Genesis 25:27 Commentary and Bible Study

You can see the difference between the nations, the types; it is bought out here. ‘And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter’ – ‘Esau knowing hunting’, says the original. That tells us a lot about Esau. He was very much an outdoor man. He lived for challenges and action. He was an adventurer. He was a hunter. He was a free spirit; he liked no restraints, no boundaries. Probably in many ways he was a good-natured man, and Isaac really took to him. In some ways, he had qualities which Isaac lacked. He was full of daring and exploration. But he wasn't a responsible man, a man who looked after the establishment at home, who was concerned about provision and family responsibilities. He was an outgoing individual. He wasn't a spiritual man; he wasn't a worshipper. ‘And Jacob was a plain man.’ The Hebrew more has to do with quiet, not adventurous; the opposite of Esau is indicated, not an outwardly exciting man, not a man who courted danger. He was a man, dwelling in tents. The idea there is to say to us that he was responsible. Now he knew, there is no doubt, from his mother about the great prophecy that he was to be the one through whom one day the Messiah would come. He was to be the head of the family, under the divine protection, and so he took his responsibilities seriously. As Isaac grew older, it would be Jacob who ran the whole camp. Remember they were nomads. They would settle in a place for a while and then move on. There was an awful lot to be done. There were many staff, great flocks and herds, and it would appear to be Jacob, who focuses on these, and esteems his privilege to be the one through whom the blessing would ultimately be conveyed. Esau didn't value spiritual things, but his father admired him. His father was a quiet man, like his son Jacob, and he admired the strident, powerful, strong Esau. He was going to be the head of the family in Esau's eyes. The old writers used to say that people who are hunters run the risk of becoming harsh and cruel and heartless. It goes with the work. Whether that is fair or not I don't know, but that was commonly said, and maybe it was true also of Esau. But he knew how to put himself across to Isaac, his father, and he found his way to Isaac's heart through his palate. He would go for game, all varieties of game, I imagine, and so a great range of flavours, and tastes. This struck a soft spot with Isaac, but we can imagine – though it is speculation – that Esau in many other ways also was very careful to cultivate the favour of his father, though that is not said in this passage. Now Isaac knew that God had spoken to Rebekah and said, the elder shall serve the younger. That meant several things, that in the long term and in their future, the nations that would come from them, the nation of God would come through Israel, and ultimately through Christ and the church, God's people. ‘The elder shall serve the younger’ all the way to the Day of Judgment, when mysteriously believers will assist in the judgment of the world at the judgment seat of Christ. He knew that the seed royal was with Jacob the younger, and the future was with Jacob. What was he doing? Was he thinking in his mind, ‘I really love and admire Esau for his skills and his strength. I'm going to substitute him’? Ni, it wasn't that. Rather it was a compromise. He said, ‘I recognize that Jacob has the seed royal. He will be the ancestor of Messiah, the promised descendant, the one through whom all the nations of the world will be blessed. But I will make Esau head of the family. He will run the estates. He is the strident one. We will have church and world together. Isaac will look after earthly affairs, and Jacob will look after spiritual affairs and family devotions.’ Something like that was going on.It was of course known within the family that Isaac wanted this compromise. That was a sore point. Surely Jacob would have interacted with his father about this, probably many times. You remember the culture. He was very reverent towards his father, very submissive. If his father raised his hand, the conversation ended there; there was no more discussion. But we may speculate that Isaac knew that both Rebekah and Jacob did not agree with his scheme to make Esau head of the family, and that Jacob had tried to get this across his father.We read that ‘Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison.’ You can read much more into that: that Isaac was very taken by Esau, because of all his earthly skill, not just what he was able to provide from the field. That stands for all the earthly skills; it is just an example of them. Isaac would not have been influenced by only one thing, but he admired Esau for his daring and his skill and his achievement. But Rebekah loved Jacob. Say some writers, ‘Oh, Jacob was a good boy and did this and did that’, but no, Rebekah loved Jacob rightly. He was the heir; he was the responsible one, the one who valued the arrangement of God. Matthew Henry says, ‘If it be lawful for parents to make a difference between their children upon any account, doubtless Rebekah was in the right, that she loved him whom God loved.’ The different choice of the two parents must have created tension between them also. Children should not form the basis of disagreement but of increased love and affection in the family.