Alas, Poor Esau

Genesis 28-31

It's not like Esau was a murderer or anything, but he just didn't get it. His father favored him since he was the rugged outside type; but his mother and God favored his brother Jacob. He hungrily sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup, then had his blessing taken away by the deception of his mother and brother. Esau seems to get a glimpse of the other side when he learned how his father had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife, and had warned him not to marry a Canaanite woman. While Esau correctly surmised that Isaac did not like the Canaanites women (descendants of Noah's disgraced son Ham), he continued to make bad decisions... marrying one of his uncle Ishmael's daughters (who were destined to be at odds with God's chosen people). Alas, poor Esau... God looked with favor upon Jacob, but rejected his brother, Esau, and the the Lord of Heaven’s Armies in speaking of Esau's descendants says, "They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again. Their country will be known as ‘The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people will be called ‘The People with Whom the Lord Is Forever Angry.’"

He may not have been a murderer, but each step of the way, Esau made decisions that took him further and further from the grace of God. May it never be so with us.