The Bitter Stew

*a rough cut of my sermon preached tomorrow*

The Bitter soup
Scripture: Genesis 25:19-34
One day, two monks were walking through the countryside. They were on their way to another village to help bring in the crops. As they walked, they spied an old woman sitting at the edge of a river. She was upset because there was no bridge, and she could not get across on her own.

The first monk kindly offered, “We will carry you across if you would like.”

“Thank you,” she said gratefully, accepting their help.

So the two men joined hands, lifted her between them and carried her across the river. When they got to the other side, they set her down, and she went on her way.

After they had walked another mile or so, the second monk began to complain. “Look at my clothes,” he said. “They are filthy from carrying that woman across the river. And my back still hurts from lifting her. I can feel it getting stiff.” The first monk just smiled and nodded his head.

A few more miles up the road, the second monk griped again, “My back is hurting me so badly, and it is all because we had to carry that silly woman across the river! I cannot go any farther because of the pain.”

The first monk looked down at his partner, now lying on the ground, moaning.

“Have you wondered why I am not complaining?” he asked.

“Your back hurts because you are still carrying the woman. But I set her down five miles ago.”

Dr. Anthony T. Evans, Guiding Your Family in a Misguided World



Genesis 25 - Abraham was the father of Isaac who married Rebekah (Gen. 25:20) and she couldn’t have children, so Isaac prayed for his wife, the Lord answered, and in fact gave them not one son but two.   This was quite unusual and so she asked the Lord what was happening, the Lord said “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 other will serve the younger.”


(Birth of Esau and Jacob)


A) Esau didn’t look at the big picture “What good is the birthright to me?”
The birthright was given to Isaac, by Abraham and given to the eldest son.    The inheritance was a divine appointment by God for the descendants of Abraham, and in turn, the descendants of Isaac, Abrahams son … “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands my decrees and my laws.

In the Old Testament times, being the first born was a great privilege and responsibility to carry on the family, and to receive the blessings from your father.    Old testament law of primogeniture provided that at least a double share of the father’s property be given to the firstborn son when the father died.

Esau exchanged the inheritance promised to his father, by his father, for a bowl of lentil stew, because he was famished!   For a momentary want!!

“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said, “What good is the birthright to me?” (25:32)

“Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew.  He ate and drank and then got up and left.  So Esau despised his birthright.” (25:34)

Question: Who knew the true value of the inheritance?   Jacob or Esau?
Esau saw the stew, he said “let me have some of that red stew” the Hebrew word meaning Red was Edom…. Esau was red when he was born, and he made a pun saying that he wanted the red stew … meaning that it was meant for him.    But the inheritance he didn’t care for at the time.

Sometimes we treat our inheritance the same way …. We don’t realize how precious it is, other things take precedence.   What inheritance?

Our inheritance:
Heb 9:15 “that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance-now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant (ie.laws of Moses)”

Ephesians 1:11 “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order than we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.  And you also were included in Christ when you heard  the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.   Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”

We have an ever lasting inheritance as a child of God.  Once we are marked by the Holy Spirit, once we have made the decision to follow the Lord, we can easily fall into the same trap that Esau did.

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised.” (Rom. 1:24-25)   We are tempted to put things before our relationship with the Lord.  Esau was no different.

Beware of the pitfalls in our heart, and the temptations around us that keep us from knowing the truth of salvation.    We have this inheritance, this promise from God, but we only see the now.


B) The Lost Blessing  In Genesis chapter 27 we find Isaac old and blind, and he tells Esau that he would like him to go out to the country and get some fresh game and “Prepare me  the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” (27:4)

Rebekah who likes Jacob, and thinks that he should have the blessings, tricks Isaac by cooking two young goats, and covering Jacob in Esau’s clothes and covered his hands and neck with goat skins so that when Isaac ate the food and touched Jacob, he would think that it was Esau before him.

Blessing of Jacob
“May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earths richness-
An abundance of grain and new wine.
May nations serve you
And peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over you brothers,
And may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
And those who bless you be blessed.”

Listen to Esau’s reaction when Isaac told Esau that he had given his blessing away … “he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, Bless me- me too, my father!” But he (Jacob) said “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessings”

Esau held bitterness in his heart towards his inheritance up to this point.   He really didn’t care to live the way his parents wanted him too, in fact he married two Hittite women which were “a source of grief  to Isaac and Rebekah” (Gen.26:35)

Maybe it was the prophecy that was told at his birth.  Maybe it was the teasing of some people about his red hair, or maybe it was that he couldn’t really understand the importance of the responsibilities of being the eldest son.   Sure he was loved by his father, but he was shunned by his, who liked Jacob better.   For a minute he probably thought that he could get it all back with this blessing.   But Jacob ruined that for him.

It’s easy for us to side with Esau, I mean the moral decision of Jacob and his mother were far from honest.    But then we look at what the bitterness cost Esau.    Esau who at one time didn’t care about his inheritance, about any blessing, dismissed it and gave it away to Jacob in exchange for some stew … a verbal oath that was binding between brothers.

We have choices that we make for ourselves, that we have to deal with.   We get bills for things that we pay for, we have debt for things we want, there is no one to blame for these things but ourselves.  The good and the bad.   When it comes to salvation, we need to put away those things that hinder us in our faith, put away our pride, our bitterness.
When we think about salvation, which is a free gift from God, that he gave to us through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, through no merit of our own, He showed us the way to salvation.    Romans 10: 9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.   For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”


Esau begged for a blessings, his father gave him this one:
“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.”

Jacob was sent to Paddan Aram to get a wife, because Isaac instructed him to NOT marry a Canaanite woman, Esau went and married a Canaanite woman (Mahalath) (28:6-9) in addition to 2 Hittite women he married earlier.

The legacy of Esau was one of bitterness, and regret.   He was the father of the Edom nation that would later be subdued by Israel.   Esau let his past cloud his future.   He let things keep him from taking the inheritance that was due him.

Ephesians 4:31
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you.”

Three things we need to do to move on in our relationships.
1) Accept the gift of salvation and forgiveness that Christ offers.
2) Practice Compassion - Part of communication and empathy.
3) Forgiveness … accepting forgiveness of others, and forgiving others are all part of breaking down bitterness  Bitterness is the result of powerlessness in the face of anger.   Something happens and we feel powerless about it.   And then we get angry, and if carried further, it goes into revenge.

You might be like the one monk at the beginning of this message, holding on to bitterness, that keeps you from knowing Christ.    The inheritance is in front of you, the choice is yours.

Genesis 33:4 “But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.   And they wept.”    God had done something in Esau’s heart to mend his relationship with his brother, even though the consequences of his actions would follow his descendants.

Whatever you have done, whatever you are holding on to that is keeping you from realizing the freedom and the inheritance that is waiting for us you need to allow Christ to break that down.   You have a chance right now to ask the Lord to work in your life, you have a chance that Esau missed.   Don’t be sidetracked by the trappings of this world, but find the freedom that can only come from Christ.