ISAAC, THE GLUTTON
Isaac was the least impressive of the patriarchs. He had a weakness for food, which almost threatened the destiny of the Israelite nation to be.
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”(Genesis 27:1-4)
Isaac on his deathbed craves for the food he had always liked. But his craving drives him to disregard God’s plan for his descendants. Even when his wife Rebekah was pregnant with the twins, Esau and Jacob, it was revealed to them that Jacob would carry the family line and all the blessings that came along with it.
The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23)
Isaac however failed to remain in sync with God and allowed his appetite for food to get in the way of executing God’s plan. His love for food was greater and so Esau became a favorite with the aging father.
Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. (Genesis 25:28)
If Isaac had paid close attention to the lives of his sons, he would have noticed that Esau had little regard for God or for godly things. Sure Jacob was no saint either in the early part of his life, but he does not demonstrate the disdain that Esau had for God and his family. Esau chose to give away his birthright and brought home two Hittite women as his wives, causing much consternation for his parents.
Proximity to death strips away everything that is superficial and brings alive that which is most important for a person. On his deathbed, instead of seeking to complete God’s purpose for him, Isaac craves for one last tasty meal of wild game and plans to put aside God’s plans of elevating Jacob as the chosen patriarch. It is gluttony at its worst, where sensual appetites seek to put away God’s will and purpose. Rebekah shines as a strong woman throughout the life story of Isaac. Right from her decision to leave her father’s house and go to a foreign land to marry Isaac, all the way up to the point of his death, where she intervenes to ensure that God’s will would come to pass, her presence was a saving grace for Isaac.
The blessing given by the patriarchs was not only a form of a will, but also a prophetic word from God. Even though Jacob managed to get his father’s blessing by deceit, it was God’s plan being executed, despite the gluttony of Isaac.
