Go back and read the blog post on Jacob and Esau if you have not already.
34When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite,
35and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
You know, I have read right past this part of the text without giving it so much as a pause for thought and reflection. Now I get something. Place this verse in the context of all we read concerning Esau in Genesis, especially with respect to his selling and despising his birthright all for a stupid bowl of lentils and rice (if you have not read my previous blog on Jacob and Esau, read that blog before this one). I got something now.
You know how Abraham made his servant go to find a wife for Isaac from his family and not the Canaanites? Further, do you remember how, in a couple of chapters, Isaac is about to send Jacob off to his family and relations in Haran in order for him to find a bride? Well, the text just says two things about Esau in preparation for the blessing Jacob is about to steal from him.
It says Esau took wives from among the Caananties. These wives and people evidentially did something or things that made life bitter and grievous for Isaac and Rebekah. I have this thought or speculation to offer and am curious what the rest of the church would say about the following.
Perhaps this choice of Esau to take wives among heathen unbelievers was something that led to his losing the inheritance. Now, I am not saying God had a hand in this (for all you hyper-Calvinists), but I am saying the actions we perform can keep, hinder, or in some cases prevent us from reaching, walking into, and attaining all that God has for us. Marrying an unbeliever, which is not sanctioned by Scripture as the rule and frequently is borne out by experiences of grief for the believer, is one of those things.
I would wonder if Esau did not take that relationship with God seriously in the manner he should have and that his heart attitude grew in such a manner that he ceased to walk after what God wanted for him, which would have been to heed the advice of his parents and not marry the people of the land, but rather the people of his father’s family.
Thoughts?
You know how Abraham made his servant go to find a wife for Isaac from his family and not the Canaanites? Further, do you remember how, in a couple of chapters, Isaac is about to send Jacob off to his family and relations in Haran in order for him to find a bride? Well, the text just says two things about Esau in preparation for the blessing Jacob is about to steal from him.
It says Esau took wives from among the Caananties. These wives and people evidentially did something or things that made life bitter and grievous for Isaac and Rebekah. I have this thought or speculation to offer and am curious what the rest of the church would say about the following.
Perhaps this choice of Esau to take wives among heathen unbelievers was something that led to his losing the inheritance. Now, I am not saying God had a hand in this (for all you hyper-Calvinists), but I am saying the actions we perform can keep, hinder, or in some cases prevent us from reaching, walking into, and attaining all that God has for us. Marrying an unbeliever, which is not sanctioned by Scripture as the rule and frequently is borne out by experiences of grief for the believer, is one of those things.
I would wonder if Esau did not take that relationship with God seriously in the manner he should have and that his heart attitude grew in such a manner that he ceased to walk after what God wanted for him, which would have been to heed the advice of his parents and not marry the people of the land, but rather the people of his father’s family.
Thoughts?