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Bible History of the Old Testament |
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No. 17 Jacob Deceitfully Obtains Birthright and Must Leave Home
As we talked about in the previous text, Jacob was surely watching his opportunities, and must have soon found occasion to take advantage of his brother. One day Esau returned from the field "faint" with hunger. Lentils are even to this day a favorite dish in Syria and Egypt. The sight of this dish cooking induced him and he was unable to control the desire of the moment, and bartered away his birthright for the "red" pottage. It is a little bit easier to understand the circumstances after reading in Genesis 26: 1 that there was a famine in the land that was greater even than that at the time of Abraham, and had compelled Isaac to leave Canaan for a short while. Because of the customs of the east, and also because this event was so characteristic and decisive in his history, Esau obtained the name of Edom, or "red", from the color of the pottage that he had sold his birthright for. Scripture in no way excuses or apologizes for the actions of Jacob in this matter. It simply states the facts and doesn't even comment or remark on them. The Bible does state, however, the "logic of facts", the terrible trials which were soon to drive Jacob from his home, and the long time that he would have to be hostage in a strange land. These facts themselves are sufficient Divine commentary on the transactions that happened. It seems that neither brother was right in the way that he went about doing things. Esau had a bad attitude, but Jacob didn't wait on God and decided to do things in his own way, and both had to pay a terrible price for the things they did. In patriarchal days, the "birthright" was an important thing. It included "lordship" over the rest of the family, and especially succession to that spiritual blessing which through Abraham was to flow out into the world, together with the possession of the land of Canaan and covenant-communion with Jehovah. Even though any "birthright" for the eldest child would have been important, this one was especially so. Esau discredited and despised every aspect of this that was spiritual. He probably still imagined he could obtain the "blessing from Abraham" even after he had sold his birthright for pottage. For the momentary satisfaction of his appetite, he had bartered away his unspeakably precious and holy privileges. Hebrews 12:16 calls Esau "a fornicator, or profane person, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright". After doing this, he was very unfitted to become the heir of the promises. Profanity consists of the following: for the sensual gratification or amusement of the moment to give up that which is spiritual and unseen; to be careless of that which is holy, so as to snatch the present enjoyment, - in short, practically not to deem anything holy at all, if it stands in the way of present pleasure. Esau pronounced self-condemnation upon himself when "he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way; thus Esau despised his birthright." It has been common to describe Abraham as the man of faith, Isaac as the model of patient bearing, and Jacob as the man of active working. We must remember that God had made and established his covenant with Abraham. The history of Isaac and Jacob, on the other hand, represents the hindrances to the covenant. They arise from opposite causes, accordingly, as in our weakness we either lag behind, or in our haste we try to go before God. Isaac lagged behind, and Jacob tried to go before God. Both of their histories exhibit the dangers and difficulties arising from each of these causes. On the other hand, God's merciful dealings with them show how merciful, wise, and Holy He was in removing hindrances out of the way so that sin could be uprooted from their hearts and lives. Accordingly, we can consider the history of Isaac and Jacob as that of the hindrances of the covenant and of their removal. When we think of things in this way, it is easier to understand not only Jacob's attempt to purchase the "birthright" - as if Esau had had the power of selling it - but the succession of things that also followed that transaction. It seems that a terrible famine induced Isaac to leave his settlement for a place that had food. He planned to do the same thing his father Abraham had done and go down to Egypt because he knew there was food there. He came to Gerar, which was the residence of Abimelech, the kind of the Philistines. Abraham had also previously been there. It was there that Jehovah appeared unto him and told him specifically to remain there. At this same time, God also renewed to Isaac the promises that he had made to his father. We can recognize the kindness of the Lord in all these actions, as he was keeping Isaac from making a huge mistake in Egypt. Apparently Isaac had followed in the footsteps of his father in not telling anyone that Rebekah was his actual wife. When he was asked about it, he lied because he was afraid. Imitating the actions of his father, he passed off Rebekah as his sister. Here, also, the Lord intervened before he got in too deep. His lie was exposed before anything bad had happened to Rebekah, and the king made things right with both of them. The famine seems to now have become so intense that Isaac began to till land for himself. God blessed him with an unusually large return, which was to further encourage his faith amidst its trials. It was common even in very fruitful parts of Palestine that the yield would be from 25 to 50 times that which had been sown. In one district, it was 80 times that of wheat and 100 times that of barley. But Isaac at once received 100 fold to show him that even in a year of famine God could make the most ample provision for His servant. The increasing wealth of Isaac made the Philistines very envious of him. Disputes arose, and they stopped up the wells which had been dug by Abraham. At last, things got so intense that Abimelech the King advised him to leave the place. Isaac moved to the Valley of Gerar, a distance away, but contentions still arose because he was still too close. Isaac ended up returning to Abraham's old settlement at Beersheba. Here Jehovah appeared to him again to confirm the promises that were previously made to Abraham and now to him. Abimelech, his chief captain, and also his privy councillor, came to Isaac to renew the covenant which had formerly been made between the Philistines and Abraham. Isaac was now at peace with everyone around him. He built an altar to the Lord and worshipped him there. Isaac was to have fresh trials coming his way shortly, though, because his oldest son Esau, now 40 years old, took two Caannanite wives. This was a very painful thing for both Isaac and Rebekah. If Isaac had not "lagged far behind", he would in this have recognized the total unfitness of Esau to have the "birthright". But the same tendency which had hitherto kept him undecided about how to go about doing things, led him to a further and a far deeper sorrow than any he had yet experienced. This will be further discussed in next month's text. For more information from this book, go to the archives page at my site www.cathydeaton.com There are other articles of interest there also. This text is taken from the book Bible History Old Testament written by Alfred Edersheim. This text has been used by permission.
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