Birthright for Broth

     After reading through the account of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob, I am left confused, my notes are equally baffling, I have attempted to type up my thoughts and they leave me seeing little tinsywinsy circles in the corner of my vision. Perhaps I am trying to read in too deeply. In trying to see what is going on in the minds of Esau and Jacob, I have missed the obvious.
       Jacob's motives in procuring the blessings of his father (and those of the Lord) are up for discussion; especially as he had already been promised those very blessings from before his birth! He has widely been critisised for his "devious" ways, however the Bible never judges Jacob as being in the wrong here, Esau is always named as the uncaring one.

"Thus Esau despised his birthright."

"....or  unholy, like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal."

      Its clear that Esau cared little for the spiritual blessings of the Lord, although he later came to regret the loss of material gains. Reading on in the next chapter, I see that Esau married two women, neither believers, and this caused great bitterness amongst his family. It would seem that Esau repeatedly cared more for the world he found himself in than the God of his father and grandfather. Esau was reknown for his great hunting skills, his hairy chest and his masculinity, all things that the world approve of. However these things mean little to God, rather He chooses the weak and feable of this world to be His "Trophies of Grace", Jacob was one of these.
     It should also be noted that in the next chapter, Isaac is seen to be influenced by his neighbours, the Phillistines. His fear of them and lack of trust in God, led to him lieing to them about his wife, and eventually led to his discovery and great loss of respect. Christians are never to be ensnared by the world, but rather to be a blessing to it, this was mentioned only just before in the passage, as part of the Lord's blessing to Isaac and Jacob:

"I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

      As Christians, and spiritual heirs of Israel, we have an amazing commission to bring the blessing of Jesus' Salvation to the nations! As Isaac did, we desperately need Gods help and guidance in this task, and His protection from the "darts" of the world. The Lord has given us our "armour" and the Holy Spirit for these very jobs!
     We need to learn from Jacob and Esau and need to firmly hold on to the blessings God has given us, constantly reminding ourselves of God's goodness to us, namely His death upon the cross for our sins.