By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Hebrews 11:20
A Sunday School teacher asked her students if it’s OK to steal candy. The children answered no. But, the teacher asked, what if you took the candy and shared it with other kids who didn’t have any? This time, some of the children weren’t quite sure of what to say. They were confused about the possibility that some good could come out of something that appeared at first to be wrong. We know that stealing candy is always wrong, and there are no circumstances in which it is right. So how do we justify Jacob’s blessings for his sons, one son who cheated his brother and deceived his own father to obtain the birthright, and one son who had so little regard for the precious birthright that he sold it for a bowl of vegetable soup? Isaac was a man of faith, and by faith he could see beyond the failings and imperfections of his sons. He blessed them, as our text declares, not on their present imperfections but on the things to come. Is that not how God blesses us?
We cannot condone Jacob’s crooked dealings, but we must applaud the appreciation that he had for the value of the birthright. He knew that only through that birthright could he and his descendants inherit the promises that God gave to his grandfather Abraham. And those promises were important to Jacob, although he was unwise in his approach to obtaining those promises. Looking at the life of Jacob is like looking into a mirror. We see so much of ourselves there. Like Jacob, we lurch from times of problems and mistakes to times of obedience and faithful service to our Lord, and then back into trouble again. But through it all, there is like Jacob an appreciation of what God has prepared for us in the things to come.
But Isaac had a blessing for Esau as well. Mind you, it wasn’t much of a blessing compared to what Jacob received. Esau’s blessing was all of earthly wealth and earthly comforts, nothing regarding the inheritance of God’s great promises of eternal blessings. Esau’s lack of appreciation for the birthright meant he was not going to receive it, just as those in the world around us are going to miss out on all the glorious eternal blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him. God has rich blessings for everyone in the world today, even for the despisers. But their blessings have nothing to do with the things to come.
As far as the world is concerned, there is nothing to come, no future beyond the grave. But for the child of God, the things to come abound in blessings beyond our ability to measure. – Jim MacIntosh