BRAGADAYJAH 80

So the day came when Rebekah would deliver her twins and true to God’s word, there were indeed two boys that came forth from the womb. The first one came out red all over like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau; then the second twin came out and held his brother Esau by his heal, and they called his name Jacob. Here we see that Jacob had to wait 20 years before his first born; for he was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. Two boys, one hirsuites, hairy, the other smooth of skin, grew together; but pursued different lifestyles. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. The difference here is that one was a hunter and the other a farmer. Not unnaturally, Jacob had a fondness for Esau, after all he was his first born, but Rebekah’s love was more towards Jacob, he was her younger son, less ruddy and milder. One reason why Isaac loved Esau more was that Esau was a fine cook of venison and he would often cook it and feed it to his father Isaac. It happened, however, that one day when Esau returned home he was very hungry, and he saw his brother Jacob with some lentil stew. He therefore begged Jacob to let him have some of his stew because he was faint. Seeing his condition and the nature of his want, Jacob struck a bargain with his brother. “Sell me your birthright,” he said. Now Esau could have said, “Not on your life or some such other response; but low and behold he said; “I am at the point of death for hunger, so what good is my birthright to me now?” Was Esau really that hungry, or was he just a greedy man? Did he not have a high regard for his birthright, or was it just a case of providential direction and inevitability? For it was already foretold that the elder shall serve the younger. Well Jacob made his brother swear over his birthright unto him, in exchange for which he gave him some lentil soup with a piece of bread. Was it fair exchange or was it robbery? Did God command and or ordain it, or did God merely state earlier the inevitable by foreknowledge? More