Irrevocable Promises to the Forefathers 19 November 2025, 28 Cheshvan 5786.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the Forefathers of the Israelite nation. Jacob was to be re-named Israel (Genesis 32:8, 36:22). .
Abraham had been promised to become, "A GREAT NATION, AND IN YOU WILL ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED" (Genesis 12:2-3).
AND I WILL MAKE MY COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND YOU, AND WILL MULTIPLY YOU EXCEEDINGLY" (Genesis 17:2).
Genesis (KJV) 22:17 THAT IN BLESSING I WILL BLESS THEE, AND IN MULTIPLYING I WILL MULTIPLY THY SEED AS THE STARS OF THE HEAVEN, AND AS THE SAND WHICH IS UPON THE SEA SHORE; AND THY SEED SHALL POSSESS THE GATE OF HIS ENEMIES; 18 AND IN THY SEED SHALL ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED; BECAUSE THOU HAST OBEYED MY VOICE.
Soo too, Rebecca the wife of Isaac was promised that her seed would be become thousands of millions (Hebrew: "Alfari Revavah" sometimes rendered as "Thousands of Ten Thousands") and the gates of their enemies (Genesis, KJV, 24:60).
Isaac begat from Rebecca, Esau and Jacob.
Jacob and Esau were twins. Esau came out first so he was considered to have the firstborn right.
Rebecca the mother of the two had been told before their birth.
Genesis (KJV) 25:23 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.
When the boys were about 15 Esau sold the right of the Firtsborn to Jaacob. Isaac apparently was never told of this. The Right of the Firstborn implies serving as a Priest before the Almighty. Eventually this right was to fall to the lot of Moses and Aaron of the Tribe of Levi.
See:
Generations of Isaac
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/genesis/gen28to32vayatzei/gen25to28toldot.html
Geanaology of the Blessings:
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/biblical-proof/genb.html
When the boys were close to 63 years (Rabbi Beitowitz based on the Talmud) old Isaac called to Esau and asked that he hunt and prepare a meal.
Genesis (TCJB) 27:
1 IT CAME TO PASS WHEN ISAAC WAS OLD, AND HIS EYES WERE TOO DIM TO SEE, THAT HE CALLED ESAU HIS ELDER SON, AND HE SAID TO HIM, "MY SON," AND HE SAID TO HIM, "HERE I AM."
2 AND HE SAID, "BEHOLD NOW, I HAVE GROWN OLD; I DO NOT KNOW THE DAY OF MY DEATH.
3 SO, NOW, SHARPEN YOUR IMPLEMENTS, YOUR SWORD [AND TAKE] YOUR BOW, AND GO FORTH TO THE FIELD, AND HUNT GAME FOR ME.
4 AND MAKE FOR ME TASTY FOODS AS I LIKE, AND BRING THEM TO ME, AND I WILL EAT, IN ORDER THAT MY SOUL WILL BLESS YOU BEFORE I DIE."
5 BUT REBECCA OVERHEARD WHEN ISAAC SPOKE TO ESAU HIS SON, AND ESAU WENT TO THE FIELD TO HUNT GAME, TO BRING [IT].
6 AND REBECCA SAID TO JACOB HER SON, SAYING, "BEHOLD I HAVE HEARD YOUR FATHER SPEAKING TO ESAU YOUR BROTHER, SAYING,
7 'BRING ME GAME AND MAKE ME TASTY FOODS, AND I WILL EAT, AND I WILL BLESS YOU BEFORE THE LORD BEFORE MY DEATH.'
8 AND NOW MY SON, HEARKEN TO MY VOICE, TO WHAT I AM COMMANDING YOU.
9 GO NOW TO THE FLOCK, AND TAKE FOR ME FROM THERE TWO CHOICE KIDS, AND I WILL MAKE THEM TASTY FOODS FOR YOUR FATHER, AS HE LIKES.
10 AND YOU SHALL BRING [THEM] TO YOUR FATHER THAT HE MAY EAT, IN ORDER THAT HE BLESS YOU BEFORE HIS DEATH."
11 AND JACOB SAID TO REBECCA HIS MOTHER, "BEHOLD, MY BROTHER ESAU IS A HAIRY MAN, WHEREAS I AM A SMOOTH MAN.
12 PERHAPS MY FATHER WILL TOUCH ME, AND I WILL APPEAR TO HIM AS A DECEIVER, AND I WILL BRING UPON MYSELF A CURSE AND NOT A BLESSING."
13 AND HIS MOTHER SAID TO HIM, "ON ME IS YOUR CURSE, MY SON. ONLY HEARKEN TO MY VOICE AND GO, TAKE [THEM] FOR ME."
14 SO HE WENT, AND HE TOOK, AND HE BROUGHT [THEM] TO HIS MOTHER, AND HIS MOTHER MADE TASTY FOODS, AS HIS FATHER LIKED.
15 AND REBECCA TOOK THE COSTLY GARMENTS OF ESAU, HER ELDER SON, WHICH WERE WITH HER IN THE HOUSE, AND SHE DRESSED JACOB, HER YOUNGER SON.
16 AND THE HIDES OF THE KIDS SHE PUT ON HIS HANDS AND ON THE SMOOTHNESS OF HIS NECK.
17 AND SHE GAVE THE TASTY FOODS AND THE BREAD THAT SHE HAD MADE, INTO THE HAND OF JACOB HER SON.
18 AND HE CAME TO HIS FATHER AND SAID, "MY FATHER!" AND HE SAID, "HERE I AM. WHO ARE YOU, MY SON?"
19 AND JACOB SAID TO HIS FATHER, "I AM ESAU YOUR FIRSTBORN. I HAVE DONE AS YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO ME. PLEASE RISE, SIT DOWN AND EAT OF MY GAME, SO THAT YOUR SOUL WILL BLESS ME."
20 AND ISAAC SAID TO HIS SON, "HOW IS IT THAT YOU HAVE FOUND [IT] SO QUICKLY, MY SON?" AND HE SAID, "BECAUSE THE LORD YOUR GOD PREPARED IT BEFORE ME."
21 AND ISAAC SAID TO JACOB, "PLEASE COME CLOSER, SO THAT I MAY FEEL YOU, MY SON, WHETHER YOU ARE REALLY MY SON ESAU OR NOT."
22 SO JACOB DREW NEAR TO ISAAC HIS FATHER, AND HE FELT HIM, AND HE SAID, "THE VOICE IS THE VOICE OF JACOB, BUT THE HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF ESAU."
23 AND HE DID NOT RECOGNIZE HIM BECAUSE HIS HANDS WERE HAIRY LIKE THE HANDS OF HIS BROTHER ESAU, AND HE BLESSED HIM.
24 AND HE SAID, "ARE YOU [INDEED] MY SON ESAU?" AND HE SAID, "I AM."
25 AND HE SAID, "SERVE [IT] TO ME THAT I MAY EAT OF THE GAME OF MY SON, SO THAT MY SOUL WILL BLESS YOU." AND HE SERVED HIM, AND HE ATE, AND HE BROUGHT HIM WINE, AND HE DRANK.
26 AND HIS FATHER ISAAC SAID TO HIM, "PLEASE COME CLOSER AND KISS ME, MY SON."
27 AND HE CAME CLOSER, AND HE KISSED HIM, AND HE SMELLED THE FRAGRANCE OF HIS GARMENTS, AND HE BLESSED HIM, AND HE SAID, "BEHOLD, THE FRAGRANCE OF MY SON IS LIKE THE FRAGRANCE OF A FIELD, WHICH THE LORD HAS BLESSED!
28 AND MAY THE LORD GIVE YOU OF THE DEW OF THE HEAVENS AND [OF] THE FATNESS OF THE EARTH AND AN ABUNDANCE OF GRAIN AND WINE.
29 NATIONS SHALL SERVE YOU AND KINGDOMS SHALL BOW DOWN TO YOU; YOU SHALL BE A MASTER OVER YOUR BROTHERS, AND YOUR MOTHER'S SONS SHALL BOW DOWN TO YOU. THOSE WHO CURSE YOU SHALL BE CURSED, AND THOSE WHO BLESS YOU SHALL BE BLESSED."
30 AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN ISAAC HAD FINISHED BLESSING JACOB, AND IT CAME TO PASS JACOB HAD JUST LEFT HIS FATHER ISAAC'S PRESENCE, THAT HIS BROTHER ESAU CAME FROM HIS HUNT.
31 AND HE TOO HAD MADE TASTY FOODS, AND HE BROUGHT [THEM] TO HIS FATHER, AND HE SAID TO HIS FATHER, "LET MY FATHER ARISE AND EAT OF THE GAME OF HIS SON, SO THAT YOUR SOUL WILL BLESS ME. "
32 AND HIS FATHER ISAAC SAID TO HIM, "WHO ARE YOU?" AND HE SAID, "I AM YOUR SON, YOUR FIRSTBORN, ESAU."
33 AND ISAAC SHUDDERED A GREAT SHUDDER, AND HE SAID, "WHO THEN IS THE ONE WHO HUNTED GAME AND BROUGHT IT TO ME, AND I ATE OF EVERYTHING WHILE YOU HAD NOT YET COME, AND I BLESSED HIM? HE, TOO, SHALL BE BLESSED."
34 WHEN ESAU HEARD HIS FATHER'S WORDS, HE CRIED OUT A GREAT AND BITTER CRY, AND HE SAID TO HIS FATHER, "BLESS ME TOO, O MY FATHER!"
35 AND HE SAID, "YOUR BROTHER CAME WITH CUNNING AND TOOK YOUR BLESSING."
36 AND HE SAID, "IS IT FOR THIS REASON THAT HE WAS NAMED JACOB? FOR HE HAS DECEIVED ME TWICE; HE TOOK MY BIRTHRIGHT, AND BEHOLD, NOW HE HAS TAKEN MY BLESSING." AND HE SAID, "HAVE YOU NOT RESERVED A BLESSING FOR ME?"
37 AND ISAAC ANSWERED AND SAID TO ESAU, "BEHOLD, I MADE HIM A MASTER OVER YOU, AND I GAVE HIM ALL HIS BROTHERS AS SERVANTS, AND I HAVE SUSTAINED HIM WITH CORN AND WINE; SO FOR YOU THEN, WHAT SHALL I DO, MY SON?"
38 AND ESAU SAID TO HIS FATHER, "HAVE YOU [BUT] ONE BLESSING, MY FATHER? BLESS ME TOO, MY FATHER." AND ESAU RAISED HIS VOICE AND WEPT.
39 AND HIS FATHER ISAAC ANSWERED AND SAID TO HIM, "BEHOLD, YOUR DWELLING PLACE SHALL BE THE FAT PLACES OF THE EARTH AND OF THE DEW OF THE HEAVEN FROM ABOVE.
40 AND YOU SHALL LIVE BY YOUR SWORD, AND YOU SHALL SERVE YOUR BROTHER, AND IT WILL BE, WHEN YOU GRIEVE, THAT YOU WILL BREAK HIS YOKE OFF YOUR NECK."
41 AND ESAU HATED JACOB BECAUSE OF THE BLESSING THAT HIS FATHER HAD BLESSED HIM, AND ESAU SAID TO HIMSELF, "LET THE DAYS OF MOURNING FOR MY FATHER DRAW NEAR, I WILL THEN KILL MY BROTHER JACOB. "
42 AND REBECCA WAS TOLD OF THE WORDS OF ESAU, HER ELDER SON, AND SHE SENT AND CALLED JACOB, HER YOUNGER SON, AND SHE SAID TO HIM, "BEHOLD, YOUR BROTHER ESAU REGRETS [HIS RELATIONSHIP] TO YOU [AND WISHES] TO KILL YOU.
43 AND NOW, MY SON, HEARKEN TO MY VOICE, AND ARISE, FLEE TO MY BROTHER LABAN, TO HARAN.
44 AND YOU SHALL DWELL WITH HIM FOR A FEW DAYS UNTIL YOUR BROTHER'S WRATH HAS SUBSIDED.
45 UNTIL YOUR BROTHER'S RAGE SUBSIDES FROM YOU, AND HE FORGETS WHAT YOU DID TO HIM, AND I WILL SEND AND BRING YOU FROM THERE. WHY SHOULD I BE BEREFT OF BOTH OF YOU ON ONE DAY?"
46 AND REBECCA SAID TO ISAAC, "I AM DISGUSTED WITH MY LIFE BECAUSE OF THE DAUGHTERS OF HETH. IF JACOB TAKES A WIFE OF THE DAUGHTERS OF HETH LIKE THESE, FROM THE DAUGHTERS OF THE LAND, OF WHAT USE IS LIFE TO ME?"
Genesis (TLB) 28:
1 AND ISAAC CALLED JACOB AND BLESSED HIM, AND HE COMMANDED HIM AND SAID TO HIM, "YOU SHALL NOT TAKE A WIFE OF THE DAUGHTERS OF CANAAN.
2 ARISE, GO TO PADAN ARAM, TO THE HOUSE OF BETHUEL, YOUR MOTHER'S FATHER, AND TAKE YOURSELF FROM THERE A WIFE OF THE DAUGHTERS OF LABAN, YOUR MOTHER'S BROTHER.
3 AND MAY THE ALMIGHTY GOD BLESS YOU AND MAKE YOU FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY YOU, AND YOU SHALL BECOME AN ASSEMBLY OF PEOPLES.
4 AND MAY HE GIVE YOU THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM, TO YOU AND TO YOUR SEED WITH YOU, THAT YOU MAY INHERIT THE LAND OF YOUR SOJOURNINGS, WHICH GOD GAVE TO ABRAHAM."
5 AND ISAAC SENT JACOB, AND HE WENT TO PADAN ARAM, TO LABAN THE SON OF BETHUEL THE ARAMEAN, THE BROTHER OF REBECCA, THE MOTHER OF JACOB AND ESAU.