The Value of a Birthright

Genesis 25:33 ESV

33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

Many times today, we have a warring spirit within ourselves.

As children, one of our favorite words is “no”. Why? Who knows!

In many cases it is just the defiant spirit that exists in us as sinful mankind. Sin has turned us carnal - focusing on the desires of the flesh, not on the desires of God.

Just as we get into the “flesh” as humans, we can also see these trends in our families. But we don’t deliberately sabotage ourselves and our families, do we?

It may not be intentional or deliberate, but when we allow ourselves and our families to focus on the things of the world, we are ignoring what God has planned for our lives.

Our house is too small - we need more square footage and more bathrooms. Don’t worry about the cost - until we have to actually pay the mortgage. I want everyone to know who I am - some day everyone will recognize me for the hard work I do. This week has been rough, and I haven’t had time to go to the gym - surely God understands if I miss church this week. My kids will certainly be able to attain scholarships for college if we push them hard enough. Let’s sign them up for private coaching, let’s put them into travel teams, they’ll have plenty of time to choose church when they get older.

It seems that when, even the strongest godly family begins to focus on the things of this old world, the family quickly will turn away from God and only professes their relationship by mouth, but not in their actions. There becomes the unfortunate cycle of little to no commitment to God. By the time we realize what we have done, unfortunately it is too late. Our kids are grown and look at church as a convenient option, only attending for Christmas and Easter. Their personal devotion and study is non-existent.

As a result, we place our priorities on everything in the world, except for the one who created it.

I don’t know about you, but I choose to focus on the eternal security of my children more than the temporary things of this world.

When we look at the story of Jacob and Esau, we see a picture of two warring spirits. They fought with each other in the womb.

Genesis 25:22 ESV

22 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.

They competed during birth.

Genesis 25:26 ESV

26 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.

There was division among the family because of them.

Genesis 25:28 ESV

28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

As they grow and mature, not only do we see their warring spirits, but we also get a glimpse of a spiritual war that occurs between them also.

We see a glimpse of just how far a person can go in allowing themselves to “get into” the flesh and things of this world. Esau had a hunger - he wanted food. Jacob also had a hunger - for something that was not rightfully his. Both were not satisfied with their God-given place within the family. Jacob wanted to be the spiritual leader of the family, and God had already chosen him:

Genesis 25:23 ESV

23 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.”

Even though Jacob had been appointed by God to receive His promises and carry on the line of Abraham, he acts selfishly, running ahead of God to secure the birthright, manipulating Esau. This trait follows Jacob throughout life. He sometimes schemed, connived, and deceived to secure the best in life (what God had promised) instead of waiting on God to provide. He had a way of trying to “help God out” from time to time. His confidence in God was weak, but he was aware and committed to the God. As he aged, he was eventually forced to grow, mature, trust, and rely completely and totally on God.

As we look at this theme today, though, I want us to think of this question. How often do we miss God’s blessings or get ourselves in a bind when we try to “help God out”? How do we learn to fully rely on God and trust in His plan? But more importantly are we missing the value of our inheritance and birthright given to us by God?

Establishment of Birthright and Inheritance

Deuteronomy 21:15–17 ESV

15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, 16 then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn, 17 but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.

What is the difference between an inheritance and a birthright?

An inheritance is something due to us after the passing of a relative. This contrasts some with a birthright in a birthright is something that is owed since birth as a result of our inheritance. When we look at the law written here in Deuteronomy, each child would receive an inheritance, but the firstborn - because of birthright - received a double portion. This law was passed to protect the inherited rights of the firstborn son. Due to polygamy - the practice of having multiple wives - a man might prefer one wife over another, and as a result may love the child of that wife more than others - showing partiality and favoritism. But this law clearly states the father must give the rights to the firstborn son, regardless of who he loved most.

Isn’t it wonderful to read in God’s Word that, even when we as humans can make a mess and muck of life, that He still has given us guidelines to live by? As stated earlier, there were favorites among Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac favored Esau while Rebekah favored Jacob. For whatever reason, each parent chose a favorite child - leading to conflict and ultimately deception. But it was not without God’s knowledge.

What we see about the character of Esau is this - he did not value his birthright - scripture even says he “despised” his birthright. It meant so little to him, he was willing to give it up for a bowl of red beans and bread simply because he was physically hungry.

Are we missing the value of our inheritance and birthright given to us by God?

The Son’s Disrespect

Genesis 25:29–34 ESV

29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Esau was, as we might say, so hungry his stomach was gnawing on his backbone.

He had come in from the field and was starving. Jacob had been cooking a pot of red lentils and bread, driving Esau to become “hangry”.

He wanted the stew, and was willing to do whatever it took just to fill his belly - including giving up his birthright.

Birthright: there is no record of what the birthright included at the time of Jacob and Esau but it may have included:

1. The son became the spiritual head of the family. He was God’s representative who was responsible for the spiritual welfare of the family, and the entire household including the workers, servants and their families.

2. The son became the head of the family or tribe. He became responsible for the estate, for the property and business holdings of the family and for its welfare and protection.

3. The son possibly inherited a larger portion of the father’s wealth, probably twice as much as each of the other sons. This was true later under the Mosaic law.

The birthright included both privilege and responsibility, both rights and duties. However, Jacob was not after the material wealth of the birthright; at least it was not his primary interest. His interest was in being the spiritual and physical head of the family. He wanted to carry on the line of the family that was to give birth to the coming Savior: he wanted to be responsible for the family’s welfare, its provision and security.

Scripture tells us Esau could have cared less.

While the birthright was rightfully his, Esau’s hunger was more important to him.

All he had to do was go home and get something to eat, but instead he stopped at Jacob’s tent and almost demanded food because he was “so hungry I feel that I could die”. Esau was so focused on the things of the world that he literally gave up what God had rightfully given him. In doing so, he rejected the responsibility to care for his family.

He willingly rejected his spiritual rights, and gave up his double portion.

Are we missing the value of our inheritance and birthright given to us by God?

The Birthright and Inheritance Reassigned

Genesis 27:34–37 ESV

34 As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?”

We find that Rebekah and Jacob designed the most elaborate scheme to trick Isaac into giving the inheritance to Jacob.

Notice what Esau says - “he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing”.

Esau could have cared less when he gave up his birthright for a bowl and beans and bread. But NOW, it’s good to remember that this is the second time he has lost something.

I think, at times, many of us never realize that we have compromised ourselves until it’s too late.

Then “something” happens and we realize what we have done.

Notice now, the action of selling his birthright becomes important to Esau.

He didn’t want to follow God’s will and change his life, give God priority in his life, or even follow God with all his heart…until he realized what he had lost.

Are we missing the value of our inheritance and birthright given to us by God?

New Testament Birthright

Romans 8:16–17 ESV

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Our birthright is simply this - when we follow Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, the moment we ask forgiveness we become children of God.

What is the significance of being children of God?

We also become heirs and are promised a heavenly inheritance.

But even more significant is this - we become fellow heirs with Christ - we share in Jesus’ birthright!

Why would He share? The birthright is rightfully His!

So that we can be glorified the same was He is. You see, Jesus was nothing like Esau - he didn’t despise His birthright nor the responsibilities that came with it - including dying on the cross for our sins. We have the ability to become co-heirs with Christ.

WHY do many of us miss the value of our inheritance and birthright given to us by God? Simply because we, like Esau, don’t understand the value until it’s too late.

Closing

God could not bless Esau because he chose not to be blessed.

He lived a life contrary to what God had called him to live. As a result, God COULDN’T bless him.

How many of us today, take the approach of Esau - and forsake our birthright?

James Montgomery Boice has an excellent application of this passage that drives home the main point of this message.

“Eat, drink, and be merry!” That sums up Esau’s character and also the philosophy that allowed him to willingly let spiritual matters slide. But is it not also an apt description of our own age and of many—we blush to say it—who are to be found even within the church? Esau was no heathen.… Esau was a son of Isaac, a grandson of Abraham himself.… If anyone was ever raised with an abundance of spiritual advantages, it was Esau. Yet Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, just as many do today, though they have the advantages of a deep and prolonged exposure to Christianity.

Are you one of these persons? Are you despising your birthright, choosing instead the savory but passing pottage of this world? If you have not committed yourself fully to Christ and are not going on with Him with all the strength at your disposal, that is precisely what you are doing. You are an Esau, whom the author of Hebrews calls a “godless” person.

Let me describe the birthright you are forfeiting. First, you are forfeiting the benefits of Jesus’ death. This was what Esau was forfeiting too, but we can find some measure of excuse in his case. There had been promises of the coming of a redeemer, first to Adam and Eve (Ge. 3:15) and then to Abraham (Ge. 22:18; cf. Ga. 3:16), but these were not detailed. Besides, the coming of Christ—which would clarify as well as fulfill these promises—was nearly two thousand years away. Esau might be excused at least in some measure, for his blindness. This would not be true of someone today. Christ has come. People have known of that coming for nearly two millennia. What began as a small movement in a far corner of the Roman Empire has spread over the entire globe. Your knowledge of Christ and of Christianity is due in part to the fact that you are alive at this particular point in history. Do you discount that? Will you sell the privilege of becoming a Christian for the secular stew the world has to offer?

Second, if you have not yet fully committed yourself to Christ and begun to go on with Him with all the strength at your disposal, you are forfeiting the benefits of God’s written Word, the Bible. For, presumably, you are not studying it. You are not praying over it. You are not laying up its truths in your heart.…

I think also of gospel preaching. This is the third benefit you are despising if you are not fully committed to Christ and doing your best to progress in the Christian life. I know that much contemporary preaching is shallow. I know that much of it is even untrue to the Scriptures and that the preachers of false gospels will be judged for their teaching. No one is more deeply pained by this sad state of affairs than I am. But brothers and sisters … true preaching is an exposition of the Word of God, and the patriarchs did not possess that Word. Not one of the patriarchs—not Isaac or Jacob, not even Abraham—ever had a chance to hear a sermon half so good or half so knowledgeable as any sermon you can hear at almost any time of day or any day of the week you want to.… I refer to radio and television.…

The fourth benefit that you are despising—if you have not yet fully committed yourself to Christ and are not going on with Him—is the ministry of the churches that adorn the face of our land. I know that not all of them are composed of believers. In fact, it may be hard to understand how this can be so, but not all have believing pastors or other regenerated leadership. But how many churches were there in Esau’s day? How many synagogues? Just one.… Is there a city or town in America that fails to have a good church? I think not. Most cities are filled with them.…

Busy? That suggests a fifth benefit you are likely to despise. You may think you are busy, and you may actually be busy. But you live in an age that has been blessed with more leisure time than any age in history. In past ages, people usually had to work from dawn to dusk, six or more days a week, just to stay alive. You probably have a forty-hour week. You have time to go away for weekends, time to take vacations, time to swim, plan tennis, and go to movies. The average American watches five hours of television daily. You have time to do almost anything you really want to do, but you do not use even a small portion of that time to ensure the health of your soul. One commentator writes, “Men will read trash rather than the Word of God, and adhere to a system of priorities that leaves God out of their lives. Multitudes of men spend more time shaving than on their souls; and multitudes of women give more minutes to their makeup than to the life of the eternal spirit.”

Esau had no time for spiritual things. Are you better? Esau despised his birthright. Are you not like him if you have no time for God or for fellowship with God’s people? Godless! That is what the Bible calls you. Wicked! It is wicked to despise such blessings.

What value have we placed on our birthright and inheritance promised by God?

It was too late for Esau. He had already made his decisions, and even though he cried out to his father - there was nothing that could be done.

Don’t miss the value of our inheritance and birthright given to us by God! Today, if you are not a co-heir with Christ, you can be.