Genesis 36:1-43

What Ever Happened To Esau?

Genesis 36:1-43 Lesson 24
Key verse 36:1, 31 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 1-28-11

“ 1 This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom). ….31 These were the kings who reigned in Edom
before any Israelite king reigned.”

In this study we want to take a closer look at what happened to Esau. We study the Bible a lot. We especially study Genesis. How easy it is for us to gloss over the genealogies. Do you actually know what became of Esau and his descendants? Is there anything to learn from his life experience? Esau had a lot of problems. He was a “physical” man who did not care about spiritual things. He was immoral and godless. He was also prone to bursts of anger, so intense that he wanted to even kill his own brother. But as all people change, Esau changed. God prospered him and he restored his relationship with his brother Jacob. He became a great nation with many descendants who influenced the history of the region. And so in this study we want to review the kind of man Esau was. We want to see how he changed and how God blessed him. We want to see what happened to his descendants and his legacy that he left on history. But let us mostly learn about God who blesses not only the righteous, but also the unrighteous...the sovereign Lord who forgives and works his will throughout history.

Part l: Who Was Esau? (Gen 25:23-24; Ps 139:15-16; Gen 25:27; Gen 25:33-34; Genesis 27:34, 36, 38; Php 3:19; Gen 27:46; Deut 7:3-4; Gen 28:6-10; Mal 1:2-3; Gen 27:41; Gen 4:6-7)
The Bible talks about Esau, even before he was born. His future was determined when he and his brother Jacob were jostling about in their mother’s womb. I am not going to debate destiny and free will here, but simply reveal Esau. Rebekah, his mother, inquired of the Lord as to what was happening to her. God revealed the future to her through a word of prophecy in Genesis 25:23-24. “The LORD said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.’ 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.” The God who sees the end from the beginning, saw centuries in the future and the outcome of the lives of these two boys and the nations that would come from their bodies. King David had this same faith. He once wrote in Psalm 139:15-16, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” What did God see in Esau? What was the outcome of his days? That is what we are going to explore today.

Esau was Jacob’s fraternal twin. They were born to Isaac and Rebekah when Isaac was 60 years old. Esau was subject to Jacob’s competitive spirit, even from birth, for when they were being born, Jacob’s hand appeared to grasping Esau’s heel as if to say, “Hey wait a minute! I want to be born first!” When Esau was born he was red and had a lot of hair. He was blessed with an extra portion of testosterone. As he grew up, he was known as a macho man. He wore his shirts open, with a gold chain over his hairy chest. All the girls swooned over him.

Esau was a real manly man. Genesis 25:27 reads, “The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents.” The Bible says that Esau was a skillful hunter. He regularly took his bow and arrow and took to the open country where there were lions and bears. He was a successful, bringing home the bacon for the entire village. His favorite restaurant was Carnivore. He was the envy of all the young men. He was the focus of many a young lady who hoped to marry him. He was also loved by his father, Isaac who was proud of his son successes in this world. He would say, “Now that’s my boy!” Maybe, mild and quiet Isaac, was living out his own dream though his son, Esau.

But there was one event that truly defined who Esau was on the inside. One day he was hunting. It was tiring walking the country side, stalking animals, killing them and bringing them home. He was very hungry. He came upon Jacob next to a fire on which he was cooking some delicious lentil stew. He was famished and his mouth was watering. Nothing else mattered. All he wanted was that delicious stew. And so Esau made a deal. Genesis 25:33-34, “But Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’ So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.” In this deal Jacob deceived his brother Esau, for he wanted Esau’s birthright.

A birthright is a blessing from God, usually given to the oldest son. It is both a political thing and a spiritual thing. Those who had the birth right were given twice the inheritance and were the understood leaders of the tribe. This is the blessing that Isaac could confer on his oldest son. And he was happy to do it for he favored Esau. But there was also a supernatural component to the birthright, a component that was only in God’s hands. Those who received the birthright would be the bearers of the promise given to Abraham. God would work through them and their family line to reveal faith to the world and eventually bring forth the Savior, Jesus. Their descendants would be blessed by God over the millennia.

Esau, being the oldest, was automatically conferred this blessing. Jacob did not understand it but he knew it was a good thing and he wanted it,. Esau did not know the value of it and he did not care either. All he cared about was the “here and now”. He cared about gratifying his hunger and satisfying his immediate needs. We call this expediency. Esau was expedient. To put it plainly, he was a physical person with no spiritual qualities. His God was his stomach and his human glory, his strong, macho man persona, was his shame. (Php 3:19)

As Christians, we have been born again into God’s family. (Jn 1:12-13) We have a certain inheritance, eternal life in the kingdom of heaven with our Lord Jesus. While in this life God is with us and raises us up in this world so that we can be source of blessings to others. He provides for our needs and blesses us in countless ways. God has a plan, to work in and through us and our families, when we remain true to Jesus and his word. He promises to be with our children and our children’s children, but we need to claim the birthright. We can do this by repenting of our sins and coming to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. Then, as we live in this world, we live by faith and walk with Jesus, seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. (Mtt 6:33)

But so often we despise our birthright. We don’t care about the spiritual blessings that God wants to confer upon us. All we want to do is make sure we are well fed and all of our physical needs are taken care of immediately and our bills paid with a little extra for some fun. We seek the image of an abrasive fighter, rather that a humble person of faith who persistently pursues Christ. We toss our birthright to the side, like Esau, saying “I don’t care.” That is what it means to despise our birthright. We must never do this. Yet so many do. May we never live according to our physical impulses, but live according to the word of God, practically seeking the Kingdom of God.
We can see Esau’s physical tendencies further in his choice of marriage partners. Genesis 26:34-35 reads, “When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” Esau had waited long enough. He was now forty. He was probably dating a lot up to that point, but now he felt the need to get married. Maybe he wanted to have a lot of little Esau’s around to go hunting with. He would name his oldest Esau Jr. To get married and have a family is alright. But what was his problem? He did not have a spiritual priority system in his marriage choices. Maybe these Hittite women were beautiful and fun, but they surely were not spiritual. Esau was behaving life the sons of God in the times of Noah, when “2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.” (Gen 6:2)
These new additions to the family were not good news to Isaac and Rebekah. In fact Genesis 26:35 says, “They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” In fact, one day Rebekah said to her husband Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” (Gen 27:46) Isaac feared that Jacob would follow the same course as Esau. and so one day he gave counsel to Jacob in Genesis 28:1-2, “…Isaac called for Jacob and blessed[a] him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.” Isaac wanted his sons to marry believers in the one true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the God of Adam, Noah, and Abraham. If Esau was not going to do this, then he was going to make sure Jacob would.
Why was Isaac and Rebekah so concerned about this matter? It was because God is concerned about it. God knows that our lives of faith and the fruitfulness of our families are largely determined by whom we marry. When the Israelites were entering into Promised Land, God gave them clear direction of about marriage. He told his people in Deuteronomy 7:3-4, “Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” Making the wrong choice, based on physical desires, will turn a Christian’s heart away from following the Lord, to following the gods of the land we live in. And the gods of America are obvious. What are they? They are pleasure, money, sex, human freedom, etc. If we marry, the person we marry must be in the Lord. (1 Cor 7:39b) If we are going to be yoked together with someone in this life may it be with someone who is also yoked to the Lord. Esau’s two Hittite wives were not in the Lord.
When Esau discovered he made a mistake by living according to his impulses and his appetites, he was desperate to make the wrong he had made, right. In Genesis 27:34, 36, 38, we can see his desperate attempt. “ When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me—me too, my father!’ … 36 Esau said, ‘Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!’ Then he asked, ‘Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?’…38 Esau said to his father, ‘Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!’ Then Esau wept aloud…” The great macho-man Esau was reduced to crying like a baby! Wow!
His vain attempts to make things right happened again. Esau knew that his marriage criteria were not pleasing to his godly parents and so he tried to rectify the problem. In Genesis 28:6-10 we read, “Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, ‘Do not marry a Canaanite woman,’ 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.” Esau was shaken up. He did not want to displease his parents more than he already did. But he was a physical man and did not have a clue as to how best rectify the situation. He thought that if he married his cousins, from Ishmael’s family, then that would be O.K. But Ishmael’s life was a life born out of compromises. His descendants were not blessed. Marrying them would not make matters better. Esau made the wrong choice. Flesh gives birth to flesh and spirit gives birth to spirit. He needed to repent and ask the Holy Spirit of God for wisdom. But he did not. Because Esau spent his entire life seeking his own glory and gratifying his physical desires, he did not know what to do. He did know how to come back to God in humility and in repentance and in faith. He was lost in the darkness of his sin.
Though he could hunt lions and bears, Esau was unable to control the dark emotions that were churning in his heart like a topical storm. In Genesis 27:41 we learn, “Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’” He was like Cain, who rejected God’s love and God’s sovereignty and as a result had no control over his anger. James 1:15 reads, “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” The seed of sin in Esau’s heart was covetousness. Out of this grew anger and then rage and it was leading him towards murder. Luckily he did not go as far Cain.
The solution that God had for Cain is the same advice that he would give to Esau and anyone for that matter. Look at Genesis 4:6-7, “Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.’” What is right? Even a child can know what is right? Esau needed to seek God’s acceptance by doing what is right. Humbly repenting and coming to God by faith for the forgiveness of sins and a new life is always right. We learn to master sin through holding onto the word of God and obeying the word of God. We need to master sin, by repenting of it before it grows deadly. Nip it right at the bud. Do you think that Esau accepted God’s way? Maybe. After all he did not drag Jacob away into the field and kill him as Cain did to Able.
However, God was not pleased with the outcome of Esau’s choices in life. He spoke through the prophet Malachi in Malachi 1:2-3, “’I have loved you,’ says the LORD. ‘But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ the LORD says. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.’” Esau must have done something terrible for God to say this. Usually God is bending over backwards to let people how much he loves them. He loves sinners so much that he gave his One and Only Son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross so they might be saved. But here we see God almost saying, “I can’t believe the choices Esau made. I hate that guy. I cannot bless his descendants.” I think that he hated him because of his influence on world history. Esau influenced countless generations to seek human glory and spurn the blessings of God, leading them to eternal condemnation. I am sure that God was ready to forgive him if he only repented and sought the Lord’s forgiveness and favor. The author Hebrews warns Christians to beware of the example that Esau has set. He writes in Hebrews 12:16-17, “See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.” Let’s decide to seek God’s favor and blessings in our lives by making the right choices before the Lord. May our lives of faith be pleasing to God,

Part ll: Esau, Twenty Years Later…A Changed Man! (Deut 2:5; Gen 33:4-16; Matt 5:45; Mal 1: 2-5; Gen 27:39-40)

The next time we see Esau is twenty years later. He was living in the land of Canaan. Even though God said that he hated Esau and even though Esau had made some terrible life choices, God still prospered him. He was rich. He had 400 men who were submitting to his leadership. He was a leader in the region. God even gave a region for his descendants to live the size of Rhode Island. (Deut 2:5) We have a tendency to say that if a person does not follow Jesus then that person will be poor and sick and their lives will be one disaster after another. But not so. Sure, there is a better opportunity to blessed and at peace in this life if we are Christians, but there are many people in this world who are living without Jesus and they are materially prosperous and are in positions of leadership and power. The take home point is that God is gracious to all. His mercy and kindness extends to all, even to those who do not call out to his name and submit to his will. Matthew 5:45 reads, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” We all need to thank God for his one sided grace and his blessings on our lives.

We can see that Esau was a changed man. Look at Genesis 33:4-16. He forgave Jacob for deceiving him twenty years previous. He no longer held hatred and murderous desires in his heart. He was full of grace, even hugging his brother. He called Jacob his brother. He kissed him. He was very generous. He was willing to be inconvenienced, changing his personal schedule to follow Jacob according to his. He was willing to give his own men to Jacob to help Jacob in his travels.

Jacob had totally misjudged his brother. Two decades had changed Esau. I am not sure that Esau changed because he met God personally or was it just the passing of time? People do change. Non-believers change over time. We may hold grudges towards people for what they did to us in high school. We may not be able to forgive a family member for something in the past. But people do change. We need to recognize this and repent of our prejudices and grudges and give people the benefit of the doubt. What a shame it is when we see senior citizens holding onto grudges for 50 of 60 years and never letting go. Let’s be forgiving people. Let’s give people the benefit of the doubt and be very graceful to others. The Bible teaches us to forgive someone who sins against us 77 times. (Matt 18:22)

There were some other good points about Esau. He was a faithful provider for all of his wives. He did not abandon them. He managed his family well and was very prosperous. He was a forgiving and generous person. His descendents were blessed too. His descendents became chiefs, that is, heads of clans and even kings. He was blessed because of God’s love. But he was also blessed because God was fulfilling his promises that he had made to Abraham. “Your descendants will be a numerous as stars in the sky” and “kings will come from your body.” Our God is faithful. What a blessing it is to see our children and even our grandchildren blessed by the Lord and becoming productive citizens. And it can happen. Simply follow Jesus, seeking his kingdom and his righteousness as first priority in your life.

We can catch a glimpse of Jacob’s and Esau’s remaining years together. Look at Genesis 35:29. They took care of their ailing father, Isaac and both of them were present at his funeral. To be together at a family funeral is a big deal. I know people who have held grudges for decades and even refused to be at the funeral of their own brother, even when they lived in the same town. Jacob and Esau lived in the land for a time, sharing watering holes and pastures. But one indicator that Esau did not share in the same faith as his brother is that Esau chose to leave the Promised Land in order to find space for his flocks and herds. Surely he would have been blessed along with Jacob and his descendants if he stayed. But he did not. Jacob stayed for he believed the promises of God and wanted to live by faith. Esau may have been a good guy at this time, but he didn’t care about these same promises.
But Esau’s descendants were not so blessed in the long run. Malachi 1:2b-5 reads, “ ‘Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?’ the LORD says. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.’” Their land became a desert wasteland, where southern Jordan is today. The nation of Edom was also very proud. Malachi 1:4a reads, “ Edom may say, ‘Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.’” Over the centuries they had received God’s discipline. But instead of responding well, through repentance, they thought that they could recover by their own power. That is pride. God did not like this. The LORD Almighty said in Malachi 1:4b-5, “…They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. 5 You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the LORD—even beyond the borders of Israel!’” God does not like such a proud way of thinking. He wants us to come to him in our weakness, repent and humbly obey him and then he will raise us up in due time, bringing glory to himself through our lives. But the people of Edom would have nothing to do with this. It may have been because of the spiritual legacy passed down by their forefather Esau.
This same principle is reflected the original prophecy concerning Esau. Gen 27:39-40, “His father Isaac answered him, ‘Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above. 40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.’” During their life time, this did not come true. It was some 800 years later, that King Saul and King David defeated the Edomites in battle and completely destroyed the men of Edom. The lasting legacy of Esau was not very glorious. It was a history of war in a wasteland. Yes, they did drive out the Horites, but 800 years later they were defeated by Israel. Israel continued on, eventually bringing Jesus into world.
Now it is the time to think about what choices we are making. Are we physical people, living for our own glory and satisfying our own appetites? Are we living physical lives devoid of spiritual decisions of faith? Then we may be modern day Esaus. I have to level with you….God hates it when we live like that. We may prosper materially and appear strong for a short time but will leave a bad influence on those who come after us and the fruit we bear will not last. Eventually we will have to stand before God’s judgment seat to answer for the things done in the body whether good or bad. Let’s take the spiritual path. Let’s honor and uphold our birthright as Christians. Let us live by faith putting Matthew 6:33 into practice. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Let us care about our legacy in Jesus and our influence on those around us and on those who will come afterwards.
Part l: Who Was Esau?
1. Explain the prophecy concerning Esau and his brother Jacob, that was made, even
before their birth? (Gen 25:23-24) What did God foresee as the future of Esau and his
descendants? How was this fulfilled?

2. Describe Esau? (Gen 25:25) What was his favorite pastime? (Gen 25:27) What was his
relationship like with his parents? (Gen 25:28) What happened one day after a long day
of hunting? (Gen 25:30)

3. What did Esau value the most? (Gen 25:33-34) What is a birthright? What does it mean that Esau despised his birthright? How do we despise the blessings of God from time to time? What does this teach us about living according to our impulses? What does the Bible have to say about those who live according to their appetites? (Php 3:19)

4. What were Esau’s criteria in finding a wife? (Gen 26:34-35, Gen 6:2) How did his
parents feel about this? (Gen 26:35; Gen 27:46) Why were they not pleased? (Gen
28:1-5; Deut 7:3-4; 1 Cor 7:39; 2 Cor 6:14) When he found out that his parents were not
pleased, what did Esau do? (Gen 28:6-10) What does this further reveal about his
spiritual condition? What did God think of Esau? (Rom 9:10-13; Mal 1:2-3; Heb 12:16-
17) How can we learn from Esau’s failings?

5. How did Esau discover that Jacob received the birthright? (Gen 27:30-39) Did he want
the birthright? How did he respond? (Gen 27:34, 36, 38, 41; Gen 4:5,6,8, James 1:15)
How can we overcome the same feelings that Esau was feeling? (Gen 4:6-7) What was
the prophecy concerning Esau’s descendants? (Gen 27:39-40) How was God working?

Part ll: Esau, Twenty Years Later…A Changed Man!

6. Where was Esau living 20 years later? (Gen 32:3; Gen 36:7-9) What was Esau’s social
situation? (Gen 32:6; 33:1; 33:9a; 36:6-7) What had God given Esau and his
descendants? (Deut 2:4-5) What doe this teach us about God who blesses? (Matt 5;45)

7. What was Esau’s response when he met Jacob? (Gen 33:4, 9, 12, 15) How had Esau
changed? How had Jacob misjudged him? What kind of relationship did Esau have with
Jacob in their remaining years together? (Gen 35:29; Gen 36:6-7) Was this change
because of God?

8. Where was Esau primarily living when Jacob moved back? (Gen 36:6b) What did the land of Canaan mean to the people of God? (Gen 26:2-6) What land did Esau choose?
(Gen 36:8) Would be blessed along with the people of God if he stayed? What does this
tell us about Esau’s attitude towards God’s promises?

9. Who were the wives of Esau? (2-3) How did he take care of them? (6-7) What is a
good point about Esau’s family life? What became of some of his grandchildren? (15)
What became of other descendants? (40) Why did God bless Esau so much, when he
lived such a “physical” life?


Part lll: Esau’s Descendants

10. What relationship did the people of Israel have with the descendants of Esau? (Mal
1:2-5; Gen 27:29) What happened in the long term? What was the spiritual condition of
the nation of Edom? What does this show about the influence we have on future
generations? (Ex 20:4,5)




11. Who were the Edomites? Where did they live? (9) What was God’s direction concerning the Edomites during the Exodus? (Deut 2:4-5) Why were they not to fight against the Edomites? What does this show us about God? What were the relationship between Edom and Israel at the time of King Saul and King David? (1 Sam 14:47-48; 1 Kings 11:16) How many years lafter Esau’s life did these events occur?


12. Who were the Horites? (20) See Gen 14:6; 1 Chron 1:38-39. What did the descendants
of Edom do to them? (Deut 2:12-22)