Esau is a rather interesting person in the Bible (Genesis 25–28, 32–33). Although his physical appearance is unique (Gen. 25:25), his life and decisions make him more intriguing. While Esau is in the womb with his brother, Jacob, God foretells that Esau will be subservient to Jacob even though Esau will be the firstborn (Gen. 25:23). The prophecy is fulfilled in Esau’s life when he sells his birthright and gets tricked out of his father’s blessing. After Esau loses his birthright and blessing to Jacob, he runs his brother out of town with a threat to kill him (Gen. 27:41–45) but is then able to forgive Jacob many years down the road (Gen. 33).
One of the reasons Esau’s story is interesting is because these parts of his life seem unfair. Why does God pick Esau instead of Jacob? Why does Esau trade his birthright for a bowl of soup? Why did Isaac have to give such a negative blessing to Esau? These questions are certainly difficult but are given further clarification throughout the Bible (Rom. 9:10–13; Heb. 12:15–17).
Another reason Esau’s story is fascinating is because other parts of life are exposed that often get overlooked. Esau, also known as Edom (Gen. 25:30), produces descendants which are called the Edomites (Gen. 36) who fight against Israel. His children are born to him by his Canaanite wives (Gen. 36:2–3). When Esau marries his wives, an important detail surfaces in his story. Genesis 26:34–35 explains that Esau’s decisions brought grief/bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah. This is such an interesting point because it provides context to the story as a whole. Why did Esau’s decision bring bitterness to his parents? Why did Esau intermarry with the Canaanites and become immoral (Heb. 12:15–17)? This detail provided by the Holy Spirit helps answer a lot of questions. Why does Esau face issues in his life? The answer is sin (Esau is not the only one at fault in the story, but that is for another time).
Sin causes grief and bitterness. Paul explains in Ephesians 4:25–32 that sin produces grief. Sin changes our lives around and causes a lot of harm to us and others (Heb. 13:17).
How different would Esau’s life have been if he would have chosen differently?
Billy Camp
Dalraida church of Christ is a congregation of Christians that meet in the mid-town area of Montgomery, Alabama. Our goal and purpose is to seek and follow God and His Word in everything that we do in life.