Chapter 16
Jacob and
Esau
[This
chapter is based on Genesis 25:19-34; 27.]
JACOB
and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac, present a striking contrast, both in
character and in life. This unlikeness was foretold by the angel of God
before their birth. When in answer to Rebekah's troubled prayer he
declared that two sons would be given her, he opened to her their future
history, that each would become the head of a mighty nation, but that one
would be greater than the other, and that the younger would have the
pre-eminence.
Esau grew up
loving self-gratification and centering all his interest in the present.
Impatient of restraint, he delighted in the wild freedom of the chase, and
early chose the life of a hunter. Yet he was the father's favorite. The
quiet, peace-loving shepherd was attracted by the daring and vigor of this
elder son, who fearlessly ranged over mountain and desert, returning home
with game for his father and with exciting accounts of his adventurous
life. Jacob, thoughtful, diligent, and care-taking, ever thinking more of
the future than the present, was content to dwell at home, occupied in the
care of the flocks and the tillage of the soil. His patient perseverance,
thrift, and foresight were valued by the mother. His affections were deep
and strong, and his gentle, unremitting attentions added far more to her
happiness than did the boisterous and occasional kindnesses of Esau. To
Rebekah, Jacob was the dearer son.
The promises
made to Abraham and confirmed to his son were held by Isaac and Rebekah as
the great object of their desires and hopes. With these promises Esau and
Jacob were familiar. They were taught to regard the birthright as a matter
of great importance, for it included not only an inheritance of worldly
wealth but spiritual pre-eminence. He who received it was to be the priest
of his family, and in the line of his posterity the Redeemer of the world
would come. On the other hand, there were obligations resting upon the
possessor of the birthright. He who should inherit its blessings must
devote his life to the service of God. Like Abraham, he must be obedient
to the divine requirements. In marriage, in his family relations, in
public life, he must consult the will of God.
Isaac made
known to his sons these privileges and conditions, and plainly stated that
Esau, as the eldest, was the one entitled to the birthright. But Esau had
no love for devotion, no inclination to a religious life. The requirements
that accompanied the spiritual birthright were an unwelcome and even
hateful restraint to him. The law of God, which was the condition of the
divine covenant with Abraham, was regarded by Esau as a yoke of bondage.
Bent on self-indulgence, he desired nothing so much as liberty to do as he
pleased. To him power and riches, feasting and reveling, were happiness.
He gloried in the unrestrained freedom of his wild, roving life. Rebekah
remembered the words of the angel, and she read with clearer insight than
did her husband the character of their sons. She was convinced that the
heritage of divine promise was intended for Jacob. She repeated to Isaac
the angel's words; but the father's affections were centered upon the
elder son, and he was unshaken in his purpose.
Jacob had
learned from his mother of the divine intimation that the birthright
should fall to him, and he was filled with an unspeakable desire for the
privileges which it would confer. It was not the possession of his
father's wealth that he craved; the spiritual birthright was the object of
his longing. To commune with God as did righteous Abraham, to offer the
sacrifice of atonement for his family, to be the progenitor of the chosen
people and of the promised Messiah, and to inherit the immortal
possessions embraced in the blessings of the covenant-here were the
privileges and honors that kindled his most ardent desires. His mind was
ever reaching forward to the future, and seeking to grasp its unseen
blessings.
With secret
longing he listened to all that his father told concerning the spiritual
birthright; he carefully treasured what he had learned from his mother.
Day and night the subject occupied his thoughts, until it became the
absorbing interest of his life. But while he thus esteemed eternal above
temporal blessings, Jacob had not an experimental knowledge of the God
whom he revered. His heart had not been renewed by divine grace. He
believed that the promise concerning himself could not be fulfilled so
long as Esau retained the rights of the first-born, and he constantly
studied to devise some way whereby he might secure the blessing which his
brother held so lightly, but which was so precious to himself.
When Esau,
coming home one day faint and weary from the chase, asked for the food
that Jacob was preparing, the latter, with whom one thought was ever
uppermost, seized upon his advantage, and offered to satisfy his brother's
hunger at the price of the birthright. "Behold, I am at the point to
die," cried the reckless, self-indulgent hunter, "and what
profit shall this birthright do to me?" And for a dish of red pottage
he parted with his birthright, and confirmed the transaction by an oath. A
short time at most would have secured him food in his father's tents, but
to satisfy the desire of the moment he carelessly bartered the glorious
heritage that God Himself had promised to his fathers. His whole interest
was in the present. He was ready to sacrifice the heavenly to the earthly,
to exchange a future good for a momentary indulgence.
"Thus
Esau despised his birthright." In disposing of it he felt a sense of
relief. Now his way was unobstructed; he could do as he liked. For this
wild pleasure, miscalled freedom, how many are still selling their
birthright to an inheritance pure and undefiled, eternal in the heavens!
Ever subject
to mere outward and earthly attractions, Esau took two wives of the
daughters of Heth. They were worshipers of false gods, and their idolatry
was a bitter grief to Isaac and Rebekah. Esau had violated one of the
conditions of the covenant, which forbade intermarriage between the chosen
people and the heathen; yet Isaac was still unshaken in his determination
to bestow upon him the birthright. The reasoning of Rebekah, Jacob's
strong desire for the blessing, and Esau's indifference to its obligations
had no effect to change the father's purpose.
Years passed
on, until Isaac, old and blind, and expecting soon to die, determined no
longer to delay the bestowal of the blessing upon his elder son. But
knowing the opposition of Rebekah and Jacob, he decided to perform the
solemn ceremony in secret. In accordance with the custom of making a feast
upon such occasions, the patriarch bade Esau, "Go out to the field,
and take me some venison; and make me savory meat, . . . that my soul may
bless thee before I die."
Rebekah
divined his purpose. She was confident that it was contrary to what God
had revealed as His will. Isaac was in danger of incurring the divine
displeasure and of debarring his younger son from the position to which
God had called him. She had in vain tried the effect of reasoning with
Isaac, and she determined to resort to stratagem.
No sooner had
Esau departed on his errand than Rebekah set about the accomplishment of
her purpose. She told Jacob what had taken place, urging the necessity of
immediate action to prevent the bestowal of the blessing, finally and
irrevocably, upon Esau. And she assured her son that if he would follow
her directions, he might obtain it as God had promised. Jacob did not
readily consent to the plan that she proposed. The thought of deceiving
his father caused him great distress. He felt that such a sin would bring
a curse rather than a blessing. But his scruples were overborne, and he
proceeded to carry out his mother's suggestions. It was not his intention
to utter a direct falsehood, but once in the presence of his father he
seemed to have gone too far to retreat, and he obtained by fraud the
coveted blessing.
Jacob and
Rebekah succeeded in their purpose, but they gained only trouble and
sorrow by their deception. God had declared that Jacob should receive the
birthright, and His word would have been fulfilled in His own time had
they waited in faith for Him to work for them. But like many who now
profess to be children of God, they were unwilling to leave the matter in
His hands. Rebekah bitterly repented the wrong counsel she had given her
son; it was the means of separating him from her, and she never saw his
face again. From the hour when he received the birthright, Jacob was
weighed down with self-condemnation. He had sinned against his father, his
brother, his own soul, and against God. In one short hour he had made work
for a lifelong repentance. This scene was vivid before him in afteryears,
when the wicked course of his sons oppressed his soul.
No sooner had
Jacob left his father's tent than Esau entered. Though he had sold his
birthright, and confirmed the transfer by a solemn oath, he was now
determined to secure its blessings, regardless of his brother's claim.
With the spiritual was connected the temporal birthright, which would give
him the headship of the family and possession of a double portion of his
father's wealth. These were blessings that he could value. "Let my
father arise," he said, "and eat of his son's venison, that thy
soul may bless me."
Trembling
with astonishment and distress, the blind old father learned the deception
that had been practiced upon him. His long and fondly cherished hopes had
been thwarted, and he keenly felt the disappointment that must come upon
his elder son. Yet the conviction flashed upon him that it was God's
providence which had defeated his purpose and brought about the very thing
he had determined to prevent. He remembered the words of the angel to
Rebekah, and notwithstanding the sin of which Jacob was now guilty, he saw
in him the one best fitted to accomplish the purposes of God. While the
words of blessing were upon his lips, he had felt the Spirit of
inspiration upon him; and now, knowing all the circumstances, he ratified
the benediction unwittingly pronounced upon Jacob: "I have blessed
him; yea, and he shall be blessed."
Esau had
lightly valued the blessing while it seemed within his reach, but he
desired to possess it now that it was gone from him forever. All the
strength of his impulsive, passionate nature was aroused, and his grief
and rage were terrible. He cried with an exceeding bitter cry, "Bless
me, even me also, O my father!" "Hast thou not reserved a
blessing for me?" But the promise given was not to be recalled. The
birthright which he had so carelessly bartered he could not now regain.
"For one morsel of meat," for a momentary gratification of
appetite that had never been restrained, Esau sold his inheritance; but
when he saw his folly, it was too late to recover the blessing. "He
found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with
tears." Hebrews 12:16, 17. Esau was not shut out from the privilege
of seeking God's favor by repentance, but he could find no means of
recovering the birthright. His grief did not spring from conviction of
sin; he did not desire to be reconciled to God. He sorrowed because of the
results of his sin, but not for the sin itself.
Because of
his indifference to the divine blessings and requirements, Esau is called
in Scripture "a profane person." Verse 16. He represents those
who lightly value the redemption purchased for them by Christ, and are
ready to sacrifice their heirship to heaven for the perishable things of
earth. Multitudes live for the present, with no thought or care for the
future. Like Esau they cry, "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we
die." 1 Corinthians 15:32. They are controlled by inclination; and
rather than practice self-denial, they will forgo the most valuable
considerations. If one must be relinquished, the gratification of a
depraved appetite or the heavenly blessings promised only to the
self-denying and God-fearing, the claims of appetite prevail, and God and
heaven are virtually despised. How many, even of professed Christians,
cling to indulgences that are injurious to health and that benumb the
sensibilities of the soul. When the duty is presented of cleansing
themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God, they are offended. They see that they cannot
retain these hurtful gratifications and yet secure heaven, and they
conclude that since the way to eternal life is so strait, they will no
longer walk therein.
Multitudes
are selling their birthright for sensual indulgence. Health is sacrificed,
the mental faculties are enfeebled, and heaven is forfeited; and all for a
mere temporary pleasure--an indulgence at once both weakening and debasing
in its character. As Esau awoke to see the folly of his rash exchange when
it was too late to recover his loss, so it will be in the day of God with
those who have bartered their heirship to heaven for selfish
gratifications.
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