Day 13: Esau Sells His Birthright

 Today's reading: Genesis 25-26, Job 15-16, and Proverbs 2:20-22.

I. Today's reading in Genesis begins oddly, with Abraham marrying his concubine Keturah, who bore him 6 more sons (25:1-2). The sons of most of these are listed, but none of them stick around for long in the narrative because Abraham sends them away like Ishmael (21:9-14; 25:6). It's a rather weird family dynamic, with children and their offspring being sent away like this, but I suppose it worked back then to protect the promises God made through Isaac (17:18-21) and not these others, as well as the property he would inherit from Abraham. 

Then, Abraham dies and is buried with Sarah (25:7-9). That this was done by both Isaac and Ishmael raises questions over how they related to each other not only during this, but in other times. Did they keep in contact with each other? I can't imagine Thanksgiving-like dinners or holiday visits, but if they did, in what way?

We are given a listing of Ishmael's descendants (25:12-18), and then the narrative switches quickly to Isaac. It is from him and Rebekah that we get the twins Esau and Jacob, with this curious foreshadowing from God:

"Two nations are in your womb,

    and two peoples, born of you, shall be divided;

the one shall be stronger than the other,

    the elder shall serve the younger." (25:23)

Their "struggle together within" Rebekah would come to be true outside the womb. Jacob began by grasping Esau's heel at birth (25:26), and later tricked him out of his birthright (25:29-34). He doesn't come across very well at all, given how opportunistic and manipulative he is with his own brother. Nevertheless, Esau treats a sacred inheritance as trivial and trades long-term covenantal responsibility for immediate appetite, which doesn't say much for him. I have to wonder though if there is more to this story. Right now, it looks to me like gluttony in action, which explains why it is considered one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Momentary satisfaction of hunger, a bowl of stew for his birthright. He really must have "despised his birthright" or thought so little of it.

Next, we see Isaac going to Gerar, of the Philistines, due to a famine. He tries the lie that his wife is his sister (26:7), but the king there spots the two in an intimate moment (26:8), so warns all his people not to touch her (26:11). Isaac isn't punished for his lie, but like before with Abraham, he instead gets wealthy (26:12-13). There is some back-and-forth with the Philistines, until finally their king seeing that Isaac is so blessed by God, makes a covenant of peace with him (26:28-31).

Today's reading in Genesis ends with Esau taking a Hittite wife, "and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah" (26:34-35). I'm assuming that this means they were pagans and brought idolatry into Isaac's encampment.

II. Eliphaz again shows himself to be a questionable friend of Job in his reply. As the Ignatius Bible states in the footnotes:

Eliphaz delivers his second speech. Accusations intensify as he charges Job with turning "against God" (15:13) and making himself "abominable and corrupt" (15:16). As far as he can tell, Job is sinking deeper into sin by acting like a know-it-all and refusing to deal with the problem of unconfessed sin in his life. (p. 801)

Well, I'd say that he should be left off the Christmas gift list, or whatever the equivalent would be at that time.

Job's response to Eliphaz really makes me feel for him in the agony he has. The Ignatius Bible notes:

Job replies to Eliphaz a second time. The mockery of his friends (16:20) and the scorn of his foes (17:6) make him feel as if God is assaulting him with a violent hatred (16:9). Still, he continues to plead for a fair examination of his case (16:19-21). (p. 802) 

How could one not be moved by Job's repeated pleas, feeling abandoned by God and his friends? 

III. Finally, we are given the last verses of Chapter 2 in Proverbs. The father finishes this part by noting that if his son follows his advice, he will "walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous" and will "inhabit the land" (2:20-22). Frankly, these verses could have been included a couple of days ago, but "trust the process," I guess.

That's it for today.