Genesis 25:34 Commentary and Bible Study

The last words: ‘Thus Esau despised his birthright.’ This is not about a cunning Jacob wresting something out of Esau. This is about the day it was plainly demonstrated that Esau, as an unbeliever, had nothing but contempt for the promise of God, the birth of a Saviour, and the coming seed; he didn't believe all that, and he had no time for it. In this event it all comes out. Jacob had got him to state it clearly, his unbelief, his irreverence. That is the correct way to see the event. This is Holy Scripture; these are not just little far-fetched stories of a brother who comes in famished: That would do no justice to what follows. The pre-birth oracle now unfolds in a more definite way. Scripture attaches deep significance to this incident. It might seem unfair to take a single incident and build so much on it, but this event is selected by the word of God, just because it is typical of the two men. Hebrews 12:16 calls this ‘one morsel of food’. For this he was prepared to sell his birthright – a single meal on a single day. The point is that the two things were so unequal. His birthright should have been valued above every other privilege that he had. It would affect his life, his status, and his inheritance from his father for years to come. What was this compared to a single moments hunger? But in the heat of the moment he could not control himself. His immediate desires so dominated that he was willing to part with anything to satisfy them. In his case the appetite in question was hunger, but Hebrews extends this to any other strong appetite, to fornication, or any other sort of profane behaviour. The sum of all is that Esau despised his birthright. None of this would have been possible if he had esteemed it as he should.