20121118
The Bible is not short of examples of men who shed tears. Peter wept. Jesus wept. Esau wept. But each one cried very different tears. Peter cried audibly as a sign of pain or grief (klaiō) because he betrayed the Lord Jesus. The Lord himself wept silently at Lazarus’ tomb (dakruo): His spirit groaned, moved by the grief of those who felt for the death of His friend. Esau bewailed bitter tears of humiliation (bakah) when he realised he had neither birth right nor blessing.
In ancient times, the birth right was a special and sacred thing, given to the firstborn because of his title at birth – not anything he has done. It is the family name and title, and the lion’s share of the inheritance, writes Jon W. Quinn in Expository Files, an electronic journal. In the case of Esau and Jacob, it is the line through which the Saviour would come – as God covenanted with their grandfather Abraham. This is like billionaire Warren Buffet choosing his son Howard as successor in his huge empire. Imagine that his son Howard, a corn farmer, spurned his father’s choice and sold his birth right for a hamburger. Insulting. But that is what it boiled down to for Esau: he scorned his entitlement and calling and traded it for one meal of “red stuff” (explaining his name Edom or red). Later, his brother Jacob stole his material and national blessing too (Ref. Gen 27: 28 – 34). So Esau sold his birth right and had his blessing stolen.
God has imbued us with all spiritual blessing through Jesus. Yet, we like Esau, profane our riches in glory in Jesus in everyday ways. We have fellowship with Jesus, yet we do not linger in our meditations on Him. We have the requisite brief moments of devotion and move on to the needs or wants of the day. We have all wisdom in Jesus yet we flounder and flail our spiritual arms in a tight spot, forgetting to cast our care on Him for He cares for us. Jesus has freed us from sin, yet we chain ourselves to bad habits or doubts and fears. Esau’s reason for selling his entitlement (he was hungry and tired) was lame. Though God’s mercy is new every morning, let us not trifle with His goodness and fall short of His grace. Lest, we become spiritually lame and miss His best.
