January 24

Genesis 25 My oldest brother and I had a pretty good relationship, even though he was nine years older than me and out of the home after my ninth birthday. Absent from our culture is the passing of a family birthright from generation to generation through the oldest son. Hence, we often fail to get the significance of the struggle in this passage. Stan and I never struggled with a birthright, or even inheritance from our parents. Stan went to be with the Lord three months before my father died. Mom is still with us. Stan had no children to whom he could pass an inheritance, so there was no opportunity for any competition there. So what is a family birthright, and why is it that Jacob would want to take it from Esau? Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines a birthright as: A right, privilege, or possession to which a person, especially the firstborn son, was entitled by birth in Bible times. In Israel, as in the rest of the ancient world, the firstborn son enjoyed a favored position. His birthright included a double portion of his father’s assets upon his death (Deut. 21:17). Part of the firstborn’s benefits also were a special blessing from the father (Gen. 27:27) and the privilege of leadership of the family (Gen. 43:33). Abraham was 160 and Isaac 60 when Jacob and Esau were born. Jacob and Esau were 15 when Abraham died. I am convinced that whenever Jacob and Esau were with Grandpa that he told them about the occasions when God had appeared to him and the covenant which God had made with him. Surely, one of the ways Moses knew of this story was the oral or written transmission of it through the intervening 400-500 years. The clear implication of the birthright was that it is not only a double portion of financial wealth but that it is also an inheriting of the covenant which God made with Abraham. Clearly Esau and Jacob are adults in this passage, and Esau was a man of simple physical passions. He had never learned to value a future reward over a present desire even in the physical realm. The text specifically says that he ‘despised his birthright.’ Despised is a pretty strong word. He despised having a double portion of Abraham’s wealth? Certainly he felt the desire of a present need to be greater than future wealth. He despised receiving the privilege of leadership in the covenant which God made with Abraham? It would appear so. When an alcoholic cannot quit drinking because he craves the current effect of inebriation over the long term security of being able to properly do his job, it could be said that the alcoholic despises his job. When a porn addict craves the current thrill of his voyeurism over the effect which abstinence produces in his relationship with God or with his wife or future wife, then it could be said that he despises those relationships. My lust for any sin to the point that I do it, reveals that I despise to some degree my relationship with the Lord. Esau despised the privilege of the covenant and the double portion of future wealth. Does this mean that Jacob did not despise them? Well, he at least liked the double portion of future wealth enough to try to extort it from Esau. Because of his lying and deception, it would seem that the verdict on the spiritual aspect would not be so clear at this point. But why would Esau despise the spiritual aspect? Apparently he had never met the Lord. Apparently he was not impressed with what his grandfather had shared with him. Hmmm. . . We know that the covenant included that in his lineage that in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. We know that that seed is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Esau despised that possibility. No wonder the Lord says, “Jacob I loved but Esau I hated.” Esau despised the glory of the Lord. Jacob eventually learned of the glory of the Lord. He experienced it many times when the Lord appeared to him. No, he did not become perfect. But he eventually chose to seek the glory of the Lord. Do I? Will you? Because of my own sin, I am not quick to condemn Esau, but I would say that he despised the glory of the Lord. How do I keep myself from falling into the same trap? Daily, moment by moment, I must come to the cross and realize that He came in my helpless estate. He shed His blood on my behalf. He rose on my behalf. He calls me to be united with Him, to claim my birthright in Him. He calls me to not trade it for a bowl of stew. The only competition I have is my shallow desire for the stews around me. I have to gaze on His glory to see how much He outshines stew. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john