Hi there
Blessed Sunday to you. Today’s Holy Nougat invites introspection on what we prioritize.
“So Jacob said, “Sell your birthright to me today.” Esau said, “Look, I’m about to die. Of whatever use is this to me—a birthright?”” Genesis 25:31-32 TLV
A hungry tired man … a meal already prepared … a need … a temptation
Somehow, despite my thinking that I knew where this was going yesterday as I considered our reflections, I’m drawn AWAY from Esau in this moment. Rather, in reflecting on a commentary note ascribed to Martin Luther; (that Jacob purchased what was already his and Esau sold that which didn’t belong to him;) another similar conversation popped in my mind – one that occurred centuries in the future …
Jesus in the Wilderness being ‘sold’ His own birthright. (see Luke 4)
When this exchange between Esau and Jacob is seen in this light, we realize that what happened to Esau can very easily be our portion. Especially if we are not secure in our identity.
Whether Esau knew that God had entrusted the Abrahamic Covenant to Jacob is unknown to us; but the birthright that he so easily forfeited was not his! So his disdain may have been a subconscious response to Jacob. What we do know, is that Esau allowed a moment of extreme vulnerability to cloud his judgment. For whether the birthright was his to be bought or sold, the rights and rites of inheritance had a spiritual dimension to them.
It was about relationship with God, and not only with humans. For that which Jacob sought was handed to Abram when God called him away from the familiar and became Abraham‘a to pass on because of his faith. Esau was discarding a covenant relationship of almost a century for one moment of satiation!
After forty days of fasting, Jesus could also have had cloudy judgement. He could have focused on his natural hunger; at which point those stones would have been sirloin steak or bread. Rather; He was focused on pleasing God. Not on gratifying his physical needs.
Unfortunately Esau’s decision is as old as Eden. Adam forfeited his relationship with God to satisfy a desire for tasting what was forbidden. (Genesis 3). And to what end? Banishment from the garden and spiritual death! A fate which could have been avoided through obedience. In like manner, Esau was focused solely on the moment; not on God.
And that’s where he missed the mark; that was what led to his being subordinated – his eyes were fixed on the wrong prize. Not once, for later we discover he married a local girl whose religious beliefs and upbringing was starkly different from his own. (Genesis 26). And he only realizes the impact years later after Jacob is sent to Padan Aram (Genesis 28) to find his own wife.
Sometimes it’s hard to see the spiritual folly of our choices unless we are totally attuned and aligned to God’s Spirit. And we forfeit our blessings or even our very souls like Esau did for one pot of food. But thanks be to God; there is grace! God’s Grace that sustains when we least deserve or expect it.
That Grace is what we earnestly seek and find through Christ our Redeemer. After our Esau moments, let us remember there is grace
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
