Genesis 25:19-34 - Battling Brothers
- Chad Werkhoven
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Jacob & Esau help explain that you are saved by grace alone.
SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF: Sarah has died and Abraham needed to purchase land to bury on, since he still has no land of his own. Isaac is given a wife, Rebekah, through God’s clear providence, and Abraham’s life closes with God’s promises firmly established through Isaac rather than Ishmael. The passage ends by listing Ishmael’s descendants, showing that God was faithful to bless him as promised, while still preserving the covenant line through Isaac.
Genesis 25:19–34 (NIV)
19 This is the account [the generations] of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 The LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
Point 1, Article 10: Election Based on God’s Good Pleasure
The cause of our undeserved election is exclusively the good pleasure of God.
This does not involve His choosing certain human qualities or actions from among all those possible as a condition of salvation, but rather involves his adopting certain particular persons from among the common mass of sinners as his own possession.
As Scripture says, “When the children were not yet born, and had done nothing either good or bad..., she” (Rebecca) was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Rom. 9:11-13). Also, “All who were appointed for eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).
Summary
Today's passage begins with a literary device, from which the book of Genesis derives its name, which signals the beginning of a new story line. Abraham is now dead and buried, but the covenant promises God made to him will be carried on through the family line of Abraham's son Isaac. So the passage begins this is the account of (NIV) or these are the generations of (ESV, KJV), an introductory line we see often in this book.
Initially, Isaac's story seems similar to his parents. Like his mother, Isaac's wife Rebekah was childless. After two decades of waiting (v26), the LORD finally answered Isaac's prayer and she became pregnant. But right away there's a big hint that something would be different, for the babies jostled each other within her, so much so that she went to inquire of the LORD to find out what was going on.
The LORD answered her prayer - quite directly! - but His reply doesn't seem very comforting. These two babies in her womb represented two nations - two peoples, one stronger than the other. The text doesn't give any indication as to how Rebekah received those words, nor does it seem that she passed on this stunning yet troubling revelation to Isaac. But that's to be expected, because the story isn't really about Rebekah.
So Rebekah gives birth, not just to a set of battling brothers, but to the Bible's most difficult doctrine. Thousands of years later, the Apostle Paul would use the birth of Jacob and Esau as the primary example of God's saving election, writing that before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad - in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by Him who calls - Rebekah was told, "The older will serve the younger." Then Paul lowers the boom by quoting the prophet Malachi, who recorded the LORD's hard words: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated (Romans 9:11-13).
Dig Deeper
It's at this point that our deeply embedded sense of fairness kicks in. Because we know that Jacob is God's good guy, we have a tendency to lionize all of his actions and demonize those of his brother Esau. But it's hard to keep a straight face while defending Jacob.
From the very moment he was born, he's grasping for something more than he has. He came out with his hand grasping Esau's heel. This occasioned his name, Jacob, which literally means heel grasper, a word that would go on to become an idiom in Hebrew for deceiver. He puts his nature on display has he cons Esau out of his birthright here, as if he could buy his way into God's promises for a bowl of stew. As we work our way through his story, we'll continue to see example after example of his cunning and deceptive character. This is why Jacob is the poster child for God's sovereign election being based on grace alone, for if Jacob needed to rely on his own merits he'd be cooked (as would we).
Esau, on the other hand, will often appear to be the more magnanimous of the two, but a deeper dive shows he deserves exactly what he gets. He's not exactly a victim in today's episode, even though Jacob comes away with the much better end of the bargain. The final verse of the passage gives a hint as to why: Esau despised his birthright. He didn't care about carrying on Isaac's line or God's covenant promises, so much so that a bowl of lentil stew seemed more valuable.
As the Canons remind us today, the cause of your undeserved election is exclusively the good pleasure of God. Show Him your gratitude in the way you respond to this gift as you live the life He gave you.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the sovereign God who chose us to be His own by His grace alone;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll neither despise what God's given you nor try to grasp for more.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
