Jacob and Esau
103
lifelong repentance. This scene was vivid before him in afteryears
when the wicked course of his own sons oppressed his soul.
No sooner had Jacob left his father’s tent than Esau entered.
Though he had sold his birthright he was now determined to secure
its blessing. With the spiritual was connected the temporal birthright,
which would give him the headship of the family and a double portion
of his father’s wealth. “Let my father arise,” he said, “and eat of his
son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.”
Trembling with astonishment and distress, the blind old father
learned the deception that had been practiced upon him. He keenly felt
the disappointment that must come upon his elder son. Yet the convic-
tion flashed upon him that it was God’s providence which had brought
about the very thing he had determined to prevent. He remembered
[117]
the words of the angel to Rebekah, and he saw in Jacob the one best
fitted to accomplish the purpose of God. While the words of blessing
were upon his lips, he had felt the Spirit of Inspiration upon him; and
now he ratified the benediction unwittingly pronounced upon Jacob:
“I have blessed him; yea, and he shall be blessed.”
Esau Could Not Repent
Esau had lightly valued the blessing while it seemed within his
reach, but now that it was gone from him his grief and rage were
terrible. “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” “Hast thou not re-
served a blessing for me?” But the birthright which he had so carelessly
bartered, he could not regain. “For one morsel of meat,” for a momen-
tary gratification of appetite that had never been restrained, Esau sold
his inheritance.
But when he saw his folly, it was too late to recover the blessing.
“He found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with
tears.”
Hebrews 12:17
. Esau was not shut out from seeking God’s
favor by repentance, but he could find no means of recovering the
birthright. His grief did not spring from conviction of sin; he did not
desire to be reconciled to God. He sorrowed because of the results of
his sin, but not for the sin itself.
Esau is called in Scripture “a profane person.” Verse 16. He rep-
resents those who lightly value the redemption purchased for them
by Christ and are ready to sacrifice their heirship to heaven for the