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Isaac was getting old, and it was his time to give his blessing to his oldest son Esau. He asked Esau to go out and catch some venison, prepare it for him, and then come and get his blessing. Rebekah overheard Isaac and came up with a plan. She went to her favorite son, Jacob, and told him to go get two "choice young goats" so she could prepare them the way Isaac liked. She was going to have Jacob pretend that he was his older brother, in order for Jacob to get the blessing. Jacob was worried that his father would figure things out, because Esau was hairy and Jacob was smooth. Rebekah covered Jacob's arms and hands with goat fur to make him feel like his older brother. Then she dressed him in Esau's clothes, so he would smell like him as well.
Jacob presented the meal prepared by his mother to Isaac. Here is where the leadership lesson, trust your gut, begins. The first thing that Isaac mentions is that Esau had returned so quickly. It seemed odd to him that the meal could be prepared that fast. Jacob explains it away as the Lord blessing him.
The next "gut check" came when Isaac asked to have "Esau" come close so he could touch him. This leads me to believe that there must have been something in the voice of Jacob that raised suspicion in Isaac. Isaac says "the voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are of Esau."
Then, Isaac asked Jacob, "Are you really my son, Esau?" and Jacob answered, "I am."
They ate and drank together preparing for the blessing. When they were done, Isaac asked "Esau" to come close and kiss him. When Jacob did, Isaac smelled the clothes of his brother and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed..." This was yet again another sign that Isaac was unsure of the identity of the son that stood before him.
At that point he gave Jacob his blessing.
Once Esau came home and presented his meal to his father, Isaac figured out the mistake he had made. The problem was, that once a blessing was given, it could not be taken away. The chapter continues, but we have heard enough to make a point.
1. When something does not seem right to you, do research. In this Chapter, Isaac asked multiple questions to Jacob, because his "alarms" were going off.
2. If you are still unsure, come up with an alternative solution. If you were Isaac, what alternative could you have developed? How about asking others to be present to witness the blessing. This would have easily uncovered Rebekah's plot.
3. Once you make a decision, you are responsible for honoring it. As a leader, there are no excuses for poor decisions. You are accountable for what you say and implement. That doesn't mean that there are times that changes can be made, but at the end of the day, you are where the "buck stops"
4. Don't assume people with their own agendas, no matter how close to you they are, won't try to manipulate you for their own gain. Isaac's own wife and son deceived and outwardly lied to Isaac in order to get what they wanted.
Next time a red flag goes up around a decision you need to make, trust your gut, do some research, develop safeguarding solutions, and treat everyone with the same sense of scrutiny. More often than not, you can be confident with your result.
