He did it his way

Genesis 28:6-9

Have you ever heard the expression, “She or he has mom or dad sitting on their shoulder.”  Many people live life trying to please a parent that has departed this life and yet even from the grave they seem to have control.  Others like Esau would do almost anything to win back the blessing of their mom and dad.

Esau is not that different from many of us, he did what was right in his on eyes and at the age of forty he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.  Esau knew the story of Abraham and his father Isaac; how God had set them apart to be a people special to Him and that they were not to marry from the nations around them.  But like many of us, he chose to obey the desires of his flesh and disobey the God of his fathers.

In fact, I bet those were some good looking Hittite gals, and Esau was ready to be with a women, so he did not wait for God to provide, and like many of us he got out in front of God and did it his way.  The only problem was his way did not work; Esau’s mother, Rebecca loathed her life because of the Hittite women, and so Isaac made Jacob promise not to marry one of them.  Isaac told Jacob to marry from his mother’s family, in fact he told him to marry her brothers daughter.  And Jacob obeyed and set out on the long journey back to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, to marry one of the daughters of Laban, his mother’s brother.

Esau, the twin that came out first, the one who had the birthright and sold it for a bowl of stew, the one who God had stated, before he was born, would serve his younger brother, the one who Jacob stole his blessing by deceiving his father Isaac, is now willing to do almost anything to please his father.  “Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram.  So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.”

Is there wisdom that we can take away from this sad story of a son who did it his way, only to do almost anything to win back favor with his dad?   Our earthly dads often mess-up but our Father in heaven has a plan that is perfect for each and every one of us if we will only listen and obey.  In Jeremiah 29:11, He states, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice