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11. Esau and Jacob.
The patriarchs of
that time were not subject to any worldly rule. They were only under
God's authority. But they themselves exercised a free and authoritative
rule over their children, over their relatives, if these were not
powerful enough to separate themselves from them, and over all their
servants. Nor were they under any spiritual authority; each was a priest
in his own house and had the honourable office of being mediator between
God and his own house. The first-born son, however, had great rights and
privileges over his brothers and inherited the rule and priesthood after
his father's death if nothing else intervened.
Such a prince and priest of his house was Abraham and after him his son
Jsaac. But something else intervened in Jsaac's descendants. Jsaac had
two sons by his wife Rebekah, Esau and Jacob. Esau, the first-born, was
of a manly, strong nature, a man who loved the outdoors, reckless but
good-natured. His father was fond of him. Jacob, however, was a quiet
boy who liked to sit at home and amuse himself with domestic chores. His
mother liked that. Jacob did not mean well by his brother because Esau
had great privileges as the first-born. -
O selfishness and envy, how can you corrupt a man's heart! -
One day Esau came home from the field tired, but Jacob sat at home and
cooked himself a vegetable, a dish of lentils - Esau said, ‘Let me eat
this food too, because I am tired.’ Jacob said, ‘If you sell me your
firstborn today.’ Esau replied, ‘I must die; what good is the firstborn
to me?’ - So the reckless man despised his rights and promised them to
his brother with an oath. Then Jacob gave him a piece of bread and the
lentil dish, and he ate and drank and got up and and went away.
This was not a good bargain between brothers without their father's
prior knowledge. Esau did not do well by despising his rights. Man
should not despise the rights that God gives. It was also interpreted
against him long afterwards. But what can we say about the thinking of
Jacob, who was able to abuse the carelessness and kindness of his
brother? Such a thing cannot remain without dire consequences.
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