Esau Nation

As I try to be a man of faith and a keeper of the Word, I have to admit that there are examples in the Bible that trouble me. These are the ones that make me scratch my head in wonder and want to ask God “Hey, what’s going on here? This isn’t the way that it’s supposed to be! What are you doing?” Let’s face it: From a human perspective, a lot of what God allows just doesn’t seem (and I hate using this word) “fair.”

One of these situations comes in the story of Jacob and Esau (Gen 25 – 33). It tells the story of two brothers, twins. Whatever closeness they might have shared was eventually lost in rivalry. They were rivals for their parents, with the father preferring Esau and the mother favoring Jacob, and they were rivals personally. The rivalry gets so bad that one day Esau is coming in from a day of hunting and, seeing his brother enjoying a meal, asks for something for himself. His brother agrees, but only if Esau will give his birthright in trade.

The birthright in the Hebrew culture held enormous significance. While it conveyed little while the current patriarch was alive, it signaled who would receive a double share of the family wealth after his death. All in all, it was a ridiculous offer to make, or should have been. Amazingly, Esau agreed, and sold half of his future for a single meal. As if that were not bad enough, Esau’s mother conspires against him, hatching a plan that allows Jacob to commit a fraud that will allow him to take control of the family as soon as their father dies. As the two families branch, Jacob becomes the line that will lead to King David, and eventually to Jesus.

That’s the story. Treachery wins. Deceit triumphs. Not a lot of “fairness” to be seen, at least not as far as I can tell. But there is a reason, if you can accept it. It’s found at the end of Gen 25:34.

Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Jacob was an opportunist, no doubt about it. And though his mother was the architect of the plan to steal the father’s blessing, Jacob went along, putting his basic honesty in serious doubt. Esau’s failings were of a different nature. Esau saw only the present, with no eye to the future. While no doubt hungry from his day in the field, Esau was more than capable of finding something to tide him over until he could get a full meal. He didn’t need to make a deal that no one with an ounce of sense would make. More concisely, Esau was a fool.

A few months ago I was in an online discussion with some people about how freedom of speech and religion were being diminished in favor of new “rights” such as gay “marriage,” or the ability to force people to serve at gay “weddings” whether they chose to or not. Some comments were quite hostile. Others were more resigned. With regards to the First Amendment, one man finally wrote “I guess you don’t miss what you never had.”

At that point, I was torn between wanting to scream and wanting to cry. I knew this man to be both intelligent and good-hearted, and yet he had totally misstated the situation: He had been born with those rights. But because they stood in opposition to what is now considered “anti-discrimination” laws and “gay rights,” he disdained them. He, and millions like him, were more than willing to sweep them aside if it mean that they could get what they wanted.

That’s the way it is for a lot of young people today, and more than a few not-so-young as well. Rather than being educated in the meaning of those rights, of the costs needed to secure them, and the consequences of losing them, they are little regarded. One camp takes them for granted, while another regards them as relics, barriers to a “brighter future,” whatever that might entail. Few understand how much has been lost, and how difficult it will to retrieve, if indeed it can be retrieved.

And what of Jacob and Esau?

Eventually, the two reconciled. Esau must have realized somewhere along the way that while his brother wasn’t exactly perfect, he had brought most of his problems on himself. Jacob became known as Israel, a man of power with man and God, though it was hardly an easy road for him either. But it was a road that lead ultimately to blessings. Jacob learned that, while he must keep moving forward and adapting for the future, the wisdom and lessons of the past had to be honored as well.

Godly wisdom. It never goes out of style. Here is hoping that America can learn that lesson before it is too late.