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Sold Birthright: Esau: An Irredeemable Loss In Retrospect! (Gen.25)

Writer's picture: Olusegun EmosuOlusegun Emosu

Updated: Sep 29, 2024


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." (Gen. 25:33-34).




INTRODUCTION:


The dictionary meaning of birthright is : a particular right of possession or privilege one has from birth, especially as an eldest child. It is also a right or privilege that one is entilted to at birth. It also means the possessions that a person has or is believed to be entitled to as soon as he is born.


Putting the narrative of the twin brothers, Jacob and Esau in perspective, the definition of birthright is not different. Hence, for Esau, his birthright was his right, exclusively. It was not meant to be negotiated, for any reason. Not meant to be sold either. He needed not despise it! Within the biblical context of this unique 'family narrative', Esau's birthright defined his place in the divine scheme of things and destiny.


Our birthright is supposed to be cherished, nurtured, and cared for. It's not meant for negotiation. How much care and value we place on our birthrights is a function of who we turn out to be in the future.


SWORE & DESPISED:


These two key terms played very important role in the narrative. (SWORE), Jacob, being who he was knew the implications of swearing. He knew this was a binding force between two or more parties in situations like this, with consequences for defaulter(s). It became a reference point for Jacob to hold a legitimate ground against his brother, should Esau, had a change of mind years after. In order to forestall such a rethink or change of mind from his brother, he locked him in with an oath. A spiritual signature was appended. Jacob in his cunny ways was futuristic. That other end must be tied tight.


And to make the entire process seamless for Jacob, Esau, probably out of ignorance or carelesness, DESPISED, his birthright. To 'despise' means to have a strong dislike, repugnance for someone or something we consider as having no value. And whatever we consider valuless, is treated as such. We care less whatever happens to such. In that case, such a thing or person has no need of improvement or consideration in our hearts. And in the word of Dr. Myles Munroe, (1954-2014), "when the purpose of a thing is not known abuse is inevitable" . That was the situation with Esau. As long as he got the cooked stew down his throat, nothing else mattered at the moment, having satisfied his immediate 'unprofitable' desire, "...then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright." (Gen.25:34).


It is not unlikely that several people, in our world, had been in Esau's situation, at one time or the other, and found themselves in the same pitfall . Pitfalls that they voluntarily permitted to take away something of value from them, years past, and is affecting their now...They had eaten their future in the past and are now paying dearly for it. What an irrecoverable loss! A poet, (unknown), wrote, among other lines, "the uses of thing are never known until the very thing is wanted." Would such be the fate of Esau? Time will tell...


THE AFTERMATH:


The biblical narrative of whatever transpired between Jacob and Esau is not a fiction to an average bible reader. And by extension, biblical naysayers are even well conversant with it, up to a point, it's almost becoming a folkore. We have heard it preached about, on our pulpits in chuches the world over as well. It's almost becoming unthinkable, how by a mere morsel of food, a person's position and right in destiny could be jeopardized. What is that little or negligible infraction that could put our destinies at a risk?


By the way, experiences and happenings in our world had shown that there are one million and one ways, a destiny can be forfeited, even when it was apparent that God moulded such destiny for fulfillment, and gave all clear signals and warnings to such, so as not to make a mess of his destiny. Think of Samson in this instance. His pitfall was anything "female." He was on the loose all his years until he met his waterloo in the hand of Delilah. At the end, he made a last minute request that God generously granted, "let me die with the Philistines!" (Jud.16:30). That was not until he was humilated severally by his enemies. Samson wished he coud rewind the hand of the clock! But it was rather too late...


A MOTHER'S FOOLISH-WISDOM:


Granted that there had been a divine pronouncement about this unique biblical twins, right from their days in their mother's womb that, "the older shall serve the younger" (Gen.25:23), would it be appropriate to say Jacob was acting a script- a divine one? If so, was the mother, Rebekah, also acting a divine script to have positioned herself subtly to eavesdropping the father's last wish from his older son ? up to a point of giving a foolish-wisdom to the younger son to outsmart his brother in the father's final request. Her script was at a level beyond human comprehension: she perfected the game that would activate the divine pronouncement on the children in her days of pregnancy. Her manipulations were unparalel, as enumerated below :


  • While the father requested Esau to "hunt game and make savory food as i love" (Gen.27:4), Rebekah prevailed on Jacob, "obey my voice according to what i command you" (Gen.27:8).


  • While Isaac did not care the quantity or amount of goats, Rebekah was specific, "...and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats." (Gen.27:9).


  • While Isaac's request was that Esau should prepare the meal, Rebekah voluteered to do on behalf of Jacob, "and i will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves" (Gen.27:9).


  • The peak of it all was, Rebekah making herself ready to carry whatever curse that would come out of this infamous mother-son deal. Jacob knowing the consequence, jolted the mother, "...and i shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing...but his mother said to him, let the curse be on me, my son..." (Gen.27:12-13).


  • While Jacob called the mother's attention to the disparity of skins between himself and Esau, yet, Rebekah had a solution! Looking for a woman who perfected her shrewd game, look no further. Rebekah it is! In her lone-ranger desperation, she had solutions to all impediments in executing her callous scheme, and never ran out of ideas, "...and she put the skins of the kids of the gots on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck." (Gen.27:16).


  • By the time the chips were down between the twins, the mother still did not relent in pulling her weight behind her younger son. She showed him the door, "arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran...until your brother's anger turns away from you...why should i be bereaved also of you both in one day?" (Gen.27:43-45). What an irony of a woman who set her house in disarray?


The salient questions at this point are: were these acts, and actions of all the actors, in this scenario, pre-ordained? Was Rebekah, especially, acting in consonance with the revelation she had while she carried the boys in her womb? Was she intentionally moving the hand of God to aid the fulfilment of the first 'word' in the lives of the boys? Or did what eventually happen in the life of Esau happened because the word of God must accomplish its purpose? "My word shall accomplish what i please." (Is.55:11). These and several other mind-blowing questions will be examined in a later submission. But before then, truth be established that, in all these higgledy-piggledy situations, someone came out a victim of circumstances. Esau, by a stroke of careless insatiable appetite for "red stew", occasioned by a pang of hunger, crossed the tiny line to destiny loss! A tragic loss it was as events, as recorded in the scriptures showed that he later sought it with tears, when it was rather too late to recoup !


PERSONAL QUESTIONS/ SELF REFLECTIONS:


Friends, what are those little little things we have insatiable appetite for, that we know could lead to us to a situation like that of Esau? For Samson, it was DELILAH OR ANYTHING IN SKIRT.

Are we aware of any divine "warning" that could trigger situatons like this in our life? If so, what conscious efforts are we making to avoid them like a plague? For king Nebuchadnezzar, it was PRIDE.

Can we possibly identify our frailties and intentionally steer clear of them? For Moses, it was ANGER.


SIDEBAR:


It is not unlikely that several people in our world, had been in Esau's situation, at one time or the other, and found themselves in the same pitfall . Pitfalls that they voluntarily permitted to take away something of value from them, years past, and is affecting their now...They had eaten their future in the past and are now paying dearly for it. What an irrecoverable loss!


Our birthright is supposed to be cherished, nurtured, and cared for. It's not meant for negotiation. How much care and value we place on our birthrights is a function of who we turn out to be in the future.



ESAU, A LOSER FROM THE BEGINNING:


By the time the dust settled, it was apparently too late for Esau to realize he had lost out of his rightful blessings to his younger brother, who was aided all through by a manipulative mother. That being said, whatever role the mother played in the entire ugly scenairos, was strenghtened and empowered by Esau himself, through his careless utterance and shortsightedness . Since the spirtual controls the physical, his verbal voluntary release of his birthright to his brother in exchange of 'red stew', ( a few moment of relief and satisfaction), was a legitimate ground to seal the entire deal in the spirit realm, he said, "look, i am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?" (Gen.25:32). Did he die? Was the hunger so biting that he assumed that was his last meal? Not at all. His utterances were simply an oath the heavens held on to, against him. And the machinery to get this actualized was his mother. Friends, this tells us that regardless of the trials and challenges we are passing through, staying true positivley at all times should be our best watchword.


For example, when it was time for Ahab to be destroyed, a spirit was unleashed from heaven to put a 'lying spirit' in the mouth of his personally favored prophets, "...then a spirit came forward, and said, i will persuade him...i will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of his prophets" (1 Kgs.22:21-22). God yielded to this spirit. From that moment, the destruction of Ahab was divinely endorsed , just waiting to manifest in the physical, as it later turned out to be. So it was for Esau. Heavens honored and sanctioned the word of his mouth. In all, Esau's focus in the now, was a major contributor to his doomed fate. To him, tomorrow was not feasible. This occasioned his shortsightedness in giving up the ultimate to get the immediate (single meal). He refused to see beyond his nose to know he was dealing with a blood brother deep in deception with a higher business acumen.


PAINFUL DISCOVERY:


It is often said that we discover to recover. This seems to be out of place for Esau. By the time he discovered the unfortunate situation he found himself in, it was too late and impossible to recover and redeem the condition. His painful expression at this point became a benchmark for us believers in the book of Hebrews, to examine ourselves. He was classified a fornicator or profane person, for the singular reason of selling his birthright. He lost out completely on every effort he made to recoup the blessing. He was rejected, "for you know afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears." (Heb.12:17).


CONCLUSION:


The story of Esau and Jacob is an intriguing one. Growing up, while Esau took to hunting as a profession, Jacob was a man dwelling in tents breeding and tending animals. The battle for supremacy started from their mother's womb. In the process, it was foretold, by a divine inquiry, that the older shall serve the younger. At birth, Jacob held on to Esau's heel. This was probably a symbolism of the earlier pronounced word.


As time went on, one event led to the other, until one afternoon, an event- a demonic hunger, trigerred Esau to voluntarily surrender his birthright to his younger brother. This was another symbolism, that escalated the inglorious trade-by-barter, coupled with verbal expression of the major character, Esau. His lack of vision, shortsightedness, poor decision making, and clouded vision, all combined to kick start the process of actualizing the deadly scenario.


For effective and real enforcement of the physical manifestation of this ordained word, a working agent was necessary. This brought their mother, Rebekah, on the scene. This unenviable task rested on her shoulders. She acted her script very well so as to rewind the hand of destiny on her first son, and ingloriously fast tracked the destiny of Jacob. At the end of the day, all plans were well excuted. Esau lost and Jacob gained upper hand. Both brothers became sworn enemies. Tried as much to eliminate his brother out of vengeance, Esau did not succeed. At the end of it all, after years of enstrangement, both brothers met. It was a meeting full of emotional outbursts, both embracing each other, in tears, with Esau forgiving Jacob, "but Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept." (Gen.33:4). Hmnnnn....


Prayers:


  1. LORD, on the day i will be under pressure to offer my destiny for sale, let Your enduring grace be available for me.

  2. LORD, let the grace to mortify my flesh in the face of temptations be available for me at all times.


© October 2024


Being A Monthly Scripture Bulletin

From The Desk Of

Olusegun A Emosu (The Blessed, The Chosen & The Preferred)

The Redeemed Christian Church Of God,

Rehoboth Parish,

2244 Panola Rd, Suite 2, (3 D Complex),

Lithonia GA 30058 404 644 4127



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