Jacob is going to trick Esau out of his birthright in Genesis. But he would not have been able to do so if Esau valued his birthright. Before we begin our look at the remainder of Chapter 25 tomorrow, today we need to discuss what was included in the birthright and why Esau despised it.
It's far more than a material inheritance. The eldest son normally inherited double the amount that was left to a man's other sons, but if the birthright merely entailed a greater inheritance then I don't think the author of Genesis would have had to say that "Esau despised his birthright". (Genesis 25:34b) Most people do not despise a material inheritance, not even if they are already quite wealthy on their own. It's pretty rare to hear of a person refusing to accept money left to them in someone's will. Esau has never thought a lot about money and so far hasn't had much need for it. The Bible will tell us he's a "man of the open country". He's self-sufficient and knows how to live off the land. Which is fine for him, but his rejection of his material inheritance shows little regard for the future of his family. A man should be concerned about what will happen to his family when he's gone and he should take steps to provide for them, but instead Esau thinks only about today and about what he needs right now. This suggests he should not be managing his father's estate and that he will not set a good example for his clan when it comes to planning for the future. It may be that Esau cares little for money, but even if he does care about it, I think he would have given it up due to the other responsibilities that come along with being the owner of the birthright.
The owner of the birthright becomes the head of his family upon his father's death. This makes him chieftain over his clan and responsible for wisely leading not only his own personal descendants but the descendants of all his siblings as well. In a day when humans still lived well over a hundred years and when they were fertile for a longer time period than modern humans, a man's clan could be quite sizable. Esau would have needed good leadership skills and the wisdom to advise his clan as they formed a society. A man like Esau, who fails to make good decisions for his own future and personal security, is not well-suited to making good decisions for his clan. I think he knows he's not cut out for it. I have a feeling that he probably had to push this subject out of his mind every time he thought of it. If his father tried to train and instruct him in these matters, I wonder if he didn't find excuses for not making the time to listen.
As the owner of the birthright, upon his father's death he would have inherited judicial authority, which means he would have had to listen to and judge disputes that came up between family members. But Esau is a free spirit. He doesn't want to be tied down to a desk job. He doesn't want people depending on him or coming to him for advice or asking him to settle disagreements. He seems to be a loner and not really a people person. I get the feeling that if tasked with holding meetings and listening to legal cases, he would have grabbed his bow and fled for the hills to hunt in peace, for in Chapter 25 we will be told he's a "skillful hunter". Hunting is his favorite activity. He loves trudging through the open fields and hiking up the mountains all by himself. He is probably depressed by the idea of becoming the head of the clan and the manager of his father's estate. It's an onerous duty that he would rather avoid if at all possible, and his brother Jacob is going to make certain that he does avoid it.
Lastly, and most importantly, the owner of the birthright became the priest of the family. During the times of the patriarchs, before the priesthood was established, the leader of each family went before the Lord on behalf of his people. In those days the Lord spoke personally to the leader of the family. This means that the one who owns the birthright should be a person with a heart for God. He is going to have to bring the needs of his people to the Lord and he is going to have to pray to the Lord for help in leading his family and making decisions that are best for them. Esau has no affinity for this. While he was busy being "a man of the open country" he was not communing with the Lord and composing psalms to Him as David will later do while he watches his sheep in the open country. I think Esau's thoughts were focused only on what he was doing at that moment. He was thinking about himself or about the hunt. The author of Hebrews says that Esau was so "ungodly" that he sold his birthright for a morsel of bread. (Hebrews 12:16) In the original KJV this word is translated as "profane", and that word means much more than how we think of it today. While it may be that Esau was a man who used bad language and who may have even taken the name of the Lord in vain, in the original language this word meant a person who is spiritually destitute and carnally minded. Esau literally valued a meal more than he valued forming a relationship with the Lord. His mind was focused on the temporary and not on the eternal. He cared more about the flesh than about the spirit.
This doesn't mean Esau was a bad, unlikable person. Many people who are not spiritually-minded are what we would call "good" people. They care about others and can be good friends and neighbors. We are going to feel sorry for Esau later. He's going to feel sorry for himself. He's going to have regrets. But we can see why the Lord said, before Esau and Jacob were born, that the elder would serve the younger. He already knew what kind of men these two were going to be. He knew Jacob would be suited to lead the family. He knew Jacob would long to know Him and have a relationship with Him. Right now neither of these young men is a great example to us. Esau is godless and Jacob is deceitful. Neither of them seems especially likable. In fact, Jacob may be less likable as we look at the remainder of Chapter 25. But God sees into their hearts and He knows Jacob has a heart He can work with.
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