The God of Esau
– Do not envy Esau but serve God –
Genesis 36
Good morning. Happy Sunday. Today’s passage is about Esau. Do you know about him? He is not as famous as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Bible. Yet, today’s chapter 36 is everything about him and his family line. Why should we learn about him? Because he represents a man who prospers in the world without God. Do you sometimes envy those who are successful in the world? We do. Even though they do not fear or worship God, their life seems so good. Then, why should we struggle to serve God? Even this morning, you deny your sleep and come here to worship God. Today’s passage gives us the answer. Through this message, we will learn how blessed we are to know God personally, fear him, and work for his kingdom while we are young.
1. Who is Esau?
[SLIDE 1]
Esau was Jacob’s twin brother. His parents were Isaac and Rebekah, and his grandparents were Abraham and Sarah. In our terms, he was a grandson of Billy Graham’s family, a family of great faith in America.
Look at verses 2-3. Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan. What did ‘the women of Canaan’ mean? They were unbelievers. They did not believe in God. They did not fear God. Esau married such women. In our times, it is like a man of God who knows God marries an unbelieving woman. This was the opposite of how his father and mother married. His grandfather Abraham had made his servant swear by God that he would not take a wife for Isaac from the daughters of Canaan. From his early life, Esau must have heard how he should marry a God-fearing woman like his mother, but he did not consider God in his marriage. Instead, he married whomever he chose. Marriage is one of the most important things in our life. Whom do you marry? With a God-fearing woman or not. With a God-fearing man or not. It will shape your life and your children’s future either in a good way or a bad way, depending on whom you marry. May God bless you all to marry godly men and godly women.
In verses 4-5, Esau had five sons through his three wives. His wives had no problem having babies compared to his grandmother and his mother, who were godly women yet barren. Also, all his sons grew healthy. In the old days, medical technology was very low, so many infants died at an early age. However, his five sons grew strong and married. Through them, Esau had many grandchildren.
In verses 6-8, he was also very prosperous. He and his brother Jacob’s possessions were so great they could not live in the same area. But where did he choose to live? He took all his wives, children, and possessions to the hill country of Seir. Seir was a natural fortress. However, it was off Canaan. God commanded Esau’s grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac, to stay in Canaan because God promised them to give the land as their inheritance. So, even though Abraham and Isaac had hard times (like they had to move around to find a place to stay constantly, people around them were jealous of their wealth and not city life but kind of boring countryside life), however, by faith, they stayed in the land. But Esau was different. He probably wanted a more stable and advanced life. He left Canaan and moved to Seir.
In verse 15, his descendants became chiefs. Also, in verse 31, they built the kingdom in Seir and became kings. In archaeological periods, they lived in the Bronze Age (c. 2000 – 800 BCE). The age characterizes the use of bronze and early urban civilization. Also, the age is the middle principal period between the Stone and Iron Ages. With the trend of the world at that time, Esau’s descendants built their kingdom and developed a well-advanced civilization. This was before any Israelite king reigned. In history, it was 850 years earlier than Israel. In the period, while Esau’s descendants were kings, Jacob’s descendants were slaves in Egypt. Esau became the founder of the Edom dynasty. He was strong, healthy, able, smart, hardworking, independent, and skillful. He and his descendants became so prosperous. This is what many people envy in the world. How could Esau live such a successful life? What is the secret?
2. God’s promises to Esau
What does the Bible say about Esau’s good life? His prosperity came from God. Look at Genesis 25:23. It says, The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
This is what God told Rebekah, Esau’s mother, when he was in his mom’s womb. Even before he was born, God promised to make Esau a nation. As God promised, through one person, Esau, a nation Edom was built. God blessed Esau to be so prosperous in the world.
God also protected Esau from any harm. In general, maintaining is more difficult than establishing. In Deuteronomy 2:5, God said, Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. This is what God told Israel when they were about to conquer the promised land. Israel was supposed to destroy every single nation in the area. However, God commanded them not to touch the territory of Esau because it was God who gave Esau Seir as a possession. God protected Edom.
Then, what should he do toward God? He grew up under his godly parents. He must have heard about God from his childhood. He must have had the knowledge of God. He should be thankful to God. He should fear him and honor him in his life. However, what does the Bible speak about him? Genesis 25:34 says Esau despised his birthright. Hebrews 12:16 says that no one is sexually immoral or ungodly like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. The Bible says he is ungodly. ‘Ungodly’ means that you know God but deny or disobey God. Why was Esau ungodly? Because he despised his birthright. In the Bible, birthright means you receive a father’s inheritance and become God’s covenant bearer. In general, it was given to the first son. As Esau was born as the first son, he received the birthright. However, he sold his birthright for a single meal. In Genesis 25, he said, “Look, I am about to die; what good is the birthright to me?” He was very practical. He valued his immediate needs more than anything else. However, the Bible said he was ungodly.
Also, Esau became proud. How do we know about that? Obadiah 1:3 says The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Instead of giving thanks to God, he was proud of himself. I made this. Who can bring me down to the ground?
More importantly, Edom did not show any mercy upon his brother Israel when foreign countries invaded Israel. According to Obadiah 1:10-12, they did the violence to his brother Jacob. They gloated over the day of disaster on Jacob. They rejoiced over the people of Judah instead of having compassion and helping Judah.
However, God was still merciful to him. Even though he left God, God did not punish him right away. Instead, in the Bible, God kept sending his servants to Esau to warn him and come back to God. But he did not refuse to take God’s gentle warnings. Like Romans 2:4 says, do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
As a result, what did God say about Esau? Malachi 1:3 says but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” God promised to make him a nation. He did. But when Esau did not thank God nor glorify him, God said I hated him.
Thus, Malachi 1:4b says, But this is what the LORD Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. The pride of Esau brought disaster upon himself. In fact, in the 7th century BC, Babylon, a superpower nation, destroyed Edom. After that, Edom slowly disappeared from the world. Today, where are Esau’s descendants? Where is the nation, Edom? No more.
3. Lessons from Esau
What can we learn from today’s story? First, we know the final destiny of ungodly people. Psalm 73:3-6, 17-19 says For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
This is the same dilemma that godly people face today. Arrogant, ungodly people prosper in the world. They do not have any financial issues; They travel to Paris, Caribbean beaches, and so on. But they do not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God in their life. So, the final destiny was waiting for him. The final destiny is this: Romans 6:33 says the wages of sin is death. Hebrews 9:27, Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Second, we should remember our creator God. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Why should we remember our God? Because all good things are from above God. Not only prosperity in this world but also salvation, the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and all good things are from our creator God. Our God is good. The God of Esau was good. He blessed Esau to become a nation. He protected Esau from any harm. Even though Esau was arrogant, he did not punish him right away. He was patiently waiting for Esau to return.
True blessing is to serve God faithfully. True blessing is to be used by God for his kingdom work. True blessing is to grow in the image of Jesus. In a Hymn book, called “in the garden”, it says And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other, has ever, known!
Third, we should fear God and serve him faithfully. God spoke a message of blessing to Esau even before he was born. As he promised, God kept his promise to Esau. However, when Esau walked away from God, when he did not want God in his heart, God warned him of messages of the curse, and he endured his sins for a long time. But as he refused God, God perished Edom in history. God kept not only the promise of blessing but the promise of curse as well.
In conclusion, we have learned about Esau and the God of Esau. Esau was surrounded by many godly people (his parents and grandparents). He could seek godly advice and live as God’s people if he wished. He knew God. He seemed not to deny the existence of God. But he did not want God to be involved in his life. Nevertheless, he lived a very good life outwardly: three wives, five sons, many grandchildren, and their descendants built a kingdom. It looked lasting forever. However, in the end, as God warned, he and his descendants perished. Esau is no more. Edom is no more today. His life shows us how blessed we are to meet God personally, serve him, honor him, and fear him in our youth. Unlike him, we should marry godly men and godly women. We must value spiritual things more than practical things. We do not need to envy those who prosper without God. We know their final destiny. May God help us humble and be faithful to God in times of prosperity. May God help us remember our creator God so we may continue to worship him and work for his eternal kingdom.