Brief Interlude

We're going to take a brief interlude off the traditional path we trace when discussing the covenant. Bear with me for a bit, and it will be worth it.

So, to catch you up to Genesis 25, Issac grows up and marries Rebekah. Abraham dies. Rebekah becomes pregnant with twin boys, Esau and Jacob. She knew they were going to be trouble from the time she was pregnant. Esau was born first, but Jacob followed soon after because he was born "gripping to Esau's heel". It was a big deal (even at infancy) who was born first, because they would get the inheritance. So, since Esau was first, he got the privilege of being "man of the house" after his father died and all that fun stuff. Jacob on the other hand? He got to learn to cook and stay at home. As they grew up, Esau grew into a great hunter and Jacob stayed around the house. Here's where our story starts.

At this point, Esau had everything going for him. He had a great life ahead. I mean, the family line (from Abraham and Issac, the covenant relationship, everything) was going to go through him. But, one day, he came home from hunting and he was hungry. I mean, starving. And, as he walks in, he smells Jacob cooking up some marvelous stew. And it smelled divine to this hungry hunter. So he says, "Dude. Gimme some stew." and Jacob replies, "Dude. Gimme your birthright." And Esau is like, "Um..DUDE. I'm STARVING. What good is a birthright to me if I'm about to DIE." (Drama queen much?). So, Jacob makes him swear an oath to give him his birthright. And Esau does it.

Did you catch that? ESAU DOES IT. He gives up everything he had. All his inheritance. All this "family line" stuff. All this "big man of the house" stuff. For some stew. And he really doesn't seem to care all that much. I mean, he just sits down and eats his stew. Like the biggest mistake of his life didn't just happen. Esau continues to make bad decisions in his life. Like, he marries a girl his parents don't like. And another girl his parents don't like. And causes his parents grief (it actually says that in Chapter 26). 

Here's the thing for the day. Esau could have had everything. He would have been in genealogies and chronologies and everything. You know the whole "Abraham begat Issac who begat Jacob" thing? It would have been "Abraham begat Issac who begat Esau" all the way down to Jesus. He could have been in the family line of Jesus...but he gave it up for a bowl of soup. He decided to put something petty over the promises of the covenant. And in the end...I wonder if he really thought it was worth it or if he suffered from regret.

Discussion:

So, for today, let's think about what the "soup" is in our lives. What are you trading God's promises for? Yes, you may not be trading your spot in the "family line", but you might be trading your spot in God's family. Is it worth it? Is a little thing like soup worth a lifetime separated from God? I'm thinking not.