May the mumbling commence!
What was left for Esau?
Nothing was left but bitterness and regret… and murderous rage. Will we choose like Esau and think of the
here and now? Or will we look at the
future the Lord has for us? Do we really
want to be like Esau? Read from
Peterson’s The Message:
Esau said, “Not for
nothing was he named Jacob, the Heel. Twice now he’s tricked
me: first he took my birthright and now he’s taken my blessing.”
He
begged, “Haven’t you
kept back any
blessing for me?”
Isaac
answered Esau, “I’ve made him your master,
and all his brothers
his servants, and lavished
grain and wine on
him. I’ve given it all away. What’s left for
you, my son?”
“But don’t you have just one blessing for me, Father? Oh, bless me my father! Bless me!” Esau sobbed inconsolably.
Isaac
said to him,
You’ll
live far from Earth’s bounty,
remote
from Heaven’s dew.
You’ll
live by your sword, hand-to-mouth,
and you’ll serve your brother.
But
when you can’t take it any more
you’ll break loose and run
free.
Esau
seethed in anger
against Jacob because of the blessing his father
had given him; he brooded, “The time for mourning
my father’s death is close. And then I’ll
kill my brother Jacob.” (Genesis 27:36-41)
Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:
Esau said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? He has
deceived me
these two times: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing!"
Then he asked, "Haven't
you reserved any
blessing for me?"
Isaac answered Esau, "I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants,
and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I
possibly do for you, my son?"
Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!" Then
Esau wept aloud.
His father Isaac answered him,
"Your dwelling
will be away from the earth's richness,
away from the dew of
heaven above.
You will live by the sword
and you will
serve your brother.
But when you grow
restless,
you will throw his yoke from off your neck."
Esau held a grudge against
Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself,
"The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill
my brother Jacob." (Genesis 27:36-41)
Indeed, there are some significant differences between
Peterson’s work and the NIV in this passage.
In Peterson’s work, Esau asks for just one blessing. That’s pales in comparison to the affront
given to Isaac: do you have only one blessing to give? Esau doesn’t realize the significance of
either the birthright or the blessing.
Peterson misses this key point, in my opinion.
Yet Peterson does grasp and adequately portray the anger
that Esau felt at being cheated by Jacob the Deceiver (which is also a meaning
for the name Jacob). He brooded. If he could have neither the birthright nor
the blessing, no one would. I am not
even sure that he desired it for himself.
He was only angry at being deceived… twice.
May we have a longer view of things… an eternal view… a
view we can only obtain by following the Lord’s lead in our lives.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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