Same song, third verse

So he went to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?" Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me." But 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 brought it to me." – Genesis 27v18-20

Who could possibly have imagined the long term results of a guy having ‘a little problem with white lies?’ The lying deceptive nature of Abraham passed on to his son Isaac and now on to his grandson Jacob. We should have known something; Jacob’s name means ‘usurper’ or ‘schemer.’

Late in Isaac’s life the time came to pass on his blessing to his oldest son Esau. Esau was a rough and tough guy and he went out to hunt to find game for Isaac’s dinner. While he was gone Rebekah and Jacob came up with a scheme to trick Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing instead.

They disguised Jacob to make Isaac think it was Esau. They prepared a meal for him. It was still not enough to fool Isaac, he knew something was up. The first lie was when Isaac asked who was there. ‘It is Esau,’ lied Jacob. ‘How did you find, kill, prepare, and cook the meat so quickly?’ “God let me do it,’ said Jacob.

We see that the lying and treachery descended to a new level. Jacob not only lied but he drew God into His lie. A character trait that began with a little half truth had descended to point where a lie was covered up by blaming God.

I realise that we can’t put all the blame on the parents and grandparents. Our children and grandchildren are going to make their own decisions. I do know that the evidence is clear that we do have an impact. We must be aware that if we don’t deal with our own sin the impact may very well get worse in the next generations. We are, to a very large degree, the makers of our descendant’s destiny. Let us be aware of that every day.