So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:33-34
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. Hebrews 12:15-16
The story of Esau’s selling of his birthright for a bowl of red lentil soup is well known both within and outside Judeo-Christian circles. There are two interesting connections the writer of Hebrews makes that bring a renewed interest to the story, however. The first is the concept of a “root of bitterness,” or a feeling of anger towards someone else, that drove Esau into his selling of his birthright. There might be some indication of this bitterness in Esau’s words, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?”
There is a physical side to these words, but there is also an emotional angel; it’s almost as if Esau is saying that Jacob has, already, effectively stolen favor in the family. It’s as if this is just the latest installment in a feud between the brothers that has been going on for years prior. Going back just a short way in the story, we can see what is likely the root of this bitterness; Isaac loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. While Isaac would have held the theoretical power in the house, Rebekah would probably have held the real power as Isaac became older. Isaac, in fact, appears to be quite passive in his life, so Rebekah probably had a great deal of control early on, and only gained in control as time went on.
But what about the sexual immorality the writer of Hebrews puts into the mix? Was Esau sexually immoral? Was he unholy? What’s truly puzzling is that the writer of Hebrews would insert this sexual immorality into the story of the selling of the birthright. How does this relate? It’s possible the sexual immorality and lack of holiness are tied to the taking of foreign wives by Esau; this would be a natural tie-in to the advice of Balak and the actions of Israel at Peor.
The underlying Greek word here translated “sexually immoral,” doesn’t mean”sexually immoral;” it really means someone who is carnal, or who puts their pleasure first. The underlying Greek word for “unholy,” here really means “that which separates someone from God.”
Tying these three things together —the root of bitterness, lack of holiness, and carnality— we find a story that goes something like this:
Esau was bitter over his mother’s favoritism, and over the prophecy that he would serve his younger brother before their birth. At the point where he sells his birthright, he is bitter and tired, a very bad combination. When Jacob demands his birthright —in essence his spiritual blessings— Esau essentially throws his hands up in despair, “Of what use is a birthright to me?” We can almost hear the thoughts behind the words, “Mom says I’m going to serve you anyway, and she likes you better! So use is the birthright when you’ve already stolen most of what it means away? I’ll show you how much it means to me now —I’ll sell you the stupid thing!” Here is the result of the root of bitterness of Esau; he sold his birthright because his bitterness made him think it was of no use.
How many times, in our lives, do we let bitterness towards those who are blessed more than we are, or towards some situation we can’t seem to control, allow us to “sell” our birthright, in terms of spiritual blessings before God?
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