I have been reminded recently, for some reason, of Darby’s comments regarding Jacob when he schemed with his mother to steal the blessing from Esau.

Darby’s view of this incident is that Jacob, according to God’s sovereignty, was to be blessed, but because Jacob used his own way to gain the blessing, he also had to experience the Lord’s discipline. Darby comments on this in his Synopsis on Genesis 27:

Jacob’s history now begins. Heir of the promises, and valuing them, he uses means to have them, evil and low in character. God answers his faith, and chastens his evil and unbelief.

And he goes on:

God could have brought the blessing in His own way (or made Isaac cross his hands as He did Jacob); Jacob, led by his mother, followed his own way, and did not wait for God. But the blessing was prophetic, and not to be recalled. The ways of God and His purpose were not to be changed. Isaac was guilty, and Jacob more so: all was overruled to answer faith and chasten evil in the believer.

So, God both honored Jacob’s faith and disciplined him for his base behavior. No doubt, in this, Jacob is a picture of us all!

In contrast to Jacob, Esau had no real thought of God:

Esau had deliberately given up the right, when he had the choice: God was not in his thoughts: he cannot receive the blessing when the consequences are there.

And from all this, here is the lesson Darby concludes with; it was this point which especially touched me regarding this passage:

Man must act by faith alone, when the consequences are not seen, in order to be blessed, when the time for blessing comes.

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— 5 August 2023 —