June 13: The Third Sunday after Pentecost
Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth. –Genesis 28:6-9
Rebekah feigns disgust with the Hittite women (any woman at the time not under God’s covenant) to manipulate Isaac to agree for Jacob to leave and go to Paddan Aram. She wanted to keep him safe from Esau after the grand deception. Actually, she probably really didn’t like them, but “what good will my life be to me†if Jacob marries one of them is probably a little melodramatic. Isaac tells Jacob in no uncertain terms that he is not to take a Canaanite wife, and Jacob obeys (this time!).
In the passage above we see something very sad. What a figure of tragic irony that Esau longs to please his father and belong fully in the family. But the poor fellow is so spiritually dull that he doesn’t realize until now that Canaanite wives are not appropriate for this family. So he decides to repent of his badness in pursuing Hittite and Caananite women and to take turn (it makes you wince, doesn’t it?) one of Ishmael’s daughters. An Ishmaelite? You’ve got to be kidding me! Psalm 83 records an alliance of Ishmaelites against Israel, and this is probably where it started.
Repentance is often described as a turning from doing the wrong thing to doing the right thing. There is a real sense in which that is true. But this is not Christian repentance. It’s preached in churches up and down every street in America; nonetheless, it isn’t Christian repentance. Unbelieving Jews or atheists may decide to turn from wrong actions to right actions for a time. Christian repentance is turning NOT from your badness to your goodness; rather, Christian repentance is turning from your badness and turning from your goodness and turning to Christ. Christian repentance is turning from everything, including good works, and resting in the merits of Christ alone. What flows out of this is more sanctified behavior, but it is a result of repentance rather than the goal of repentance.
So what about Esau? His repentance was from the bad to the bad. He thought it was from the bad to the good. I suspect we are duped this way all the time. What should his repentance have been? It should have been to turn from his self-justifying efforts and turn to Jacob in full submission, seeking to bless Jacob in every way possible. Why is that? Because Jacob is the bearer of blessing. As Isaac had prophesied, “Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!†(27:29). Esau needed to rest in the bearer of blessing, Jacob, who represented the blessing bearer of all, Jesus Christ. We must be careful about repentance. Christ alone!
By the way, when the great Blessing Bearer went for a bride, he got the church. That was the perfect choice because he does all things well. Let God be true and every man a liar!
And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
I Sing the Mighty Power of God
There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy
O Father, You Are Sovereign
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (in Galatians) is continues. Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.Â
Visitors are always welcome!