Kingsword Bible Study
Kingsword Bible Study
Plowshares & Pruning Hooks
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In this episode we look at the prophecy of plowshares and pruning hooks and see how the enemy took these tools that God gave man to make them into things that divide and pit us against each other, even turning us into swords and spears but then we see how God, in His goodness and graciousness, reverses that prophesy and turns us into productive, creative people with great tools that can change the world and greatly advance the Kingdom of God.
Welcome to the King's Word Bible study. Today our topic is going to be Jacob's Deception. Let's begin the day in Genesis chapter twenty seven.
Joel 3:1
SPEAKER_00In Genesis chapter twenty seven, beginning in the eighteenth verse it says, And he came unto his father and said, My father, and he said, Here am I, who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near
2 Chronicles 7:14
SPEAKER_00unto Isaac his father, and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau, and he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him. We see here how far Jacob was willing to go to secure Isaac's blessing, while we know his brother Esau was willing to trade his birthright for something so small as a bowl of wintil stew and bread. Esau didn't consider it of any value, and was willing to callously discard it, and now he was reaping what he sowed, and Jacob was the one reaping the reward, but not without deceit. His deceit worked, and we know that he was blessed by Isaac. And we know that not long after Jacob leaves, Esau comes in, asking for Isaac's blessing, and was informed that he was too late. Jacob already got it. Verse 36 tells us, and he said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he have supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? Verse 41 tells us how Esau really felt about what had happened, beyond just the shock and the sorrow that we see there in verse 36. It says, And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand, then will I slay my brother Jacob. When we look at this incredible account, it's easy to think that it's unique from anything else that we find in Scripture. But even this story, like so many others all throughout the Scripture in both testaments, has a parallel passage, and by comparing them to each other, we can discover even more of the deeper meaning hidden beneath it. The parallel passage of this account is hiding in a very unsuspecting place and can easily be missed if we never dig deeper. It's found in Exodus chapter 20 with the Ten Commandments. Between these two passages, there's 37 textual parallels in the Hebrew, in the exact same sequence, and Genesis chapter 27 would be the lens that many of the people hearing these Ten Commandments would be seeing them through. They would pick up on those parallels that don't always translate well in English. They would view Jacob's deception of Isaac as a cautionary tale that God gave them to protect them from doing something foolish and harmful to themselves. In order to get a better idea of these parallels, we need to look at each of the Ten Commandments. Exodus chapter 20, verses 2 to 3 say, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Just like in Exodus chapter 3, when Moses encounters the Lord at the burning bush, here we find that he's telling his children Israel that he is the great I am. That's clear language, showing that he is the divine God and creator of man. Jacob parallels that exact language in a dark way, twisting it and using it for his own purposes. Back in Genesis 27, Isaac asks him if he's his son Esau, and what does Jacob say? He replies, I am Esau. Then a few verses later, after Isaac's suspicion is rekindled and he asks him if he really is Esau, what does he say that time? He again says, I am. This may seem like a small connection, but it's not. The same way God used I am to communicate his true
2 Chronicles 20:4
SPEAKER_00identity so that his people could understand who he really is to them. Jacob used I am to communicate a false identity, to confuse and mislead his father Isaac as to who he really was. He was using the language of God to go against God's will and get from man what only God can give, which only enhances and increases the offense against God. Exodus chapter 20, verses 4 to 6 tell us, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. How does this connect with what Jacob did? He turned himself into a living image of Esau. Rebekah put Esau's garments on Jacob, and the skin and hair of goats on his hands and his neck. Isaac says that the voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's. Why is that important? That's the same ideology that underlies all idolatry. It's the outward form without the inward substance. That's the core danger that we're told to beware of with idolatry. That's not just a danger lurking somewhere outside in the world. That's a danger that arises in the church, the same way that it was arising right there in Isaac's own family. Second Timothy chapter 3 and verse 5 says, Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away. Psalm 115, verses 4 to 8 tell us, their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's
Romans 5:10
SPEAKER_00hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they,
Proverbs 17:11
SPEAKER_00but they walk not, neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them. So is every one that trusteth in them. The intent is to deceive a person into thinking that the object, something that they could feel and touch and look at, is a god. Isaac felt
Romans 8:7
SPEAKER_00Jacob. He did so because the visible to him in his blindness and his old age had become unreliable. The whole scene is all about sensory deception, touch, smell, taste, clothing, voice. That's a natural manifestation of a spiritual phenomena. Idolatry distorts and corrupts spiritual perception, attempting to weaken our discernment, leading the people trusting in what they can touch and feel instead of what's true. That's not the only time that we find that word felt appear in the Hebrew. We also find it in Genesis chapter 31, verses 34 to 36. Except here we find the translated as searched. These verses say, Now Rachel had taken the images and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them, and Laban searched all the tent, but found them not. And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee, for the custom of women is upon
1 John 2:16
SPEAKER_00me, and he searched but found not the images. And Jacob was wroth, and choked with Laban. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? Here we find Jacob reaping what he sowed. He didn't know Rachel took those idols. But now instead of imploring his father to feel him, to validate his deception, now he was being felt and searched out when he didn't want to be. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 7 says, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. This is one of the clearest parallels that we find, and it harkens back to what we spoke about with the first command, where Jacob mirrored the same language as God used, saying, I am. Here we find a different term repeated. It's the Lord thy
Galatians 5:17
SPEAKER_00God. The very first appearance of this phrase in the Scripture is back in Genesis chapter 27. Isaac is shocked at how fast Esau supposedly got the venison he asked for, and he asked Jacob in verse 20. And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. There it is, the very first mention of that phrase. How was Jacob using it though? He was using it to validate a lie. He was saying God helped him to do something that he didn't do. Not only was he concocting a lie, now he was dragging God's name into it to validate the lie even further, using God's name for a vain purpose, for his own selfish purpose. That's taking the name in the deepest, ultimate sense of the phrase. He took God's name without his approval, without his consent, and used it to mislead and deceive his aging father. When people would hear this command, they would think back to what at that time was the only other mention of that phrase, and they'd clearly see the connection and think of Jacob's use of it and see that God is warning them to do nothing of that sort again. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 8 says, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This commandment is less obvious than some of the others, but it's no less important. The Sabbath is all about rest. It's all about trusting God enough to stop striving and to cease from working. But Genesis 27 is the opposite of that. Nobody rests. Everybody's striving. Everybody's grasping for something. Isaac's anxious to bless Esau before his death. Rebekah rushes Jacob to get ready to deceive his father. Jacob fears being caught the entire time. Esau is out hunting, pursuing his prey. The entire scene is one of restless striving for blessing. The Sabbath is all about God giving rest, and man simply receiving it freely from him. But Genesis 27 is all about the feeling that if we don't seize the blessing right now, we may lose everything. But that's not how the Lord works. Jacob made a critical mistake here. He led doubt in and quenched his faith. In Genesis chapter 25 and verse 23,
Isaiah 2:4
SPEAKER_00referring to Rebekah, it says, And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. This was Jacob's blessing. Jacob didn't have to strive to get that. It was already ordained and set in place by God. Isaac couldn't change that, no matter how hard he may have tried. Esau couldn't earn it either. It belonged to Jacob, but Jacob was failing to simply trust God and rest in his promise. He was trying to get the blessing without simply waiting for it to come in God's perfect timing. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 12 says, Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy
1 John 3:2
SPEAKER_00days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. This is an important one in terms of these parallels, because it's more nuanced. Jacob doesn't wholesale disobey his parents, because although he's clearly disobeying Isaac, he's also at the same time obeying Rebekah. He's obeying one parent in a way that dishonors another parent. He approaches Isaac repeatedly, saying, My father, but he's not doing so in a respectful, loving way, because his actions betray that idea. Each use of that phrase gets fervor and fervor poisoned by his deceptions. Isaac is vulnerable, he's aged, he's blind, he's dependent. And what does Jacob do in the face of that? He doesn't tenderly care for him and honor him, he instead exploits his weakness and uses it against him. Far from honoring him, he uses the language of sonship while in the same breath violating the trust of fatherhood. And that's the irony behind the whole thing. Jacob wants the Father's blessing while betraying and dishonoring the Father's trust. He wants what the Father can give him without walking truthfully before him. Isn't that the same thing that we so often do with God, our Heavenly Father? Yet walking truthfully before him is the very thing that God desires from us. Micah 6 and 8 tells us, He has showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. It's the same principle at work, which is why God commands us to both honor our natural father and mother, and in doing so honor him, protecting us from this danger. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 13 says, Thou shalt not kill. We know that Jacob doesn't murder Isaac or Esau. This isn't a literal parallel, but it is a spiritual one. We know that because of what Jacob's deception leads to. We saw the reaction that it caused in Esau's heart. Verse 41 of Genesis 27 told us. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand, then will I slay my brother Jacob. His hatred of him was leading him to desire and premeditate and plan to murder him. That shouldn't surprise us. That's always what true hatred leads to. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, verses 21 to 22, Ye have heard that it was said of old time, thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, without a cause, shall be in danger of judgment, and whosoever shall say to his brother, Rakah, shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. First John three and fifteen says, Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Even though Esau never carried through his plans in the flesh, he already had in the spirit. Murder begins in the heart, and that's exactly where Esau said that he hated his brother in his heart. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 14 tells us, Thou shalt not commit adultery. It's one of the greatest misconceptions that adultery is only referring to sexual sin, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. What really lies at the heart of adultery is betrayal, and we find the fingerprints of betrayal all throughout this scene. Adultery is treachery against the covenantal union, and here we find it happening throughout the covenantal household of Abraham's own descendants, the same family, same bloodline that God went into covenant with. This commandment is betrayed for the simple act of deceiving Isaac, but that act didn't go unpunished, because later on Jacob was deceived himself. After meeting Rachel and desiring to marry her, even working seven long years in the fields of Laban's house for her hand in marriage, Laban deceived him. Genesis chapter 29 and verse 25 says, And it came to pass that in the morning, behold, it was Leah, and he said to Laban, What is this that thou hast done
Luke 8:11
SPEAKER_00unto me? Did not I serve with thee for Rachel? Wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? That word beguiled is the same word in the Hebrew used in chapter 27 and verse 35. The parallel here isn't that Jacob committed some sexual sin in Genesis chapter 27. It's that he planted the seed of covenantal deception that was later reaped in Genesis 29, when the same thing that he did was done back to him, with covenantal deception entering into his marriage story, showing that vengeance is truly the Lord's. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 15 says, Thou shalt not steal. This is one of the most direct parallels that we find. Verse 35, when Isaac was speaking to Esau, told us, and he said, Thy brother came with subtlety, and have taken away thy blessing. He stole it,
Hosea 10:12
SPEAKER_00he took it from Esau. That word subtly here means in deceit, with guile, treachery, fraud. That was the posture of heart and the frame of mind with which Jacob was doing this. Then he took the blessing, he seized it without Esau even knowing that it had happened. Esau admitted the effectiveness of Jacob's plot. That's what we saw in verse 36. It said, And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he have taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? It's the same thing here. Twice we find him say that Jacob took it. What do we call it when someone takes something without permission? It's stealing. Jacob stole the blessing when God's promise belonged to him anyway in the first place. It was a completely unnecessary manifestation of his fleshly crookedness. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 16 tells us, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. This is another obvious one. We find this everywhere throughout Genesis 27. Jacob falsely identifies himself. He falsely claims Esau's role. He falsely attributes his speed to God's help. He falsely presents the food
John 15:2
SPEAKER_00as Esau's game. He falsely receives his father's kiss as Esau. Isaac's question to him, Who are you? Is that dramatic courtroom moment where clear as day, beyond any reasonable doubt, he bears false witness about himself. Like we spoke about earlier, this came back upon his own head when Laban bore false witness against him, as it had to do with Rachel. Once he wakes up and sees Leah and asks why Laban did what he did, what does Laban say? Genesis chapter 29, verses 26 to 27 say, And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also for the service, which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. Laban never told him the full story. He never explained that caveat. He simply made a false promise to a man who himself had made a false promise, a false affirmation of his identity, to his own father, bearing false witness against him. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 17 says, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. This is at the root and the heart of the entire story of Jacob's deception. Jacob wants what belongs to Esau. He wants his status, his blessing, his firstborn privilege, the recognition of his father. The commandment against coveting comes last because it's really the motive that's lurking deep beneath all the other ones. Before Jacob lies and steals and dishonors his father and misuses God's name, he wants what isn't his. He wants what can only be given by the Spirit of God, and not what can be grasped by the arm of flesh. It's really a spiritual wrestling match with God, trying to wrestle the blessing out of his hand, which we know he was no stranger to. He couldn't wait. He couldn't rest in the promise. He couldn't trust. He had to see results. If things weren't moving at his speed, he was going to force them. There is a time to wrestle with God. There are moments where that's appropriate. But then there's other moments like this where it's foolish and immature and simply impatient of us to do so. We're told of coveting possessions here, and that's how Jacob views these things. That's how we saw his birthright and his father's blessing. Just another thing to lay up in store for the future. Just another thing to have for himself. But true coveting goes far deeper than that. It's beyond jealousy for another man's possession. It's really envy of that other man, not just wanting to have what the next man has, but wanting to be that next man. Jacob wanted to be Esau. That's why he put on Esau's clothes and made himself feel like Esau, and brought the food that Esau would have brought, and spoke the way that Esau would have spoken. It was all about being Esau for the day, which is the epitome of both envy and hypocrisy, which both almost always appear together. What we see through all these parallels is that Jacob wanted the right blessing, but he sought after it in the wrong way. People today want all sorts of blessings in life. People pray for promotion on the job, for their marriage, for success, for influence, for provision, for fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit. But they often pursue them in a way that's against the order that God has established. They want the blessing to come on their own terms and not God's terms. And that's never the way that the Lord operates. It's his way or no way. The true essence of what we're looking at is that you can never secure God's blessing by violating God's character and his law. That'll never work. It's only perfect obedience that secures the blessing, which is why we can't do it on our own. We need Jesus to impute his righteousness unto us. We need to trade the filthy stained rags of our unrighteousness and receive the robe of righteousness, the robe that's been washed white in his blood, so that just like Jacob, we can come before the Father in another man's robe, in Jesus' robe, and receive his blessing instead of our own, the blessing of eternal life, the blessing that he died to make available to us. We don't trust in the arm of flesh, because that's not how the blessing comes. It's not by might nor by power, it's by the Spirit of God. Jacob's sin abounded, but God's grace did much more abound in his life, which is why he went on to succeed and be used greatly by the Lord, living in God's blessing. And the same is true for us today when we repent and receive God's grace through Jesus Christ. Let's close in prayer. Lord, today we thank you for the blessing that you've pronounced upon our lives. Lord, we thank you that you put it in your word, that you placed it in your testament, that you made available to us through your death and resurrection. And Lord, today we thank you that we can come before you, wearing the robe of righteousness that you gave us when we were born again. That when you look at us, you don't see us in all of our sin, all of our shortcomings, all our mistakes, but that you see us covered in the blood of your only beloved Son. Lord, we thank you so much for all of the blessings that you've given us in this life. And Lord, today we thank you that we don't have to try to deceive you to get the blessing from you, but that we can walk humbly before you in righteousness, in freedom, in perfect liberty. And Lord, today we thank you that that freedom flows through every area of our life, that it influences everything that we do. And Lord, we thank you that wherever your spirit is, we're promised that there is liberty. And Lord, we give you all the honor, all the glory, and all the praise. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, if you want to be used greatly by God and have Jesus as a part of your life today, all you need to do is invite Jesus into your heart to be your personal Lord and Savior. You then need to repent of your sins and ask for his forgiveness. Then you trust that you've been forgiven and you ask for his free gift of eternal life. Now, if you've prayed this from a sincere heart and you truly meant it, then you are now a part of the family of God. Welcome to God's family. We want to thank everybody for listening today. We appreciate you taking out your time to spend with us. If you want even more of the King's Word, you can go to our YouTube page at Kingsword Ministry or visit our TikTok page at Kingsword Bible. God bless you. We want you to know that we love you all, and we'll see you next week as we continue to study the King's Word together.