The Blessing

DEVOTION

GENESIS

THE BLESSING

Gen 27:27-29

27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. 28 May God give you of heaven's dew and of earth's richness — an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."

NIV

Are we to assume the Lord only blesses the field? That is not actually what is said though. Isaac said that Jacob smelled like a field the Lord has blessed. What does a field the Lord has blessed smell like? It is most likely that the clothes of Esau which had been kept in the house were stored with herbs to ward away moths, much like some people put fragrance little sacks in dressers today. Perhaps Isaac enjoyed walks though the fields rich with wild flowers such as lavender and thyme or other fragrant herbs that flower. These are the wild fields uncultivated by man which are full of the scent of manure and dirt. It could also be that Esau’s clothes had that scent because he was a man of the wild fields, hunting and so having his garments rubbing through the fragrant herbs. The point is this convinced Isaac he was indeed going to bless his firstborn Esau. We could dissect this blessing as many a commentators have, but that does not make any application for our lives as it was a blessing specifically  meant from Isaac to Esau, except of course it was given to Jacob. What can we learn from this blessing? It is simply that as a parent we have a responsibility to bless our children, or to give them our blessing? Those are distinctly two different things. To bless our children would imply that we give something to them. In the case of Isaac it was in prophetic words. Words that had to have been inspired by the Lord, as once he found out the deception, he had to have known it was from God, as he could not repeat such to his son Esau. Surely we can give words of encouragement to our children in the form of words. We can bless them with an inheritance. Many would consider the material goods we have as their inheritance and that certainly may be a blessing to them. But the greatest inheritance we can bestow upon our children is an eternal one. First by leading them to Christ and second by living Christ before them, showing them the way. What greater blessing can we give our children then showing them the way to eternal life through Jesus? Giving our children our blessings carries another meaning. When they choose the course of their lives, such as a career either in the professions or the trades, we can give them our blessings. We can as parents to either approve of the choices or disapprove. When they choose a mate, we again have the choice as to how we react, with our blessings or our disapproval. All their choices in life should have our blessing because they are our children. True as we are rearing our children they need to know the correct and incorrect behaviors, but not at the expense of being a disapproving parent. Our love and approval of them as our children should never diminish and be expressed as this can only cause a fraction in relationships. This is especially true once they have attained adulthood and are choosing their own life path. If we have reared then with the wisdom of God, they may seek our counsel if they feel the need. But we should always be ready to both bless them and give them our blessings. The word tells us to encourage one another for various reasons, but the one shining one is the return of the Lord.

1 Thess 5:10-11

 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

NIV

This includes our children. We need to be encouragers, strengthening them, building them up, blessing them, and giving them our blessings. No matter how old both they and we are, we still remain and retain the role of parent. Isaac was thinking he was near death and wanting his sons to have his blessing, knowing his words of strengthening and encouragement for their lives. True, Esau was intended to receive the first blessing, and as Jacob received it, Esau’s blessing was not as encouraging as it would have been, but nevertheless Isaac had something for him. In their cases it was prophetic and for the purpose to show us how we need to live uprightly before the Lord. Yet we still see this purpose of blessing our children and giving them our blessings. Being the parent God intends us to be.