Most Bible scholars will tell us that the fact that Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27:27-40) shows that he believed what God had promised his father, Abraham. That is, he trusted God to perform what he said he would do for Abraham, Isaac and their descendants. This is the faith upon which Isaac had acted in Hebrews 11:20. Indeed, the Genesis record does show Isaac believed God would keep his promise to Abraham and through Abraham to himself, but I think Isaac’s faith went beyond this testimony.
How could Isaac have been acting in faith, if he didn’t know he was blessing Jacob (Hebrews 11:20)? Notice that Isaac had fully intended to bless Esau, his eldest son (Genesis 27:1-4). However, Isaac’s wife, Rebecca, plotted to deceive her husband in an effort to have him bless Jacob instead of Esau (Genesis 27:5-10), but Jacob had doubts about the conspiracy, believing it might backfire upon him (Genesis 27:11-12). Nevertheless, Rebecca succeeded in getting Jacob to obey her (Genesis 27:13-17), and not only so, but, although Isaac was suspicious of Jacob (cp. Genesis 27:18-22, 24), both the touch of the hairy skins (Genesis 27:15-16, 21-22) and the scent of Esau’s clothes (Genesis 27:27), which Jacob wore, deceived Isaac into believing Jacob was Esau, indeed.
One must wonder at these events and ask what really went on in Isaac’s household. Was he really unaware of his wife’s vision that “the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:22-23), or did he simply disbelieve Rebecca’s testimony? Moreover, was Isaac really unaware of the fact that Esau had already despised his birthright (Genesis 25:29-34, cp. 27:36), or did he simply think he, not Jacob, would control who would inherit the family blessing?
If Isaac was truly aware of these events, and there is no reason why we should think he was ignorant of them, why would he want to bless Esau, who expressed no value for his apparent destiny, instead of Jacob, who had proved he desired the family birthright with an almost overwhelming passion? It seems that Isaac was aware of both events, but didn’t consider them valid. It seems he fully intended to bless his son Esau, which meant Jacob would have had to serve his elder brother (Genesis 27:29, 37). In other words, Isaac had no regard for Rebecca’s vision, and if he had no regard for his wife’s vision, neither would he have any regard for Jacob’s effort to supplant his elder brother and take his birthright away. It was Isaac’s will to bless Esau, despite both Rebecca’s and Jacob’s efforts to change that.
Where, then, was Isaac’s faith? It wasn’t until Rebecca’s conspiracy was fully disclosed (Genesis 27:32-33), that Isaac realized he had been wrong all along. Thus, the Scripture shows itself as true: “It is not of him that wills (Isaac) nor of him that runs (Esau), but of God who shows mercy” (Romans 9:16). Now, Isaac knew that it was the Lord who controlled the outcome of the blessing, and not himself, and with the words “and he shall be blessed” (Genesis 27:33b) Isaac expressed his faith in God. In other words, Isaac would not curse Jacob, as Jacob feared he would (Genesis 27:11-12). On the contrary, Isaac trusted in what the Lord brought to pass, and it was this faith of which Paul spoke in Hebrews 11:20.
According to Genesis 48:8-20, Jacob was nearly blind, when he blessed Joseph’s sons. They even mimicked that of his own blessing by his father, Isaac. There is no reason to believe that Jacob had foreknowledge that Ephraim would be greater than Manasseh. Joseph had deliberately placed Manasseh, his eldest son, under his left hand and toward Jacob’s right, knowing that was the position to receive the greater blessing. Jacob, however, without knowing what his son, Joseph had done, crossed his hands in an effort to bless Manasseh with the greater blessing, which is also what Joseph wanted. Nevertheless, the misunderstanding that developed in the blessing of Ephraim Jacob understood to be the guidance of God. He, therefore, refused his son’s request to uncross his hands. Jacob, like his father Isaac, believed God controlled the avenue of blessing, and this is the faith to which Paul pointed in Hebrews 11:21.
It might have been construed that since Joseph ruled Egypt under Pharaoh, that he had replaced his hope that his descendants should go to the Promised Land. It might have been believed that Joseph had fully intended that his descendants enjoy the blessings of his father under the privilege of Egyptian royalty. Nevertheless, this idea is put to rest in Joseph’s dying wish, even obtaining it by an oath from his brethren that they should remove his bones from Egypt and take them to the Promised Land when the Lord would visit them (Hebrews 11:22). Thus, he expressed his faith in the promises of God rather than in his present circumstance in the royal halls of Egypt.
Paul intended these things to encourage his readers by showing that it was God who controlled events in their lives. In fact, even if their intentions weren’t in line with the will of God, God would work out those events, so that his will would be finally understood, so they could submit to him. Moreover, although the present circumstance of some may be privileged, believers shouldn’t trust in their present blessed affairs. Rather, all believers needed to look to the Lord and submit to him no matter how present events appear.
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