Genesis 27:40

By thy sword. The mode of life and occupation of the Edomites were well adapted to their country. This prediction found its fulfillment in the fierce and warlike disposition of the Edomites, who gained their sustenance by hunting and controlling forcefully the trade routes.

Serve thy brother. The promise to Esau envisioned a perpetual, and not altogether unsuccessful, struggle for freedom from Jacob. This was a repetition of the divine prediction made prior to their birth (ch. 25:23). The history of Edom is largely a reiteration of servitude to Israel, revolt from Israel, and reconquest by Israel. After a long period of independence to start with, the Edomites were defeated by Saul (1 Sam. 14:47) and later subjugated by David (2 Sam. 8:14). In spite of an attempted revolt under Solomon (1 Kings 11:14–22), they remained subject to the kingdom of Judah until the time of Joram, when they rebelled (2 Kings 8:20-22). They were subdued again by Amaziah (2 Kings 14:7-10; 2 Chron. 25:11-14), and remained in subjection under Uzziah and Jotham (2 Kings 14:22; 2 Chron. 26:2). (The control of Elath, at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, was tantamount to the control of all Edom.) It was not till the reign of Ahaz that the Edomites permanently shook off the yoke of the kings of Judah (2 Kings 16:6; 2 Chron. 28:16, 17). At length, however, they were completely conquered by John Hyrcanus, about 126 B.C., compelled to accept circumcision, and merged into the Jewish state (Josephus Antiquities xiii. 9. 1; xv. 7. 9). At a still later period, through Antipater and Herod, an Idumaean dynasty ruled Judea, with the blessing of Rome.

The predictions of Isaac concerning his two sons were thus accurately fulfilled (Heb. 11:20). The blessing upon each son constituted a prophecy. Though Isaac was deceived when he spoke concerning Jacob, what he said was nevertheless inspired, and Jacob remained blessed (Gen. 27:33). That this was so does not indicate divine approval upon the act of deception, for God is not dependent upon artifice to accomplish His will. God did not ordain the act of deception, He overruled it. The blessing came to Jacob, not because of deception, but in spite of it.

Parents and sons were all in the wrong, and each in his own way suffered as a result. The perpetrators of deception were forthwith and forever separated. Rebekah was obliged to send her beloved son forth from his father’s house to a foreign land, never to see him again. Jacob suffered for his sin against brother and father by 20 years of exile, during which he was himself repeatedly deceived and disappointed. Furthermore, he went forth from home utterly destitute. Isaac, by the success of Jacob’s stratagem, was chastened for persisting in his preference for Esau in spite of the revealed will of Jehovah. He was to be separated from the son he had passed by, and to have ever before him the ungodly example of the son he had cherished so blindly. For his contempt of God and religious things, Esau forfeited forever the privileges of family leadership due the first-born. And through all the counterplay of human plans and passions the purpose of God was accomplished.