Jacob and Esau: Short Term Gain Over Long Term Loss

9th in a series on how men and women in the Bible

deal with waiting, disappointment and unemployment

Jacob and Esau: Short Term Gain Over Long Term Loss

Reflections on Genesis 25:19-34

My brother, Rob, and his wife had twins for their first children.  Rob used to ask parents with only one infant what they did with all their time.  Imagine getting ready for your first child and then the news comes…and you have to multiply everything by two.  And of course, my friends who had quintuplets….un-imagineable.  In the story from Genesis 25, Isaac and Rebekah have waited twenty years for their first child.  Rebekah was initially barren…a trait shared by her mother-in-law.  This becomes one of the first opportunities for the couple to demonstrate their faith.  And, like my brother and his wife, Isaac and Rebekah get a double blessing.  But also a blessing with a prophecy.  

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from 

within you will be separated; one people will be stronger 

than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

What do you do with such news? We know very little about how the boys grew up, but it seemed that the they were polar opposites: Esau, the outdoorsman and Jacob the one who preferred to be at home.  And their parents showed favoritism so much so the Scripture records: “Isaac loved Esau and Rebekah loved Jacob.” 

We enter the story where Esau has been hunting and Jacob is at home cooking. Like a typical adolescent boy, Esau comes home ‘hungry enough to die’.  Jacob seems prepared for this moment as he bargains for his brother’s birthright as the firstborn.  Quite a coup since the first-born received an inheritance twice as large as the next in line. 

Esau again responds in an immature manner, “Look, I am about to die,” What good is the birthright to me?”  What are we willing to give up in the long run for a short term prize?  From birth, Jacob, whose name means supplanter, had a destiny to be ruler over his brother but could it have been fulfilled without deceit?  If we feel we have been overlooked or misrepresented have we resorted to deceitful means or remained a man or woman of integrity?  

This portion of the story concludes with, “So Esau despised his birthright.”  Even if we don’t know anything else about the story, we must assume that things probably did not turn out well for Esau.  And we must ask, “Did Jacob get away with his deceit?”  

What principles can we learn to help us navigate the current workplace environment?  

1. Rebekah’s response to trouble was to pray?  What’s our first response?
2. Jacob was destined to rule over Esau. Sometimes people are chosen over us for no apparent reason.  How do we respond? 
3. Favoritism in families is bad, and can be harmful in the workplace as well.
4. Employees should be appreciated for their specific gifts although some gifts will stand out over others.
5. Esau and Jacob could have repented of their behavior. What difference would that have made for them and their families?
6. Don’t give up a long term vision for a short term gain.  
7. Are repentance, seeking forgiveness, granting mercy acceptable and honored business practices?

Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

                                    Mark 8:36