Genesis 25 — Give me your birthright, or die!
Genesis 25 — Give me your birthright, or die!Abraham dies in this chapter, but not before finding another wife and keeping busy siring more boys. It doesn’t say why he does this (other than the obvious explanation), since he just sends all his other kids all away so that Isaac can inherit everything and God could bless him. The Bible doesn’t criticize Abraham’s complete disregard for his lovers and offspring. This certainly sets a poor example! (We’re perhaps supposed to be consoled by the fact that he gave them some unnamed "gifts".) We’re told that Ishmael’s offspring fight with everyone (the KJV however only says "in the presence", an interesting divergence that according to the TNIV [Today's New International Version] may be due to a confusion with a word or expression that could mean "east" or "hostility"?) Then we’re told Isaac’s story. His wife Rebekah, like his mom, was apparently barren. God comes through again as the world’s premier fertility expert, and Isaac’s wife Rebekah conceives. The babies start fighting in the womb through, foreboding the fighting they and their descendants will have. The twins are Esau and Jacob. We’ve all heard of Jacob, right? Well this is because Jacob forced his brother to give up his birthright. Esau, who’s described as the ugly brother, came home starving. Instead of Jacob giving his brother food, he tells him Esau he must give up his birthright or starve. Nice example of brotherly love! Brother, can you spare a meal so I don’t starve to death? Only if you make it worth my while! Another important thing to note is that mom and dad play favorites. Isaac loves Esau (because he brings him venison) and Rebekah likes Jacob (a quiet young lad, the first stereotypical momma’s boy perhaps?). If the Bible is meant to be an example, should it discourage playing favorites with your children? Or blackmailing your near-death brother before feeding him? Or birthrights in general? Why should you favor a son or daughter just because he or she was born first? I’m sure the response would be "Those were different times, etc." It’s too bad God didn’t realize this story, and many other objectionable ones, would be in there for modern readers to either have to ignore, explain away, or (in my case) reject as unjust. PS Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. TNIV®. Copyright© 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved. |
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Comments
Maybe when I get time I’ll blog about this one – I love these stories in Genesis! I think what you’re talking about is an artefact of trying to read the Old Testament with a focus on the *people* (e.g. it’s first and foremost about what they do, which for the most part is pretty horrific!) rather than (as I believe it’s intended) with a focus on God (e.g. it’s first and foremost about what he does and is like).
The big overarching narrative of Genesis is this big dramatic tension: how is God going to keep his promises to Abraham to make him a great nation? At every twist and turn it seems so unlikely: all these barren women threaten to bring an end to Abraham’s line; hence also why the big focus on the importance of finding wives for people at each stage, to make sure the line continues; hence the big fuss when Esau despises his birthright (the chance to be a part of the great promises God has made to Abraham’s descendants!!)
The fact that the people themselves are so rubbish is almost the whole point – how remarkable that God should have picked *these* people to make promises to! It demonstrates the whole concept that it is all about God’s ability to keep his promises, since it certainly can’t be anything to do with the “specialness” of the people. We see very clearly that God wasn’t making promises on the basis of merit (because it’s hard to imagine they could deserve it less!) but on the basis of his free grace.
Andy, you said “We see very clearly that God wasn’t making promises on the basis of merit (because it’s hard to imagine they could deserve it less!) but on the basis of his free grace.”
The problem in that case for me would be that God doesn’t deal out grace equally to everyone. It often seems arbitrary (or “random”) when God decides to save and when he decides to smite. Jacob stole his birthright by telling his older brother to give it up or starve. God rewards Jacob by basing the entire nation of Israel from his lineage and not his brother’s.
Maybe “dramatic tension” was part of the reason for the stories in Genesis, but do you argue then that the Old Testament should not be used as a moral guide, since people don’t seem to be rewarded proportionately based on how good or bad they are?