Geneses Chapter 25- Isaac & Jacob and Esau

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Geneses Chapter 25- Isaac & Jacob and Esau

The Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/GEN.25.NIV

The Death of Abraham

1 Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah.

2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. (Abraham's 6 sons from Keturah.)

3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.

4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. (more descendants.)

5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. (Isaac was the legitimate heir.)

6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. (Others spread throughout the regions.)

7 Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. (Abraham died after 175 years. 100 years in Canaan.)

8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. (It was a great death.)

9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. (He was buried in the family cemetery.)

11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi (Map 24-1). (Isaac inherited the COVENANT.)

Ishmael’s Sons (Refer to Note 10-2.)

12 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.

13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.

16 These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps.

17 Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people.

18 His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them. (The descendants of Ishmael became formidable nations.)

Jacob and Esau

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(40) years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. (Isaac, the son of Abraham, married to Rebekah at his 40 years old.)

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, (Rebekah conceived twin.) and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” (There will be competition between, better or worse.)

24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. (Birth of 2 boys)

25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau(hairy).

26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob(holding heel). Isaac was sixty(60) years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

The Historical Deal Between the Twin (1)

27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country (outdoor man), while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents (home boy).

28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. (Isaac favored Esau, Rebekah Jacob.)

29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. (Jacob was cooking and Esau, who came back from hunting, was hungry.)

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.) (Esau asked Jacob the stew.)

31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” (Jacob suggested deal with the Firstborn Right.)

32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” (Esau disregarded the value of the firstborn for a meal.)

33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. (Even Esau sworn for the deal.)

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. (Deal Done!) So Esau despised his birthright. (Esau was guilty in this deal. Heb. 12:16) The story keeps going on.

(1, The Historical Deal Between the Twin)

Following from: https://cafe.daum.net/k331/PeqF/48

(It was my previous writing on Jacob.)

What might be your answer if I asked you who might be the most cunning (or cheating) man in the Bible?

Actually I have asked this question to many different people.

The answer?

Jacob, without exception.

If you agree, it is no wonder.

This man, however, is my choice to talk about as the role model for a man.

Perhaps his notorious reputation of being crafty, cunning, or even manipulative contribute to grabbing my attention but even without this negative attention, he is still my choice.

I chose him because I think the best characteristic of a man should be RESPONSIBILITY, and I see Jacob demonstrate this quality of being responsible in such difficult situations throughout his lifelong journey.

I imagine that my choice may surprise you, or that you may even begin to list evidence to disprove my points for his qualification.

I will try to check through those "evidence" not to prove you are wrong but to prove how he has been responsible to those who are related to, or relying on, him closely- even God Himself.

Please remember that my point in talking about the role model of a man is that responsibility or reliability should be the necessary or required characteristic of man in a household, a tribe, a nation, or even the kingdom of God.

Before we go to the main talk, let me, as I often do, ask you a question.

Do you know how old Jacob was when he left his home to get married to his cousin sisters, Leah and Rachel?

We will come back with the answer to that question later.

Some accuse him to be competing evilly with his twin brother by holding his elder brother's heel on their birth (Gen. 25:26).

For me, however, this is just a happening that we should be aware of, and watch what kind of person he might be in his future, but is not enough to judge him negatively.

Therefore, we'd better go to the watershed event in which he purchased the right of the firstborn from his elder brother Esau.

When Esau was hungry from a hunting trip(?) or another of his regular expectable affairs, he wanted to eat Jacob's red stew (30).

Jacob, rather than gently and freely offer the stew, asked Esau to sell his firstborn right for the food (31).

See? Here, Jacob bought the firstborn right of his twin brother with a bowl of stew by taking the chance of his hunger rather than giving it for free to him.

It seems like this event is one of the most crucial pieces of evidence of his craftiness.

I, however, do not think so.

This is what happened according to the report of the Bible.

First of all, they were grown up and mature enough (27) to make deals on their own based on informed decisions, and they made a mutually consenting legitimate deal together.

Secondly, Esau did not care, and despised (34) the birthright, sold it, and was condemned to be "profane (NKJV)", or "godless like (NIV)" (Heb. 12:16), but there is no biblical reference of Jacob's craftiness for this deal.

Thirdly, the second problem- Esau’s disinterest in the birthright- is not only Esau's but also the real problem of the family, including Jacob.

That is why Jacob wanted to buy the firstborn right- not to steal the right but to be responsible for the position, not only for his family but also for the salvific covenant which is made between God and their grandfather Abraham.

Selling the birthright is not only Esau's profaning life style, but a piece of evidence that speaks to his ways of life.

We can see his self-indulging life style from his taste or choices of women in later reports.

He had Canaanite women and also a daughter of Ishmael, a son of Abraham (26:34, 28:6-9).

Also, being hungry as much as despising the birthright shows his uncontrolled and unregulated life style.

But more than anything else, negligence of his own birthright is his fault without any excuse.

What is the birthright of the first born?

The rights, including double share inheritance, are guaranteed in the Law, which is written later but is reflective of the customs of the time, regardless of favoritism (Deut. 21:15-17).

The first born should be the representative of, or even, the family by himself.

The family, or clan, will be named after him.

The list can go further in its own social context but are they all?

In this case of Esau and Jacob, we should know there is something very important, beyond anything else, that is involved- the covenant which had been made by God with their grandfather Abraham.

Their family is not an ordinary family but rather one chosen for the covenant, and therefore, a family of mission to be the blessings of nations (Gen. 12:1-3).

Esau, who sold the birthright for a meal, not only despised his own birthright but also the responsibility of being the representative of the covenant.

He may not even care for anything of those kinds of burdensome responsibilities.

I say burdensome because, to be a chosen family or a chosen person is not guaranteed to be easy relaxation or luxury at all, but a lot of sufferings and much more, if you know the implications.

He just wanted to enjoy himself in whatever and however he wants.

As a result, he eventually left the land of promise- Canaan, and settled down in the land of Seir (32:3).

Even though it happened later, it shows how he considered the covenant responsibility.

Seeing and knowing all this, and agonizing about the situation, Jacob finally offered his solution- "if you don't care about the familial responsibility before God, let me do it."

Some of you may accuse me to be dramatizing the story too much here, but I found that if you do not understand the whole "correct" picture here, you are going to struggle to puzzle wrong pieces together to figure out why God eventually, or since He knew everything in advance, bestowed such favor and blessing on Jacob.

Of course, Jacob's commitment, however great as it might be, cannot be compared to the grace of God.

Then, does grace require no responsibility?

Could craftiness, cunning, cheating, or manipulation with timely repentance be a way to the blessings of God?

Is that the lesson of Jacob's life?

I mention all this here not as a conclusion but to ask you to think further without the prejudice which has been formed by wrong presentations.

I don't care how many people insist on something in a certain way, if that does not agree with the word of God, the Bible.

I will go further, therefore, to prove Jacob's genuine commitment to the covenant with God.

(The story goes on.)