The Opposer

Romans 8:31 (New American Standard Bible)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

Genesis 36:1 – 8 (New American Standard Bible)

Esau Moves

¹Now these are the records of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).

²Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the ^[^a^]granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite; ³also Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. ⁴Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath gave birth to Reuel, ⁵and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all ^[^b^]his household, and his livestock and all his cattle, and all his property which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. ⁷For their possessions had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they resided could not support them because of their livestock. ⁸So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.

The story here seems like Jacob and Esau have solved their conflict one with another, seems they came together to bury their father in peace.

With the past seemingly behind them, outwardly they looked like they had settled the conflict, though Esau was going to kill Jacob because he had the birthright.

But in Genesis 36: Esau had moved from Canaan before Jacob ever came back. The idea here I’m referring to is Esau wanted nothing to do with the land of his father. Please note Jacob and Esau were extremely wealthy men. Abraham was extremely wealthy, the Hand of God was upon him, Isaac carried the same hand of God. Isaac is a type of Christ in the Old Testament.

In Genesis 27, we saw Isaac deliberately fighting against the sovereignty of God, deliberately determining with all his might to give the blessing to his favorite son, Esau, in spite of the oracle given to Rebekah. And we said it was a perfect picture of man’s weakness against God’s sovereignty. To see this man who was blind; to see this man who was confused by the signals that he was getting from his touch when he felt the supposedly hairy skin of Jacob. And he smelled the meal, and he smelled the odor of his son, Esau, on the clothing, and he heard the voice of Jacob, even though everything else was telling him Esau. And all his senses fooled him. It’s a picture of man in his weakness attempting to resist the sovereignty of God.

The next time you decide that you’re going to resist the sovereignty of God, you remember that old man, Isaac, with all his five senses, foiled in front of the majesty and the omnipotence of God. Well, we said that that story truly highlights the grace and the sovereignty of God.

Everybody in this story comes out looking bad. Isaac resists the will of God. Esau is an utterly carnal and natural man. Rebekah, though she rightly knows that the line of grace is to go through Jacob, resists her husband, usurps his authority, overthrows his dignity, and lies along the way to establish her own agenda. And Jacob, well he’s the implementer of the deception. And we wonder, Lord, how in the world have You chosen this man to be the reception of the covenant headship. But is not the whole story a picture that God’s grace does not triumph because of us, but despite us? And His grace is established indeed.

Esau your compromise with the World eventually will cool your passions for God!

Esau’s three carnal marriages and his drift from God – Esau committed the sin of polygamy by marrying two Hittite women. This brought his parents great grief:

“³⁴When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; ³⁵and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” (Gen. 26:34-35).

“⁴⁶Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?’” (Gen. 27:46).

Both Isaac and Esau married at age 40 (Gen. 25:20).

Forty symbolizes trials and testing in the Bible. Isaac passed the test by waiting for the woman that God “appointed” for him (Gen. 24:14).

In contrast, Esau followed the path of Lamech, the first polygamist and a murderer (Gen. 4:19).

Esau thought he could correct his mistake of marrying two non-believers by marrying a third. While Jacob submitted to his parents’ will in finding a godly spouse, Esau trusted in what felt right to him.

To correct his parents’ disappointment over his prior choices in marriage, he took a third wife by marrying Mahalath, the daughter of his uncle Ishmael:

“⁸So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac; ⁹and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.” (Gen. 28:8-9).

Both the Hittite wives and the daughter of Ishmael symbolized the flesh. Their unity through marriages to Esau merely shows that the flesh is united in its war against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17).

The names of Esau’s five children showed that his compromises with the world caused him to drift from God. His first two sons reflected a time when he had some relationship with God. Eliphaz means “my God [El] is pure gold”. His second son Reuel means “friend of God [El]”. His last three sons and his grandchildren had names with no connection to God. Korah, his last son, meant “ice, hail, or frost”. His relationship with God had become cold through his compromises.

His name also foreshadowed the evil Levite named Korah who led a rebellion in the wilderness against Moses (Num. 16:1-35).

When you make compromises with the world, you also run the risk of causing your passions towards God to cool.

When was the last time you spoke to your father Esau? Jacob?

Esau Was the Eldest

Esau was the older twin. Scripture relates that when leaving their mother’s womb, Jacob grasped Esau’s heel, as if to delay his birth.

The Midrash ancient commentaries relate that Jacob was actually created from the first drop of semen, while Esau was created from the second. Similar to two spheres in a tube, in which the one inserted last exits first, Esau exited Rebecca’s womb first, and Jacob exited second.

From this perspective, Jacob was essentially the firstborn. This is why he tried to delay his brother’s birth, so that he would be born first just as he was created first.

Esau was an opposer, and his descendants would carry the same animosity.

In Numbers 20:14-21 (NIV)

{Esau has been dead for several hundred years}

Edom Denies Israel Passage

¹⁴Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying:

“This is what your brother Israel says: You know about all the hardships that have come on us. ¹⁵Our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors, ¹⁶but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.

“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷Please let us pass through your country. We will not go through any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway and not turn to the right or to the left until we have passed through your territory.”

¹⁸But Edom answered:

“You may not pass through here; if you try, we will march out and attack you with the sword.”

¹⁹The Israelites replied:

“We will go along the main road, and if we or our livestock drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to pass through on foot—nothing else.”

²⁰Again they answered:

“You may not pass through.”