The 2nd Esau Prophecy in Genesis...The Bible and Islam pt5

http://billrandles.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/the-2nd-esau-prophecy-in-genesis-the-bible-and-islam-pt-5/ ^ | 09-18-14 | Bill Randles

[pastorbillrandles]

And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.(Genesis 27:38-41)

Much of the book of Genesis, from the story of Abraham on, is about the subject of election. Abraham would have chosen his firstborn,Ishmael, but God chose Isaac to bear the ‘seed of the woman’ and to save the world.

In the story of Isaac’s twins, Jacob and Esau, Isaac definitely chose the firstborn, Esau, but God chose Jacob. Later on we will see that Jacob chose Rachel, as his favorite wife, But God chose Leah, to be the wife who would bear the ‘seed of Abraham’, the Messiah. Man has one set of standards by which he choses, but God has his own, and God’s election is all that matters.

Esau was Isaac’s favorite son. He loved the his firstborn, hunter and outdoorsman. Truly Esau was a “man’s man”. This is not to say that Jacob was in any ways soft, for the life of a herdsman in those days was far from refined. But there was something about Esau that Isaac preferred.

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.(Genesis 25:7-8)

That Jacob was described as a “plain man” is misleading. Literally, “Jacob was a ‘perfect man’, ie complete, He was both spiritual and carnal, intellectual as well as active. There is no criticism of Jacob in Genesis, other than through the lips of Esau and Laban. Scripture instead criticises Isaac, if anyone.

Isaac is the one who ignored the first Esau prophecy, thus setting his household up for contention and strife, a strife which would simmer until the very end of time, ultimately engulfing the entire world into it. The Patriarch was prepared to bestow the blessing of Abraham on his firstborn son, a worldly,carnal, godless and profane person.

Rebecca, the twins mother, knew what the Spirit had said about both boys. She knew who God had chosen, thus she intervened. She isn’t criticized in the text for doing so. Isaac’s wife intervened, preparing a ruse to replace Isaac’s intended son, with Jacob, in order to receive the Patriarchal blessing.

At his mother’s urging, Jacob disguised himself as Esau and put a fleece on his bare arms, and the scent of the field on his clothes in order to deceive the nearsighted Patriarch into blessing the truly chosen ‘seed of Abraham’.

And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:(Genesis 27:5-15)

Isaac did indeed confer the blessing upon Jacob,(THinking it was Esau), but when he discovered he had been tricked he realized that it was the Lord’s doing and submitted to its wisdom and validity, which is why the book of Hebrews tells us,

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.(Hebrews 11:20)

Isaac’s faith wasn’t exercised in the actual deception, rather it was when he discovered to his horror that he had given the blessing to Jacob, that he realized God had intervened, for he did not invalidate the blessing on Jacob, rather he affirmed it to Esau.

And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. (Genesis 27:32-33)

It was after this that the occasion for the second prophecy over Esau was pronounced;

And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.(Genesis 27:38-40)

Mind you these ‘blessings’ were not arbitrary desires of a doting father for his sons, but were granted in the capacity of the Patriarchs as prophets of God, speaking by the Spirit of God. Esau pled for a ‘blessing’ but you determine of this seems to be a blessing you would want…

…Thy Dwelling shall be (Away) from the fatness of the earth…” The prediction is that literally Esau would live away from the fatness of the earth. Edom, the nation that sprang out of Esau was situated in Southern Jordan and its brownness can be seen from Space. It is a harsh, Arid environment. On a larger scale, in much of the earth,where Islam goes, desertification eventually follows.

…by thy sword shalt thou live… Esau would have to live by the sword, for like Ishmael, he would ever be at war with his neighbors and with himself. The Muslim Arab world is composed of fierce, warlike tribes ever at war. When Muslims aren’t slaughtering the world, they turn on each other. Notice the swords on Arab flags?

...and shalt serve thy(younger) brother… Yet for all of the vaunted power of the sword and adeptness at warfare, Esau would have to serve his younger brother. David put Edom to servitude, and the Jews eventually forcibly converted the entire nation of Edom. In a better way, when Christianity came on the scene, many Arabs were converted to serve the God of Jacob and of Jesus.

After the Muslims swept through the world, killing or forcibly converting much of the Christian middle east, Eventually Edom came back under subjection to the Christian nation of Britain. Edom is currently inferior to Israel, culturally, militarily and economically.

…when thou shalt have the dominion, thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck… The New American Standard renders this passage,

But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will [u]break his yoke from your neck.”.

We see Genesis 27 playing out on a larger scale now, as angry mobs in London, Paris and Berlin demonstrate on behalf of Esau over against Jacob, calling for the isolation and even elimination of Jacob, and choosing Esau over Jacob. We see also Esau getting “Restless”,(ISIS,ISIL) and seeking to throw off the yoke put upon them by the Judeo Christian World(The Sykes/Picot post World War 1 boundaries of Esau’s Muslim Arab World).

[dware]

I’ve been enjoying your series!

[pastorbillrandles]

thanks Dremel-

[marron]

when he discovered to his horror that he had given the blessing to Jacob, that he realized God had intervened

I see it a bit differently. God had promised to bless Jacob. He didn't have to steal Esau's blessing, he already had one of his own. He (and his mom) was trying to fix what wasn't broken.

[marron]

It is a situation similar in effect to Abraham with Hagar. Trying to fix what isn’t broken. Its human. In our way we all do it at one time or another.

[pastorbillrandles]

I see what you are saying. The only problem is that God doesn’t condemn in any way what Jacob and Rebekah did to preserve the rightful blessing.

[tophat9000]

Funny.. I had not really thought about this first vs second born theme in the bible but it does run through it.

Consider also Cain and Able. . Cain the first born kills Able the second born out of jealousy.

Even Adam vs Jesus. . Adam is the first man..and is the root of the fallen man...

[pastorbillrandles]

A very important insight. Remember that it is not the first birth but being born again that saves! John 3:3

[marron]

God doesn’t condemn in any way what Jacob and Rebekah did

True enough, which is a bit surprising in a way. But he does clearly show the consequences of what they did, the broken relationships and animosity that had to be overcome. In the end Jacob was forgiven (he obviously had to ask forgiveness and it was given) but their relationship was evidently never the same. Esau moved away and stayed away if I remember correctly.

David comes to mind with his endless collection of wives and concubines. I don't remember God directly condemning it but he does rather clearly show the disastrous consequences.

Its funny that Jacob wound up with a father-in-law that had the same mentality he did, and they spent the next couple of decades trying to get the better of one another on this deal or that one. Funny.

This is just me thinking out loud, you understand, continuing the discussion. I'm interested in your view.

[pastorbillrandles]

I see what you are saying and perhaps LAban was an example of Jacob “Reaping what he had sown”. My view is that this part of Genesis must be understood through the prism of the preservation and attempted corruption of he “Seed ofthe woman”. As for the ruse of Rebekah, which jacob submitted to,participate in, is it any different than Solomon pretending to cut a baby in half or NAthan’(fake) parable to get David to see what he had done?

[Jeremiah Jr]

...and before that...

Abram and Lot

Genesis 13
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

and...

Daniel 7
7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.

Psalm 83

83 Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God!
2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head.

3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” 5 For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You:

6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also has joined with them;

They have helped the children of Lot. Selah

10 nations

1 Edom
2 Ishmaelites
3 Moab
4 Hagrites
5 Gebal
6 Ammon
7 Amalek
8 Philistia
9 Tyre
10 Assyria

Children of Lot Moab/Ammon

3 kings uprooted

Muammar Gaddafi
Hosni Mubarak
Saddam Hussein

And uprooted is the perfect word as these three had nearly 100 years of combined rule in the ME, no small feat!

And the little horn (short guy) that ascended before these three were done in...

Sunday, February 7, 1999 Published at 15:10 GMT
World: Middle East
Abdullah sworn in
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/274302.stm

The fierce looking king stands up

Daniel 8:23 ‘In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise. 24 He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people. 25 He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.

***

Thanks! Great info and buckle up cuz the ride is going to get rough!