Jacob’s life is one to emulate. Why did he buy the birthright from Esau? And he did buy it; he did not cheat Esau. How did he know that Esau would be willing to sell it for a bowl of soup? They had been brothers for decades, and he knew Esau’s character. He knew what Esau valued. He also knew that his father favored Esau; therefore, how could Jacob think that he would ever collect on the bargain? Esau was no pushover; later he would scheme to kill Jacob. Isaac was a patriarch, responsible for a significant estate of much property and hundreds of servants, inherited from Abraham and built up since then. So, Isaac was no pushover either. At the time he made the bargain with Esau, Jacob had no human way of collecting on the bargain; he must have believed that God would make sure that Esau would never collect the birthright for himself.
Let’s look at this economically. What did Esau get? He got something he could see and touch. Commentators fault him for choosing to please his base appetite, a bowl of soup over the birthright. But let’s give him some credit - he did get something. What did Jacob get? Nothing . . . yet. Jacob saw the invisible; he saw what was more valuable. And he must have known there is a divine bill collector who will see and enforce the deal. Jacob was a man of faith, seeing the invisible and valuing it more than the temporal. And that which is invisible is eternal. II Cor. 4:18. What do Christians choose when they give up everything in this life, perhaps even their own lives, to obtain Christ and his inheritance? The eternal.
What disciple is Esau most like? Who thought 40 shekels of silver was more valuable than the most valuable thing/person in the universe? Who thought, “What’s He done for me more than this silver can do? This silver may be temporary, but it meets my needs now. Unlike this so-called savior, this Son of God. What good can He do for me now?” That is Esau’s thinking: “What good is this birthright to me? This food I can eat now and meet my needs now.”
Esau, like Cain, saw that his brother was favored by God, and he wished him dead. When Jacob complains to Isaac that Jacob "took away the birthright," he is not totally forthright. He leaves out the part about him selling it to Jacob. Of course, he does; otherwise, how could he blame his brother for the loss of the Blessing? Yet, preachers and bible teachers take Esau's words at face value, as if Esau's judgment, which we know is bad based on the selling of the birthright and the marriage to Canaanite women, is the final word. This is poor judgment on the part of bible teachers.
But Esau never lost anything that he really cared about. He ended up inheriting his father's property. That's what he cared about, unlike Jacob who cared about the unseen. That's one reason that he doesn't still have a grudge against Jacob decades later. It's as if Esau says, "Hey, that birthright wasn't so important after all. I'm rich, and I can still hunt and eat heartily. Wasn't such a bad deal." So, he really doesn't care anymore that Jacob received the Blessing and birthright. As long as Esau has a full belly, all is well. What did Jacob receive from his father -no property. Jacob received one thing - the invisible Blessing/Birthright.
So what can we learn? When we choose what is honorable, others will hate us. Why? Because they chose something less, and they envy our choice, or God's choosing of us. You do not receive persecution when you conform and don't stand out; you get persecuted when you excel because of God's blessing on your life. Remember the Israelites in Egypt - they began to receive persecution when they received the blessing of many children. That threatened the Egyptians. So will your blessing. Those who have rejected Christ and His Word will not take kindly to the fact that your faith and obedience results in your surpassing them. Watch out but press on. And don't be like Esau, as we are warned in Hebrews. Choosing the pleasures of this life over following Christ is like Esau. Be like Jacob and face persecution, but see God's blessing in the midst of that persecution.
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