Today’s passage says this: “He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.Esau didn’t hate his birthright”.
My brother, my sister, for food, Esau gave up his birthright. Have you given up something important that God gave you (birthright) against something that has no value? The fact is that we renounce the rights that we have at our birth when we do not trust God enough to wait on Him, thus we cannot appreciate what He is doing. You see, Esau just did not appreciate the value of his birthright. He appreciated the immediate over t the long term… cooking would have been longer than just taking the stew his brother had prepared. Yet, this was the defining event of his life and it disqualified him in God’s sight.
Now, let’s remember that the book of Hebrews warns us not to follow the same course. Moreover, Hebrews links sexual sin with Esau’s: “See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done” (Hebrews 12:16-17).
How many believers give in to the temptation of sexual sin as if God cannot see what we do in secret? Yes, Esau had many issues that disqualified him from God’s promises. First, he was an ‘utilitarian’. This type of people is in it for the short-term only. Their main question is, ‘What works and what works right now?’ The utilitarian makes decisions based on what’s best for him or her in the present moment. In Esau’s mind that birthright was so far in the future, it was of no worth to him to meet his present needs.
Second, Esau was a young man given to lust. Lust isn’t just a sexual sin. Lust iis also when we want something and we are not willing to wait. A sexually lustful person will not wait for marriage because ‘it makes no difference’. Now, that is the very kind of subtle lie that leads people into activities for which they will be disqualified.
Esau’s lust was his unwillingness to cook or to wait for someone else to prepare him some food. He gave up something priceless for his immediate desire to be filled. When, later, with a bit more maturity, he realised what he had done, “Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done” (Hebrews 12:17). It was too late. My friend, there’s no way God could trust Esau. If he treated his birthright so lightly, God knew that he would also treat the covenant with Abraham and his descendants lightly. Let’s not deceive ourselves: bad choices can bring about consequences that cannot be easily undone: a criminal record, an unbelieving spouse, financial ruin, health ravaged by self-destructive habits, children who have been influenced by these bad choices. Worse, sometimes the blessings of God can be permanently lost like Esqu’s birthright!
My friend, the Bible offers us stories like Esau’s for a reason: “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:11-13).
May those who have ears hear! Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.