The first clear window into Jacob’s character occurs one day with his brother. Esau comes home hungry. The hunting hasn’t been good and he asks for some of soup that Jacob had whipped up. Jacob uses this opportunity to take advantage of his brother. Remember, Jacob’s name means, “supplanter or deceiver.” It could even refer to the person who trips another person up.
I will talk in more detail about Jacob later, but look at what is going on with Esau. He is willing to trade his birthright as the first-born son for a bowl of soup. This gives us our first real insight into Esau’s character:
He traded the Ultimate for the Immediate.
He traded the Eternal for the Temporal.
I can’t be too hard on Esau because I have done the same thing. If we are honest, we all have. That bowl of soup smells good, looks good, and tastes good. What is the harm? Is it really going to hurt me to look at that on the internet? Is it really that harmful to pad my expense account a little bit? Will it really hurt my marriage if I go out to lunch with this other woman?
Ultimate for Immediate?
Eternal for Temporal?
To be continued…
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