BIRTHRIGHT

Father? If you can hear me, I failed. 

I failed you, I failed myself, and...

And all of Humanity. 

I traded My Birthright for a Life of Submission in a World That’s Now Ruled by Your Enemies. 

There's nobody left to help them now... The People of The World... not since I... 

!!! FATHER !!!

“Disguised as Esau, Jacob entered Isaac’s room. Surprised that Esau was back so soon, Isaac asked how it could be that the hunt went so quickly. Jacob responded, “Because the LORD your God brought it to me.” Rashi, on Genesis 27:21 says Isaac’s suspicions were aroused even more, because Esau never used the personal name of God. Isaac demanded that Jacob come close so he could feel him, but the goatskins felt just like Esau’s hairy skin. Confused, Isaac exclaimed, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau!” Genesis 27:22. Still trying to get at the truth, Isaac asked him directly, “Art thou my very son Esau?” and Jacob answered simply, “I am.” Isaac proceeded to eat the food and to drink the wine that Jacob gave him, and then told him to come close and kiss him. As Jacob kissed his father, Isaac smelled the clothes which belonged to Esau and finally accepted that the person in front of him was Esau. 

Isaac then blessed Jacob with the blessing that was meant for Esau. Genesis 27:28–29 states Isaac’s blessing: “Therefore God give thee of the dew of heavens, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.”

Jacob had scarcely left the room when Esau returned from the hunt to prepare his game and receive the blessing. The realization that he had been deceived shocked Isaac, yet he acknowledged that Jacob had received the blessings by adding, “Indeed, he will be [or remain] blessed!” (27:33).

Esau was heartbroken by the deception and begged for his own blessing. Having made Jacob a ruler over his brothers, Isaac could only promise, “By your sword you shall live, but your brother you shall serve; yet it shall be that when you are aggrieved, you may cast off his yoke from upon your neck” (27:39–40).

Although Esau sold Jacob his own birthright, which was his blessing, for “red pottage,” Esau still hated Jacob for receiving his blessing that their father Isaac unknowingly had given to him. He vowed to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac died. When Rebecca heard about his murderous intentions, she ordered Jacob to travel to her brother Laban’s house in Haran, until Esau’s anger subsided. She convinced Isaac to send Jacob away by telling him that she despaired of his marrying a local girl from the idol-worshipping families of Canaan (as Esau had done). After Isaac sent Jacob away to find a wife, Esau realized his own Canaanite wives were evil in his father’s eyes and so he took a daughter of Isaac’s half-brother, Ishmael, as another wife.

“As Isaac aged, he became blind and was uncertain when he would die, so he decided to bestow Esau’s birthright upon him. He requested that Esau go out to the fields with his weapons (quiver and bow) to kill some venison. Isaac then requested that Esau make “savory meat” for him out of the venison, according to the way he enjoyed it the most, so that he could eat it and bless Esau.

Rebecca overheard this conversation. It is suggested that she realized prophetically that Isaac’s blessings would go to Jacob, since she was told before the twins’ birth that the older son would serve the younger.11 Rebecca blessed Jacob and she quickly ordered Jacob to bring her two kid goats from their flock so that he could take Esau’s place in serving Isaac and receiving his blessing. Jacob protested that his father would recognize their deception since Esau was hairy and he himself was smooth-skinned. He feared his father would curse him as soon as he felt him, but Rebecca offered to take the curse herself, then insisted that Jacob obey her.12 Jacob did as his mother instructed and, when he returned with the kids, Rebekah made the savory meat that Isaac loved. Before she sent Jacob to his father, she dressed him in Esau’s garments and laid goatskins on his arms and neck to simulate hairy skin.”

“In Genesis, Esau returned to his brother, Jacob, being famished from the fields. He begged his twin brother to give him some “red pottage” (paralleling his nickname, Hebrew: אדום‎ (adom, meaning “red”). Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of stew in exchange for his birthright (the right to be recognized as firstborn) and Esau agreed.

The birthright (bekorah) has to do with both position and inheritance. By birthright, the firstborn son inherited the leadership of the family and the judicial authority of his father. Deuteronomy 21:17 states that he was also entitled to a double portion of the paternal inheritance.

Esau acts impulsively. As he did not value his birthright over a bowl of lentil stew, by his actions, Esau demonstrates that he does not deserve to be the one who continues Abraham’s responsibilities and rewards under God’s covenant, since he does not have the steady, thoughtful qualities which are required.

Jacob shows his willingness as well as his greater intelligence and forethought. What he does is not quite •honorable•, though •not illegal•. The birthright benefit that he gains is at least partially valid, although he is insecure enough about it to conspire later with his mother to deceive his father so as to gain the blessing for the first-born as well.”

“Later, Esau marries two wives, both Hittite women, that is, locals, in violation of Abraham’s (and God’s) injunction not to take wives from among the Canaanite population. Again, one gets the sense of a headstrong person who acts impulsively, without sufficient thought (Genesis 26:34–35). His marriage is described as a vexation to both Rebekah and Isaac. Even his father, who has strong affection for him, is hurt by his act. According to Daniel J. Elazar this action alone forever rules out Esau as the bearer of patriarchal continuity. Esau could have overcome the sale of his birthright; Isaac was still prepared to give him the blessing due the firstborn. But acquiring foreign wives meant the detachment of his children from the Abrahamic line. Despite the deception on the part of Jacob and his mother to gain Isaac’s patriarchal blessing, Jacob’s vocation as Isaac’s legitimate heir in the continued founding of the Jewish people is reaffirmed. Elazar suggests that the Bible indicates that a bright, calculating person who, at times, is less than honest, is preferable as a founder over a bluff, impulsive one who cannot make discriminating choices.”