Despising Our Birthright

Genesis 19: 25-34

 

 

         “Why is this happening to me,” moans Rebekah, the wife of Isaac. Why? Why is this happening to me?  In the book of Genesis, we find the story of Jacob and Esau. You remember Jacob, later named Israel, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. And of course, there is Esau, father of the Edomites, a nation with which the people of Israel had a long and colorful history. There is first the story of their conception and birth. Then there is the story of Esau surrendering his birthright. The birth story is fascinating, for in this case, it is really a foreshadowing of what their relationship will look like well into adulthood. They are twins. They give their mother a fit in the womb, so much so that she actually complains to God. It must have been pretty bad, for Rebekah has been barren and has waited many years for this pregnancy, yet she goes to God and asks: “Why is this happening to me?” Gordon Wenham says that their first battlefield is their mother’s womb.  God answers her. “Two nations are in your womb…the older shall serve the younger.”  This will come as no great surprise. It happened with Cain and Abel. It happened again with Isaac, Rebekah’s husband, and Ishmael, his older brother.

          Then there is the birth. Esau arrives first, but barely, reddish in look and hairy. His name actually means hairy or rough. His twin brother comes out clutching Esau’s heel for all he is worth, desperately trying to catch up. He is to be called Jacob, meaning supplanter. The pattern for their future is set.

          Isn’t it ironic how much difference timing and position can make? One hundredth of a second sooner or later, One tenth of an inch on the bat, and a pitch becomes a foul ball rather than a game winning homer. You’ve heard the old saw:

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.

For want of a horse, the rider was lost.

For want of a rider, the battle was lost.

For want of a battle, the war was lost.

 

Just a little position and it would have been Jacob who was the firstborn son. Twins, and yet the first to be born was considered the eldest. This was huge in that culture. The firstborn son received not only the birthright, but also the blessing. The birthright alone was a double share of the inheritance left to the sons. For want of an inch…

          Fast forward to perhaps a hot summer day. Esau has been hunting. He comes in from the field exhausted, perhaps without a kill that day. Even if he was successful, the game must be dressed and he is famished. He smells the aroma of his brother’s stew and he wants something to quench his thirst and sate his hunger. Jacob has been waiting for this moment. The stage is set.

          Have you ever been reminded that your family name has value? To do something one way would be less than the family standard and could bring dishonor. My father would say something like: “Remember who you are.”  Over time, I came to understand what he meant.  I came to understand that I had choices. I could go my own way, but that had consequences.  I could go the way I had been taught. That too had consequences. I had to learn to live in a world where choice is a way of life…and so is consequence.

          When I became a Christian, I slowly began to realize that I had been adopted into a new family. Even more than with my earthly family, there are consequences for my decisions and my choices reflect on my family. And there are some choices that can’t be taken back. The story of Esau’s surrender of his birthright is such a choice.

          There are only two players in the story, but just one verse previous, we are reminded of two more players, the parents of these twins. Yes, there are problems between the boys. One is a hunter, the other a quiet man who tends to spend more time at home. They have little in common. Unfortunately for these twins, the favoritism exhibited by their parents is all too transparent. Isaac is taken by the game that Esau brings home, while Rebekah loves Jacob. Neither disguises his or her preferences, and so the unwise behavior of the parents contributes to the dissension among the twins.  

           No one is innocent. This is not a Bible story to which we point to find the hero. There are no heroes in the story of Esau’s loss of birthright. Jacob is downright crooked and conniving. Notice that while Esau says please to Jacob in his request for stew, Jacob does not return the favor. Jacob says: “Sell me your birthright now.” Jacob is in the driver’s seat and he knows it. It has been suggested that the way the demand is stated indicates careful premeditation and exploitation of Esau at his moment of weakness. This is not a random event. Jacob even seeks to insure his advantage by making Esau swear an oath. Jacob is dead serious and he means to profit from his plotting. He is cold and calculating, this future father of the twelve tribes of Israel.

          And then, there is Esau. How immature and selfish can you get! I want it and I want it now. Forget the consequences. Give it to me. Such is the attitude of this future leader of the nation of Edom. It’s all about Esau. What does Esau want.

          I and many of you are part of a generation called the baby boomers.  We are the war babies of World War II. We are also known as the “Me” generation because of our cultural move away from spiritual realization towards “self-realization.” Many in this generation protested anything establishment.  The 1970’s and beyond have witnessed the demise of traditional faiths centered on work and delayed gratification, and the emergence of a consumer-oriented culture centered on the immediacy of daily lifestyle choices.

           From that culture, we have spawned the current crop, the Millennials, also known as the “Me, Me, Me” generation. A Time Magazine article describes Millennials (those born since the year 2000) as a generation that has “come of age in the era of the quantified self, recording their daily steps on FitBit, their whereabouts every hour of every day on PlaceMe and their genetic data on 23 and Me. They have less civic engagement and lower political participation than any previous group.”  They are self-centered like no other generation. They send and receive an average of 88 texts a day. They are much connected to their peers, less connected to their elders than any generation before them, and they have little clue in what it means to wait for anything.

         I think Esau would have been right at home with the Millennials. He wanted what he wanted because he wanted it. That was good enough for him. In the story of the selling of the birthright, there are several sub themes. There are doting, unwise parents. There is the scheming and treachery of a brother who takes advantage of a situation. But they are just the supporting cast. The real story for us is Esau, who exhibits immature, careless indifference to a custom and privilege that the ancient world held dear. He held the right of a firstborn and he gave it away for a bowl of stew. Like so many other people have done since, his act not only hurt him, but also paved the way to an even greater loss, the loss of his blessing from his father. For want of a nail… For want of just an inch of restraint.

          It seems incongruous to us that such a great gift might be squandered for a Happy Meal. How can a man make such a mistake? Perhaps part of the lesson here is for the Millennials, that many of the choices they have today were earned not by them, but by the blood, sweat and tears of those who came before and did without; that material blessing is still something deferred rather than something immediate. Perhaps part of the lesson is that we really have little if any right to bargain away that which was gifted to us by others. Why should we profit from that custom and that sacrifice? Esau took something of great worth, a gift from his father, and tossed it as if it were something of no value. Even in his heartless exploitation of his brother, Jacob at least grasped that the future blessings to which Esau was so indifferent had great value. The time would come soon enough when Jacob would have to pay for his misadventure.

          But what does a birthright have to do with me and you? That is not an American custom. We don’t think that way anymore. We should though, because the real birthright is not material blessings, but the promise of God’s favor upon us and our lives. Esau couldn’t see the promise. Hebrews 11 and 12 talk about those who could and couldn’t see God’s promise. It’s not hard to see which group Esau landed in.

          In the fourth chapter of Galatians, the apostle Paul lays down what it means for Christ to have been sent by the Father to redeem those who believe in his story, the story of salvation. What does it mean? It means that we believers “might receive adoption as sons…and if a son, then an heir through God” [Gal. 4: 5-7].  Here Paul lays out the path whereby we become literally the children of God. This is the promise that the writer of Hebrews was talking about—the promise of becoming heirs, children of the promise.

          “Thus Esau despised his birthright.” He spurned it. He repudiated it. He walked away from his future for a moment, just a moment, in the present.  Esau had a value system that began and ended with what he wanted right now. He cared nothing for the cost. He thought nothing of the consequences of his choice. How sad.How short-sighted!

          Why is this story in the Bible? If you think it’s just a history lesson, think again. If you think it’s not about you, think again. The story comes from God. What is he saying to you? Never let the present circumstances or your need for something right now cloud your judgment so much that you can’t see the long view. We are not here for the present. We are here to glorify God.

          What is your birthright? Where is God sending you? What is he saying to you, his sons and daughters? Don’t despise your birthright. It was bought at great price.