God promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to bless the whole earth through him. Even though Abraham had other children, it was his son Isaac who was born to his wife Sarah in his old age who was the son of the promise.
After Isaac grew to be a man Abraham sent his chief servant back to the land Abraham had come from to get a wife for Isaac. God granted the servant success in his quest and he brought back Rebekah who was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother. She was very beautiful and Isaac loved her. Rebekah, however, was barren which means she couldn’t have children. When Isaac prayed for her God answered his prayer and Rebekah became pregnant with twins.
19 This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Esau was the firstborn of the twins so the birthright should have gone to him. Esau’s name means hairy. He was also called Edom meaning red. He was the father of the Edomites who were always in conflict with God’s people, the Israelites.
According the ancient law of primogeniture, the firstborn son is the one who receives the birthright which means he receives a double inheritance of material possessions and is the one through whom the family line passes.
Jacob was the second one to be born. His name means “he grasps the heel,” which is a figure of speech for “he deceives.”
If you deceive someone you get the person to believe something is true that really isn’t true or that something is good to do that isn’t good to do. You mislead a person by lying or not telling the whole truth. Although Jacob was a sneaky and deceptive person, he was the one through whom God chose to fulfill his promise to Abraham.
Esau was a hunter and Jacob was a quiet man who liked to stay at home. Isaac loved Esau and Rebekah loved Jacob. Favoring one child over the other is not good as that can create conflict between both the parents and the children. Parents should love their children equally and treat them each fairly.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
Jacob got Esau to sell him his birthright for a bowl of stew. Esau was a man who lived for the moment and wasn’t concerned about how what he did affected his future. We would say he was motivated by short term or instant gratification. He didn’t look at the ultimate outcome of his choice. All he could focus on was his hunger at the moment. Jacob was sneaky (cunning and conniving) and took advantage of Esau’s weakness.
Before Jacob was even born God chose him to be the one through whom his promise to Abraham would be fulfilled. It wasn’t that Jacob was a perfect man. The Bible shows he was quite a deceiver. Besides getting Esau to sell him his birthright, Jacob dressed up and pretended to be Esau, tricking his father into giving him Esau’s blessing.
Both Esau and Jacob were sinners, but the Bible says that God loved Jacob and hated Esau, meaning that he chose Jacob and rejected Esau. God chooses or loves those who choose to believe in and trust him as Lord. He rejects or hates those who reject or hate him.
God knows the heart of a person before he is born, just like he knew Jacob and Esau. God chooses or rejects a person on the basis of how they respond to him. Those who choose God are children of the promise that God made to Abraham.
Even though Jacob was a sinner, he believed God and was the one chosen to be the son of the promise. Esau lived for the moment and rejected the idea that God was Lord. His heart was hard towards God. The Bible describes Esau as godless.
Hebrews 12:16 says, See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.
If a person is godless he is without God. Godless people reject God and his ways. They live their lives apart from God and don’t experience the blessing of a relationship with God. They choose to follow their sinful nature rather than look ahead to eternity.
We need to be careful not to be godless like Esau and have a hard heart towards God. We need to choose to believe in and follow God as Abraham did, and become a child of the promise.
- Overview Questions: What is the birthright of the firstborn? Who did the birthright belong to? Why? How did Jacob get Esau’s birthright?
- Thought Questions: What does it mean to look ahead to your reward? What causes a person to look ahead for his reward? How would looking ahead to your reward affect your decisions in life? Why is making a decision on how you feel at the moment a bad idea?
- Prayer: Thank God that his way is good and right and following it will bring you great benefit. Pray that you would look ahead to God’s promises and choose to make good decisions based on his truth and what has eternal value.
- Memory Verse: Hebrews 12:16 Why did Esau give up his birthright?
Esau was godless and lived for the moment.
See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.
Questions: What does it mean to be godless? Why would Esau sell his inheritance for a single meal?