Selling Our Birthright
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Ground work:
Isaac’s wife Rebekah was found barren but God, through the prayers and petitioning of Isaac, healed her of this condition and she was able to conceive.
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord.
And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, And two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; And the one people shall be stronger than the other people; And the elder shall serve the younger.
In like manner in this world there are two types of people
Children of God: (those that value and hold dear the things of God)
Children of this world: (those that don’t see the things of God as important and are only concerned with the things of this life)
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
In this....to the ones that are unsaved, the cross and the things of God are foolishness and are pointless, even to the so called “believers”, the power of the cross and the salvation message have been denied..
This scripture mentions that the preaching of the cross is the power of God
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
These two scriptures together give us a clue to what the power of God is.
We see that even those that seem to be Christians and have a form or likeness of Christianity are in essence....denying the power of God in the preaching of the cross....which is the very likeness of the salvation plan of God.
The power they are denying is the power and authority of Jesus Christ....and the death, burial and resurrection of Christ
in essence....the salvation plan of God…the new covenant
The sad part of all this is that not only unbelievers but also “so called Christians” are not holding the things of God as important as they should...
they have been deceived by the devil and have held up their own selfishness and flesh as more important than the things of God.
Message to the sinners:
In the story of Esau selling his birthright is contained a message both to saints and to sinners.
We first consider the message to sinners.
Among the Hebrews, the birthright denoted the privileges belonging to the firstborn.
These privileges had both spiritual and natural advantages.
Prior to God establishing the Levitical priesthood, the firstborn son was the priest of the family—provided he had no physical defect or blemish.
The firstborn also received a double portion of his father’s property. Furthermore, he succeeded his father in his official capacity.
(For example, if his father were a king, he inherited the throne)
Without doubt, I am sure Isaac had carefully taught his two sons concerning the family birthright.
but their attitudes toward this inheritance were very different.
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
Esau had little concern about the spiritual welfare of the family but rather his concern and passion was in the flesh and not the spirit.
The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: But the belly of the wicked shall want.
Now while Esau despised this, Jacob greatly desired this position.
His desire was towards the spiritual rather than the fleshly...
One day Esau came in from the field, faint and hungry. Jacob had prepared a fine dish of pottage,
There is an old saying: “the way to a mans heart is through his belly.....
Isn’t it interesting that the devil tempted Christ with the same exact thing.
King James Version Chapter 4
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God
In this....making spiritual things more important than the physical things....
Esau begged Jacob to give him some of the pottage.
Jacob did offer to give it to him on one condition:
that Esau sell his birthright to him.
Esau agreed to this, ate his meal, and went on his way.
“Thus the bible says that Esau despised his birthright”
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
The word despise means:
to look down on with disrespect or aversion
to regard as negligible, worthless or distasteful
The things of God are not important to this world as we can more understand, but we as Christians can have an attitude similar to this.
When we don’t see the value day to day in the things of God and we don’t put a value on spiritual things over worldly things......secretly, we are despising the things of God by prioritizing the things of this world....
The things of this world become more important
Esau, instead of looking forward to the rich things that God had in store for him, was concerned entirely with the present and the flesh. He bartered his future hope for the gratification of the fleshly appetite.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
What a true picture this is of the careless who have heard the Word of God but has failed to heed it or prioritize it.
People of this nature, would rather have their fleshly desires of the present fulfilled than to make sure that their name is written in the Lambs book of life.
Esau sold his hope of a future home in heaven and sold the position he could have had as a king and priest unto God
The song “Not For Sale”
Revelations tells us we shall be kings and priests
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Esau sold his birthright all for the fleeting pleasures of this world—and a very small bit of pottage at that!
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Once he had sold his birthright, he could not buy it back.
Likewise, after the door of God’s mercy is closed, many will call on God. Tears will be shed, but they will have come too late.
In this, there is message to the saints:
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
The word “profane” has a similar meaning to “despise” as I stated earlier.
Meaning to Treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt: meaning a lack of respect or reverence for something.
This illustration serves also as a warning to the saints.
This passage of Scripture refutes the doctrine of eternal security, for it plainly states that the saints should diligently live for God, lest they fall from His grace.
As we read earlier…people can look the part and have a form or a likeness of a Christian and still be lost and undone.
We are to seek truth as a pearl of great price and to walk humbly with our God.
We are, as saints, heirs to a place on the throne
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
We see that something as small as a “root of bitterness,” can upset our whole walk with God.
and if allowed to stay in the heart, can cause us to lose our birthright
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
We must hold fast what God has given us for our adversary will surely try and rob us of what we have.
Our birthright, as Christians, is that one day we will inherit eternal life and the kingdom of God....and be joint heirs with Christ.
The promise is to those who steadfastly hold on to what we have been given and not despise our birthright as Esau did.
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
We are to hold the word of the Lord as precious and invaluable.
to prefer spiritual things above our necessary food
Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith
what a wonderful thing to hear in the end: Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.