“Some
trust in horses, some in chariots but we trust in the name of the Lord.” (Psalm
20:7)
God’s
hand is not short to bless any of his creatures. All He has created was
intended for our good. He does not require any of it for Himself. Conscious of
this however, some people would like to fast-forward their blessings or
download them at will. In a bid to accelerate the process they run into all
kinds of difficulties which could have been avoided in the first instance. God
knows what is best for us and He has already laid it all down, according to His
own plan and timing. But our impatience is prodding us on. Some people want it
instantly. They just wouldn’t wait. One such person was Jacob, Isaac’s son.
Jacob’s
name means ‘a cheat,’----somebody who thinks himself smart, always seeking to
outwit others. And true to his name, he tricked his elder brother, Esau, out of
his birthright over a bowl of stew. Esau had returned from hunting, exhausted
and famished. It happened that Jacob had just finished preparing some stew and
Esau asked him whether he could have some. He was willing to offer it at the
price of Esau’s birthright. Somehow Esau did not think much of his birthright
at the time. When it occurred to him what he had done, it was too late. He
could not get it back. He had sold it for just a bowl of stew.
Jacob
did not stop at that, he went on to trick his elder brother a second time with
his mother, Rebekah, as accomplice. She had overheard Isaac ask Esau to go and
hunt some meat that he would prepare for him so he could eat it and bless him.
Isaac had been getting on in age and had even lost his sight. So that was the
natural thing to do, to bless the eldest child before he died. But Rebekah was
privy to what the oracle had declared----that her eldest son would serve the
youngest. In her mind, if Isaac was to bless Esau then Jacob, her favourite,
would not get the blessing due him in keeping with the oracle.
So
they devised a plan and provided answers at all the checkpoints that Isaac
would put up. She quickly cooked the food, “How did you find it so quickly my
son? His response: “The Lord your God gave me blessing.” (verse 20) He put
animal skin on his arms to make Jacob’s hands hairy like that of Esau. “The
voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Are you
really my son Esau?” (verse 22-24); and dressed Jacob in Esau’s clothes, “Come
here, my son and kiss me.” So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught
the smell of his (Esau’s) clothes, he blessed him (Jacob).” (verse 26-27) This
operation had to be concluded before Esau returned from hunting game. By the
time he did and appeared before his father he heard: “Who was it, then, that
hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed
him---and indeed he will be blessed.” (verse 33)
“When
Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out in a loud and bitter cry and said
to his father, “Bless me----me too, my father.” (verse 34) His father
concluded: “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” (verse 35)
Esau got very angry this time around and would have killed Jacob if his mother
had not made safe passage for him to his uncle Laban’s home in Haran.
Actually,
it was God who revealed to Rebekah: “Two nations are in your womb, and the two
peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the
other, and the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23) Isaac had only
one blessing to give which according to God should go to the younger. This was
a departure from the norm because the eldest male child received the blessing.
Only God knew why.
God
has a blessing for everyone and just as our fingers are not equal our blessings
are wrapped differently. Yet a good many people covet the blessings of others,
and would go to any length to provoke similar blessings for themselves. They do
not want to work for or pray for it, they want it by all means. Whatever God
has laid down for you will never run past you. Saul went searching for his
father’s lost donkeys when he was anointed first king of Israel. Joseph was
elevated to the rank of prime minister straight from prison.
God
and His Word are one. Jacob would have had a name change and be blessed anyway
(Genesis 32:22-32)----so there was no need for Rebekah to scheme for it.
Because the blessing was induced it gave birth to never-ending problems for
Jacob. Whilst in Haran, his uncle tricked him to work fourteen years before he
could marry the woman of his choice. Hear him complain as Laban caught up with
him on his flight path back to his hometown: “I have been with you for twenty
years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from
your flock. I did not bring your animals torn by wild beast; I bore the loss
myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or
night. This was my situation: the heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold
at night, and sleep fled my eyes. It was like this for the twenty years I was
in your household.” What goes around comes around.
God
has blessed us severally with specific blessings, with no duplications. He has ample blessings in store. In His
infinite wisdom God knows what is best for each and everyone. What matters is
what we do with our blessings for we may have to render account for them one
day.
Do
not induce a blessing already prepared for you; it could be premature and come
with no end of worries. Wait! God never comes late!
