Esau Sells His Birthright (Gen 25:27-34)
Genesis: The Book of Beginnings • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
For those keeping track of where we are and where we’re headed, I want you to know that this is our last sermon in Genesis before starting our Christmas series for this year. So, we’re going to wrap up ch. 25 today and over the next few weeks we’re going to focus our attention on Christmas.
As you know, we don’t really follow any tradition means for preparing our hearts for Christmas—though the past few years, we’ve been taking one of the themes of Advent each year and focusing on that theme. This year, the theme is love and so, we’ll spend three week answering question such as “What is love,” “how does God love us?” and “who do we love,” which will bring us to the Sunday before Christmas.
The Sunday after Christmas, we’ll be back in the book of Genesis.
If you have your Bible, please turn it to Genesis 25:27-34.
Last week, Pastor Josh dealt with the birth of two brothers named Jacob and Esau. We learned that even before their birth they struggled against each other within the womb of their mother Rebekah—so much so, that Rebekah questioned why these things were happening to her. We witnessed the Lord tell her of an internal struggle within her that would eventually be seen in two nations coming against each other in which the older would serve the younger.
At the end of last week’s passage, we see the two boys as adults and that’s actually where we’re going to start today. Pastor Josh hit on this, but this week, we’ll go just a little more in-depth as we look at vv. 27-34.
Let’s read the text together.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
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.
As we study this passage together, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) dealing with the Family Dynamics (27-28) that set the stage for what’s about to happen and (2) Esau’s Foolish Decision (29-34), which is really the main point of this passage. What you’ll see as we work through the text is that temporal desire can result in foolish decisions and terrible consequences. We’ll apply that truth in two ways—(1) dealing with temporal desires and temporal consequences and (2) dealing with temporal desires and eternal consequences.
The reality is that often our minds are so focused on today that we don’t think about eternity; and if we only think about today, we often act with a profound lack of wisdom because of our lack of perspective.
Prayer for Illumination
Family Dynamics (27-28)
Family Dynamics (27-28)
Our text starts in v. 27 with a description of the boys—really now men—and the description that we see between the two men are vastly different.
We see Esau, who was skillful in hunting and we see Jacob who was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.
Now, I do almost as a side-point want to point out that there’s nothing inherently wrong with either man—there’s this movement amongst Christian churches today in which they’re attempting to bring back masculinity
But what they mean by masculinity is this ultra macho, almost narcissistic, can arm wrestle a bear, while whittling a stick type of masculinity.
They would look at Esau and Jacob and say that the whole problem is that Jacob doesn’t act like a man’s man and so, he only devises his plan because he isn’t actually out in the woods hunting—if he just acted like a man, this situation wouldn’t have happened.
But that’s reading a lot into the text and it’s assuming that there’s inherent morality assigned to hunting and there’s inherent morality assigned to staying at home.
I want to be very clear that the Bible never states that the epitome of manhood or masculinity is this ultra macho, narcissistic, can arm wrestle a bear, while whittling a stick type of person (and, by the way, while being macho, arm wrestling a bear, or whittling a stick aren’t sinful actions, being narcissistic is.
Rather, God made some men who like to go hunting and he made some men who are quiet and don’t really like going out and hunting—both are fine, but I digress.
Note, the distinct contrast between the two men.
Esau is a hunter and he is a very good hunter; Jacob was a quiet man who would rather stay at home.
And unfortunately, the contrast between the two men results in favoritism within the family dynamics as seen in v. 28, “Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”
Though I do wonder (and note that this is purely speculation) whether that favoritism existed beyond just what’s seen here.
Is Esau only Isaac’s favorite because of Esau’s ability to hunt? Or did Esau become so skilled at hunting because he saw that his father liked that he could hunt.
Did Rebekah love Jacob because he spent more time at home with her; or, did Jacob spend more time at home because Rebekah treated him with favoritism.
Again, speculation, but I think it’s worth pondering.
Regardless, we see this favoritism played out in the form of Isaac loving Esau and Rebekah loving Jacob.
And be aware that that favoritism results in multiple wrong and unfortunate scenarios in both today’s passage and in other passages as well—this won’t be the first time that we see something like this happening in the lives of Jacob and Esau.
Let’s look at the rest of the verses, I’ll re-read them for us.
Esau’s Foolish Decision (29-34)
Esau’s Foolish Decision (29-34)
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.
vv. 29-30 set the stage for what’s about to happen. We see Jacob at home cooking a stew when Esau comes back from the field.
Of course, we already know that Jacob is really more of a homebody—so it makes sense that he would be home making some sort of stew.
We’re not really told much about that stew, but we are told that it is red—Jacob was making a red stew and this whole situation with Esau gives Esau a nickname—”there for his name was called Edom.”
Edom sounds like the Hebrew word for red—in a way, his nickname Edom was meant in a somewhat pejorative or ironic manner—like how you would call someone who trips a lot Grace or someone who someone who was short, you might call stretch.
This moment becomes a defining moment for Esau—you’ll notice it as soon as you recognize what his descendents are called. They’re not called Esau-ites, they’re called Edomites.
So, Jacob comes in from the field, he’s tired, and he goes to Esau who’s making this stew and says, “let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!”
I think we could relate to this—after a long day, it’s good to eat, but I think you’ll agree the way that Esau responds here is rash, but I’ll get back to that in a few minutes.
Esau is hungry and wants food. Jacob has him right in his hands—he makes a demand in v. 31, “Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright now.’” and Esau responds with “[I’m] about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” with Jacob then saying, “Swear to me now.”
Now, we do need to start by answering a question, what is a birthright?
This is a vital question to ask (1) because it’s integral for us to understand this passage, but also (2) because our current culture doesn’t really have birthrights in the same sense.
In our current culture, birthrights kind of exist, but not to the same extent as in the Ancient Near Eastern culture—in our culture, usually when someone enters into eternity, their children inherit everything (mostly equally).
In their culture, birthrights worked a little different—(1) only male children received anything from their father’s estate, (2) the oldest son would be left in charge of the homestead itself, and (3) the oldest son received a double portion of the inheritance (in contrast to all the other sons).
The idea being that the oldest would need more of the inheritance to keep the homestead of the estate functioning.
So, in this scenario, when we’re talking about Esau’s birthright—we’re talking about everything that he is to receive when Isaac dies.
The estate, the homestead, the double portion of the inheritance. The ability to run the household after Isaac’s death is all part of the birthright.
It’s important because it deals with the family’s long-term viability.
Now, Esau responds to Jacob in a way that somewhat makes sense until you start digging into his response.
He says, “of what use is a birthright to me?” Because “I am about to die.”
The issue is that it doesn’t actually seem like he’s in a position where he can say “I’m about to die.”
We know this because he’s not exhibiting the normal symptoms for malnutrition or starvation, which include chronic fatigue, mental fogginess, trouble concentrating, feeling cold, depression, anxiety, trouble sleeping, or loss of interest in food (National Eating Disorders Association).
How do we know he’s not exhibiting these symptoms? (1) though he’s exhausted, he wasn’t chronically fatigued—he wouldn’t have gone out hunting if he was. (2) he’s not mentally foggy or lacking in concentration—in fact, he’s very clear in what exactly he wants. (3) he’s not expressing depression, anxiety, trouble sleeping or anything like that. And (4) he clearly does have an interest in food.
He’s not to the point where he can say, “I’m starving to death” — rather, he’s allowing his desire for temporal satisfaction to drive his decisions and actions.
We might say that he’s being a tad melodramatic or a little ridiculous.
There is no reason for him to think that he’s starving to death.
And yet, that’s how he’s acting because he wants to satiate his temporal desires with red stew.
Of course, in his foolishness (and with our benefit of hindsight), we see that Jacob does give Esau some bread, he gives him the lentil stew, Esau ate and drank, and he left.
Note that even in this situation, we see the enmity between brothers.
From in the womb, they fought against each other.
As adults, they continue fighting against each other.
In the future, their descendants keep fighting against each other.
Note also, the phrase at the end of v. 34, “Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
We use the word despise to talk about hatred. That’s not exactly what it means in this passage. Did Esau actually hate his birthright? Probably not.
But it’s clear in his actions that he definitely didn’t care about it—to the extent that he’s willing to get rid of it for soup. It’s very clear that he was so concerned about temporal satisfaction that in comparison or in contrast to what he thought about his birthright, it appeared as if he despised it or hated it.
Of course, we consider his situation and think—what a fool—why would anyone do anything so dumb?
And yet, if we’re honest, we do similar things all the time today, but we need to contextualize or reframe it as we move into application.
Application
Application
I doubt any of us will get into a situation exactly like this for a few different reasons: first off, we don’t have birthrights in the same sense that they did—the oldest son typically doesn’t get a double portion of the inheritance. Second, it definitely takes more of an effort to change how inheritances work today than just “swear to me and I’ll give you some soup.” And third, if we can’t get a bowl of soup from our brother, we could very easily just go to McDonalds.
And yet, we often sacrifice the eternal on the altar of the temporal all the time. We often make decisions based purely on what happens now rather than in light of eternity. And that’s where our application comes into play.
First, we often only think of the past, present, and future of this life (our own life) when we make decisions.
Let me suggest that it is often wise to consider our own past, present, and future for this life.
For instance, if you never reflect on your past, you’re liable to make the same bad decisions. If you never reflect on the preset, you’ll never get anything done today. If you never reflect on the future of this present world, you’ll never do anything worthwhile.
It is wise to reflect on this life’s past, present, and future, but if you stop here, it isn’t as helpful as it could be.
The past of other people’s lives can be beneficial for you to know:
Consider your parent’s medical history. If your parents have a history of health problems, the likelihood is that you might have the same health problems, but you’ll never know if you don’t actually bother to ask.
Consider the benefit of written history in general. It’s good to know what history surrounds you
For instance, in our communities, it’s helpful to know that there’s a long history of Roman Catholicism and ecumenism that has warped how people think today.
Or, consider, in the United States in general, it’s helpful to know that there are still pockets of racism that has never fully been dealt with (particularly in the south, but occasionally in rural communities).
Knowing the historical data can provide us enough background information to make better decisions concerning how we handle things.
If you have familial history of health problems, your health providers will check issues relating to your familial background.
If your community has a long history of Roman Catholicism and ecumenism—if you’re going to be more effective in evangelism and discipleship—you need to know what differentiates Roman Catholicism from Christianity and why ecumenism is unbiblical.
If you're in one of the pockets of racism in the United States that still exist, you need to be aware of it so that you can deal with it in a biblical manner.
Knowing the past better equips you to make decisions, but if you stop with just your life’s history, you really won’t have that much information.
Your present situation is important to recognize, but if you don’t pay attention to the present situation of other people around you, it isn’t as helpful as it could be.
For instance, one of the purposes of the local church is to mutually build one another up—if you aren’t paying any attention to the people around you, you’ll never notice if they’re growing or not—likewise, they’ll never notice if you’re growing or not. But if you pay attention to the present situation around you, you’ll find opportunities to serve, to be served, and to aid in mutually encouraging and building one another up.
Or consider, how working with others around us can help you in your present situation because of the life and wisdom that they’ve gained through their past as well.
The future of other people around you is important to consider.
You need to broaden your perspective to include the past, the present, and the future; and to include the past and present and future of other people, but you can’t really stop there.
Doing this will give you a lot of wisdom to consider, but if you only think about this life when you look for wisdom, you’ll be missing something important.
We don’t typically consider eternity when we’re making decisions today; and yet, it’s clear that keeping our eyes on eternity is of great importance. Of course, this will look different depending on whether you believe or not:
For an unbeliever—the assertion here is actually pretty simple. Unbelievers, naturally think primarily about this life, however, most unbelievers consider eternity at least a little.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re considering eternity form the perspective of the Bible or Christianity, but you’ve at least asked the ultimate questions: (1) why am I here? (2) what is the meaning of life and (3) what happens next?
The Bible actually answers all those questions in a way that shifts your focus from just yourself to eternity.
Why are you here? Because God created you and placed you in this very moment of world history.
What is the meaning of your life? It is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
What happens next? After this, comes death, and then judgment. And if you are in your unbelief, your judgment will return a verdict of guilty.
According to Scripture, we’re all born in sin; and sin is the very idea of missing the mark, which is God’s holiness.
As an unbeliever, you are missing the mark that God has for all people and in God’s justice, the only right thing for Him to do is to judge sin rightfully.
As for you, the only proper response is to repent of your life of sin, to call on the name of Jesus, and to follow Him.
Hopefully as you reflect on eternity, you wrestle with your unbelief—you recognize your sin, you repent, you call on the name of Jesus—you believe and follow Him.
Only then can you start looking at eternity as more than just a place of punishment for sin. Only then can you look at eternity as a believer ought to.
For a believer—though we tend to only think through this life, we really ought to keep our eyes focused on eternity always.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t live today. Consider the Thessalonians who had to be reminded by Paul to keep working, to keep living life instead of just waiting around for Jesus’ return.
But it does mean that as we live today, we consider everything in light of eternity. What that looks like is this:
Every decision that you come up to that has some sort of result ought to cause you to ask which result matters more in light of eternity.
For instance, if you’re given the opportunity to help your neighbor or to watch your third hour of Netflix for the day—you’ll want to ask yourself, which decision would give you the opportunity to influence someone else’s eternity more? Contrary to popular beliefs, Netflix doesn’t need you, but your neighbor who might not know Jesus, he needs you not just to help him, but to exhibit the love of Jesus Christ to him.
Or, for instance, if you’re given the opportunity to do something just for yourself (like take a nap or grab a drink or whatever else it might be) or to serve in some capacity for your local church (like in outreach ministries, evangelism, children ministries, or whatever else it might be), which decision would influence someone else’s eternity more? Which decision would influence you more?
If all you ever think of is what is best for this life, then you’re sorely missing out on what matters in the long-term. After all, borrowing from C.S. Lewis, every human you meet is really an eternal being. With that in mind, the short life that we experience here and now, really won’t mean much a thousand years from now.
Consider eternity.
This shift, to view our decision-making and living from the perspective of eternity will change what we prioritize and how we live.
For instance, consider even something that seems mundane like local church attendance. There are plenty of nonChristians and nominal Christians (and spiritually immature Christians) who think that local church attendance really isn’t important.
Part of the reasoning for this, for most people, is that attendance at a local church takes up time that they think can be better used elsewhere—like doing lawn work or watching television or whatever else it might be.
The issue is two-fold: (1) the Bible actually does teach us that local church attendance is important at the very least as a reflection of the Sabbath, which we believe is part of the moral law (as given in the Ten Commandments) and should still be observed and (2) the things that people often replace church with won’t matter in eternity—they won’t matter ten years form now let alone 1,000 years from now.
If we truly have our eyes on eternity, wouldn’t we prioritize being with God’s people?
Or, for instance, consider our evangelism and outreach efforts. There are plenty of Christians who genuinely believe, but they don’t see the proclamation of the Gospel as something that they ought to do.
Part of the argument deals with personality or inability, but Jesus’ commission to us doesn’t give an out just because you’re introverted or you think you don’t have the ability.
If we thought through this in light of eternity, I think that we would have a much greater desire to proclaim the Gospel to those around us—if we reminded ourselves regularly that as Bob Jones III says, that the most sobering reality of today is that thousands of people are dying and going to hell today—I think it would change whether or not we labored in the proclamation of the Gospel.
If we truly have our eyes on eternity, wouldn’t we want to proclaim the Gospel?
We can then apply this same mindset to everything else that we do; and we ought to do that.
You need to view life in light of eternity.
This will change the way that you live your life and this will change the way that you make decisions.
Esau made a decision based purely on how he felt in that moment—it resulted in him losing his birthright.
Consider your decisions—are you making decisions based purely on how you feel right now? Or are you making decisions by considering eternity?
Friends, stop making decisions based purely on temporal things; start basing your decisions on eternity.
Pastoral Prayer
