Jacob received three blessings in only two chapters of Genesis. First, he pretended to be his older brother Esau and deceived his father Isaac. Isaac, thinking he was blessing Esau, offered his greatest blessing to what he believed to be his firstborn son. He began with a comment about the smell of his outdoorsy son that I used to enjoy saying to my son when he would come inside sweaty on a hot day:
“Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field the Lord has blessed. Therefore, God give thee of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. May people serve thee and the nations bow down to thee. Be lord over thy brethren and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee. Cursed be everyone that curseth thee and blessed be he that blesseth thee” Genesis 27:27-29.
Summary: May God give you food and wine and leadership over family and nations.
Later Jacob leaves in search of a wife, and Isaac blesses him a second time. This blessing is significant because this time Isaac knew he was blessing Jacob and not Esau. Isaac seems to have realized that God had chosen Jacob to carry the Abrahamic line of blessing.
“May God almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people, and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave to Abraham” Genesis 28:3-4.
Summary: May God give you many descendants, plenty of land, and the blessing of Abraham.
These are amazing words. I have never heard a father bless his child in quite this way. And yet, Isaac’s best blessings can’t compare with the words God speaks over Jacob:
“I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” Genesis 28:13-15.
Summary: I will give you more descendants than you can count, plus land and territory wherever your children may go, your descendants will be a blessing to the world, and I will be with you and bring you home one day.
People today have taken a renewed interest in the power of words. I agree that we should speak words of blessing over our families and loved ones. I agree that words have power and that as Christians we should use our words to bless others and not curse them. We should speak positively and express hope and faith in Christ at all times.
But let’s be reasonable about it too. By that I mean, may God protect us from the hocus-pocus notion of MANIFESTATION. That is the idea that by simply saying something, we can make it happen. I recently heard a witness on a documentary refuse to say what he believed happened to a crime victim. “I don’t want to say what I think happened because I don’t want to make it true by putting that out there into the universe.” I was stunned. The woman has been missing for three decades, yet he believes that if he speaks his theory about what happened in 1998, he might somehow make that theory become the thing that actually happened.
Can you see how ridiculous that is? The past is over. You cannot alter history by saying something incorrect years later. In fact, you cannot alter reality by your words even one second later. The past is over. It exists only in memory.
But even when you are speaking of the future, the heresy of manifestation is ridiculous. Manifestation is based on an idea called the “Law of Attraction,”[1] which says that positive thinking and positive speaking about what you desire can ATTRACT those desires into reality. This too is false because the so-called law of attraction assumes that “the universe is listening.” But the universe is absolutely NOT listening.
God listens. God, the CREATOR, listens to your words. But the universe—God’s CREATION, is not listening. The universe is inanimate. That means it is not alive. It is not a person. The molecules in the air around you are not capable of listening to your words or responding to them.*
Believing the universe to be alive and capable of hearing and responding to your prayers is not only irrational. It is IDOLATRY.
We can sum up the lesson of blessings in a few simple words. We should bless people we love. We should use our words positively, whether we are wishing them a good day, or speaking a blessing over their entire lives. We should bless them by invoking God, remembering that the Creator of the universe has the power to answer our prayers. When we bless others, we should speak prayers of blessing over them, good wishes that begin with statements such as “May God bless you in your new career…” or something similar.
We should not consider our words to have magical power. We are speaking a prayer to God, asking Him to bless our loved ones. We are not casting a spell and hoping the universe will cooperate.
Dear God, teach us how to use our words for blessings and not curses. May we bless you and honor others with our words. Guard us from the ungodly notions of manifestation and the so-called “Law of Attraction” and teach us to pray bigger, bolder prayers for those around us. May we bless others and pray for them with the power, inspiration, and creativity of the Biblical patriarchs.
AΩ.
[1] Many credit Rhonda Byrne’s book and documentary film THE SECRET with popularizing the ideas of manifestation and the Law of Attraction.
*Though the “universe” cannot listen, the universe is filled with sentient beings who can. Not only can God hear your words, but angels and demons can also hear your words. But whether they can respond to them—or would want to—is another matter.
Household Words: 