After Sarah’s death, Abraham remarried, and her name was Keturah, and they had six children (v1-4). One of these was a son named Midian who was the father of the Midianites. Joseph was sold to the Midianites (Genesis 37:28). In that chapter the Midianites were also called Ishmaelites (the son of Hagar) the father of the Arabs. Both Midian and Ishmael were sons of Abraham. Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac (v5,6) and gifts to the other sons. Referring to them as sons of concubines indicates that Hagar was such and Keturah was not on a level with Sarah and only Isaac was the son of the promise.
In verses 7-11 we have a brief summary of Abraham’s life. He died at the age of 175. Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave at Machpelah where Sarah had been buried before him. Interesting that Isaac and Ishmael came together to bury him which is quite surprising seeing they didn’t really get on together, also that his other sons are not mentioned.
Abraham had bestowed all he had on Isaac, so he wanted for nothing, but that didn’t stop God blessing Isaac too, which is far more important. God was continuing the promise given to Abraham about his seed through Isaac.
Abraham was a true man of faith which is encouraging to us because, like him, we too make mistakes, but we can have faith in God as he did.
The scene changes to Ishmael in verses 12-18 and tells us of his descendants. He had twelve sons and are referred to as princes of nations. Ishmael died at the age of 137. God had indeed blessed him as promised that he would be the father of many nations.
We then switch back to Isaac (v19-23) and the cycle seems to start again. Just as Sarah was barren, so was Rebekah, so how was the promise of the seed of Isaac going to succeed? A beautiful wife but no children therefore, Isaac pleaded with The LORD and, “…. the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”
Two for the price of one! This was around fifteen years before Abraham died, even though the death of Abraham is mentioned earlier in this chapter, and twenty years after Isaac and Rebekah were married. They had to wait on The LORD for His perfect timing. Abraham did see his grandchildren and slowly but surely God’s promise to him was unfolding. God often delays so that we may more thoroughly rely upon Him.
Two nations were in the womb of Rebekah, she was bearing twin boys. Rebekah was concerned about what was happening inside her and she did the best thing, she prayed. I guess that her pregnancy was anything but normal, if any can be said to be normal. The Bible is clear that life begins at, or even before, conception. These boys were already struggling in her womb which was an indication of what would continue after birth. It was usual that the older son became the leader, but God turns convention on its head. He is not bound by convention. We saw it with Isaac who was younger than Ishmael and we shall see it again with Joseph and David.
God told Rebekah, before they were born, that the older would serve the younger. We cannot understand God’s thoughts and plans, and we must leave it to Him. The fact that God said there were two nations in her womb requires some understanding, thus, they weren’t just two boys. This must be relevant to any consideration.
In Malachi we read that God said, “Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated.” This is very difficult to understand, and I don’t pretend to know the answer. I believe that the word ‘hated’ is not the same meaning as we would tend to give it. We are loved with an everlasting love and Esau was very blessed by God (see Hebrews 11:20) but the covenant was through Jacob and not Esau. We are told in Hebrews 12:17 that Esau could not bring himself to repentance even though he sought it with tears.
Rebekah gave birth (v24-26) to twins. The first was hairy and red and they named him Esau, and then the second was holding Esau’s heel, so they named him Jacob. A heel-catcher meant a conman or deceiver. Often there can be a few minutes between the birth of twins, but this seemed to be almost instantaneous, one holding on to the other. As they grew up, (v27,28) Esau was a skilful hunter, an outdoors man, whereas Jacob was gentler. Isaac favoured Esau because he brought him food to eat from his hunting, but Rebekah favoured Jacob, perhaps because he tended to stay at home, maybe a ‘mummy’s-boy,’ probably helping more around the home. The word ’mild’ has the idea of blameless.
The bible warns against ‘favouritism.’ Jacob himself later favoured Joseph over his older brothers. It is very unhelpful to favour one child over another and as we see from the Bible it leads to internal fighting and jealousy. We should avoid it at all costs. Favouritism usually stems from what the child does for us, and it is rooted in pride.
In verses 29-34 we have the all-important event of the birthright. Jacob had been cooking a stew and Esau arrived, weary from his outdoor activities. He asked Jacob for some stew. Jacob craftily took advantage of his brother’s tiredness and requested Esau to sell his birthright in exchange for a bite to eat. I’m sure this was not an off-the-cuff request, it had been festering for a while, but here was his opportunity. Esau, being the eldest by those few minutes, was due the birthright which meant that he would get a double portion of the inheritance. Esau was apparently starving and replied, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
Jacob was living up to his name of the crafty schemer and asked for a solemn promise, an oath, and in exchange for a meal, Esau sold his birthright, it obviously meant nothing to him. One writer says that it was not a legal transaction because Esau sold what wasn’t his to sell as the covenant was already given by God to Jacob.
The Bible tells us that we have a spiritual birthright, rich treasury from The Lord Jesus to value, but many choose the temporal things rather than the eternal. We often put rubbish before the things of God. We can have a great salvation assuring us of eternal life, being part of God’s family, forgiveness of our sin and riches which come through the in dwelling Holy Spirit who we receive upon repentance and receiving Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.
Esau’s decision changed everything for his future just as our decision will change ours.
