Genesis
25:29 ¶ And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau
came from the field, and he was faint: 30
And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red
pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. 31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy
birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I
am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he
sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of
lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau
despised his birthright.
The
narrative of Jacob and Esau is provided as an introduction before Moses returns
to the story of Isaac. These passages are a foundation that will explain why Jacob
and Rebekah felt justified to deceive Isaac and rob Esau of his legal due. The
point here is that Esau did not regard his birthright and sold it to Jacob. In
the ancient heathen world and even up to today in some countries the oldest son
was to inherit his father’s property and religious duties within the family.
Esau was willing to sell his sacred right and privilege to his brother.
The
question will become, now that Esau swore to give up his birthright and sold it
for a bowl of stew, how to get Isaac to bless Jacob first and grant him the
birthright.
Sod, we
can figure out from the context is made or cooked. Notice how sod is used again in 2Chronicles 35:13.
Sodden used to be the past participle of to seethe or boil. Sod is short for
that.
Exodus
16:23 And he said unto them, This is
that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto
the LORD: bake that which ye will bake
to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay
up for you to be kept until the morning.
Exodus
23:19 The first of the firstfruits of
thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s
milk.
Pottage
is soup or stew.
2Kings
4:38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal:
and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting
before him: and he said unto his servant, Set
on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.
Esau
will sell his birthright for a bowl of red stew and Edom comes from that. Edom,
according to Strong’s dictionary, means red.
This
is why the Red Sea is called the Red Sea.
1Kings
9:26 And king Solomon made a navy of
ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.
What
is the birthright that Esau surrendered to Jacob for a meal? As the oldest Esau
was, by custom, to inherit his father’s wealth and be head of the family, and
his father’s standing before God. It was also of religious significance among
the heathen, as the eldest son would inherit the family, the wealth, and the
religious responsibilities to maintain the family gods and the family fire as
De Coulanges tells us in his book The
Ancient City. Later, Jacob’s son, Reuben, will forfeit his birthright by a
grievous sin against his father. Esau surrendered his birthright to be the head
of the family for a meal. Of course, we know that God chose Jacob but in
retrospect Esau gave up the privilege of having the Messiah come through his
lineage, of having God come to earth to live as a man, the Son of God and the
Son of man in one person, through his descendants, for a bowl of soup.
Notice
it says that Esau despised his
birthright. Despise is a synonym of hate
in the Bible. It simply means to hold in contempt or to disregard or to
view someone lower in your eyes than they should be naturally.
Proverbs
5:12 And say, How have I hated
instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
Amos
5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days,
and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
Matthew
6:24 No man can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the
one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Despise
is the opposite of honoring someone or something, meaning to hold them in low
esteem.
1Samuel 2:30
Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house,
and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD
saith, Be it far from me; for them that
honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
Understanding
this will help you understand difficult verses such as this where in comparison
to Christ it is said;
Luke
14:26 If any man come to me, and hate
not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters,
yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
We
can find examples in this in Americans who despise
their right to vote and don’t do it, not out of protest, but just because
they don’t think it’s a big deal. It’s not worth the trouble to them. We find
examples of this in Christians who despise
uniting with other Christians in worship as the Church, not because they
have moved to a new place and don’t know any Christians or believe that that
institutional churches are not Biblical, but, because it’s too much trouble and
they’d rather sleep in.
Esau
is an example of a great many people in the world throughout history. And so,
it is said that God held him in contempt, as well;
Malachi
1:2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us?
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and
his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Romans
9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated.
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