Surrender for Soup

“Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.” (Ge 25:34 AV)

A birthright here is everything.  The eldest is conferred the right of leadership of the household.  He gets a lion’s share of the inheritance.  It is through the one with the birthright which the future of the house of the family is determined.  To despise a birthright was a big deal.  Esau had returned from his hunting trip without any game to show for it.  He was starving.  He hadn’t eaten in a while.  He came upon his brother who was cooking bean soup.  The smell overwhelmed him and he couldn’t help himself.  The temptation coupled with a false sense of a need caused him to give up something very precious.  All he had to do was go a little further and his mother would have fed him.  Esau simply could not tell the flesh no for a bit longer.  He surrendered his future on the altar of the immediate.  We may judge Esau harshly, but we do the same all the time.  We forfeit what might be our future for gratification in the present.  We despise that which God has for us because we have an itch that needs immediate attention.  Or, so we think.

The word ‘…despised…’ is a strong word.  At first, I thought it might mean to lightly esteem.  But it is much stronger than that.  It means to find vile or worthless.  The word has a sense that Esau didn’t merely value the stew above his birthright.  Instead, it has the sense Esau would have surrendered his birthright for anything of value.  This is the idea which we want to consider this morning.  As a believer, we have a birthright.  We are joint heirs with Christ.  We have blessings stored away for the future that are based upon our new birth into the family of God.  However, these blessings are not guaranteed.  There are some contingencies in place.  For Esau to receive the blessings of the birthright, he had to protect it and possess it.  The same is true with our walk with God.  Our birthright, outside of eternal life, is based primarily on faith and obedience.  We cannot lose our salvation.  But we can lose the blessings and rewards that come with it.  We are alike Esau when we see the blessings of God as something vile or worthless.  When we keep the testimony of a believer, separated from the world, we despise it when we will not put up with the persecution that comes with it.  Never mind the blessings of holiness and purity.  They are deemed worthless.

Part of a birthright is the privilege to carry on the family name and all that name means.  Had Esau valued and retained his birthright, the house of Abraham would have gone through him.  This name is a name of great value.  An honor to be had and honed.  An honor to pass down to one’s own son.  Recently, Prince Henry and his American wife have decided to cede from the royal family and live independently of the crown of England.  I find this all fascinating.  A Monarchy that has little meaning to us Americans but is of great value to the British people.  What I find fascinating is how Henry and Magen are treating what they have.  One wonders how long it will last.  The despise their birthright and in doing so, leave all the blessings and honor that comes with it.  Henry will no longer be an important figure of philanthropy and humanitarianism.  He will have to get a real job.  Megan will be free from the constant patronization that came with being married to a prince.  But it this will be replaced by the disdain of a nation.  Once she married into the royal family, she married into something from which she cannot escape.  No matter how hard she tries.  She would be better off enjoying the privilege and responsibility that comes with it and learn to deal with the unpleasant aspects of the blessings.

We have been born into the family of God with all the privileges and benefits this bestows.  If we are willing to give it all up for a temporary pleasure, then our character was never truly deep to begin with.  The God of all grace didn’t have to send His Son to die in our place.  He didn’t have to increase that grace by granting us things above what we ask or think.  He doesn’t have to put up with our nonsense as we seek countless acts of forgiveness from a benevolent Father.  But He does.  He does so because He loves us with a love we cannot comprehend.  May we value the birthright and not surrender it for something as small as a bowl of soup!