Read with Me
Genesis 25:27-34 (HCSB)
When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted. He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom.
Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
“Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him. Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.
Listen with Me
Moses emphasizes that as Jacob and Esau grew to adulthood, their different characters became obvious. Esau, the hairy one, was a man who preferred hunting to herding sheep, and spent a lot of time away from the camp. Jacob was of a more quiet temperament, preferring to stay close to home.
Moses also pointed out that Isaac and Rebecca each had their favorite. Isaac preferred Esau, the elder, who was his primary heir, entitled to the birthright, the double portion of the estate that legally belonged to the oldest son. In addition, Isaac believed that the promise would be passed down through Esau purely because he was the first-born.
Rebecca, on the other hand, preferred Jacob. Even though she did not share with Isaac the prophecy she had received, that ultimately the older son would serve the younger, she held it close to her heart and acted in accordance with it.
Esau was an impulsive man, as Moses illustrated by this key event: the selling of the birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew. Esau was famished after a long day of hunting, and was drawn to Jacob’s tent by the aroma of cooking lamb and beans, demanding that Jacob give him a bowlful. Jacob saw an opportunity that he took full advantage of, offering to trade a bowl of the stew in exchange for Esau’s birthright. And Esau, rationalizing that a birthright would be of no use to him if he died of starvation, agreed, and sealed the deal with an irrevocable oath.
Most people today read this as if Jacob were the scoundrel in the story. But in Moses’ sight, Esau was the scoundrel. Jacob was an opportunist, that is true. But Esau showed that he did not value his birthright, to the point that he was willing to give his claim away in order to satisfy a purely physical craving. He was no victim here. It was his choice to give up his claim as the first-born for a very simple meal that he could have cooked for himself in a short time.
Pray with Me
Father, this is definitely a different way to look at these things. I have been taught to see Jacob as the scoundrel in this episode and Esau as the innocent victim, preyed on by his deceptive brother. But the plain words chosen by Moses show that that’s not the way he saw it. Jacob truly was an opportunist, but Esau was careless and impulsive, the worst of the two characters in Moses’ eyes. Lord, help me to see beyond what I have simply accepted as true in the past, so that I can see with Your eyes and judge rightly. Amen.
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