Making sense of the success of Esau

The Strength of Esau

(Genesis 36:1-43, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 28, 2015)

[36:1] These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). [2] Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, [3] and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. [4] And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; [5] and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

The line of Esau was not the chosen branch of Isaac's family. God chose Jacob. Yet the Lord had a plan for Esau including future generations born to the Canaanite women that Rebecca despised.

[6] Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. [7] For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. [8] So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)

Esau had once thought that it would be a good idea that he and his brother Jacob live near one another. Eventually everyone recognized that they would need land apart from each other in order to support their livestock. Esau would be Edom and Jacob would be Israel. Israel would be the chosen nation. The only hope of salvation for Edom would have to come from Israel.

[9] These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. [10] These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. [11] The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. [12] (Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife. [13] These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. [14] These are the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

Yet Esau would be very fruitful very quickly.

[15] These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, [16] Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. [17] These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. [18] These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. [19] These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

Among their number would come leading men who would serve as chiefs over various clans.

[20] These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, [21] Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. [22] The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna. [23] These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. [24] These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father. [25] These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. [26] These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. [27] These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. [28] These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. [29] These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, [30] Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, chief by chief in the land of Seir.

The people of Edom would also be strong through their combination with existing people groups in the land they inhabited. Israel was not permitted by God to grow through combination with the people of their territory. Their greatness would have to come in a different way which would involve a pathway of suffering. The Edomites would instead gain glory through assimilation of the Horites who lived in the land of Seir.

[31] These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. [32] Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. [33] Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. [34] Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. [35] Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. [36] Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. [37] Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place. [38] Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. [39] Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pau; his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

It would be centuries before the Israelites would have even one king. There were many kings who reigned in Edom before that time.

[40] These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, [41] Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, [42] Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, [43] Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.

The Edomites had a “land of their possession” and were a very well-established people.

Put the Word to Work: The early history in the generations of Jacob and Esau might have caused the casual observer to assume that Esau was the chosen son and not Jacob. The best promises of God sometimes move forward through pathways that do not at first seem to be very promising. Salvation for the world would be through the Suffering King of the Jews and not through the strength of Esau.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 132:6-7

[6] Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
[7] “Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us worship at his footstool!”

Gospel Reading—Matthew 22:41-46 – Whose son is the Christ?

Patient and Powerful Subversiveness in a World Where Sin and Death Seem to Reign

The Generations of Man and the Purpose of God

(Genesis 35:16-29, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 21, 2015)

[16] Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor. [17] And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.” [18] And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. [19] So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), [20] and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. [21] Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

Benjamin was born. Rachel died in childbirth. Jacob did not expect that the woman of his dreams would be gone in just a moment. He committed her body to the ground as people of faith have done for centuries, hoping in a life beyond death.

[22] While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it.

Meanwhile Jacob's oldest son, Reuben, had a sexual liaison with his half-brothers' mother. That was a bizarre action—most likely a power play that had serious consequences for Jacob's estimation of his son's character. Many years later when Jacob was about to die, he said this about Reuben: “Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!” (Genesis 49:4)

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. [23] The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. [24] The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. [25] The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali. [26] The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

Despite these great disappointments, Jacob was a man who had been uncommonly blessed by God. We are reminded of his twelve sons grouped by their four mothers. The Lord's normal plan for future generations would not be one man with two wives and two additional concubines, but one man and one woman. (Matthew 19) The larger story of Christ and His bride, the church, insisted on this.

[27] And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. [28] Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. [29] And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Isaac, Jacob's father, died at 180, far older than he himself had expected when he blessed Jacob thinking that Jacob was instead Esau. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The tribes of Israel had their purpose. From the Jews would come the Messiah, the Husband of a very fruitful church.

Put the Word to Work: Our lives move from one generation to the next. We need a heart of wisdom to live well (Psalm 90). Our hope is in God, who dwells within the hearts of mortal beings. He has determined to make us into His dwelling place in Christ. His way of multi-generational sacrificial love is still the best. In a time of speedy upheaval, the church's traditions of stable living are delightfully subversive. Pursue them with the grace that God supplies through life and death, through joy and sorrow. Let the God of Jacob be your delight and your focus through it all. He has determined to live close enough to you to have a constant relationship with you and your loved ones in the church that He has called His own children, His Son's bride, and the body of Christ.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 132:2-5

[2] how he swore to the LORD
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
[3] “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
[4] I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
[5] until I find a place for the LORD,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Gospel Reading—Matthew 22:34-40 – The great commandment

God's Covenant Promise through Jesus - A House of God

Go Up to the House of God

(Genesis 35:1-15, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 14, 2015)

[35:1] God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” [2] So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments. [3] Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” [4] So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.

God called Jacob to make an altar—a place of sacrifice—to Him. Jacob understood this as a call to devoted worship—not just for him, but for the entire covenant community, “all who were with him.” They needed to “put away foreign gods” and “purify” themselves. His family obeyed.

[5] And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. [6] And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, [7] and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. [8] And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.

God was with this unusual family as they journeyed in a world of danger and mortality. He was able to grant victory over every enemy—even death.

[9] God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. [10] And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. [11] And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. [12] The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.” [13] Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. [14] And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. [15] So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

We are reminded at this key moment in the story of Jacob that God was the author of Israel (Genesis 32:28). The man who had wrestled with God and somehow prevailed would be the father of a nation that would factor greatly into the Lord's plans for the resurrection of the world. Israel was called to “be fruitful and multiply.” They would be a people group, a nation, a land, but somehow they would be more than just one. A “company of nations” would come from Israel, and God said to Jacob that “kings shall come from your own body.” Jesus, a descendant of Israel has become a “Bethel” for all the family groups of the earth. All this is from God.

Put the Word to Work: We worship at “Bethel” admitting our deep debt to the God of Jacob.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 132:1 – Remember, O Lord, in David's favor, all the hardships he endured.

Gospel Reading—Matthew 22:23-33 – Sadducees ask about the resurrection

God Is Calling Men to Lead in Love and Righteousness

A Better Father, a Better Son
(Genesis 34, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, June 7, 2015)

Just when things seemed to be moving in a good direction for Jacob and his family, disaster strikes.  Jacob’s daughter Dinah takes a trip to visit the women of the land and is raped by Shechem.  To make matters worse for everyone, her brothers decide to get revenge by raping the entire city.  They use God’s sign of circumcision in a deceptive way to make all the men in the city weak, and having promised alliance with them, they come in and massacre all the men and plunder all the women, children, and wealth.  Jacob recognizes that their actions could lead to the other inhabitants of the land wiping him and his family out.  They are certainly outnumbered.  Thus the family through whom God has promised to bring salvation to the world have instead added to the world’s injustice, and they are now in danger of being extinguished.  Yet God’s promise will not be extinguished, despite the evil in the world, and despite the evil in his own people.  In 35:5 we learn that God protected Jacob and his family from being attacked by the surrounding peoples.

In chapter 34 no reference is made to God at all.  The absence seems to coincide with the sordid events of the chapter.  Dinah is the victim of a man’s lust and violence, like too many women still are today.  After violating Dinah, Shechem feels that he loves her and wants to marry her.  His father Hamor does not appear to do anything to reprimand his son for the rape, but he does seek to get the girl for his son.  Dinah’s own father, Jacob, himself does nothing to respond to all this.  His sons are the ones to respond with treacherous revenge, taking their sister back and dealing out punishment far exceeding the crime.  Jacob under reacts.  His sons overreact.  Even when Jacob confronts his sons over their actions, he seems more concerned about his safety than about the morality of their actions.  Later he will speak of the injustice of Levi and Simeon’s actions (49:5-7).  But now he seems only afraid.  In recent chapters it seemed Jacob was maturing in taking action when necessary, and maturing in trusting God rather than succumbing to fear.  Yet here again his passivity and fear come out.  I think all of us have certain tendencies to sin that we must battle our whole lives.  Without constant vigilance and dependence on God, our old tendencies often keep showing themselves.

This story shows men at their worst.  Are not the sinful tendencies of the men in this chapter the same sinful tendencies we see in men today?  Praise God that in him we have a better Father and a better Son.  Our Father in heaven does not indulge our sin, yielding to the lusts of his children.  Nor is he passive in our lives.  He is constantly active in shepherding, protecting, teaching, and correcting us.  I know it often seems he is negligent.  After all, how could God allow Dinah to be raped.  I do not have the answers to why God allows such horrific things to happen to his children.  But I do know that he sent his Son Jesus to the cross for our eternal salvation.  We can trust our Father even when we don’t understand.  He is active at all times working for our eternal good.  And thank God that his Son is not a man who seeks to violently satisfy his selfish desires at our expense.  Rather he came to earth in purest love to pursue his bride, not by violently taking, but by giving himself to be violently killed and humiliated in the place of his bride.  Like the sons of Jacob, God’s Son will bring justice for all the sins done against his people.  But unlike Jacob’s sons, God’s Son will execute perfect justice.  Jesus will not under react, nor will he overreact in his justice.  We can trust him to do what is right.

Put the Word to Work:  Put your trust in our heavenly Father and in his Son for perfect love and perfect justice.  Men, look to God’s strength and take the lead in love and righteousness.  As far as it depends on you, protect your daughters, and raise your sons to be men of love, self-control, and courage.

Memory Verse from the Psalms of Ascents: Psalm 131:3  O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 22:15-22 – Paying taxes to Caesar