Isaac’s Prophecy - Chapter 18

 

Isaac’s Prophecy

Another interesting prophecy by one of the patriarchs is Isaac’s prophecy over his sons Jacob and Esau. Isaac was Abraham’s son. Jacob and Esau were Abraham’s grandchildren. Similar to Ishmael and Isaac, the blessing does not go to the older child, Esau, but rather to the younger, Jacob. It’s a fascinating story which I do not have time to retell here. But get your Bible out and read it in the book of Genesis. Isaac ends up giving the blessing to Jacob. Esau comes seeking for a blessing, also. Isaac responds,

Behold I have made him thy Lord, and all his brethren have I given him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?[1]

But Esau insists,

Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven above; And by thy sword shall thou live, and shall serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shall have the dominion, that thou shall break his yoke from off thy neck.[2]

Afterwards, Esau realizes that his wives from the Canaanite women displease his father.

And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.[3]

Jacob becomes the father of the twelve tribes of Israel which today we know as the Jewish people. Isaac prophesied “corn and wine,” or in other words, wealth. Another part of Isaac’s prophecy said that Jacob’s brother and his brother’s descendants would be Jacob’s servants. Jacob, therefore, would have power. No one would deny that the descendants of Jacob, the Jewish people, have both wealth and through wealth they have power, as money often equals power.

Esau descendants intermarry with the children of Ishmael and with the children of Canaan and so become part of the Arab peoples. Similar to the prophecy over Ishmael, who

was a wild man and his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him,[4]

Esau would live by the sword and yet his brother Jacob would have power over him, because he would serve his brother.

It is interesting how throughout history the Arabs have lived by the sword and have been expert swordsmen. We even see ISIS in Iraq and Syria cutting the throats of foreigners with a knife or small sword! Some Bible scholars believe that

the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven above

refers to Arab petroleum, which is not something they obtained through hard work but rather as the dew of heaven, they have just been blessed with its richness. Another part of the prophecy says,

And it shall come to pass when thou shall have the dominion, that thou shall break his yoke from off thy neck.[5]

Some believe that sometime in the future the Arabs may break off the yoke of Jewish world control. Some scholars believe that the yoke was broken back in 1973 when the Arabs raised the price of oil and started to amassing huge sums of money through their sales. In any event, the fact that nearly three thousand years ago a rich shepherd in the land of Canaan prophesied the events above is not only very interesting, but surely miraculous.

Notes:

[1] Genesis 27:37
[2] Genesis 27:38-40
[3] Genesis 28:8-9
[4] Genesis 16:12
[5] Genesis 27:40

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