We are going to change gears, again, to look at another account in Genesis 25. Before we look at an incident in the life of Esau, I want to remind us that we have been seeing a time path from creation in 11013 B. C. that went to 2013 B. C., which was exactly 9,000 years. Six years earlier was 2007 B. C. and that is when Jacob and Esau were born. Then forty years later, there was an event in the life of Esau that God recorded when he was 40 years old, which would have been 1967 B. C. I mentioned the dates: 9,000 to 2013; 9006 to 2007; 9046 to 1967. It is the same thing 1,000 years after that. You know, that is really a time “type and figure” that God has set up. It is spiritual information that God located at a specific point from creation. Then 1,000 years later during the life of David, God did the same thing again. The year 1013 B. C. was the 10,000th year of earth’s history; 1007 B. C. (six years later) was 10,006 years and 1967 B. C. was 10,046.
These are major points in time and all were over the same time span involved with Esau 1,000 years before David. So, that is a second “type and figure” God set up. Then 1,000 years after this, the year 13 B. C. was the 11,000th year of earth’s history; 7 B. C. (six years later) was the 11,006th year and 33 A. D. was the 11,046th calendar year. That was the fulfillment of the things the Bible was pointing to, the coming of the Messiah. We can see from Jacob and Esau’s timeline and from David’s timeline that those “types and figures” were fulfilled, and they were fulfilled almost exactly with the number of years spaced between those dates.
When we project into our time, 1988 is the 13,000th year of life’s history; 1994 (six years later) is 13,006; 2033 is 13,046 calendar years. It is the exact time relationship we see in these other three, but now we are not just drawing on two “types” with Jacob and Esau’s time and David’s reign, but we are also drawing on the fulfilment of the “types” with the life of Christ. The pattern was fulfilled with Christ’s first coming. Then remember that it was said in Acts 1:11: “…this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” We have this time relationship spread out from 1988 to 1994 (with 2011 in the midst of it) to 2033, which we have learned covers the Great Tribulation of 23 years and this prolonged Day of Judgment.
By the way, regarding Judgment Day, I noticed another proof that the word “day” in the Bible can be a prolonged period of time. We know from Hebrews 3 and in the Old Testament that God speaks of the “day” of temptation as 40 years. But if we go to 1Chronicles 29, we will see another proof. It is referring to David, so it would span that time from 1007 B. C. to 967 B. C. and the time he ruled over Israel for 40 years. It says in 1Chronicles 29:27:
And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
So, he was really a strong type of the Lord Jesus who would come exactly 1,000 years later. Even the division of his reign (7 years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem) points to Christ, and we see 7 years of Christ’s life on the Old Testament side and 33 years on the New Testament side. Again, 1,000 years from 1007 B. C. is 7 B. C. David died in 967 B. C. and his 40-year reign ended and we go to 33 A. D. and it is 1,000 calendar years.
I noticed that the word “time” in 1Chronicles 29:27 is the Hebrew word “yome,” which is the typical Hebrew word for “day.” It is Strong’s #3117. So, it would read, “And the day that he reigned over Israel was forty years,” which included seven years in Hebron and 43 years in Jerusalem. So, it is referring to David’s entire reign as a “day.” That is also true of Jehu and his reign of 28 years, and it may apply to others because the word “day” is very common in the Bible. If you look in your concordance for Strong’s #3117, there are a lot of listings. I have not gone through all of them, but these are at least two more pieces of evidence which shows that God can refer to a “day” as a prolonged period of time. It is interesting that Hebrews 3 speaks of the “day of temptation” in the wilderness as 40 years. Here, the “time” or “day” that David reigned was 40 years. And we are living in the “day” of judgment. We are living in the Day of Judgment that began May 21, 2011, so we tend to think of it being 22 years to 2033 A. D., but judgment began at the house of God, officially, in 1994. And 1994 through 2033 is 40 inclusive years. What we mean by inclusive is that you begin counting the year 1994 as the first year, and 1995 as the second year, and so forth. In counting actual years, we start counting from 1994 to 1995 as the first year and to 2033 is 39 years. Either way of counting is legitimate.
So, we are looking at a Day of Judgment that extended from the judgment on the churches to the completion of judgment on the world. You know, we should have at least considered a prolonged Day of Judgment. And we did to some degree, because we began to learn a little bit about that with the five months from May 21, 2011 to October 21, 2011 that we thought would be a literal five-month period of judgment. That is a prolonged judgment. We were thinking that Judgment Day would be five months in duration, but we have gone beyond that time. Now we are looking at 40 inclusive years (including the judgment on the churches) and it has Biblical precedent for a judgment period, especially because God is also “testing” throughout this time. During the Great Tribulation when God was opening the Scriptures to reveal additional truths or doctrines, each time a new doctrine arose there were many people that disputed and argued with it. They were disturbed by it. When the doctrine came forth about salvation being the “faith of Christ,” some people did not like that idea. Then there was the doctrine of the end of the church age. With each doctrine, it was a “test” for the people that professed to be of God, and that is a characteristic of Judgment Day. This is the reason we find verses that speak of the 40 years in the wilderness as a time of testing and judgment. It was a judgment upon Israel when the spies came back with an evil report, and then God said they would wander a year in the wilderness for each day they searched out the land, so they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
So, let us go to Genesis 25:20:
And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
We know Isaac was born in 2067 B. C., so this would have been 2027 B. C. when he took Rebekah to be his wife. Three years earlier in 2030 B. C., his mother Sarah died, and that is when Abraham sent his servant to find Isaac a wife. They became man and wife three years after the death of his mother. Then it says in Genesis 25:21-26:
And Isaac intreated JEHOVAH for his wife, because she was barren: and JEHOVAH was intreated of 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 enquire of JEHOVAH. And JEHOVAH said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; 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. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
Isaac would have been sixty in 2007 B. C. because he was born in 2067. The year 2007 B. C. was when Jacob and Esau were born. The struggle in the womb must have been intense. I cannot imagine. It is tough enough when the woman is bearing one baby and the baby is kicking, but to have twins that are jostling each other for position inside the womb, there could have been a kick over here and a kick over there, all at the same time. I am sure it could be very disturbing, and she was troubled because the children were struggling together within her. We know that God set up Jacob and Esau as figureheads, as it were, of the human race. Each child represented a group of mankind because mankind can be divided into “two nations.” We have a world of 195 or 200 nations or more, and most are set against one another. There are many conflicts. But in truth, the people of the world can be divided not by races or languages, but they can be divided into just two groups: 1) those that are God’s elect; and 2) those that are not God’s elect. They can be divided into the nations of them which are saved, according to the book of Revelation, and the nations of the world that are under the power and authority of Satan. Esau represented the unsaved and Jacob represented the saved. It says in Malachi 1:1-3:
The burden of the word of JEHOVAH to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith JEHOVAH. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith JEHOVAH: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
God said He loved Jacob and hated Esau. It does not mean that God had harsh feelings toward Esau and tender feelings toward Jacob, but it simply means that when God made the choice regarding whom He would save, He did so before the foundation of the world (according to the book of Ephesians). As He chose certain ones, the elect, He was loving the elect by choosing them. Then He laid their sins upon the Lord Jesus, as more and more love was shown toward them. By not choosing Esau, He “hated” him. He separated Esau from Jacob, and the one received salvation blessing and the other did not. It was a choice God made, according to what it says in Romans 9:6-13:
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Here, God tells us that before they were born to do either good or evil, He chose one and not the other. He determined to love Jacob and to hate Esau. That describes God’s salvation program because these two are figureheads. Jacob represents all those God would save throughout the history of the world, and Esau represents all those God would not save. It was all done by God’s choosing, and that is the reason Jesus said, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” It is the reason that man is not born of the will of the flesh, but of God. It is the reason the Bible speaks of election. It goes on to say in Romans 9:14:
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Many people say it is not fair or just for God to choose one person over the other and to do so before the world was. God is going to address this objection, as it goes on to say in Romans 9:15-16:
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
It is just like what it says in John 1:13:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Salvation is of “God that showeth mercy.” It is completely His salvation program, so He uses Jacob and Esau as representatives of all mankind in the world – those that He saved and those He did not save. So, Esau represents many more people than Jacob, but they both represent these two groups or nations. Therefore, they represent you and me and everyone that has ever lived upon the earth, so the year they were born in 2007 B. C. is very important and significant. And I think this is the reason God has tied their birth date in to this time relationship that was so important that it was the pattern followed with the (earthly) birth and death of Christ, as well as with David a thousand years before Him.
So, we come to Genesis 25, and it says in Genesis 25:29-34:
And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 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. 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 lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
We saw this earlier when Esau was born and the color “red” was in view, as it said in Genesis 25:25:
And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
We know that later he was also called a “hairy man,” but he was also red when he first came out. He was red all over. Then there was this interesting incident with the pottage, and it was red pottage: “…therefore was his name called Edom.”
The word “red” is a little complicated, so I want to make sure I get it right. The word translated in the Bible as “red” is Strong’s #132. This word “red” is Strong’s #132 and it is from Strong’s #119, and Strong’s #119 is from Strong’s #120, which is also pronounced “aw-dom” and translated as “man,” as Adam was the first man. Strong’s #121 in the concordance is the word translated as the name “Adam,” and these all have the same consonants. So, the word for “red” or “Edom” is basically “Adam,” and there is a very close identification. First, God identified Esau as being “red” and then there was the “red” pottage, where God gave him another name “Edom,” which is also the word for Adam. I think this further strengthens this idea that in 2007 B. C. when the “two nations” were struggling together in the womb and coming to the birth, it is picturing all of mankind. Edom really typifies man. Genesis 25:24 says that Esau despised his birthright when he sold it for some red pottage, like a bowl of soup. He sold it cheaply.
There are a couple of interesting things here, in that Esau was born first. There is the “right of the firstborn,” as the firstborn was to get the blessing. Esau was born first, but Jacob was grabbing his heel as the struggle continued, and Jacob was born second. So, Esau had the right of the firstborn, but he despised his birthright. We wonder why. Now we know that even before they were born God had already decided that He loved Jacob and hated Esau. So why did the Lord not simply arrange for Jacob to be born first and Esau born second? Then Jacob would have the birthright that he later received. That would seem to make sense, but God did not do that. He allowed Esau to come forth first. Then Esau despised his birthright. Later we will find that when he came to receive the blessing (of the firstborn) from his father, Jacob supplanted him and received that blessing. All this seems very elaborate, but we know God allowed these things to happen and He put this into Rebecca’s mind. In fact, the idea could have been planted in Rebecca’s mind before they were born when God told her that the elder would serve the younger. That was the Word of God. That was God’s communication and revelation that was made directly to her, so she would not forget that. She was living her life and she would have noticed some things about Esau, and she was thinking about what God told her about the elder serving the younger. She knew that if Esau got the blessing, it would not be in accord with what God had told her when they were still in her womb. Therefore, with that revelation that was made long before, it may have “planted the seed” that caused Rebecca to take the action she did when she instructed her son Jacob to get a kid of the goats, and then she put the hair on his forearms and hands because Esau was a hairy man. Then she made that meal that Isaac loved as Esau was out hunting. Again, it was all very elaborate and complicated, even though God could have made it very easy by positioning these two in the womb so that Jacob would come first, and Esau would follow. Then everything would be fine, or, as the expression goes, “Everything is right in the universe.” But God did not do that. He allowed the struggle. He allowed Esau to be the firstborn.
Let us look at this word “despise,” where it says, “thus Esau despised his birthright.” Let us go to Malachi 1, which we read earlier, where God laid out His salvation program by telling us He loved Jacob and hated Esau. In Malachi 1:4, Esau is called “Edom” (because of the red pottage) and it means “red.” And it is a word that identifies with “Adam.” It says in Malachi 1:4:
Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down…
We can see the unsaved (the “Esaus”) in the churches that built up the corporate body over the church age, but Christ said of the buildings of the temple, in Matthew 24:2: “There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” So, Edom is building, but it goes on to say in Malachi 1:4:
… They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom JEHOVAH hath indignation for ever.
Again, this is in the context of God hating Esau. And we know God made that determination before they were born, but we can trace it back to before the world was created, in eternity past. God had already made the decree concerning those He would hate forever. We are now several years past the date that God shut the door to heaven, and this is the reason some say, “It is not fair! He is not giving anyone a chance.”
You know, that is the same argument some people make against God’s election program described in Romans 9. They think it is not fair that some were predestinated to receive salvation, but others were not – it does not give everyone an opportunity. But, you see, that is the problem because salvation has never been because man had a chance or opportunity. I guess their idea is that if people were given a chance or opportunity, they are somehow going to turn to God. That has never happened once in the history of the world, and it never will happen. Man has never turned to God in a right way based upon his own will. He will only rightly turn to God when God turns that person first. And God has already completed the salvation of His elect. He has already saved all those that were represented by Jacob and, therefore, He is under no obligation to save anyone. The salvation program of God is only designed for the elect, specifically. Christ said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” All the lost sheep have been found, but if others say, “You have to send the Gospel to us, too,” it is pointless; and it would be a vain exercise for God to send forth the Gospel to evangelize the earth when everyone that was to become saved has become saved.
Let us go on in Malachi 1:5-7:
And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, JEHOVAH will be magnified from the border of Israel. A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith JEHOVAH of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of JEHOVAH is contemptible.
This passage goes on, and it has to do with the ungodly that were in the congregation of Israel, and it can point to the ungodly with the corporate church. They despised God. They despised His holy name with their pollution of the Gospel as they turned the Gospel of grace into a gospel of works, and so forth. Again, this would relate to Esau or Edom that represented the unsaved within the churches and congregations.
Let us also go to Ecclesiastes 9:13:
This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
Of course, Christ is that “poor man” who by His wisdom delivered the city. It would be the city of “new Jerusalem” or heavenly Jerusalem. The remnant of elect are the “little city” out of the whole of mankind. It is a small portion out of the total number of people that are born into this world. So, His wisdom is despised by most people. Christ is the essence of wisdom. The Word of God is the source of wisdom. So, if the wisdom of the poor man is despised, it means the Bible is despised.
We also see it says in Psalm 22:6:
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
This is a Messianic Psalm that refers to Christ. He was despised. It is common in the Bible when we read about the life and work of Christ. For example, it says in another Messianic passage in Isaiah 53:3:
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
That is the worldly reaction to Christ. That is how the unsaved people of the world react, as represented by Esau. He represents the natural-minded, unsaved people, and he despised his birthright, just as the unsaved in the world despise the Word of God who is Christ. Remember what it said in Luke 10:16:
He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
This was in the context of sending the seventy out, two by two, with the Gospel. It is the “chain of command.” The Bible says, “How beautiful are the feet of them,” and in another place it says, “How beautiful are the feet of him,” referring to Christ and to those that bring the Gospel. So, the people of God went forth with the Gospel out of love. It was, in the first instance, God’s love and then God moved in His people to love their fellow man and to go to their fellow man (with the Gospel). For the most part, that Gospel message was despised. It was rejected. So, Christ was saying, “He that despiseth you, despiseth me.”
Of course, it must be a faithful Gospel message that is true to what the Bible says because Christ is true and faithful. If someone comes with “another gospel” that is not the truth, then that person could be despised, but they are the offense if they are bringing a false gospel. But if you bring the true Gospel message and it is rejected and despised, God is saying that they are not despising you as an individual, but they are rejecting Him. That is what God told Samuel the prophet: “…they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me.” And that is how it is. Sometimes we wonder, “Is there something wrong with me, personally?” And there could be. [Laughter] We all have faults, but not as much as in times past in our lives before we became saved. We had plenty wrong with us then, but people would say, “You are such a nice guy! You are my buddy. Let us have another drink!” But when God saves us and translates us out of that darkness and into the kingdom of His dear Son, we are identified with His Word and then it is a different story.
You know, the despising is not always overt or obvious. It could be a quiet moving away or separation from us, because in Luke 6 Christ was speaking of hatred that comes for His sake when He said they would separate you from their company. It is a preference for someone that speaks your own language. If you work with 10 people and you are the “Jacob” and there are nine “Esaus,” there are two nations there. One has the language of the kingdom of heaven and the others have the language of the world. At first, they did not know who you were, but over time a light begins to shine or maybe they notice what you are not doing or not saying, as you do not join in with their language and behavior, like “roasting” someone that is not present in the room. That is a popular pastime in the world. We do not want to get into that kind of behavior because the Lord moves in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. Maybe we did that kind of thing in the past or maybe we even did so as a child of God, but we would have had a conscience about it and received correction and now we want to stay away from that. So, that group of nine are going to go off by themselves and have their own “fellowship,” but here is that “one leper” that has been cleansed from his leprosy and went back to glorify the Lord, and he does not fit in with the other nine. It is because of the spiritual condition of the one individual versus the nine, and it is bound to happen if given enough time.
Often the problem for the elect child of God is that he wants to fit in and be accepted. You know, you must go to work every day and be with these people every day. It can be lonely and difficult, but God does help us. We can pray about the situation. God tells us to “do good and communicate.” Even if we are being separated out, we should not say, “Well, I am just going to do my own thing.” We should always try, by God’s grace, to keep the lines of communication open and talk about the things we can talk about it. We do not have to bring up the Bible because they know where we stand.
Well, I do not know how I got off on that subject, but the despising of the birthright fits in very well with what the natural man does regarding the Word of God. So, Esau despised his birthright. We do not know when that took place. We know he was born in 2007 B. C., but we do not know when Jacob made the pottage and Esau sold his birthright for that pottage. He did so very cheaply, and then he went about his business.
The major point in time that God focuses on in Esau’s life was when he was 40 years old, which would occur later. We know that 40 is the number of “testing,” and we know that he was being tested. He had already failed a test by selling his birthright and, perhaps, other things he had done. He was under God’s testing program, just like God has all the world under a testing program, in one way or another. Maybe we will get into this more tomorrow in our last (conference) study, but this will tie in to Adam. We can see this through the name “Esau” or “Edom” and the association with the color “red,” which is basically the word “Adam.” It ties into Adam in the Garden of Eden when God tested him. It ties into the Lord Jesus Christ when He entered into the world and God tested Him. He was led into wilderness to be tested for 40 days, but He was tested from His birth all the way through. The religious leaders, the scribes and Pharisees, kept coming at Him and testing Him. He was tested. He was called the “second Adam.” So, God set up the testing of the “first Adam” in the Garden of Eden, and the testing of the “second Adam” (the Lord Jesus) that took place over 40 calendar years from 7 B. C. to 33 A. D.
And, now, Esau, who identifies with “Adam” or with “man,” is being tested up to this age of 40. So, the year 1967 B. C. in the Biblical calendar is an indicator of when Esau officially fails the test. Lord willing, we will see how that points to the year 2033 A. D. Hopefully, we will have time to do so in our next Bible study.