God’s Plan in Man’s Problems

“So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” (Genesis 27:22)

Few instances convince me of God’s providence more than Genesis 27. Now, what is God’s providence? God’s providence is His preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions. He does not do it by coercion nor by violating the liberty of the will; rather, He works in mysterious ways to steer the various bents of our heart toward the accomplishment of His purposes. Do we not see that in Isaac’s sensuality and Jacob’s deceit?

Isaac had long known that “the older shall serve the younger.” (Gen. 25:23) However, age had taken its toll. God’s people are marked by a simple characteristic – we see by hearing. Instead of hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord, Isaac mistakenly trusts in two other options. First, Isaac trust his gut, desiring to bless Esau in return for a hot meal. Blinded by his desire for culinary pleasure, Isaac seeks to bless Esau based on his works rather than blessing Isaac based on God’s promise. Second, Isaac has another opportunity to “see by hearing” during Jacob’s deception. Instead, he trusts his failing eyes and his frail hands. His voice was the one bit of the charade that could not be hid, and it was the one aspect that Isaac would not mind. Through Isaac’s trust in sensuality and sight, the purposes of God were accomplished.

Then, we must take a moment and look to Jacob. We find in this young man a desire to inherit the covenant promises and the dedication of a mother who would goad him along. Esau and Jacob both knew of the promises, but only Jacob desired them (Gen. 25:34). The difference in desire lies not in Jacob, but in the purposes of God. However, Jacob acts upon that desire according to his own fallen nature, according to his habit of deception. As much as we commend Jacob for his desire of the promises, none can commend his method of attaining them. He preyed upon his elderly father, sowed division and discord within his family, lied, cheated, and stole the golden goose. Oh, this was the most crooked point in Jacob’s life. Yet, I am reminded of the words of Thomas Boston: “What is crooked on earth is perfectly straight in heaven.” To us, we see absolute chaos in Isaac’s tent that day, but our God sees His perfect purposes unfolding fast.

Reader, much in this life we cannot explain, but we can say with confidence that our wise, powerful, and good God has a plan that will be accomplished, a will that will be done. We can sing with William Cowper: “Our God moves in mysterious ways; He has wonders to perform.” When we see the unexplainable, instead of putting our hands on our hips in frustration, let us ask: “What is God doing in this?” You may be surprised.