Genesis 25

Genesis 25:21, Isaac pleaded. As with his father Abraham, the faith of Isaac was tried mightily. Rebekah was barren and Isaac entreated YHVH that his promises to Abraham might be fulfilled to him as well. YHVH at long last answered Isaac’s prayer with twins, Esau and Jacob. We learn from this that though the faith of the redeemed believer be tried, the promises of YHVH are always sure. What spiritual mountains have you been asking in faith for YHVH to remove from your life (Mark 11:23), or promises of YHVH to be fulfilled in your life (2 Cor 1:20), or prayers to be answered? Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Remember this: Never cease praying and believing, and believing that you receive (Mark 11:24)! Doubts and fear will come, yet prevailing prayer and faith overcome all. (Read 1 John 5:4–5.)

Genesis 25:23, Two nations…one people shall be stronger than the other people; the elder shall serve the younger. We can see the fulfillment of this interesting prophecy in the subsequent interplay between the Jews and western Christians versus the Muslims to this day in numerous ways. With few exceptions, the Muslims nations have always played a subordinate role to the Jews and Christians. Recently, however, the balances are shifting slightly in favor of the Muslims, who are endeavoring to take over many Western nations through illegitimate means or by terrorist activities. As prophesied in the Scriptures, YHVH is allowing this as a disciplinary judgment against his people because they have largely forsaken him.

Genesis 25:27–28, Esau vs. Jacob. There are only two types of people on this earth: Esaus and Jacobs. Please reflect on this for a moment. The evidence of this fact is illustrated by those who hung on either side of Yeshua at his crucifixion: a believer or one who had faith in Yeshua, and one who did not. Let’s explore this idea.

Hanging on either side of Yeshua on the cross, spiritually speaking, there was a spiritual “Jacob” and an “Esau” (Matt 24:39–41; Luke 23:39–43). One of the thieves repented and accepted Yeshua as his Savior, and was blessed for it. The other thief only mocked and scorned Yeshua and, hence, died in his sins spiritually condemned forever.

So what type of person was Esau? The Bible describes him as a cunning hunter (Gen 25:25). Nimrod was the only other person in Scripture termed “a hunter”  (Gen 10:9). What kind of person would a hunter have been then compared to the typical farmer or herdsman of the day like Isaac and Jacob? Think wild, violent, uncivilized and savage versus civilized and domesticated. Even the meaning of the name Esau meaning “hairy or rough”suggests what type of individual he was. 

We are given a clue to Esau’s character when Scripture reveals that Esau was “a man of the field.” Field in Scripture can be a metaphor for the world (see Matt 13:38). This description seems to fit Esau, for he was a profane (unhallowed, worldly, ungodly) man (Heb 12:16). He had no esteem for things of spiritual and eternal value. That is why he sold his birthright—his spiritual inheritance. He lived for the moment and had no eye for, hope in, or faith toward the future.  His eyes were on worldly gain, not on righteousness. He sought the instant gratification of his sensual nature. That is why he sold his birthright for a bowl of lentils in order to satiate his physical hunger at the moment; that is, his god was his belly and he lived for the moment without thinking of the future consequences of his actions. In so doing, he disdained and dishonored his family heritage and those things that were highly esteemed by his father and grandfather. 

Moreover, in Genesis 26:34–35, we see, to the great grief of his parents, that Esau married one of the local, heathen Canaanite girls. He did not honor his parents or respect their wishes to marry someone of like spiritual faith and belief. 

Do these traits describe some unbelievers that you know, and even some believers or their children who have abandoned the biblical faith in which they were raised, while preferring to follow the heathen and unbiblical values of the world around them? Perhaps you were even like this before you were saved. 

Truly Esau was a prodigal son, who unlike the wayward son in Yeshua’s parable by the same name, sadly, left his father’s house and forsook the ways of righteousness for the temporal and temporary pleasures of the world.

Genesis 25:30, Esau…Edom. Eventually the descendants of Esau would settle in the area SE of the Dead Sea in what is now modern Jordan and north of the Gulf of Aqaba and the land of Midian. This area is referred to in the Bible as Edom or Mount Seir. However, several years after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, and country of Edom was utterly destroyed either by the Babylonians or other neighboring peoples (see Keil and Delitzsch, JFB, Josephus Ant. 10.9.7). After the Babylonian captivity, the westward fleeing Edomites took refuge in southern Judah (in the area around Beersheba and encompassing the modern Gaza Strip), which became known as Idumea (Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). According to Josephus, the Maccabean Jews subjugated the Edomites or Idumeans and forced them to convert to Judaism (Jospephus Ant. 13.9.1, 15.5). Subsequently, this paved the way for Herod the Edomite’s kingdom. Idumea is mentioned once in the Gospel of Mark, since people from that territory were among the multitudes who came to hear Yeshua (Mark 3:8). 

Edom (the Spirit of Islam) Exposed

Many, if not most of the modern Moslems or Muslims (especially the Arabs) trace their lineage back if not biologically then spiritually to Ishmael, the son of Abraham by Hagar. Islam in its religious book, the Koran, claims that it was Abraham and Ishmael who built the Kaaba, which is the small building containing a stone that supposedly fell from heaven. This shrine is located in the midst of the Great Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. 

In Genesis 16:11–12 YHVH prophesied the following concerning Ishmael and his descendants:

The angel of YHVH said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son; and you shall call his name Ishmael, because YHVH has given heed to your affliction. And he will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; and he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

More than two thousand years after Moses wrote the Book of Genesis which records YHVH Elohim initiating a covenant with Abraham (the Abrahamic Covenant) and then conferring the birthright and covental blessings upon Isaac, Abraham’s son, Mohammed, the founder of Islam, changed the story. Mohammed twisted the biblical account of Abraham’s giving the birthright blessing to Isaac and believe instead that Ishmael, Abraham’s son through Hagar, his concubine, was the promised son of blessing. Both Israelites and Arabs, therefore, believe that they have a right to the Promised Land of Canaan, and, hence, this disagreement is at the roots of the modern Arab-Israeli conflict.

Scripture further records that Esau, the disinherited son of Isaac, also had a jealous anger against his brother Jacob, who received the Abrahamaic, covenantal birthright promise instead of him. Scripture further records that Esau married the daughter of Ishmael (Gen 28:9). Thus in some of Esau’s descendants (he had more than one wife), the lineage of Esau and Ishmael were combined and both men had a jealous feud with the sons of Jacob, which has been passed down generationally to this day.

The Bible has more to say prophetically about the descendants of Edom (another name for Esau, Gen 31:6, 8) than about those of Ishmael. Edom is portrayed as an aggressive and bloodthirsty people who are opposed to Israel at every step. We will discover what Scripture has to say about this below.

In the mean time, let’s take a closer look at Edom or Esau.

• Edom (meaning “red”) was Esau’s nickname (see Gen 25:25,  30; 36:1,  8–9,  19,  43). 
• Esau intermarried with the descendants of Ishmael (Gen 28:9). 
• Seir is another name for the land of Edom (Gen 32:3; 33:16; 36:8) which was historically located SE of the Dead Sea in what is now located in modern Jordan. Eventually, the Edomites were forced out of that area and moved westward into the area of southern Israel west of the Dead Sea. In the time of the Romans, this area was known as Idumea and overlapped into the modern area  known today as the Gaza Strip. Thus, it is likely that some modern day Gazans, including the terrorist group Hamas, may be ancient descendents of Edom. If so, this may explain in part their murderous hatred for Israel and the Jews.
• Esau intermarried with the people of Canaan (Gen 36:2). He intermarried with the Hittites, the Hivites, as well as the Ishmaelites.
• His descendants included the Amalekites (Gen 36:12, 16), who fought against the children of Israel upon leaving Egypt and as soon as they entered the wilderness en route to the Promised Land (Exod 17:1).
• Esau’s sons were dukes or chieftains (leaders of clans) and kings (Gen 36:15–16,  40–43).
• Although Esau’s direct lineage was confined to the area of the traditional land of Edom, in modern-day Jordan, it is clear from the biblical record that he and his descendants intermarried with many of the neighboring nations, so that his descendants were scattered far and wide over the region that later became known as the Holy Land.

• The entire one-chapter Book of Obadiahis a prophecy against Edom. Let’s note several key points in this prophecy that might help us to understand some things about Edom in light of end-time Bible prophecy and how this relates to the end-times Arab-Israeli conflict. When you think of Edom, think of the modern day Palestinians.

The Book of Obadiah has more to say about Edom:

Obadiah 1:2, The descendants of Edom are greatly despised (or scorned, held in contempt, disdained).

Obadiah 1:3, Though they dwell in the clefts (places of concealment, retreats) of the rocks, they are proud and view themselves as invincible.

Obadiah 1:4, YHVH promises to bring Edom down.

Obadiah 1:7, Esau has a confederacy (league, alliance) of nations, which include many of the modern Moslem and Arab nations.

Obadiah 1:11, Edom’s eyes are on Jerusalem. Edom, along with other foreign enemies of Israel, will cast lots for Jerusalem (seek to divide it among the nations or religions of the world as an international city under the control of the United Nations?).

Obadiah 1:13, Edom has entered into the gates of the land of Israel in the day of her calamity or disaster.

Obadiah 1:14, Edom will kill Jewish refugees trying to escape the land of Israel in her time of distress.

Obadiah 1:15, The time frame of the fulfillment of these prophecies is “near” the day of YHVH, when he will judge Edom and the other heathen nations. 

Obadiah 1:16, Edom will be drinking (celebrating?) on the Temple Mount which is YHVH’s “holy mountain,” and as a result, they shall drink the cup of YHVH’s wrath.

Obadiah 1:17, The house of Jacob will eventually get the Temple Mount back!

When we read the Book of Obadiah, we see a graphic, prophetic descriptions of the modern Palestinian and other Islamo-terrorists who hate Israel, the Jews as well as Christians. 

The Bible has much to say about who Jacob and his descendents represents in end-time prophecy. Now we also see who Jacob’s descendants’ arch-enemy will be, and who will attempt to prevent both the Jews and Christians from returning to the land of Israel in fulfillment of Bible prophecy. The return of the scattered  descendents of Jacob (modern Jews and Christians) will begin to happen in the end times before the coming of the Messiah and continue after his return. The Bible is clear on this as we have written about elsewhere

As we noted, Edom’s hatred for Israel has its roots in the antagonism between Ishmael and Isaac, and then afterwards between Esau and Jacob. The hatred that Esau had for Israel has been passed on down to successive generations of Edomites. The biblical prophets discusses this murderous antagonism on Edom’s part as being carried down generation to generation to the very end times. Let’s review some of other biblical prophecies in this regard.

Ezekiel 36 speaks about the conflict between end-time Edom and end-time Israel. In verse two, we see that the enemies of Israel have regarded the “ancient high [or declared, promised] places” of Israel as “ours in possession.” This is a clear reference to the holy places in Israel (e.g., the Temple Mount for the Jews and Bethlehem and Nazareth for the Christians—only in recent years have the Palestinians taken Bethlehem and forced—out of persecution and intimidation—the majority of the large Christian population of that city to leave). “High places” can also refer to the militarily strategic high places such as the Golan Heights and the ridges surrounding the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Next, let’s look at Ezekiel 35, which is a prophecy against Edom. In verses four through five, we see that end-time Edom will be devastated because of its perpetual hatred for the children of Israel. They have killed their enemies by the power of the sword. This is how Muslim’s have traditionally spread their religion—by their curved scimitar sword which is displayed prominently on the flag of Saudi Arabia to this day. Historically, advancing Moslem armies would force their captives to leave, covert or die. According to verse five, this will be occurring at the time of the punishment (of the children of Israel?) at the time of the end (NAS) or the end of time (lit. Hebrew). This is another example of YHVH’s using Edom (Esau) to bring Ephraim and Judah to its knees and to repentance in the time of the end.

In verses six through nine of the same chapter, we see that YHVH will punish Edom for its blood-thirstiness against Israel and will devastate its cities and slay large numbers of its people. Other biblical prophecies indicate that the militaries of Judah and Ephraim will be the means by which YHVH accomplishes this.

Finally, in Ezekiel 35:10, Edom (Islam) wants to take over or possess the two countries or lands (Heb. eretz) of Israel or those of Judah and Ephraim (or the Jews and Christians), even though YHVH was there (in the lands of his people). Their anger and hatred against Israel is based on envy or jealousy (verse 11) of Israel.

The Koran, the religious book of Islam, has taken the historic and prophesied hatred of Edom and formed a religion around it. The Koran was written by Mohammed, a Jew and Christian hater, more than one thousand years after the prophecies of Ezekiel and Obadiah. Here are some quotes from the Koran that confirm the prophecies of the Bible with regard to Edom.

Make war upon those to whom the Scriptures have been given as believe not in God [Allah]…and who forbid not that which God and His Apostle [Mohammed] have forbidden, and who profess not the profession of the truth, until they pay tribute out of hand, and they be humbled. The Jews say, “Ezra is a son of God”; and the Christians say, “The Messiah is a son of God.” Such sayings in their mouths. They resemble the sayings of the infidels of old! God do battle with them! How they are misguided! (Sura 9:29–30)

When thy Lord spake unto the angels, “I will be with you: therefore stablish ye the faithful I will cast a dread into the heart of the infidels.” Strike off their heads then, and strike off from them every finger-tip. (Sura 8:12)

“O people of the Book!…Can I announce to you any retribution worse than that which awaiteth them with God? They whom God hath cursed and with whom He hath been angry—some of them hath he changed into apes and swine; and they who worship Thagout are in evil plight, and have gone far astray from the right path. (Sura 5:64–65)

Only recompense of those who war against God and His Apostle, and go about to commit disorders on the earth, shall be that they shall be slain and crucified, or have their alternate hands and feet cut off, or be banished from the land…(Sura 5:37) 

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Genesis 25:32, I am about to die. The implication here is not that Esau was about to die of hunger, but that he would die before seeing the fulfillment of the promises YHVH had made to Isaac and Abraham regarding possessing the land of Canaan. Remember that YHVH had told Abraham that it would be four hundred years before his descendents would inherit the land of Canaan (Gen 15:13), since “the sins of the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete”  (Gen 15:16). So what good would his birthright be? He would see no material gain from this land inheritance in his lifetime. 

Actually Esau was right—but only in the short term perspective; however, he was totally wrong in the long term perspective! Esau was only motivated by temporal and material gain, not spiritual, future rewards, which are possessed by faith, not by sight (Heb 11:1–2, 8–10,  39–40). Sadly, the vast majority of people on earth to this day operate under this shortsighted mentality.

Esau was a profane and secular man, and the Spirit and character of YHVH strive against and loathe such individuals (Mal 1:3; Rom 9:13), who prefer the present secular and sensual pleasures over pleasing YHVH. In reality, their god is their belly and they mind earthly things (Phil 3:19). This was the state of the Laodicean believers in Revelation 3:14–22. 

Pause now and reflect. Do not pass over these admonitions lightly. Search your heart for the areas where you put the secular, material and sensual above YHVH, and then repent of faithlessness. Ask the Spirit of YHVH to open your eyes to the blind areas in your life and help you to acquire a more heavenly-mindless focus.

Genesis 26

To be continued…