A Bad Trade - Genesis 25:19-34

©June 30, 2019 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Siblings fight, they compete, and at times, they drive their parents crazy. If you get any siblings together there will be stories. Many are hilarious. Some are great exaggerations, and some are just simply made up. There is always the competition for who is the favorite, who is the smartest, who had the best dates, the worst hair, and the list can go on ad nauseum.

The Bible is filled with stories of dysfunctional families with siblings who bickered even to the point of killing each other starting with the first siblings, Cain and Abel. In Genesis 25 we read about the birth of twins: Jacob and Esau, to Isaac and his wife, Rebekah. These two children have perhaps become the poster children for sibling rivalry.

This morning we will read their story and I hope you will see that their story raises some important questions and lessons for our own lives.

19This is the account of the family of Isaac, the son of Abraham. 20When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

21Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. 22But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the Lord about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.

23And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”

24And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins! 25The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau. 26Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

Observations from the Text (19-21)

in verse 20 we see Isaac was 40 when he married Rebekah. Isaac had grown up hearing about the promise of God. For twenty years they are unable to get pregnant. This is where we see progress! Isaac doesn't follow the pattern of his father (at least in this). He doesn't resort to taking a servant girl. Instead he prayed for Rebekah.

I wonder if Abraham told Isaac about the foolish and life-altering choices he had made that brought Ishmael into the world. I wonder if Isaac remembered his parents fighting about Ishmael. I wonder if Isaac had heard the wonderful story of his own birth so many times, he knew God was the God of surprises, who always keeps his word.

The point is: Isaac does not repeat that mistake. There is some growth. He turned to pray rather than to earthly schemes. And that is a good goal for us: growth. It would be nice if turning to Christ immediately erased all our sinful desires. But that is not what happens. We come to Christ as we are, and He helps us change.

It is best you don't measure yourself by where other believers are in their spiritual growth. It will either make us complacent ("I guess I am as good as others") or discouraged ("I will never be able to live the way they do!") God does not measure us by each other. Instead He simply asks us to continue to grow in the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness and self-control). We should be able to see growth in our lives over a period of weeks, months, and years.

So, here is the test: where do you turn in the times of crisis; when things do not go as expected? Do you turn to your own devices or do you turn to the Lord? Do you turn to the Lord only as a "last resort" or do you turn to Him immediately as the One who loves you and can make all things new? This simple examination of your life will reveal much about your Christian growth. It may even show you have not genuinely begun a relationship with Christ! The true follower of Christ should be turning to the Lord in prayer increasingly.

Personality in the Womb. Rebecka knew there was a conflict going on inside of her even though she did not know she was having twins and didn't know anything about having a baby. Moms will tell you that the personality of their babies is often picked up in the womb.

When Rebecka asked the Lord for help, He explained to her,

23 “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”

These boys were different from the start. We read,

27As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home.

These boys were twins, but they were very different. Esau was an outdoorsman. Jacob preferred to stay closer to home. You can imagine Esau drove a big truck with a gun rack. He liked flannel and loved his Carhart overalls. He would rather be in the woods or the fishing pond than he would sit around and chat. He loved the hunt. He was skilled at skinning an animal and knew just how to cook what he killed. Esau always had dirt, grease or blood under his fingernails.

Jacob, on the other hand, would have had a sensible electric car and preferred polyester. He loved getting dressed up in a suit . . . or better yet, a tux. Jacob would have been concerned about his yard. He would have preferred to go out to a restaurant for a good steak. His nails were always clean.

The point is: each boy was different and it appears they are different from birth. Listen to these words from Psalm 139,

13You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

According to the Psalmist, who we are is determined from birth. Every mother who had had more than one child will tell you the children are different even before they are born. This doesn't mean we can excuse ungodly behavior with "that's just the way I am." God calls us to be new creatures in Christ. Though our personality is given to us in the womb, we are still charged with aligning ourselves with the purpose of Christ.

Parents Can Create Problems

28Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Children want to be loved and accepted as a child (and also as an adult). When they are negatively compared or treated differently in the home there will be problems. The child that feels they "don't measure up" will always be trying to find a place of acceptance or they will simply withdraw. Some will struggle with this the rest of their lives.

As parents, our job is to see the unique treasure in each of our children. Children that are more like us in interests and personality are much easier to connect with. However, that should never be an excuse for not looking hard to see the unique specialness created by God in your other children. We will actually learn from and grow because of the children that are a little different from us. Every child deserves to know that they are treasured by their parents and are a precious gift from God to us and to Him.

A Terrible Trade

Up to this point, our observations have been from the text in a secondary way. I think the last lesson is the real "take home" point for us.

If you are someone who pays attention to pro sports you know that one of the ways teams try to improve themselves is through a trade. The idea is to give something another team wants to get a player you want. Over the history of sports there have been some historically bad trades where one team did much better than the other. Trades in sports may make the difference in a team's history and the bottom line, but it is still just a game. Others trade cars, trade homes, and trade jobs. Sometimes they are good trades, sometimes they are disastrous. There are some trades we make however that are much more significant,

29One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. 30Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”)

31“All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.”

32“Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”

33But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.

34Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.

It is difficult for us to grasp the significance of this trade because we don't understand the whole "birthright" concept. The firstborn was given a birthright which meant they inherited a double portion of the inheritance. They would become the head of the family when dad died and with that the promise of God and the blessings of God. This was true even in the case of twins.

We don't know what prompted Jacob to trick his brother.

Was he just greedy?

Was he trying to help fulfill God's prophecy that "the older would serve the younger?"

Was this a jealous cry for his father’s love?

We don't know. What we do know is Jacob was not being kind. He was deceiving his brother. There is no good excuse for this manipulation. We say it often: it is never right to do what is wrong! On the other hand, it is obvious Esau did not value this birthright. If he did, he would not have traded it for a bowl of stew. He may be more of a picture of our contemporary society than we would like to admit.

On one occasion Jesus said,

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:24-26)

As followers of Christ, we have been given a great inheritance. Much greater than the inheritance available to Jacob and Esau. In 1 Peter we read,

Now we live with great expectation, 4and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. (1 Peter 1:3-4)

In the book of Hebrews we are told,

For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. (Hebrews 9:14-15)

In other words, as believers in Christ, we are given an inheritance that is priceless. We are declared to be children of God, joint-heirs with Christ. We are promised forgiveness, given the Holy Spirit as a "deposit which guarantees our inheritance," and we are assured of life beyond the grave. When we receive our inheritance there will be no more tears, pain, frustration, or sorrow. We will live with the Lord forever! We will be declared righteous and holy because of the blood of Christ on our behalf. We will be vindicated before those who falsely accuse us and God will graciously reward us for our acts of faithfulness. We are given an inheritance in Christ worth far more than anyone could gain in this world.

Esau traded his inheritance for some stew. Here is the question that should haunt us: For what would you give up the inheritance that God has promised to you?

To save your life, regain your health or gain riches?

Secure the safety of your children?

Obtain A bigger house?

Enjoy some stolen moments of pleasure?

To have the opportunity to play sports?

To gain the opportunity for your child to play sports?

To get you a better job?

To live a little longer?

To gain acceptance or gain popularity?

Whatever you would (or currently) trade for your godly inheritance or service to Christ is your bowl of stew. Jesus said we should "seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then the other things would be added to us." Did you get that? If you are willing to put Him and what He tells you to do FIRST, that other stuff we crave will be given to us. He is not talking about the material trinkets we are pursuing . . . He is talking about the deep down yearning the prompts our dash after material things. The Lord promises to fill the hole in our soul we keep trying to fill with other things.

But it is not as easy as it sounds, is it? We want what we want NOW! We are afraid we will miss our opportunity. We believe we are starving when we are not. We have OVER-estimated the things the world offers to us and vastly UNDER-estimated what is given us as a gift through Christ. We are trading what is of ultimate value for a temporary pleasure. And sadly, we are teaching future generations to do the same. It is an old illustration but vivid. It applies to business, to raising families, and to life in general.

One day a time an expert stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a large mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.

Then he asked, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" "No!" the class shouted. Once again, he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One person said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it! "No," the speaker replied, "that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all."

Our life and inheritance in Christ are the "big rocks." If we do not take care to make them first in the ordering of our lives, we will find the lesser things will crowd them out of our lives, and we will have sold our eternal inheritance for a bowl of stew. And it will not only be our inheritance we will be squandering; it may also be the inheritance our children.

We must be done with excuses that justify putting off what God has told us to do. We must resist the efforts of the world to inflate the value of things that are temporary. We must stop lying to ourselves about the relative importance of the other things crying for our attention. Because if we do not give first priority to that which is of first priority according to the Lord, we will miss out on the inheritance that is reserved for all who follow Christ. If that happens, this life will have been a waste . . . no matter what you leave behind.