Despising the Birthright
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Despising the Birthright
Despising the Birthright
Genesis
These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger.”
When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Background:
Isaac (son of Abraham) marries Rebekah but the two of them struggle to conceive. Isaac prays and Rebekah does eventually conceive but this is no immediate answer to prayer but rather there is a 20 year gap.
Nevertheless, the Lord does bless them with twin sons. Esau comes out first and back then names were often chosen according to the situation of the birth and how the child appeared. Esau was born very hairy and so they named him hairy (Esau). Jacob was born second, but there was little space between the births of the two boys as when the second was born he was grasping the heel of the first. So therefore the name of the second was to be heel-catcher (Jacob).
The two boys were not at all alike, they may have been twins but this would seem to be where their similarities end. Esau was a very manly-man, if he were born into our modern age then Esau would have been the popular kid in school who was good at sports. Esau was a great hunter and so he no doubt had a great physical strength and ability.
Jacob on the other hand was the quiet thinker, he was not the impressive charmer that Esau was. He was not a skilled hunter like his brother and while we are told that Rebekah favoured Jacob, Esau though was favoured by Isaac and it would have been better to have the favour of the father because it was Isaac the father who was head of the tribe, held all the power and influence. So Esau was no doubt a very popular character among the tribe because he was the guy that Isaac admired most.
I picture Jacob as being the quiet fella in the background who is barely noticed by his father, lives in his brothers shadow and yet is the one blessed with good sense, he has the intelligence.
What is the birthright?
As the first-born Esau stands to inherit the birthright when his father Isaac dies. The birthright was firstly a double portion of the inheritance, which would have been livestock, gold, silver and servants. Now in our culture we are used to seeing an inheritance being divided equally, or certainly among the wealthy families in times past the inheritance was often given entirely to the eldest son. However, back in this time all sons would get a share but the eldest would get a double portion to that of the others.
The birthright though was more than just a physical inheritance, whoever held the birthright was also to be the leader and priest to the rest of the tribe.
There was also at this time the promise of blessing upon the family that was yet to be fulfilled. Remember that God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a mighty nation. At this time the family was just a large tribe and had no land of their own, so therefore it would be the descendants of the birthright holder that would ultimately inherit this promise that God had given to Abraham.
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So Esau comes in from having been out hunting and he is hungry, we often say flippantly when we are hungry “oh, i’m starving”. Well, Esau comes in and he claims that he is actually starving, that his life depends on him getting some food right away. We don’t really know if he is genuine here or if Esau is just being dramatic, rather like how some people can get a cold and yet behave like they are on their deathbed. While we cannot say for certain, I would lean towards the later but because Esau comes to regret his hunger motivated decision very quickly. I am inclined to think that if he was genuinely teetering on the brink of death that he would have come view his decisions with less frustration since he would have been able to see his lack of options.
So anyway.... Esau comes in claiming that he is just so hungry he could die. Says to Jacob “you need to give me some of that stew you are making”. Jacob has no doubt been envious of his brothers privilege for a while, because for a situation that must have unfolded fairly quickly, Jacob needs no time to think about what it is that he might want in exchange for this stew.
Jacob seeing his brother in this state, takes advantage of Esau knowing his weakness. Jacob says to Esau, “you can have all the stew you want, but to have it you must give to me your birthright”. Esau is only thinking about his belly and can’t see that his birthright has a tremendous value so he hands it all over to Jacob.
Two People at Fault
Now there are two people at fault in this whole scenario, though we often just look at the one. Neither Esau or Jacob behaved well in this story.
Jacob first
Now Jacob saw the value in the birthright where Esau didn’t. Esau was a man of the flesh where as Jacob was a man who at least desired to be a God pleaser, even though he missed the mark on many occasions, this situation being one. Jacob no doubt saw his brothers lifestyle, his inclination to the things of the flesh rather than the spirit and must have despaired at the thought “this guy is going to be our spiritual leader one day”.
It was also of course the will of God that ultimately Jacob would lead the tribe, the Lord had at the time of her pregnancy told Rebekah that the older would serve the younger.
Nevertheless, the end does not justify the means and God is capable of executing His will without us meddling.
If we could have been around at the time this happened and we could have interviewed Jacob about this dirty trick he has just pulled on his own brother, what do you think he might have said?
I imagine him saying something along the line of “well, i didn’t force Esau to hand over the birthright. The decision was his and he could have said no if he wanted”
While this may all be true, we know that when it comes down to it, Jacob took unfair advantage. He knew his brothers weakness and he preyed upon it.
Godly conduct & honesty
I am very grieved to have to say that sadly there are many professing followers of God who conduct their transactions with about as much transparency as Jacob did here.
People who in their places of work will prey on the weakness of a colleague in order to get ahead themselves.
Or, in a sale or purchasing of something, they may claim not to have lied, even though they have with-held information in order for it to go in the direction that they prefer.
I used to know a particular Christian who, while he was a nice bloke and knew his bible very well. He was a bit of a ‘wheeler-dealer’ and when it came to a deal you just couldn’t trust him. Not that he would ever lie, but you just never got the full picture and all the information.
But the deliberate with-holding of information is no better than a lie! Jacob was dishonest even without lying because he knew that he was pitching an unfair trade that went in his own favor, taking advantage of his brother.
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Esau
Now having said all of this we should not be thinking that all the fault was with Jacob and Esau was merely the innocent victim in the whole saga.
See while Jacob had his faults he nevertheless was desiring to live a life for the Lord, Esau though on the other hand was simply looking to establish whatever life was best for himself.
See while Jacob had his faults he nevertheless was desiring to live a life for the Lord, Esau though on the other hand was simply looking to establish whatever life was best for himself.
Esau for instance took for himself wives from among the Canaanites, in doing so dishonored his father and mother. tells us that Esau’s choice of wives caused them grief of mind. This was because there were terrible pagan practices going on among the Canaanites that Isaac rightly didn’t want brought in among their tribe.
Back to the text...
Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
At the very end we read here “Thus Esau despised his birthright”.
When it says that he despised his birthright it is not so much speaking about a feeling of anger as we might often think but rather of contempt.
I could paraphrase this to say something like this… "Esau sold all to Jacob for the stew and in doing so treated his birthright with contempt”.
Esau sold it, because he didn’t appreciate the value. A person only sells what is not precious to them and the fact that Esau sold the birthright for such a tiny thing as a pot of stew really only adds insult to injury because in many regards the price kind of irrelevant. Had Esau appreciated the birthright for what it was, he would not have sold it for all the gold in Egypt!
That birthright went far beyond physical monetary value, it had in it the promise from God to establish a nation set apart for Him.
Esau’s big problem was that his affection was on the comforts of the present rather than choosing to look ahead and be in the will of God. Esau eventually saw the value of what he had sold but only when it was too late, earlier on in his life when the decision was in his hands he chose the temporary comfort.
A future descendant of Jacobs however had a choice to make and he made a better decision. Moses.
Hebrews
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
How is it that Moses made this decision to abandon present comfort in favour of following the Lord and an ultimately better reward in God. tells us right away “BY FAITH”.
So if Faith was the deciding factor in Moses making a wise choice, in then makes sense to conclude that Esau’s poor choice was though lack of faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
While Jacob was not perfect, he did however see the value in God’s promise to the people where Esau did not see it. And Jacob pursued that promise and lived his whole in pursuit of God and ultimately he was better for it.
When Jesus died on the cross he made available to us a birthright.
That is the promise of an inheritance, the opportunity to be priests of Him since he tore the temple veil and now allows us to come boldly before him. The assurance of moving into the promised land (the Lord’s Kingdom for us). But sadly this world is full of Esau’s, and pleasures and pursuits of this world are as pitiful as the bowl of stew that Esau held. Yet for many people they will trade the promises of God for the temporary comfort.
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
Sadly Esau recognized the value in what was previously available to him only when it was too late and though he wept over his loss it was too late. Such will be when all mankind stands before the Lord to give account and face judgement. There will be many frustrated souls who for temporary amusement gave up something very precious.
I think it is important though even for those of us who have committed ourselves to the Lord already to be reminded of this and keep this reality in the front of our minds. It is all too easy to start neglecting the things which hold eternal value in favour of a temporary pursuit. It is not that God does not want us to have any fun, he does, but it is important that we don’t allow comforts and enjoyments to distract us from the journey.
The time we spend here on this Earth engaged in our mission for the Lord is so tiny that it cannot be compared with the time that we will spend in the glory of eternity.
No one on the other side of eternity will ever say “I spent too much time in the Lord’s business”