The Tiniest of Blessings: Genesis 27:37-40

God does not abandon us, even when our actions are far from Him.  When we needed Him the most, He sent His Son so we might live.  When we turn our backs on Him, His hands are still at work in our lives.  There is always evidence of His presence around us.  All we need to do it look.

Esau begs for a blessing.  Begging is all he could do.  He sold his birthright and had no honest claim to the lion’s share of Isaac’s blessing.  Because Isaac tried to force his will, Isaac gave practically everything to Jacob.  Esau has no recourse except to beg for scraps that Isaac might give.

Isaac does bless Esau.  Esau is a hunter.  He’s a man’s man.  He knows his way around.  Isaac blesses Esau in that realm.  He tells Esau he will live by the sword.

The land and its fruit had already been given to Jacob, so Esau would find life elsewhere.  Esau would contend for a place to live.  Esau would struggle to carve out a niche of his own.  However, Esau would continue.  He would succeed in that struggle.  It wouldn’t be an easy life, but it would be a successful one.

Esau and his people settle south of Canaan below the Dead Sea.  The region is hot and dry, receiving little rainfall all year, but it is rich in minerals.  It could not support a civilization built in cities, but nomads capable of moving to find trade and resources could thrive.

Isaac tells Esau that while his people would be ruled by Jacob’s descendants, they would eventually overcome them.  This happens when the Hebrew people are harassed by Assyria and then Babylon.  As the Hebrew fall prey to Babylonian oppression from the north and east, the Edomites slip in from the south.  Their freedom is short-lived, however, as they are pushed west by raiders and made a home in southern Canaan.  The Edomites could have composed a significant portion of the people who took over the land of the Hebrew people when they were deported to Babylon.  The Edomites were some of the people the Hebrew people had to fight off when the Persians allow them to return home.  There is archaeological evidence to suggest the Idumeans mentioned in the New Testament are Edomite in origin.

Isaac may not give Esau the lion’s share blessing as he hoped, but God was gracious enough to allow him to give Esau a blessing in some form.  Esau’s people would not vanish.  They would have their moments in history. 

While this blessing story is thoroughly tied up in human sinfulness, it is not all bad.  The human beings make a mockery out of adult behavior and act in ways far from maturity, but God is still present during the sinfulness.  He is there to move His plan forward and allow His grace to show.  God does not abandon us, even when our actions are far from Him.