Jacob and Esau

Just as Isaac, the second born, received the firstborn title instead of Ishmael, Jacob also received the firstborn title instead of Esau (Terah to Jacob family chart). Typically in the ancient Near East, the biological firstborn son would get the firstborn title when the father died. The firstborn title entailed two things. First, the son would get the majority of his father’s inheritance including money, animals, and land. Second, he would receive the headship of the family, clan, or tribe, meaning he would have authority over all the other males including his younger brothers. For Yahweh, the birthright (firstborn title) is more than these two things; it is the blessing of carrying on the family line through which He will work to bring the Messiah. It bears both the blessings and responsibility to represent Yahweh to the world and thus be a blessing to the world. It is the Abrahamic Covenant.

Esau and Jacob were twins, and Esau was the older of the two. However, Yahweh told Isaac and Rebekah that the older would serve the younger (Gen. 25:23). From the beginning, it was Yahweh’s desire for Jacob to receive the firstborn title. Thus, Isaac knew from Yahweh that Jacob was to get the firstborn title.

The name Esau literally means “red,” as he was covered with red hair when he was born. The name Jacob means “dogging the heels.” This has the idea of a dog that follows very closely to its master’s feet because he is loyal to his master. When Jacob came out grasping his brother’s heel, his parents took it as a sign of a loyal bond that Jacob had for his brother (Gen. 25:26). The irony is that Jacob was going to deceive his brother in later years.

Instead of trusting Yahweh for the birthright (firstborn title), Jacob took it from his brother. It is important to realize that Esau was not deceived here; he willing gave it up. Esau is portrayed in this story as over-dramatic, living in the moment. He is famished, needing to eat right at that moment, that he sells his birthright (future and blessings) for a bowl of soup (Gen. 25:29-34). Though Jacob does not trust Yahweh here, at least he desires the blessings of Yahweh more than a bowl of soup.

Later in Gen. 27, with the help of his mother, Jacob deceived his father into giving him the birthright. Isaac favored Esau and wanted to give him the blessing, but Jacob tricked his father into thinking that he was Esau. All members of the family were guilty of not trusting Yahweh. Esau had already sold his birthright. Isaac did not obey Yahweh (Gen. 25:23) and tried to give the blessing to Esau. Rebekah and Jacob did not trust Yahweh and instead deceived their husband/father and seized it on their own. Because of their selfishness, the family was torn apart and scattered. The irony here is that even though Jacob received the blessing, he ends up having to flee the land and home he had inherited and escape into the wilderness with nothing but a rock on which to rest his head at night (Gen. 28:10-11). He now fears the brother and family over whom he was supposed to rule.

That night in the wilderness, Jacob had a vision of a stairway to heaven with angels going up and down it (Gen 28:12). The stairway was probably like the one on the ziggurat. Yahweh communicates to Jacob that unlike the pagans, who try to ascend to heaven, He was coming down to Jacob. Jacob has been trying to obtain the blessings of Yahweh through his own efforts and it has gained him nothing. Yahweh came to him instead in order to give him the blessings, despite Jacob’s lack of faith in Yahweh and the deception of his father (Gen. 28:13-15). Yahweh’s calling Himself “the god of Abraham and Isaac” reminds Jacob that He is the God of the Abrahamic Covenant and the blessings that come with it. Yahweh promised this to Jacob not because he deserved it but because He is a merciful God and is honoring His promises to Abraham.

Jacob recognized the significance of that night and builds an altar, calling the place Bethel, which means “house of God” (Gen. 28:22). This was the same place that Abraham came when he entered the land and built an altar to Yahweh. (Gen. 12:8).