The hunter and the chef
Here are two brothers, twins even, but very different from one another. The elder is about to sell his birthright to his younger brother…
Preparing the Bride for GOD’s Story
How do we prepare as the Bride of Christ? One aspect is to learn GOD’S STORY. He created us in His image…. Piece by piece, and peace by peace, we learn to walk as He has walked. And we learn His perspective.
Genesis 25:24-28
“Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.
So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
Brotherly love
To suggest Esau and Jacob were loving brothers might be a bit of a stretch.
The hunter, Esau, must have loved his meat. And from the text, we see he’s rather impulsive. He gives up his right as the firstborn son, with all it’s inheritance implications, to his brother who appears to be an opportunist, and perhaps with something of cunning in his character — taking advantage of his brother’s lack of foresight — all for a bowl of stew.
There doesn’t appear to be much love between them.
Parental preferences
We know from the previous text, Isaac preferred Esau and Rebekah preferred Jacob. How much did this manifest jealousy or rivalry, between the boys, we don’t know. But we can imagine it wasn’t a good set up.
Perhaps the passive Isaac simply preferred Esau because he was first. Perhaps Rebekah was aware the younger son was more clever, or maybe she simply got on better with him as he preferred to work around the camp.
What we do know
Preferring one child over another can pit brother against brother. That can bring about family issues, as it did within Isaac’s family. Teaching our children to favour is damaging; whereas teaching them to love and respect one another, valuing our differences, is enriching and wise.
The relationship between Esau and Jacob will unfold in the following chapters of Genesis. But I believe much of it hinged on the relationship between and with the parents.
Abraham was a father who sacrificed. Through him, the line of the Hebrew people began, and the everlasting promise was made from GOD to man. We’ll see as the story unfolds, just how the faith of one man brought about salvation to all mankind, even though the offspring — even just a generation and two beyond the father — proved unworthy of that gift of promise.