Genesis 26.34-35-Esau Marries Two Hittite Women to His Parents' Grief
Sunday May 28, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 26:34-35-Esau Marries Two Hittite Women to His Parents’ Grief
Lesson # 152
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 25:19.
This morning we will study Genesis 26:34-35, which presents to us the record of Esau’s marriage to two Hittite women who were descendants of Canaan and unbelievers, which brought grief to his parents, Isaac and Rebekah.
As we will note, this marriage of Esau to two Hittite women was due in part to his parents’ failure to teach him that it was against the will of God for their family to marry Canaanite women.
By way of review, we have seen in our previous studies that Esau’s father, Isaac was the son of Abraham.
Both, Abraham and Isaac were in the line of the human nature of Jesus Christ or in other words, Jesus Christ in His human nature descended from these two.
Isaac married a woman named Rebekah and they had twin boys, the older was Esau and the younger was Jacob and they contrasted in many ways.
Esau was a hairy man but Jacob had smooth skin, Esau became a skillful hunter and an outdoorsman but Jacob was a “momma’s boy” and a “homebody,” Esau became the favorite son of Isaac but Jacob was Rebekah’s favorite.
Isaac’s love for Esau is based upon the natural senses whereas Rebekah’s love for Jacob is based upon the Lord’s choice of Jacob and that Jacob was a responsible individual who took care of the family business and matters around the home.
Genesis 25:19-20, “Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham became the father of 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.”
Genesis 25:21, “Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.”
Genesis 25:22, “But the children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If it is so, why then am I this way?’ So she went to inquire of the LORD.”
Genesis 25:23, “The LORD said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.’”
Genesis 25:24, “When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.”
Genesis 25:25, “Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau.”
Genesis 25:26, “Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.”
Genesis 25:27, “When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.”
Genesis 25:28, “Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”
The major contrast between Jacob and Esau was their attitudes towards the plan of God, which were manifested by Esau exchanging his birthright with Jacob for a bowl of red lintel soup.
In the family of Abraham and Isaac, the birthright included the privilege of carrying on the line of Christ that would bring salvation and therefore blessing to the entire world and inheriting the promises, privileges and responsibilities of the Abrahamic Covenant.
By exchanging his birthright for a bowl of red lintel soup, Esau was demonstrating that he valued little his firstborn status in the family of Isaac, which involved inheriting the promises, privileges and responsibilities of the Abrahamic Covenant and thereby expressed his contempt for the plan of God.
Genesis 25:29-30, “When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.’ Therefore his name was called Edom.”
Genesis 25:31, “But Jacob said, ‘First sell me your birthright.’”
Genesis 25:32, “Esau said, ‘Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?’”
Genesis 25:33, “And Jacob said, ‘First swear to me’; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.”
Genesis 25:34, “Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
Esau’s contempt for the plan of God by exchanging his birthright with his brother Jacob for a bowl of red lintel soup demonstrated tragically that he was an unbeliever.
By selling his birthright, Esau was demonstrating his unbelief in the promises contained in the Abrahamic Covenant and thereby forfeited the blessings of this covenant since the birthright is appropriated by faith.
Hebrews 12:15-16, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.”
Hebrews 12:17, “For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”
Several years later, Jacob and Rebekah successfully conspired to trick Isaac into giving his blessing and inheritance to Jacob while Esau was away hunting for his father’s favorite meal of wild game (Genesis 27:1-40).
In order to escape the wrath of Esau, who wanted to kill him for the deception, Jacob fled to his uncle Laban (Genesis 27:41-28:5).
Years later, Esau and Jacob reconciled (Genesis 32:1-22; 33:1-16) but lived in different regions.
Esau settled his family in the land of Seir in the country of Edom (Genesis 32:3; 33:16; 36) while Jacob lived in the hill country of central Palestine.
Esau was the progenitor of the Edomites (See Genesis 36:1-43) whereas his twin brother Jacob was the progenitor of the Israelites.
So we can see that the family of Isaac and Rebekah was dysfunctional.
There is no such thing as a perfect parent or child (except for Jesus Christ) since the Bible teaches that all parents and children are sinners.
Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
This should be an encouragement to Christian families because the Bible teaches that God in His grace used this family despite their obvious shortcomings and if this is the case, he can do so in our families.
In His incomparable grace, God was able to use Isaac’s family to bring blessing to the entire world since the Savior of the world Jesus Christ in His human nature descended from Isaac, Rebekah and Jacob.
Matthew 1:1-2, “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob.”
Now, one of the major problems that the family of Isaac and Rebekah faced was the marriage of their son Esau to Hittite women who were Canaanite and unbelievers.
Genesis 26:34-35, “When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.”
The problem of Esau marrying these Hittite women, who were descendants of Canaan, was due in part to the failure of his parents, Isaac and Rebekah, since they apparently failed to teach both Jacob and Esau that it was against the will of God for members of their family to marry Canaanite women.
In Genesis 9:24-27, Noah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit pronounces a curse upon the Canaanites and a blessing upon the Shemites who would be in the line of Christ.
Genesis 9:25, “So he (Noah) said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.’”
Genesis 9:26, “He also said, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.’”
Genesis 9:27, “May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.”
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were Shemites meaning that they were descendants of Shem and were therefore to marry other Shemites.
Neither Jacob nor Esau had ever previously been taught by their parents that marriage to Canaanite women was against the will of God.
We know this to be the case since Isaac’s prohibition to Jacob, recorded in Genesis 28:6, to not marry a Canaanite was never in the past given to either Jacob or Esau since nowhere previously has this instruction been given.
This is further confirmed by Esau’s response to learning that his Canaanite wives were displeasing to his father.
Genesis 28:8-9, “So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac; and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.”
So the failure of Esau was due in part to the failure of his parents to teach him the ways of the Lord.
The Bible teaches that Christian parents have been given the responsibility by the Lord to teach their children the Word of God.
Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Fathers and mothers are to train their children by means of the Word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”
Parents must stop passing the buck to Sunday school teachers and Christian day school teachers and start fulfilling their responsibility before the Lord to train them and educate them in the Word of God.
Your child’s knowledge of the Lord should be received primarily in the home from the parents and not in public school or even Sunday school.
Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!”
Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:6, “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.”
Deuteronomy 6:7, “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
The Israelite parents were commanded by the Lord to teach their children to love the Lord with all their heart, soul and with all their might, which is accomplished by obedience to the teaching of the Word of God.
John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
Isaac and Rebekah reaped what they sowed by not teaching Esau Noah’s prophecy since Esau’s marriage to these Hittite women brought them grief.
Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
Galatians 6:8, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Genesis 26:34-35, “When Esau was forty years old he married Judith (Hebrew: yehudhith (tyr!Why+) (yeh-hoo-deeth), which means, “praised”) the daughter of Beeri (Hebrew: be’eri (yr!a@B+) (be-ay-ree), which means, “my well”) the Hittite, and Basemath (basemath (tm^c+B*) (bos-math), which means, “fragrance”) the daughter of Elon (Hebrew: `elon (/w)lya@) (ay-lone), which means, “terebinth”) the Hittite; and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.”
“Grief” is the noun morah (hr*m) (mo-raw), which means, “bitterness.”
Therefore, Esau’s marriage to these Hittite women was literally “bitterness of spirit” to Rebekah and Isaac because their lifestyles radically differed from Abraham’s family spirituality and training (cf. Genesis 15:16, 20; 18:19; 24:3; 27:46).
So we can just picture the scene, Esau brought home his two pagan wives and then left to go hunting for days on end and left Isaac and Rebekah to contend with these women and their pagan ways and attitudes.
Thus, Esau’s marriage to these two Hittite women was a great source of bitterness for both Isaac and Rebekah since they rejected the worship of the one true God, Jesus Christ since they were unbelievers.
Proverbs 10:1, “A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother.”
Proverbs 17:25, “A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to the one who bore him.”
