Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:29–34
The battle between these rival brothers began even before birth. The Bible tells us that when Rebekah at last conceived in answer to her husband’s prayer, “the children struggled within her” (Genesis 25:21–22). God explained to her that her twin sons would be the fathers of two nations and that the elder would serve the younger (v 23). When the children were born, the younger took hold of his brother’s heel. The rivalry between the nations of Israel and Edom would continue for centuries. Years later Esau sold his birthright to his younger twin for a pot of stew, showing how little he valued this gift. Are we ever guilty of committing the same mistake?
In those days, a family birthright was something to be valued. Not only did the father’s authority fall to the firstborn in his absence (cf. Genesis 37:21–30; 42:37), but he also inherited a double portion of his father’s wealth (Deuteronomy 21:17). The word translated “despised” (Genesis 29:34) is a Hebrew word (bazah) meaning “to regard with contempt.” The word was used to describe the contempt of Saul’s army when they saw David preparing to fight Goliath (1 Samuel 17:42). It was not that Esau hated his birthright, but rather that he didn’t value it very highly. The stew that it purchased satisfied his hunger for a time, but the birthright itself could have sustained him for a lifetime. Esau lived to regret his decision. Paul says that “for one morsel of food [he] sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears” (Hebrews 12:16–17). When Esau finally realized what he had done, it was too late to alter his decision. He wasn’t alone.
Jacob’s descendants appear to have despised their birthright also. At birth the children of Israel entered a covenant relationship with God. As God’s children they were the recipients of great blessings, for God blessed them with His constant care (Deuteronomy 28:1–14), gave them Canaan for a perpetual habitation (Genesis 13:15), and taught them how to live together in peace and how to be a holy nation (Deuteronomy 28:9). Theirs was also the promise of the coming Messiah, the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6–7). Of all that He had created, Israel was God’s most prized possession. When the Scriptures refer to them as a “peculiar people” (Deuteronomy 14:2, KJV), the word translated “peculiar” comes from the word meaning “to shut” or “to close” in the sense of locking up a treasure. Throughout the Scriptures it is remarkable to see how highly God treasured Israel and how little Israel valued God (Zechariah 11:13), for they despised His word (2 Chronicles 36:16), His Sabbaths (Ezekiel 22:8), His name (Malachi 1:6–7), His offering (Malachi 1:12), and even the Messiah (Isaiah 53:1–5) who was sent to be their salvation. Like Esau, Israel often regretted their decision to despise their birthright, but only when it was too late to do anything about it.
As God’s children today, we have a birthright that is available to all. Ours is an inheritance that never fades (1 Peter 1:4; Hebrews 9:15), but one must be born into God’s family through baptism to receive it (Galatians 3:26–29). We too can be guilty of despising this birthright when we violate God’s commandments and when we place too little value on spiritual things. There are some who have sold their birthright for people, for drugs, or for other short-lived pleasures not so different from Esau’s stew. If we sell our birthright, we will come to regret it just as Esau did. Unlike Esau, however, we can recover our birthright (Acts 8:22), provided only that we don’t wait too late. Satan will try his best to convince us to sell our birthright, but he has nothing to offer that comes close to what God has already given.