Bible in a Year - Women’s Thematic Reading Plan | Day 101

Day 101 of the Women’s Bible Plan: Read Genesis Chapter 27 and reflect on the marriage and family of Isaac and Rebekah. Through the painful story of Jacob receiving Isaac’s blessing through deception, this devotional helps women consider how a lack of transparency between husband and wife can wound an entire family, and how hidden motives, favoritism, and manipulation can damage trust across generations.

🌸  Dear Sister, welcome to Day 101 of our reading journey. 

Some of the deepest wounds in marriage do not happen suddenly in one dramatic moment. They often grow slowly through years of unspoken thoughts, hidden intentions, private plans, and unresolved differences. Outwardly, a family may still live under the same roof. Inwardly, husband and wife may be moving in separate directions, parents may be divided in their affections, and children may feel the weight of what has never been honestly addressed.

Genesis Chapter 27 gives us one of these painful family stories. Isaac, now old and dim in his eyes, wants to bless Esau. Rebekah overhears his plan and secretly arranges for Jacob to pretend to be Esau and receive the blessing instead. A home that should have been marked by trust, prayer, and seeking God’s will together becomes filled with favoritism, secrecy, deception, and fear.

This chapter is not only about who received the blessing. It also shows us what happens when a marriage loses transparency. When husband and wife stop speaking honestly, when parents use hidden plans to secure what they want, and when family members no longer trust one another, the whole household suffers.

A Minute of Grace

Genesis Chapter 27 tells us that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, he called Esau, his elder son. He asked Esau to go hunting, prepare savory meat for him, and then receive his blessing before Isaac died. Rebekah heard what Isaac said. She then told Jacob to bring two young goats so she could prepare food for Isaac, and she instructed Jacob to wear Esau’s garments and cover his smooth hands and neck with goatskins so that he could pass as his brother.

Jacob was afraid that his father would discover the deception and curse him instead of bless him. But Rebekah said, “Upon me be thy curse, my son.” Jacob followed his mother’s instructions and received the blessing from Isaac. Later, when Esau returned and discovered that Jacob had taken the blessing, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry. He hated Jacob and planned to kill him after their father’s death. Rebekah then had to send Jacob away to her brother Laban.

This chapter is complex and painfully realistic. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his venison, and Rebekah loved Jacob. Husband and wife did not face their children’s future together. They did not seek God’s revealed will together. Before the twins were born, the Lord had already said that the elder would serve the younger. Yet at the critical moment, this family did not wait upon God in faith. Instead, they used private plans, deception, and manipulation to force an outcome.

From the perspective of marriage and family relationships, Genesis Chapter 27 gives us a serious reminder: when transparency is missing between husband and wife, confusion enters the household. Isaac had his own plan, and Rebekah had hers. Isaac moved around Rebekah, and Rebekah moved around Isaac. The father favored one son, and the mother favored the other. As a result, the marriage lost unity, the children were drawn into conflict, brother turned against brother, and the whole family was torn apart.

Perhaps Rebekah remembered God’s promise and wanted Jacob to receive the blessing, but the method she used was deception. Perhaps Isaac wanted to follow the custom of blessing the firstborn, but he ignored what God had already revealed and was influenced by his favoritism. Jacob received the blessing but lost his home. Esau lost the blessing and fell into bitterness. Every person in the family was wounded.

Today’s theme, “Isaac and Rebekah: The Consequences of Deception,” invites us to reflect: In marriage and family life, are we willing to face problems with honesty, transparency, and prayer, instead of using secrecy, manipulation, or private arrangements to reach our goals? God cares about the outcome, but He also cares about the way we walk toward it. His promises do not need to be fulfilled through unrighteous methods.

Whispers for the Heart

1 Isaac and Rebekah did not communicate openly about the blessing of their sons. Instead, each acted according to personal preference. In your marriage, family, or close relationships, are there subjects that have never truly been spoken about honestly? Could silence be allowing misunderstanding, distance, or defensiveness to grow?

2 Rebekah wanted to move God’s promise forward, but she chose deception and control. Have you ever handled a relationship in a hidden or indirect way because you were afraid of losing something, desperate to fix a problem, or convinced there was no other way? Could God be inviting you to believe that His work does not need deception to be accomplished?

3 Jacob received the blessing, but he had to leave home for many years. Esau was deeply wounded and became bitter. Has your family ever carried long-term wounds because of favoritism, unfairness, secrecy, or misunderstanding? Is God inviting you to begin praying for honesty, healing, and the rebuilding of trust?

As you read Genesis Chapter 27 today, do not only notice how Jacob received the blessing. Also notice the cost of deception. May this chapter help us learn to seek honesty, transparency, humility, and God’s will in marriage, parenting, and family relationships.

Take a quiet breath before you begin. Bring the hidden tensions, unspoken thoughts, and difficult issues in your relationships before the Lord, and let His Word meet you there.

🎞️ Today's Youtube Video 

🪕 Response Hymn: 

Genesis Chapter 27 (KJV)

27 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.

2 And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:

3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

4 And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.

5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,

7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.

8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.

9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.

11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:

12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.

13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

14 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.

15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:

16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?

19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.

21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.

22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.

24 And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

25 And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine and he drank.

26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:

28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.

32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.

33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.

34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.

36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

38 And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

39 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 from above;

40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

42 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.

43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;

45 Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

🪕 Response Hymn: 

💡 Closing Thought · Honesty Protects the Home

After reading Genesis Chapter 27, we see that Isaac and Rebekah’s family was not wounded by one simple mistake alone. Long-term favoritism, lack of transparency, and separate plans allowed deception to grow. Jacob received the blessing but left home. Esau lost the blessing and carried bitterness. Parents who tried to secure what they wanted for their favored child brought pain upon the whole household.

As we close this page and return to real life, we may not deceive a father by wearing another person’s clothes as Jacob did, but we may still hide our true thoughts in relationships, make decisions around others instead of with them, punish people with silence, control others through emotion, or use half-truths to get what we want. Remember this: a home is not protected by clever plans. It is built through honesty, trust, prayer, humility, and mutual repentance.

May today’s Scripture remind you that God cares not only about results, but also about the way we walk toward them. May you choose transparency in marriage and family, honesty in tension and conflict, and trust in God when you are afraid of losing control. May our homes be protected by truth, healed through repentance, and rebuilt through love and forgiveness.

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