The ancient, middle-eastern custom of the birthright meant the firstborn would be heir of the lion’s share of his father’s estate when he died. Moreover, the holder of the birthright would later become the leader of the clan. At the time, to have the birthright was a great honor and esteemed to be very precious. The birthright also had a huge spiritual dimension, especially in this particular family’s case due to the Abrahamic covenant and both of these boys knew it. Esau should have cherished and guarded his birthright, but instead, he traded it for a bowl of soup to satisfy an immediate desire for food.
Isaac preferred his son Esau, while their mother, Rebekah, preferred Jacob. Later, as recorded in Genesis 27, Isaac asked his son Esau to go get him meat from the field and prepare it. Isaac would give him his blessing when Esau returned. Rebekah overheard the conversation and manipulated her husband to get what she wanted: a blessing for Jacob! Esau returns from the field to find his blessing has been robbed by his brother’s deception.
Esau now cries out to God in bitterness over losing first his birthright and then his blessing, but it is too late. Esau was quick to trade his birthright, something that was precious to him and was irreplaceable, for a pot of stew on a moment’s notice and now he lost his blessing. We also notice that he despised his parents and married women they disapproved of, just to spite Mom and Dad. How can we avoid making the same kinds of foolish choices in life?
Don’t let your flesh override Godly wisdom. If we have Christ in our heart, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. But if Christians choose to heed the lusts of the flesh, we’ll make foolish mistakes.
Esau sought present gratification at the price of giving up far greater future good. He failed to consider tomorrow’s costs for today’s decisions.
He focused on the sensual and physical and ignored the precious thing that God gave him. How often do we do the same thing! We get so distracted by the world around us and forget about the spiritual! We set our affections on things on earth instead of things above!
He lost his priorities, like Lot in Sodom who offered up his virgin daughters to wicked men. Esau and Lot were both willing to give up something precious and irreplaceable to satisfy some temporary need. Let’s not forget the things in life that are really important. And don’t sacrifice them for immediate fleshly desires!
He was full of spite and bitterness. It is clear in Genesis 28:6-10 that Esau despised his brother, despised his parents’ wishes regarding their relationships with the wrong women and despised obeying his parents.
It is clear from a study of Hebrews 12:14-17 that Esau regretted his foolish decisions. Esau is described in the text as the example of what is “profane”. Profane means irreverent towards what is sacred. Of all the people God could have used from the scripture as an example of profanity, the Lord chose Esau! Esau treated with contempt that which should have been precious and guarded!
Further, Esau “found no place for repentance.” Esau cried and wept because of his decisions, but it was too late to repent. He could not turn the clock back on his life. Giving up that birthright for a bowl of stew seemed like a good idea at the time, but he later realized he lost one of the most important things he ever had.
And the consequences of his decisions didn’t stop there! Unrestrained living, unhealthy relationships (strange women, hatred toward his brother, spite towards his parents) yielded ungodly children. The descendants of Esau were called the Edomites. Many centuries later, Edom was eventually destroyed by decree of God (Isaiah 34:5,6; 63:1; Obadiah 1-21; Malachi 1:3). A man who cares nothing for the eternal perpetuates this in his kids. Edom became a symbol of the earthly, non-spiritual people of the world. People who care little for God and His will, but instead are carnal, greedy, and even treacherous are as the Edomites were, and as their ancestor, Esau, was.
Spouses have the spiritual blessing of being married. We fling that blessing away when we fail to resolve conflict. We fling that blessing away when we fail to enjoy one another and seek satisfaction in an adulterous relationship or pornography.
Parents have the spiritual blessing to influence children. We fling that blessing away when we forsake our God-given roles as parents. We fling that blessing away when we ignore our family. How many parents regret fling away their time to a business or a career while they wait to bail their child out of jail or attend their funeral!
Christians have a spiritual blessing in the fact they have one life to live for God. We fling that blessing away if we waste it chasing a career instead of time with God and seeking opportunities to serve God. We fling that away if we live only for ourselves and not for the Lord.
Our homes, our marriages, our children, our walk with God ought not be for sale or traded to satisfy some immediate impulse.
