Choices

Not all choices in life have the same significance that Esau's had when he chose to sell his birthright. Some do. But normally a decision like that is the result of years, maybe a whole life, of choices, and that one life-altering significant choice simply reveals what was already there. That was the case with Esau. Jacob knew Esau might be willing to sell it, knew he didn't really care about what really mattered, and Jacob was right. In the past, Esau had probably spoken disparagingly of this so-called birthright. Maybe he had even mocked his grandfather Abraham and his beliefs. This idea of leaving home and going to Canaan - "what a pipe dream!" maybe he had said.

Today, we still act like Isaac, blind to what was really going on, thinking that the hunter was the man's man, whom any father would have preferred to Jacob. Why would someone prefer the son who despised what one's life stands for? Why would any father prefer a son who mocked one's beliefs by marrying women from a clan that was totally contrary to everything one's family was supposed to be and live for? Hunting makes a son infinitely preferable to the son who honors God and respects the covenantal faith that has been passed down from your father? This is one of those slanders still perpetrated by preachers and bible teachers. That because Esau was hairy and loved to hunt it was perfectly reasonable for Isaac to ignore his wife, prefer a son who lacked the character to carry on his family's beliefs, and despise God's choice. If what these preachers teach is correct and it was perfectly understandable that Isaac would favor Esau, then Isaac was in greater sin than the bible portrays. Why do our preachers and bible teachers go out of their way to excuse Isaac and to impugn Jacob? Are they, perhaps, too much like Isaac?

In my post yesterday, I pointed out that Jacob's mother, Rebecca, understood the seriousness of the error Isaac was about to commit. We refuse to face the fact that Isaac's choice would have had permanent consequences. Isaac would have permanently enshrined Esau's choices - despising the birthright, marrying Canaanites whom God intended to destroy - into the family line of the Messiah. Oh, does that shock you? It should, and it again points out the wisdom and foresight of Rebecca and the failure of Isaac. People say that Rebecca and Jacob did not trust God to do what He planned. Of course, God would not have allowed Esau to become the heir-apparent of Abraham and Isaac, and He didn't. Had Rebecca and Jacob sat back and said, "Oh, well, God will take care of it," then God would have taken care of it; He would have started over with a new Abraham. They trusted God alright; they trusted God to hide from Isaac the identity of the one he was Blessing, so that God's already stated will would come to pass.

Esau received what he wanted eventually. He received his father's property, lived a prosperous life, formed a large clan, sufficient to have hundreds of armed men twenty years later. In fact, Esau seems something life a King in Canaan, when Jacob returns. What does Jacob have? Four wives, a bunch of kids to take care of, and some servants. Compared to Esau, he seems almost pitiable. But he has what Esau does not? God's favor, the Blessing, a relationship with the God of Isaac and Abraham, something Esau would not have had even an inkling of respect for.

What did Jacob receive? He did not receive any of his father's property. So much for the idea that he was greedy. Trouble, hardship, a difficult life. Preachers even criticize him for this. They allege he's reaping what he sowed in how he treated his brother and father. Deception from Laban and fear of his brother. They miss the message entirely. Jacob, like any beloved son, received discipline from God. The one with hardships learns true faith and what life is really all about - a one-on-one wrestling match with the Man who can bless and who can unhinge a hip. Remember, Jacob was the blessed one, not the mighty Esau with his wealth and army.

Remember that when you face hardship as a believer, when your life seems to have been nothing but grief and hardship, when you can't seem to see how God's purpose for your life could possibly be fulfilled. Keep on believing, keep on obeying, keep on persevering even when it seems hopeless. Christ has the inheritance, and He holds it for those who believe. Your hardships, your persecutions are the evidence of that Blessing that only the true holder of the birthright can give.