Now we move on to Isaac’s public confirmation of the blessing of Jacob and we need to consider two things: its importance and its content. a. It’s Importance. First, what was done in secret needs to be brought to light. Remember, that the blessing of Jacob was done through deception and against the will of Isaac. This second pronouncement of the blessing establishes what has been done. Everyone in the family would be expecting Esau to be the one to receive the blessing but this announcement would set everyone straight. There could be no debate or delegitimizing later on after Isaac’s death. Though Jacob received the blessing through underhanded means Isaac has placed the legal stamp upon it. The second thing that this public blessing accomplishes is that it warns Esau to stand down. Jacob is now the blessed and the owner of the birthright. To go against Jacob would invite the wrath of God. Thirdly, this blessing is an encouragement to Jacob. He is leaving his home, his mother, his inheritance, everything to go live with his uncle. Jacob needs to hear the blessing that this journey will not end in destruction away from the land but in all that God has promised. Even though Jacob, up until this point, had been trusting in his skills as a con man he now must trust in God. b. It’s Content. Let’s take a brief look at the content of the blessing from Isaac. Isaac says that God Almighty bless you. This ought to remind Jacob that the blessing is not ultimately from Isaac and not because he cheated his brother but because God is El-Shaddai, the all-powerful one. The omnipotent one has chosen to bless him. God does not have to bless him because he is El-Shaddai and is constrained by no one. This blessing is coming despite Jacob’s actions not because of his treachery. The blessing contains the three main blessings we have seen repeatedly through the stories of Abraham and Isaac: people, land, and blessing to the nations. But as we have learned God continually lifts the veil on how momentous this blessing is. Look at the phrase “you may become a company of peoples.” We haven’t seen this before. The expansiveness of this blessing is growing. Now we are seeing another side of this blessing to the nations. Jacob will become an assembly of nations. Paul in the book of Romans tells us that Jacob is like the root of a tree. Some of his descendants will trespass God’s law and will be cut off but God will ingraft the Gentile nations like a wild olive shoot into Jacob’s tree. Isaac is saying that the blessing of God, the blessing to the nations is the assembly of nations or the church. Paul explains this in Galatians 3:8 when he says, “and the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” If you are a Christian, then by faith, you have become one of those people in Jacob’s assembly of nations. Let us also consider what Isaac says about the land. “That you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham.” Isn’t it interesting that the land was given to Abraham but here, his grandson, is sojourning? If it’s Abraham’s land why is Jacob a sojourner? Why does Isaac speak of taking possession of it when it belongs to the family already? The writer of Hebrews tells us that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in the land of promise as in a foreign land. They knew that they were “strangers and exiles on earth,” not just in the promised land. These three men were waiting for a “city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” They were seeking a homeland, but they weren’t “thinking of the land from which they had gone out, they would have had an opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” Because they felt this way God is not ashamed to be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And because of their faith in a heavenly homeland God has prepared a city for them.