Betrayed By What You Feel

Genesis 27:18-28 "When he came to his father, he said, My father. and he answered, Here I am. Who are you, my son? Jacob replied to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me. But Isaac said to his son, How did you ever find it so quickly, my son? He replied, Because the Lord your God made it happen for me. Then Isaac said to Jacob, Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not? So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him."

Jacob continuously lives up to his name. His name meant heel-grabber or supplanter. He was born holding his twin brother Esau's heel and as he grew up he would eventually fulfill the meaning of supplanter, which is someone who wrongfully takes the place of another. Twice he deprived his brother of his rights as the firstborn son.

In our opening text, Isaac is old and blind. He has lost his ability to see for himself so he has to rely on what he hears and what he feels. Unfortunately for Esau, this gave Jacob and his mother a perfect opportunity to deceive Isaac. 

When it came time for Isaac to bless Esau as the firstborn, he asked him to go into the field and kill and prepare some food for them to eat first. While Esau was gone, Rebekah and Jacob started working. Rebekah took goats and prepared them, she then took the clothes of Esau and put them on Jacob. Because Jacob was not as hairy as his brother, who was extremely hairy, they took the skins of the goats with the hair still on them and put them on his hands and around his neck.

As Jacob approaches his father, Isaac is immediately suspicious. How did you find it so quickly? he asked. Once Jacob speaks and says the Lord blessed him Isaac is even more skeptical. Isaac asks Jacob to come closer so that he could feel him and make sure that it really was Esau. As Jacob approached Isaac reached out and felt his hairy hands that felt just like Esau's, Jacob also smelled like Esau because he was wearing his clothes. When Isaac touched Jacob he says, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." And because he did not recognize him he blessed Jacob with the blessing that was supposed to go to Esau as the firstborn.

While this is just a story about how Jacob stole Esau's blessing, there is a principle in this text that I think we would be wise to recognize. Isaac knew something was off. Jacob came with the food too quickly, Isaac knew that he should have hunted longer than that. Isaac noticed that the voice was wrong, but because what he felt seemed right he ended up deceived. 

As Christians, we are going to have to face this particular situation at least once in our lives. Where something or someone comes around who claims to be authentic. It may feel good, it may satisfy you when you taste it, but all of these things betrayed Isaac. The one sense he should have trusted was what he heard. Too often all we need to do is listen to what is being proclaimed or preached. If it does not sound like sound theology it doesn't matter what it feels like. If it doesn't sound like what you know the Bible says, it doesn't matter how satisfying it may be. Isaac betrayed his son by trusting in the wrong things!

As we interact with other believers with other ideas of the Bible and theology, we must rely on what we are hearing and not on what it makes me feel like. Our feelings can be manipulated, our feelings can lie to us. How often have you felt that you were in love only to find out that you were just caught up in the moment? Don't treat the Word of God like that. His word does not change. There will never be a new revelation that drastically changes the plan of salvation or who God is. Trust the Scriptures and make sure what you hear sounds like it should.

When it comes to knowing what the Bible says, there is something that we can be confident in, first, I don't have to earn my salvation, and second, effort-based theology is false doctrine.

Jesus already paid the price for my salvation. I don't have to try to live good enough, I don't have to do a bunch of works in order to obtain salvation. I simply trust in what he already did. 

Romans 3:23-24 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Christ Jesus."

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift - not from works, so that no one can boast."

Galatians 2:21 "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing."

It's not about me praying harder, worshiping louder, or reading my Bible faster. I simply put my faith and trust in Christ and he will sustain me! 

Romans 11:6 "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace."

Ephesians 1:7-10 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."

Ephesians 1:13-14 "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."

We can be confident in what Scripture says so that we will not be pulled away from sound theology by false teachers that make us feel good. Remember Jesus said that we would hear his voice and follow him. Trust in what you are hearing and do not justify something that doesn't sound right because of how it makes you feel.

John 10:1-5 "Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. when he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don't know the voice of strangers."