Bible Discussion Thread

It says that Esau was born first and he was red and hairy. it doesn't describe Jacob. So, we do not know what Jacob looked like. It seems that they were fraternal, not identical. This description of Esau will be important in the next chapter.

As they grew up, Esau was a skilled hunter, and Jacob, a shepherd. They continued to dwell in tents, still needing to move their flocks from pastureland to pastureland Esau was the stronger, and Jacob supposedly was mild in demeaner. The parents favored one child over the other, Isaac favoring Esau, and Rebekah favoring Jacob. Since Rebekah never conceived again, each parent could spoil their favored child. I am sure this caused a lot of problems. Both children could be seen as heirs to God's promises, both being of the promised seed. The firstborn would customarily have the birthright blessing and the other a secondary blessing. It seems that Esau did not value the birthright very much. Maybe he knew that the birthright would include following after God like Abraham and Isaac. he may have not been interested in spiritual matters as much as Jacob was. Esau was willing to trade this treasured birthright blessing for a bowl of lentil stew when he returned from a hunting excursion famished, stating her was near death with hunger, probably an exaggeration. Jacob was cunning and took advantage of his brother.

Isaac and Esau are spoken of later in the N.T. in Romans: 9 where it speaks of the true Israel not being children of the flesh, like Esau, even though he is a seed of Abraham. Rather it was the children of the promise that are the true Israel by election, elected before they were born and had not done good or evil. This election is not of works, but of God's purpose and calling. This encounter about the birthright was not the event that determined the election of Jacob, not Esau. It was determined before they were born. God was not going to make a people for Himself out of two brothers, but out of one of them.