Gen 25:19 This is the account of the family
line 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 childless. 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 content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who
had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 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.
We
continue our study of Old Testament "First Families" this week with
the story of the birth of Isaac and Rebekah's twin sons, Jacob and Esau. The
story of the birth and even pre-birth of the twins is full of prophetic
overtones, as the names of the children themselves are laden with meaning regarding
the sorts of lands/peoples they will eventually become (nations of Israel and
Edom).
As with
most of these stories there's a lot going on, especially from a 'modern'
perspective--and to be sure, some commentators like to get sidetracked on the
"dysfunction" of the household where parents play favorites. While
I'll certainly not deny that this is a dysfunctional scenario, it (a) doesn't
seem to concern the author very much, (b) is probably not that unheard of in
the ancient era of the story, and (c) doesn't seem to be the main point of the
narrative. Given all of that, I can't really see using that observation as the
foundation for a sermon.
Sticking with the gist of the story and the concern of the
author, the main point seems to be the closing words of the last verse: So Esau despised his birthright. The
Hebrew word is bazah. The point isn't
so much that it means 'hated or severely disliked,' rather it seems to imply
'contempt.' The idea seems to be that Esau did not or could not see the value
of his birth-right.
At this
point, it may be a good idea to unpack what all is involved with the
birthright. Not surprisingly, the ancient family of Abraham operated under a primogenitor
rule: the oldest son got the largest inheritance (economically speaking)...a
double share. Hence, if there were two sons, the estate would be divided into
thirds and the eldest would get two thirds. He also got the designation of
tribal chief; patriarch of the family. This being the family of God, there was
also a spiritual/economic component: the one so-designated would function as
family priest/prophet--the go-between for God and the tribe. This would change
as time went on, especially after the 'golden calf' incident in Exodus, but
that's how it was in Genesis. Lastly, the blessing that went along with the
birthright would include a prophetic oracle as to the way God would continue to
bring his initial promises to Father Abraham to fruition for the tribe and
one-day nation. In this regard, the birthright and blessing are hooked together, yet distinct... as we
will see in Genesis 27. As a side note, I should point out that the Bible later
tells of an intentional splitting of the two. Jacob, known later as Israel,
will pass over his eldest son Reuben for both the blessing AND the birth-right.
Joseph would be given the birthright, hence in the distribution of the land of
Canaan, there was no tribe of "Joseph," there were two tribes Ephraim
and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph. Yet, the blessing wasn't given to Joseph,
it was given to Judah--indicating that the messianic/covenantal line would
proceed through Judah's descendants. King David was of the tribe of Judah, as
was Jesus the Messiah.
So why
would Esau have contempt for his birthright? And more importantly, what can we
learn from this? From what we can tell, Esau seemed to spend most of his time
away from the family compound out hunting. He seems, at least at this point, to
have not cared a great deal about the implicit responsibilities that go along
with the birthright. Many commentators are quick to see a spiritual connection
here... that the idea of being in the covenant family was not all that
important to Esau. In other words, it's not so much that in a "rash
moment" Esau traded away something eternal/spiritual for something
temporal/fleeting... it's that he never really cared for or wanted the
eternal/spiritual in the first place. The story of Esau makes us ponder the
scenario of being 'around' God's covenant vs being "in" it. Esau was
clearly around the covenant. He was raised in the home of the Patriarch Isaac,
himself a child of the covenant. He was told all of the promises of God to his
grandfather Abraham. He was told of Abraham's great faith. He knew of his
family's special 'chosen status' before God, yet at this moment in time he
chose a bowl of lentil stew instead; immediately satisfying, no doubt, but
that's all.
In our
baptism, we too are children of the covenant and heirs of God's eternal
promises, and most of us also have been raised around the covenant... hearing all of the stories and singing all
of the great hymns and praise songs. Still, one cannot help but ponder all of
the 'bowls of lentil stew' out there calling our names.
cheers,
T.M.
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