Sovereign Grace in a Sewer Text: Genesis 27:5-17
Introduction: Crooked Sticks
We come now to a passage of Scripture that is deeply uncomfortable for the modern, sentimental Christian. If your vision of the Christian life is a series of inspirational quotes on pastel backgrounds, then this story is a bucket of cold water. Here we have the covenant family, the very line through which the Messiah will come, behaving like characters in a sordid soap opera. We have a father driven by his belly, a mother driven by manipulation, one son who is a profane lout, and another who is a fearful deceiver. There is not a single character in this drama who comes out looking good. They are all covered in the mud of their own sin.
And this is precisely why we must pay close attention. The world believes that great things must have pristine origins. But the Bible teaches the opposite. The Bible shows us, again and again, that God delights in using crooked sticks to draw straight lines. He does not wait for us to get our act together. He descends into the mess of our lives, into the sewer of our sin, and accomplishes His perfect, sovereign will. This story is not a "how to" manual for getting what you want. It is not an endorsement of lying and manipulation. Rather, it is a stunning display of God's unconditional election. It demonstrates that the covenant promises of God are not dependent on the moral performance of the patriarchs, but on the unshakeable decree of God Himself. God had already told Rebekah, "the older shall serve the younger." What we are about to witness is the carnal, sinful, and bumbling human attempt to bring about what God had already ordained. And in this, we see a picture of our own salvation, which is all of grace, and not of works, lest any man should boast.
The Text
Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. Then Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring to Isaac.
But Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speaking to your brother Esau, saying,
‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat and bless you in the presence of Yahweh before my death.’
So now, my son, listen to my voice as I command you.
Go now to the flock and get for me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.
Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”
Then Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a mocker in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”
But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only listen to my voice, and go, get them for me.”
So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a savory dish such as his father loved.
Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and she put them on Jacob her younger son.
And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
She also gave the savory dish and the bread, which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.
(Genesis 27:5-17 LSB)
The Scheming Matriarch (vv. 5-10)
The drama begins with Rebekah eavesdropping. Isaac, the patriarch, is failing in his duty. He knows God's prophecy, yet he is determined to give the blessing to his favorite son, Esau. His desire is driven by his appetite, "prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat." This is a carnal motivation, a failure of spiritual headship. He is trying to bless the man God has passed over.
"But Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob, saying, 'Behold, I heard your father... So now, my son, listen to my voice as I command you.'" (Genesis 27:6, 8)
Rebekah overhears this and immediately springs into action. We must grant her this: her goal is correct. She knows Jacob is the chosen one. She has faith in God's promise. But her faith is a panicked faith. It is a faith that does not trust God to fulfill His own promises in His own way and in His own time. And so, she resorts to carnal means to achieve a spiritual end. She decides to "help God out" with a lie. This is always a disastrous course of action.
Notice her language to Jacob: "listen to my voice as I command you." This is the language of authority. In the absence of her husband's spiritual leadership, she usurps it. She concocts a detailed plan of deception involving food, timing, and subterfuge. Her intention is to secure God's blessing for her son, but her method is a web of deceit. This is a classic example of doing the wrong thing for the right reason. And the Bible never grades on a curve. The road to ruin is paved with such intentions.
The Reluctant Conspirator (vv. 11-13)
Jacob's response is telling. He does not object to the plan on moral grounds. He does not say, "Mother, we cannot lie to my father!" or "This is a sin against God!"
"Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a mocker in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing." (Genesis 27:11-12 LSB)
Jacob's objection is entirely pragmatic. It is utilitarian. His concern is not with the sin, but with the consequences of getting caught. "What if this doesn't work?" He is afraid of the curse, not the lie that would earn it. This reveals the state of his heart. He is the "supplanter," the "heel-grabber." He is an opportunist, not yet a man of God. He is a man who will spend the next twenty years of his life on the receiving end of deception from his uncle Laban, and God will use that hard providence to shape him, to wrestle with him, and to transform him from Jacob the trickster into Israel, the one who strives with God.
Rebekah's response to his fear is astonishing in its recklessness. "Your curse be on me, my son; only listen to my voice." She is so determined to see this through that she is willing to bear the divine judgment for it. This is a fierce, misguided maternal love. She essentially says, "I will go to hell for you, son, just do what I say." This is not faith; it is presumption. And it will cost her dearly. As a result of this deception, Jacob will flee, and Rebekah will never see her beloved son again.
The Anatomy of Deceit (vv. 14-17)
With his mother's reassurance, Jacob's feeble objections collapse, and he becomes a willing participant in the fraud.
"So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a savory dish such as his father loved." (Genesis 27:14 LSB)
The deception that follows is thorough and attacks all the senses of the blind old patriarch. Rebekah is the mastermind, and she leaves nothing to chance. First, she deals with the sense of taste. She prepares the goat meat to mimic the wild game that Isaac loves. Second, she addresses the sense of smell. She takes Esau's "best garments," which would have carried the scent of the field, the smell of a hunter, and puts them on Jacob. Third, she tackles the most difficult problem, the sense of touch. She takes the skins of the goats and puts them on Jacob's smooth hands and neck to imitate his hairy brother.
This is not a little white lie. This is a premeditated, multi-layered, high-stakes conspiracy to commit spiritual fraud. It is an act of profound disrespect against a father and husband, and an act of treachery against a brother. They are attempting to steal the covenant blessing, the very vehicle of God's redemptive plan for the world. And the tragedy is that it was already Jacob's by divine promise. All this sin was entirely unnecessary.
Conclusion: The Unmerited Blessing
So what are we to make of this tawdry affair? We must see two things simultaneously. First, sin is always destructive. This deception shattered the family. It created decades of bitterness and strife. God's will being accomplished through our sin never makes the sin okay. There are always consequences. You reap what you sow.
But second, and most importantly, we see that God's decree is absolute. God had chosen Jacob. And no amount of human sin, not Isaac's favoritism, not Esau's profanity, not Rebekah's manipulation, and not Jacob's deceit, could ever thwart the plan of God. God used their sin, folded it into His plan, and brought about the end He had ordained from the beginning. He did not cause their sin, but He governed it.
This is the doctrine of sovereign grace. The blessing was not given on the basis of merit. Who deserved it? Not Jacob the liar. He was a scoundrel. The blessing was given on the basis of God's free and sovereign choice. In this, Jacob is a picture of every one of us who is in Christ. We did not deserve our blessing. We did not earn our salvation. While we were yet sinners, liars, and schemers, Christ died for us. We brought nothing to the table but our sin, and God, in His mercy, clothed us in the garments of His righteous Son, and blessed us with a heavenly inheritance we could never deserve.
This story should humble us. We are all Jacobs. We are all members of this dysfunctional family. But it should also give us immense comfort. Our standing with God does not depend on our flawed performance, but on His flawless promise. He is the one who secures the blessing, and what He decrees will surely come to pass.