Sorry, you must have Windows Media Player 9 or higher.

A HUNTER OF FLESH; A MAN OF THE WILD

10-30-11

ESAU AND JACOB

(Gen 25:21-27)  And Isaac [Heb: laughter] entreated [Heb: prayed to] the LORD for his wife, because she was barren [childless]: and the LORD was entreated of him [heard him], and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, [“The founders of” Amplified Bible] Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels [“and the separation of two peoples has begun in your body” Amplif.]; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau [Heb: hairy; in the orig. sense of handling; rough (i.e. sensibly felt)]. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob [Heb: heel-catcher (i.e. supplanter)] [Dict: to take the place of another through scheming, strategy, etc.]: and Isaac was threescore years old [60 years old] when she bare them. And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning [“and skilled” Amplif.] hunter [of flesh], a man of the field [Heb: wild] [“a man of the outdoors” Amplif.] [symbolizing his character of wildness and restlessness]; and Jacob was a plain man [Heb: gentle: undefiled, upright] [“and quiet man” Amplif.], dwelling in tents [symbolizing his character of domestication and obedience, presumably a tiller of the ground].

1.      Commentary: Three hunters are mentioned in the Bible. Their names and order of appearance were Nimrod = “the mighty hunter” (Gen 10:9); Ishmael = “an archer” (Gen 21:20); and Esau “a cunning hunter” (Gen 25:27). All three men were God-less. Both Ishmael and Esau married outside the Hebrew nation (faith), and it is not given but may be assumed by the pattern and result that Nimrod, who built Babel (Heb: confusion), did likewise. Mohammed claimed Ishmael as his ancestor, as do most Arabs.

2.      Wilson’s Dictionary of Bible Types: Esau = (Gen 25:25) This is a type of the flesh and the life of selfishness in contrast with Jacob and the life of faith.

A NAME CHANGE: FROM ESAU TO EDOM

(Gen 25:28-34)  And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob sod [Heb: boiled] pottage [Heb: soup]: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint [Heb: weary] [tired from an unsuccessful hunt]: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom [Heb: red]. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils [peas and beans]; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

1.      Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary: Edom = The name given to Esau after he traded his birthright to his brother Jacob for a meal, which consisted of red stew.

2.      Commentary: Later in his life, Jacob also received a significantly descriptive name change (Gen 32:28) to Israel (Heb: prince with God; he shall rule as God).

3.      birthright = Heb: the inheritance of the firstborn male

a.      Leadership in worship and headship of the family.

b.      A double-portion of the inheritance.

c.      The title (ownership) to the covenant blessing that God had promised to Abraham.

4.      despised = Heb: to disesteem:--despise, disdain, contemptible, + think to scorn, vile person.

5.      (Heb 12:16,17)  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

a.      (Heb 12:16,17 NIV)  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. 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.

THE CONCISE VISION OF OBADIAH CONCERNING THE FATE OF ALL MEN OF THE FLESH

(Oba 1:1-4)  The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom [Esau, a type and shadow of the flesh]; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock [a mountainous and thought by the Edomites to be impregnable region south of Jerusalem, including Petra], whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle [a type of the triune God, i.e., God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit: Exo 19:4], and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

1.      (Isa 14:12-15)  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount [Heb: mountain] of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

(Oba 1:5-14)  If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough [and left some]? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him. Shall I not in that day [the Day of the Lord, the return of Jesus Christ], saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?  And thy mighty men, O Teman [a grandson of Esau and an Edomite chief], shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off [like foreskin] for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the [Babylonian] strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them [The Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C.]. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress [Heb: tightness (i.e. fig. trouble): adversity, affliction, anguish, tribulation]. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity [Heb: oppression, ruin: destruction] [i.e., Great Tribulation]; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

1.      (Psa 137:1&7)  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down [captives], yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem [Jerusalem’s destruction]; who said, Raze it [Heb: demolish it], raze it, even to the foundation thereof.

THE DAY OF THE LORD

(Oba 1:15-21)  For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head [John 12:48]. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon mount Zion [a type fulfillment of mount Sinai] shall be deliverance [Heb: an escaped portion], and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble [“wood, hay, stubble” 1 Cor 3:12], and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. And saviours [Heb: bringing salvation] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.

1.     (John 12:48)  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words [Gk: rhema] [Grace], hath one that judgeth him: the word [Gk: logos] [Law] that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.