Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac, present a sharp contrast in character and in life. Before their birth, the angel of God foretold how different from each other they would be. In answer to Rebekah’s troubled prayer, he declared that two sons would be given her. He opened to her their future history, that each would become the head of a mighty nation but that one would be greater than the other, and the younger would have prominence.1TC 107.2

Esau grew up loving to please himself, centering all his interest in living for today. Unhappy with restraint, he delighted in the chase and the life of a hunter, yet he was his father’s favorite. This elder son fearlessly ranged over mountain and desert, returning home with game and exciting accounts of his adventurous life.1TC 107.3

Jacob, who was thoughtful, diligent, and always thinking more of the future than the present, was content to live at home, occupied in caring for the flocks and working the soil. His mother valued his patient perseverance, thrift, and foresight. His gentle attentions added more to her happiness than the boisterous, occasional kindnesses of Esau. To Rebekah, Jacob was the dearer son.1TC 108.1

Esau and Jacob were taught to regard the birthright as a matter of great importance, for it included not only an inheritance of worldly wealth, but spiritual pre-eminence. The one who received it was to be the priest of his family, and in the line of his descendants the Redeemer of the world would come.1TC 108.2

On the other hand, certain obligations rested on the possessor of the birthright. The one who inherited its blessings must devote his life to the service of God. In marriage, in his family relations, in public life, he must consult the will of God.1TC 108.3

Isaac made known to his sons these privileges and conditions and plainly stated that Esau as the eldest was the one entitled to the birthright. But Esau had no love for devotion, no inclination to a religious life. The requirements that accompanied the spiritual birthright were an unwelcome and even hateful restraint to him. Esau regarded the law of God, the condition of God’s covenant with Abraham, as a yoke of bondage. Determined to indulge himself, he wanted nothing so much as the freedom to do as he pleased. To him power and riches, feasting and partying, were happiness. He gloried in the unrestrained freedom of his wild, roving life.1TC 108.4

Rebekah remembered the words of the angel and read the character of their sons with clearer insight than her husband. Convinced that the heritage of divine promise was intended for Jacob, she repeated to Isaac the angel’s words. But the father’s affections were centered on the elder son, and he was unshaken in his decision to give him the birthright.1TC 108.5

Jacob had learned from his mother that the birthright should fall to him, and he was filled with desire for the privileges it would confer. It was not his father’s wealth that he craved; it was the spiritual birthright that he longed for. To commune with God as Abraham had, to offer the sacrifice of atonement, to be a forefather of the chosen people of the promised Messiah, to inherit the immortal possessions included in the covenant—these were the privileges and honor that he earnestly desired.1TC 108.6

He listened to all that his father told him concerning the spiritual birthright, and he carefully treasured what he had learned from his mother. The subject became the focus of his life, but Jacob did not have a personal relationship with the God whom he revered. His heart had not been renewed by divine grace. He constantly thought about devising some way to get the blessing that his brother held so lightly, but which was so precious to himself.1TC 109.1

Esau Sells His Treasure

Esau, coming home one day faint and weary from hunting, asked for the food that his brother was preparing. Jacob seized the advantage and offered to satisfy his brother’s hunger at the price of the birthright. “Look, I am about to die,” cried the reckless, self-indulgent hunter, “so what is this birthright to me?” For a dish of red stew he gave up his birthright and confirmed the transaction by an oath. To satisfy the desire of the moment he carelessly traded the glorious heritage God Himself had promised his fathers. His whole interest was in the present. He was ready to sacrifice heavenly things for earthly pleasures, to exchange a future good for a momentary indulgence.1TC 109.2

“Thus Esau despised his birthright.” In giving it up he felt a sense of relief. Now he could do as he liked. For this wild pleasure, wrongly called freedom, many are still selling their birthright of an eternal inheritance in the heavens!1TC 109.3

Esau took two Hittite wives. They worshiped false gods, and their idolatry was a bitter grief to Isaac and Rebekah. Esau had violated one of the conditions of the covenant, which prohibited intermarriage between the chosen people and the heathen; yet Isaac was still determined to bestow the birthright on him.1TC 109.4

Years passed. Isaac, who was old, blind and soon to die, decided not to delay any longer in giving the blessing to his older son. But knowing the opposition of Rebekah and Jacob, he decided to perform the solemn ceremony in secret. He instructed Esau, “Go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, ... that my soul may bless you before I die.”1TC 109.5

Rebekah told Jacob what had taken place, urging immediate action to keep the blessing from going to Esau. She assured her son that if he would follow her directions, he would obtain the birthright as God had promised. Jacob did not agree right away—the thought of deceiving his father caused him great distress. Such a sin would bring a curse rather than a blessing.1TC 110.1

But finally he gave in and proceeded to carry out his mother’s suggestions. He did not intend to tell an outright lie, but once in the presence of his father he seemed to have gone too far to retreat, and he obtained the coveted blessing by fraud.1TC 110.2

Consequences of Deception

Jacob and Rebekah succeeded in their plan but gained only trouble and sorrow by deception. God had declared that Jacob was to receive the birthright, and His word would have been fulfilled if they had waited in faith for Him to work. Rebekah bitterly regretted the wrong counsel she had given her son. Jacob was weighed down with self-condemnation—he had sinned against his father, his brother, his own soul, and against God. In one short hour he had provided material for lifelong repentance. This scene was vivid before him in later years when the wicked course of his own sons pained his soul.1TC 110.3

No sooner had Jacob left his father’s tent than Esau entered. Though he had sold his birthright, he was now determined to secure its blessing. With the spiritual was connected the temporal birthright, which would give him the headship of the family and a double portion of his father’s wealth. “Let my father arise,” he said, “and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.”1TC 110.4

Trembling with surprise and distress, the blind old father learned the deception that had been practiced on him. He keenly felt the disappointment that must come upon his older son, yet the conviction flashed into his mind that it was God’s leading that had brought about the very thing he had determined to prevent. He remembered the words of the angel to Rebekah, and he saw in Jacob the one best fitted to accomplish the purpose of God. While the words of blessing were upon his lips, he had felt the Spirit of Inspiration upon him; and now he confirmed the benediction he had unwittingly pronounced on Jacob: “I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.”1TC 110.5

Esau Could Not Repent

Esau had lightly valued the blessing when it seemed within his reach, but now that it was gone from him his grief and rage were terrible. “Bless me—me also, O my father! ... Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” But the birthright that he had so carelessly bargained away he could not regain. Esau sold his inheritance “For one morsel of food,” for a momentary gratification of his appetite that had never been restrained.1TC 111.1

But when he saw his folly, it was too late to recover the blessing. “He found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears” (Hebrews 12:17). Esau was not shut out from seeking God’s favor by repentance, but he could find no way to recover the birthright. His grief did not spring from conviction of sin; he did not desire to be reconciled to God. He sorrowed because of the results of his sin, but not for the sin itself.1TC 111.2

In Scripture Esau is called a “profane person” (verse 16). He represents those who lightly value the redemption Christ purchased for them and are ready to sacrifice their heavenly inheritance for the perishable things of earth. Multitudes live with no thought or care for the future. Like Esau they cry, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32). The desires of appetite prevail, and God and heaven are virtually despised. When they are presented with the duty of cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, they are offended.1TC 111.3

Multitudes are selling their birthright to indulge their senses. They sacrifice health, weaken their mental abilities, and forfeit heaven, all for temporary pleasure that both weakens and debases them. Esau awoke too late to recover his loss. In the day of God it will be the same with those who have traded their status as heirs of heaven for selfish gratifications.1TC 111.4

Isaac’s Marriage: The Happiest in the Bible

Jacob’s Flight and Exile