A man walks into a home and sees the entire family inheritance piled up in one room and then on the kitchen table there is one bowl of stew. He is told he can only choose one or the other. Much to everyone’s surprise, he chooses the stew! We all think that is a crazy scenario, but that is exactly what happens in Genesis 25.
The greater truth in Genesis 25:12-34 actually calls us all to choose between God’s eternal purposes and temporary comforts. We must choose to value what God values more than temporary comforts.
Promises Continue
God had promised Abraham that Ishmael would become a great nation (Gen. 17:20). Chapter 25 records this fulfilled promise! Read Genesis 25:12-18.
Even though the immediate future of God’s promises center on Isaac, God still fulfills the other promises He made as well. God keeps His word! This also brings to light that God is working on more than one thing at a time. In other words, God is working to fulfill His promises in more lives than just those who impact me. He is working in ways that are beyond what I can see! For example:
When you pray for someone and don’t see any change. You may not see the outward change you pray for, but God is working. He may be changing the heart of a different person to prepare an opportunity you know nothing about.
When something doesn’t work out the way you wanted. You don’t get that job, or a big opportunity falls through, you may think, “What are you doing, God?” God may be closing the door in your life and opening the door in someone else’s life, which is all part of His larger work that involves me and many others I know nothing about.
When you faithfully serve but don’t see results. You witness repeatedly, you teach SS, or you encourage a discouraged Christian, but it seems to fall short. You may even think, “Was any of that worth the effort? Am I making a difference?” Remember, God often works below the surface in ways we cannot see. We can press forward faithfully for the Lord knowing He will be faithful no matter what!
When someone else’s life seems to move forward well and yours doesn’t. They get married, or have children, or get a promotion, or their church grows exponentially, or their health gets better, and you are still where you have been for months or even years. We assume God’s work in their life limits His attention for us. God is unlimited! God does not have to choose to work in your life OR someone else’s life! God may be refining something different in your life than in the other person you see. Take courage and wait on the Lord!
Power in Prayer
Genesis 25:19-23. Isaac waited 20 years for a child! (Read Genesis 25:21, 26.) “Isaac prayed for his wife, because she was barren.” Rebekah could not have children. Sound familiar? Where did Isaac learn to pray for this? His momma and daddy went through a similar situation. Knowing Abraham, it is a strong possibility that he taught Isaac how God brought him into their lives. Isaac does not passively accept their childless situation. He prays! The Hebrew meaning for pray or entreat in verse 19 means “to plead or entreat earnestly.” God answers Isaac’s prayer and Rebekah gets pregnant. However, the children (she was having twins) struggled in her womb. So, Rebekah prays and asks, “why?” That is when God tells her that two nations are in her womb!
George Mueller once observed in his book, The Life of Trust, “The beginning of anxiety is the end faith, and the beginning of faith is the end of anxiety.” I prayed for a car in my 20’s. God answered with a broken down beater and taught me patience and dependence on Him. I prayed for a church family to get a new job. God answered with a job in a different state on the other side of the country and I don’t know why He chose that answer.
Esau prayed for a child. God gave him twins, and the pregnancy was very hard. Sometimes, God’s answers to prayer do not make life easier! It is in those times that we need to continue to pray and ask God for more guidance (Jamess 1:5), actively wait on Him, and continue trusting Him.
Devaluing Spiritual Significance
Genesis 25:24-34. The twins are born and they are profoundly different from one another. Esau is hairy, a skilled hunter, a man of the field, and loved by his father, Isaac (25:25, 27-28). Meanwhile, Jacob was a quiet man, preferred dwelling in tents, and was loved by his mother, Rebekah (25:27-28).
Years then pass, and in verse 29, Jacob is in the kitchen cooking, while Esau comes in from the fields exhausted. Esau wants some of Jacob’s food, but Jacob will not give Esau food easily. Jacob wants Esau to sell him his birthright. Esau sells the birthright and Jacob hands over a bowl of stew.
What is the big deal about the birthright? Well, the firstborn male would automatically have the position of “birthright.” This would include a larger inheritance (Deut. 21:17- double inheritance per Mosaic law) and leadership within the family (after the father’s death). In essence, the birthright would give the son a special status within the family.
The big issue here is not that Jacob wanted the birthright that didn’t belong to him (although he did want it) or that Esau liked food too much.
The issue is that Esau treated something spiritually significant as worthless.
The birthright represented the spiritual heritage and responsibility in God’s covenant family … and then there is the blunt revelation of verse 34, “Esau despised his birthright.” Esau truly took something God valued and made it worthless in his own eyes. We can sometimes find ourselves doing the same thing!
Trading truth for popularity. Sometimes we live life as though acceptance is more important than faithfulness to God’s Word.
Trading holiness for convenience. When we embrace what God calls us to separate from, because obedience costs us too much, we are basically doing the same thing that Esau is doing in Genesis 25.
Trading service for comfort. In other words, enjoying what the church has to offer without taking responsibility to serve others ourselves. Didn’t Jesus Himself say that He didn’t come to be served, but instead to serve others?
Trading genuine spiritual nourishment for entertainment. Do you expect the church to “satisfy you” or do you come to church hungry to hear God’s truth and follow it.
Trading future generations for the here and now. Are we failing to teach the next generation what a genuine relationship with God looks like so we can grab all we can while we can?
At the beginning of this overview of Genesis 25:12-34, I suggested a ridiculous scenario of a man trading great wealth for a bowl of stew. We all see this picture as outrageous; however, we all need to ask ourselves, “What am I trading for a bowl of stew?”
Am I willing to sacrifice spiritually because I want something temporary right now? Will I trade truth for popularity? Will I trade holiness for convenience? Will I trade serving others for comfort? Will I trade the spiritual future of my children and grandchildren for today’s pleasures?
Esau was NOT starving to death. He was hungry, and in that moment, what he wanted right then became more valuable to him than what God had promised for the future!
This is how temptation works. The stew is always in front of us, but the inheritance is still in the future. So, temptation says, “take all you can get right now.” However, faith says, “Wait on God. Trust His Word.”
What God has promised is more than I can have with this other option right now, and it is worth the wait!
Isaac had to wait 20 years for God to answer his prayers for a child. Rebekah had to pray when she didn’t understand what God was doing. Abraham had to trust God when God’s promises would not be fulfilled in his lifetime. God’s promises are worth waiting for! So, when you are tempted to take the stew, remember the God’s inheritance and remember the promises of God. When prayers go unanswered, keep on praying. When obeying becomes inconvenient, keep on obeying. When serving becomes tiring, keep on serving. Because the temporary comforts NEVER compare to God’s eternal purposes.