. Notice what happens next.
I would remind you that Esau was not some emotionally fragile man. Think of Bear Grylls and Jeremiah Johnson combined into one red-haired outdoorsman! The Bible goes out of its way to let us know that Esau was a tough, manly, bull-riding, “man vs. wild” kind of guy. Yet, at this moment in his life, he is beside himself, sobbing and pleading. Esau’s words tell us where this deep grief lay: his father didn’t bless him.
Don’t blow this off as ancient and irrelevant to you today! Each of us yearns for his or her parents’ focused love. We want to feel confident that our dad and mom know us, value us, are proud of us. From the preschooler in the sandbox calling out, “Look what I made,” to the young child who fidgets while you review his report card, to the high school student dressed for the prom asking, “How do I look, Dad?,” to the young adult who can‘t wait to show you the new car or new baby—we want our parent’s blessing.
So what exactly is this blessing? Here’s a good working definition--“The blessing is a carefully worded statement that expresses a parent’s fondness for, confidence in, and recognition of your child.” In the OT, the blessing was not confined only to the firstborn son. Jacob would go on to bless all twelve of his sons, and two of his grandsons.
And the blessing was not confined strictly to the sons, though there does seem to be a special emphasis on it in the Bible. But in Mark 10, when parents were bringing children to Jesus, there is no mention of gender. All we read is that Jesus took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands on them (v. 16).
So what does this look like? Despite the treachery and emotions Isaac experienced from Jacob, we can identify 5 important steps that every parent can take to make sure the blessing is regularly and powerfully communicated to his or her children.
Don’t blow this off as ancient and irrelevant to you today! Each of us yearns for his or her parents’ focused love. We want to feel confident that our dad and mom know us, value us, are proud of us. From the preschooler in the sandbox calling out, “Look what I made,” to the young child who fidgets while you review his report card, to the high school student dressed for the prom asking, “How do I look, Dad?,” to the young adult who can‘t wait to show you the new car or new baby—we want our parent’s blessing.
So what exactly is this blessing? Here’s a good working definition--“The blessing is a carefully worded statement that expresses a parent’s fondness for, confidence in, and recognition of your child.” In the OT, the blessing was not confined only to the firstborn son. Jacob would go on to bless all twelve of his sons, and two of his grandsons.
And the blessing was not confined strictly to the sons, though there does seem to be a special emphasis on it in the Bible. But in Mark 10, when parents were bringing children to Jesus, there is no mention of gender. All we read is that Jesus took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands on them (v. 16).
So what does this look like? Despite the treachery and emotions Isaac experienced from Jacob, we can identify 5 important steps that every parent can take to make sure the blessing is regularly and powerfully communicated to his or her children.
FIVE ELEMENTS OF A BIBLICAL BLESSING
1. MEANINGFUL TOUCH (v. 26-27). Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” So he came near and kissed him.
Not a lot of exposition is needed to get the picture. Here’s this 40-something year old son kissing his daddy. There’s nothing weird or awkward about it—a kiss was a picture of warm respect and fond affection.
Do you ever watch grown sons and fathers interact? Most of the time, it’s this stiff, awkward, stand-offish encounter—a business-like handshake and it’s over. I think it’s safe to say that in our culture, we've lost the concept of meaningful touch.
Articles and studies abound on this subject, pointing to the healing, nurturing, affirming power of touch, but we struggle here. And our struggle is sowing things into our children that are producing a harvest no parent wants. This is so important, but we cling to our excuses.
"It makes me feel uncomfortable!" If touching your children in ways that make them feel loved and affirmed is hard for you, it’s probably means you didn’t get that from your parents. It’s time to break that cycle. You need to say, “I didn’t get this from my folks, but I’m going to make sure my kids do. I’ll be the first generation!”
“It’s not that important.” I’ve heard people say, “I don’t need anybody. My parents didn’t give me their blessing. I don’t understand what the big deal is with this.” But I’ve stood by so many adults when they finally received the long-overdue blessing of their dad or mom. And I’ve seen adult children rush to that parent’s deathbed, pleading and hoping for a word of love. So don’t give me that line, “I don’t need it.”
Our Heavenly Father built us to need it, and its lack leaves a missing piece. This isn’t about cutting off your arm; it’s about putting that arm around your child and pulling them in close in a way that conveys you love them.
“Well I don’t want to go overboard.” Really? When was the last time you heard an adult say: “I would be a really well-adjusted person if my parents hadn’t gone off the deep end with all the hugs and kisses. I just can’t function properly after so much affection.” I don’t think we’re in any danger on this one. In Gen. 27, this dad and his son kissed one another. It was meaningful touch.
1. MEANINGFUL TOUCH (v. 26-27). Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” So he came near and kissed him.
Not a lot of exposition is needed to get the picture. Here’s this 40-something year old son kissing his daddy. There’s nothing weird or awkward about it—a kiss was a picture of warm respect and fond affection.
Do you ever watch grown sons and fathers interact? Most of the time, it’s this stiff, awkward, stand-offish encounter—a business-like handshake and it’s over. I think it’s safe to say that in our culture, we've lost the concept of meaningful touch.
Articles and studies abound on this subject, pointing to the healing, nurturing, affirming power of touch, but we struggle here. And our struggle is sowing things into our children that are producing a harvest no parent wants. This is so important, but we cling to our excuses.
"It makes me feel uncomfortable!" If touching your children in ways that make them feel loved and affirmed is hard for you, it’s probably means you didn’t get that from your parents. It’s time to break that cycle. You need to say, “I didn’t get this from my folks, but I’m going to make sure my kids do. I’ll be the first generation!”
“It’s not that important.” I’ve heard people say, “I don’t need anybody. My parents didn’t give me their blessing. I don’t understand what the big deal is with this.” But I’ve stood by so many adults when they finally received the long-overdue blessing of their dad or mom. And I’ve seen adult children rush to that parent’s deathbed, pleading and hoping for a word of love. So don’t give me that line, “I don’t need it.”
Our Heavenly Father built us to need it, and its lack leaves a missing piece. This isn’t about cutting off your arm; it’s about putting that arm around your child and pulling them in close in a way that conveys you love them.
“Well I don’t want to go overboard.” Really? When was the last time you heard an adult say: “I would be a really well-adjusted person if my parents hadn’t gone off the deep end with all the hugs and kisses. I just can’t function properly after so much affection.” I don’t think we’re in any danger on this one. In Gen. 27, this dad and his son kissed one another. It was meaningful touch.
2. SPOKEN WORDS. This clarifies and amplifies your affectionate touches. Proverbs 18:21 says: Death and life are in the power of the tongue. It has the power to destroy or to develop, to tear down or build up. James 3 compares the tongue to the bridle of a horses’ mouth, steering your life. Like the rudder on a ship, your tongue has incredible influence on the course of your life. So imagine the influence captured in Genesis 27:27: So [Jacob] came near and kissed [Isaac]. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said…
Spoken words in the home have incredible power. So many times, our harsh, angry, demeaning words crush our children. “You idiot!” “You’re so stupid!” “I’m sick and tired of you. You never learn do you?” Be honest now-how many adults in this room can still hear those kinds of acidic, destructive words when you remember home, words that never should have been spoken?
Spoken words also have the power to enrich and develop our children. They can bless and build and encourage. Here are three kinds of words that should be ringing down the hallways of our homes:
a. Words of affection. “Let love be genuine," says Romans 12:9. So get your heart out there in words. “I love you.” Husband to wife. Wife to husband. Parent to child. Child to parent. “I love you" should be the music that sings in our conversations.
2. Words of reconciliation. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says us that if we come to church and realize that there is a rift between us and our brother or sister in Christ, we’re to drop everything and be reconciled first (Matt. 5:23-24). That principle applies at home, as well. And here’s how that goes. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”
We all blow it. We are all imperfect, flawed people who mess up often, and the odds are strong that most of our mess-ups happen at home. Here are some words to keep on ready: “I apologize. I was wrong and I’ve hurt you. Please forgive me.”
3. Words of security. “You will always be my son. Nothing will ever change that.” These are words of commitment like those God says to us—I will never leave you nor forsake you…I am with you always, even to the end of the age. These are the words our spouses and our children need to hear from us, often.
Listen, you may not be a very verbal person, but I promise you, if you will muster up even a few affectionate, securing, reconciling words for your family, it will go miles further than you can ever imagine. Proverbs 3:27 says, "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it." Whether you say it face-to-face or in writing, eloquently or simply, oh what those words mean for your family.
Spoken words in the home have incredible power. So many times, our harsh, angry, demeaning words crush our children. “You idiot!” “You’re so stupid!” “I’m sick and tired of you. You never learn do you?” Be honest now-how many adults in this room can still hear those kinds of acidic, destructive words when you remember home, words that never should have been spoken?
Spoken words also have the power to enrich and develop our children. They can bless and build and encourage. Here are three kinds of words that should be ringing down the hallways of our homes:
a. Words of affection. “Let love be genuine," says Romans 12:9. So get your heart out there in words. “I love you.” Husband to wife. Wife to husband. Parent to child. Child to parent. “I love you" should be the music that sings in our conversations.
2. Words of reconciliation. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says us that if we come to church and realize that there is a rift between us and our brother or sister in Christ, we’re to drop everything and be reconciled first (Matt. 5:23-24). That principle applies at home, as well. And here’s how that goes. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”
We all blow it. We are all imperfect, flawed people who mess up often, and the odds are strong that most of our mess-ups happen at home. Here are some words to keep on ready: “I apologize. I was wrong and I’ve hurt you. Please forgive me.”
3. Words of security. “You will always be my son. Nothing will ever change that.” These are words of commitment like those God says to us—I will never leave you nor forsake you…I am with you always, even to the end of the age. These are the words our spouses and our children need to hear from us, often.
Listen, you may not be a very verbal person, but I promise you, if you will muster up even a few affectionate, securing, reconciling words for your family, it will go miles further than you can ever imagine. Proverbs 3:27 says, "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it." Whether you say it face-to-face or in writing, eloquently or simply, oh what those words mean for your family.
3. AFFIRMING VALUE. At the heart of what was transpiring as Jacob came near to his dad and his dad spoke over his life is an affirmation that he was special, that he mattered, that he was unique. In v. 27, Isaac pulls his son in close to kiss him and Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.”
You see what Isaac is saying? “Do you know what I think of, son, when I think of you? There’s a beautiful, open field. The birds are singing and the crop is ripe, and the very air is fragrant from it. And you are there, in the middle of this God-blessed place. This is where you belong. I see you son. I see you right there.”
It was a word picture that conveyed this dad’s joy in how special and precious his son was. Later, when Jacob is a dad, he does the same for his sons. “Judah is a lion’s cub…Naphtali is a doe let loose, that bears beautiful fawns…Joseph is a fruitful bough... and on he goes conveying to each child how unique and special they are (Gen. 49).
Find a way to convey how precious and special your child is, a way that fits you and your personality!
You see what Isaac is saying? “Do you know what I think of, son, when I think of you? There’s a beautiful, open field. The birds are singing and the crop is ripe, and the very air is fragrant from it. And you are there, in the middle of this God-blessed place. This is where you belong. I see you son. I see you right there.”
It was a word picture that conveyed this dad’s joy in how special and precious his son was. Later, when Jacob is a dad, he does the same for his sons. “Judah is a lion’s cub…Naphtali is a doe let loose, that bears beautiful fawns…Joseph is a fruitful bough... and on he goes conveying to each child how unique and special they are (Gen. 49).
Find a way to convey how precious and special your child is, a way that fits you and your personality!
SPECIAL FUTURE. Isaac lays it all out in v. 28-29: May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
Isaac’s specific blessing of Jacob is unique and patriarchal, passing on to Jacob the promises that God had given him through Abraham. But the principle remains—Isaac describes a special future where the gifts, abilities, responsibilities, and call of God form a picture of what will be.
This is the kind of picture we want to paint, using our child’s own unique abilities, gifts, and traits as the paint, and showing the fullness of God’s care, enabling, and protection. When you think about it, isn’t that what God was doing in Jeremiah 29:11? I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. This is what your future will look like. Don’t be afraid to seize it as God’s will, in God’s strength.
Isaac’s specific blessing of Jacob is unique and patriarchal, passing on to Jacob the promises that God had given him through Abraham. But the principle remains—Isaac describes a special future where the gifts, abilities, responsibilities, and call of God form a picture of what will be.
This is the kind of picture we want to paint, using our child’s own unique abilities, gifts, and traits as the paint, and showing the fullness of God’s care, enabling, and protection. When you think about it, isn’t that what God was doing in Jeremiah 29:11? I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. This is what your future will look like. Don’t be afraid to seize it as God’s will, in God’s strength.
Three questions remain:
--What happens when the blessing is withheld?--
By way of observation and research, people tend to go down 4 possible roads. Some people try to earn the blessing. “If I just try a little harder, if I can achieve this goal, Dad will finally be proud of me!” So your child tries to earn what should be freely given.
Others go looking for the blessing elsewhere. To quote the song lyric, they go “looking for love in all the wrong places,” and countless studies link violence, sexual promiscuity, and involvement in cults to the vacancy left when the blessing isn’t given.
Some people withdraw into a shell of loneliness and isolation. They have a hard time connecting with anybody because they’ve been hurt so by those from whom they most needed to receive love.
And some strike out in anger. You have to wonder how much high school and young adult aggression is really just their anger at the neglect they’ve experienced, coming out.
--So what happens when the blessing is given?--
When parents give the blessing to their child, their son or daughter will enter adulthood with a firm grip on the big three questions: Who am I? (identity) Why am I here? (security) Where am I going? (confidence) What a difference!
--How do I live without the blessing?--
As far as we know, Jesus never received the blessing from Joseph. The Bible never explains what happened to Joseph; he just disappears from the story early in Jesus’ life.
But don’t miss what His Heavenly Father did! Recall at His baptism, as He came up out of the water, everyone heard a voice saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased!” His Heavenly Father filled up what was lacking in his relationship with his earthly dad.
And as a child of God, by faith in Christ, He will do the same for you. He loves you with an unbreakable love, sings songs about you, pledges Himself to your good! Receive the blessing He has for you!
--What happens when the blessing is withheld?--
By way of observation and research, people tend to go down 4 possible roads. Some people try to earn the blessing. “If I just try a little harder, if I can achieve this goal, Dad will finally be proud of me!” So your child tries to earn what should be freely given.
Others go looking for the blessing elsewhere. To quote the song lyric, they go “looking for love in all the wrong places,” and countless studies link violence, sexual promiscuity, and involvement in cults to the vacancy left when the blessing isn’t given.
Some people withdraw into a shell of loneliness and isolation. They have a hard time connecting with anybody because they’ve been hurt so by those from whom they most needed to receive love.
And some strike out in anger. You have to wonder how much high school and young adult aggression is really just their anger at the neglect they’ve experienced, coming out.
--So what happens when the blessing is given?--
When parents give the blessing to their child, their son or daughter will enter adulthood with a firm grip on the big three questions: Who am I? (identity) Why am I here? (security) Where am I going? (confidence) What a difference!
--How do I live without the blessing?--
As far as we know, Jesus never received the blessing from Joseph. The Bible never explains what happened to Joseph; he just disappears from the story early in Jesus’ life.
But don’t miss what His Heavenly Father did! Recall at His baptism, as He came up out of the water, everyone heard a voice saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased!” His Heavenly Father filled up what was lacking in his relationship with his earthly dad.
And as a child of God, by faith in Christ, He will do the same for you. He loves you with an unbreakable love, sings songs about you, pledges Himself to your good! Receive the blessing He has for you!
