Jacob And Esau

by Toms, A. F. | Category: Studies In Genesis | Aug 1973

The story of Jacob and Esau commences before their birth, for to their enquiring mother Rebekah who sought from the Lord an explanation for the struggling within her womb, God said,

"Two nations are in thy womb,

And two peoples shall be separated even from thy bowels:

And the one people shall be stronger than the other people;

And the elder shall serve the younger

(Genesis 25:23).

We are introduced immediately to the profound subject of divine election to which Paul addressed himself in Romans, chapter 9. He carried great sorrow and unceasing pain in his heart on account of his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh. Because of their rejection of the Christ they had been set aside "until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in". But in setting them aside God had not broken His word. His promise had not failed. For as Paul pointed out, of Abraham's two sons, it was Isaac, the son born of promise, who was chosen. "The children of the promise are reckoned for a seed". And if some might have argued that there was good cause for God to choose Isaac because he was the son of Abraham's own wife, whereas Ishmael was the son of the handmaid, Paul hastened to show that of Isaac's two sons, born of the same mother, and indeed of one conception, God made choice of the younger rather than the elder. It is God's prerogative to choose whom He will. He has a purpose in election. Before the boys were born and had therefore an opportunity of doing either good or bad, He declared that the elder would serve the younger.

"Not of works, but of him that calleth"

Isaac, in the weakness of the flesh, and for such a paltry reason as his love for Esau's savoury meat, would have reversed God's order. Rebekah perceiving this, and understanding the purpose of God in regard to her younger son, schemed with Jacob to counter Isaac's move. Doubtless her motive was right,

but in her impatience she was interfering where she ought not. God did not require her help in working out his purposes.

Genesis chapter 27 is a sad tale of human failure, impatience and deceit, but over it all we discern the over-ruling hand of God working everything according to His will, for "the purpose of God according to election" must stand. Nothing could alter the divine choice. "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion" God said to Moses, and that is the "I will" of Deity which no human being can withstand. "So then it is not of him that willeth "strong though Isaac's will was, "nor of him that runneth "fast though Esau ran, "but of God that hath mercy" (Rom. 9:

16).

It should be said in passing that although Isaac failed so lamentably in not bowing to the will of God, yet when the deceitfulness was exposed and he realised that God had overruled in causing him to bless his younger son, he refused to go back on the blessing he had pronounced. Trembling exceedingly though he was, he understood that he had spoken oracularly, and in a magnificent burst of faith, to which Hebrews 11:20 doubtless refers, he said, "Yea, and he shall be blessed".

"The elder shall serve the younger"

Therein lies a divine principle, for "that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual" (1 Cor. 15:46). God could as easily have caused Jacob to be born first, but he came forth after his brother that he might be a type of the second Man who is of heaven. And the second Man from heaven came to impart a heavenly nature to those of Adam's sons who would believe on Him, and that new nature in the purposes of God is to have the ascendancy over the old nature. As Paul puts it in describing his own glorious experience, "I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20).

The character of the two boys was evident from their birth, for Esau "came forth red" or "ruddy", the word coming from the same root as the word "Adam", and he proved to be a man who lived to satisfy the desires of the fallen nature inherited from his first father Jacob came forth with his hand upon Esau's heel, for which he earned the name supplanter. His supplanting nature drove him at times to acts of cunning and deceitfulness for which he paid dearly in later life He lived to prove that "whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap

for in his manhood he was deceived by his own sons But I loved Jacob" (Malachi 1 2) is the divine decree and deep in the heart of this man whom God loved was a high regard for divine things. He loved what God loved, and with such men and

women God is ever prepared to work in His gentleness and patience until He has eradicated the works of the old nature and produced the fruit of the new. After years of deceiving and being deceived, God brought him to Peniel and there, a broken man at last, he emerged a prince with God, as his new name Israel implied. "In his manhood he had power with God" (Hosea 12:3).

"The boys grew"

And as they grew their characters developed along the lines indicated by their early traits. The open life 'of the field suited the restless nature of Esau which was opposed to all restraint; whereas Jacob with his love for divine things was content to dwell in tents, as were Abraham and Isaac, the heirs with him, or he with them, of the same promise. Yes, Jacob was of the line of faith. He was elected to that, but what he was elected to, he personally grasped by his own faith. Esau, on the other hand, was a profane man (Heb. 12:16). He treated sacred things as though they were common. It is not surprising therefore that he so easily parted with his birthright. He sold the spiritual for the material, and as though to stress to human hearts for all time how poor was the bargain, he obtained in exchange a mere mess of pottage. But however much he might have obtained it would have been a bad bargain still, for who can weigh the value of spiritual things against material gain? "The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal". Herein the two brothers stand greatly in contrast the one to the other. Esau saw only what was near. The tangible and transient things of time filled his vision, whereas Jacob with the long distance view of faith, saw beyond to the spiritual and eternal. This was the man who obtained the blessing which went with the birthright. Yea, and he was blessed, with the dew of heaven, and the fulness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. And as God intends with every blessing which he imparts, it reached out to others, for "blessed be everyone that blesseth thee".

After Jacob fled at the wrath of his brother, over twenty years passed before we read of them together again, and then only for a very short time. Jacob who went out alone returned with two companies, eloquent testimony to the blessing of God upon him. But not in his two companies lay his strength. That would have been poor defence against Esau with 400 men, and when he heard that his brother was on his way to meet him he was greatly afraid and distressed. But the Lord had foreseen Jacob's distress and at Mahanaim the angels of God met him. He had a glimpse of God's "two hosts or companies", and with that strengthening vision still fresh in his mind he poured out his heart to God in the lovely prayer of Genesis 32: 9-12. Reverently reminding God of His promises, "I will do thee good" - "I will surely do thee good", he pleaded for deliverance from the hand of his brother Esau. And the Lord of the heavenly hosts proved Himself once again to be also the God of a poor, struggling man like Jacob. And do not all who take refuge in the Lord find great comfort in that lovely couplet which came from the pen of the sons of Korah, "The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge" (Psalm 46:7, 11).

"God hath dealt graciously with me"

These two men, whose interests were so different and whose paths lay so far apart, met once again, and to Jacob, who described himself as not worthy of the least of God's mercies, was added yet another mercy, that his brother Esau met him in peace. (Only once more do we read of their paths crossing and that was when family ties brought them together at Isaac's death). It was a momentous meeting, and in the words which they spoke to one another is emphasized once again the unalterable fact that the man who gains most and gains eternally is the man who sets his sights upon God's holy things. As Jacob urged his brother to receive his gift, Esau said, "I have enough; my brother, let that thou hast be thine". But Jacob gave for his reason, as he pressed him again, "because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough" or "all" as the Hebrew word indicates. Jacob, the man of faith had all. "All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's" (1 Cor. 3:21-23).

This lesson cannot be too strongly emphasized, for the spiritual is still being sold for the material, and perhaps never more so than in the days in which we live. Affluence brings an abundance of material things and the great Adversary does not miss his opportunity of trying to turn the disciple's affection from Christ to things. But the timeless words of the Master echo down the centuries of time, warning us that "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he p05sesseth." Riches are deceitful, the Lord Jesus taught. Let us not be deceived by them, or allow them to grip our hearts. Many have reached after earthly gain only to find that they have been led astray from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Esau had his sorrows, and he shed his tears, too-but they came too late. When he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected (for he found no place of repentance), though he sought it diligently with tears" (Heb. 12:17). Let all who value divine things take heed.

Toms, A. F. | Aug 1973
Studies In Genesis