Esau’s Profanity

How was Esau profane (Hebrews 12: 16)? Surely he was more hardworking than his sneaky brother! And no wonder he was his father’s favorite! He represented the best that could be obtained here and now. And therein was his problem. He was so focused on the here and now that he forgot that there was anything beyond his immediate.

Of what benefit would a birthright be to a corpse? In any case it was so far off that in his mind it probably never seemed to be real. You see it was probably 100 years away, and it even required the death of his father. It was for him worthless considering his prevailing circumstances. In fact long before the birthright could be accessed he had amassed immense wealth (Genesis 33: 9).

But what was the birthright worth? It was the thing that connected to the Abrahamic covenant and blessing (Genesis 18: 18) whose culmination was in Christ and His bringing salvation to us. That is what Esau lost out on. He was disqualified from being in the lineage of Christ.

The birthright concerns your future; God’s assignment, purpose, call for you. It is in the tools He has given you to accomplish that assignment. Trading that with a job, even a better one, better business connections, better partnerships etc. is playing in Esau’s league

What has God told you? What are the challenges? Is plan B a considered option?

Would you rather more money, comfort, even wealth to the hardships of obedience?

Then remember Esau

Your birthright concerns the tool God has placed in your hands to bless the nations. To Isaac it was raising The SEED, Jesus Christ. Mine is a pen, albeit a modern one. That is my tool for this season God has placed me in. It is extreme selfishness to exchange it for a reward, however high it might appear to be. You cannot pay for it. No wonder Esau was called profane!

What is yours? Are you trading it or is the world being blessed by it? If yours is singing like Asaph and you choose pastoring because of the authority in the ministry… If you are called to pastor and you choose to become a ministry executive because of the ‘returns’ … If you are called to intercession and you choose to sing because of the visibility …  If yours is being a model mother and you choose professionalism because of the affirmation and appreciation … Is yours hospitality and you chose to make money out of it?

What we need to always remember is that we will give an account to the one who has entrusted that birthright to us.

Esau is not alone, nor was he alone even in the past. Many people in the Bible lost out on their birthright. I want us to look at birthright in the strict sense of what was reserved for the firstborn son as the scriptures teach as we look at those who lost it. We want to look at how they lost it. Why birthright? The one with the birthright was the one entrusted with the leadership of the family after the demise of the father. That was the reason the position was not a negotiated one. But like we see it could be lost or forfeited.

Cain lost it when he abused it. He sought to protect his position by killing the threat.

Ishmael lost it when he belittled the blessing

Like we have seen Esau lost it when he traded it

Reuben lost it when he wanted to usurp the one who would pass it on

Eliab lost it when he despised and misunderstood the gift in his brother instead of developing it

Adonijah lost it when he turned to a scheme