“Lest there be any fornicator, nor profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright” Heb.12:16
To be profane means to show disrespect for God and disregard to anything spiritual or sacred. The verse above told us Esau was profane. This could be seen in the way he lived his life (Refer to Genesis 25:27-34).
First, he was a wild man, a rascal “who love the outdoor life, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home” (Gen.25:27 GNB). He never stayed at home to do domestic work, in fact he didn’t even know how to cook. He would go out in the morning, and chat away his life with bad friends; he never stayed at home to hear fatherly counsel and know his family’s values. He would go out hunting not because they lacked meat; actually, they had lots of sheep and cattle domesticated at home, but he will not lend his hand to tend the sheep.
Second, he was a fornicator. He claimed he goes out hunting, but he was actually hunting for women, sleeping around. Therefore the bible says he was a fornicator (Heb.12:6). Before he was forty, he had married two wives. He didn’t even have a house of his own, he brought the two wives to live with his parents, and wanted his younger brother to be the one feeding him, and his lazy wives.
Third, he never listened to advice, he will not even ask for one! As the first son of Isaac, he was an heir to the covenant God made with Abraham. As such, he was not supposed to marry the daughters of Canaan, or any of the surrounding tribes. Abraham took pains to seek out a wife from his own people for Isaac, but Esau married without the approval of his father (Gen.28:8). I think he just impregnated two girls and brought them home, because that was how the Canaanites got married. And the girls were also wild, as Esau went out they also go out. They couldn’t even help Rebecca with domestic work; “they made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca” (Gen.26:34-35). Someone that had two wives, yet hungry to the point of death, they couldn’t even cook for him! It is unfortunate to see some young girls so lazy and lousy, they just don’t do anything at home, and they are always on the streets to sell their bodies. Such people will only meet useless men like Esau; men without a future.
Fourth, he had no value for spiritual things. At a time when the entire world was under the sway of idolatry, the only true God revealed Himself to Abraham, and made a covenant with him, to make him a great nation so that through him the families of the earth would be blessed. As the first son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham, Esau was the custodian of this great covenant. But Esau saw nothing important in it. I could imagine Isaac retelling all the stories of Abraham and his own experiences with God, but Esau would be outside, or if he is inside, he would be sleeping because he saw these as tales. Young man, do you take God serious in your life or you joke about the word of God? If you are like Esau you are heading for a life of shame! Jacob knew the God of Abraham, he called God “the fear of Isaac”, and he learnt how to build altars (an altar signifies the place of an encounter with God). But for Esau, God was not important. If he went to church it was to go looking for more women. Esau had no relationship with God. He was a profane man indeed. Young man, do you have a relationship with God? Is it not high time you thought of the place of God in your life?
Fifth, he was irresponsible, his actions relating to the issue of his birthright showed this clearly. Birth right signifies authority, and with authority comes responsibility; the responsibility associated with being the heir of the covenant of God with Abraham. Esau, not being interested in spiritual things, was not also interested in being responsible for this covenant and all that it embodied. One day he came back from one of his useless expeditions, his wives had been sleeping all through, they didn’t cook anything for him because they didn’t know how to cook, and Esau didn’t provide for them either. Jacob was cooking reddish-brown beans (See Genesis 25:29, Good News Translation, Easy to Read Version and Amplified), well spiced like the type his mother taught him. Esau was so irresponsible he couldn’t control his appetite, he asked Jacob for the beans. Well, Jacob was fed up by such irresponsible life, he must have thought to himself “How long will I be feeding you, you are my elder brother. You are supposed to be the one giving me. If I must give you this food, then you must agree that I am your elder from today!” So he said to him, “Sell me your birth right” and without a moments hesitation, thoughtlessly Esau said: “Alright! I am about to die; what good will my rights do to me then?” Jacob answered, “first vow that you will give me your right.” Esau made the vow and gave his right to Jacob. “Then Jacob gave him the bread and some of the soup. He ate and drank and then got up and left. That was all Esau cared about his right as the firstborn son” (Gen. 25:32-34). By this singular act he became the slave of Jacob.
All he used his right to get was a plate of beans when that right could have secured a great future for him. What are you using your right, the privileges God has given you for? It is possible you have sold your birth right just to become a slave of a cult group, so that you will chase young ladies around. I am really sorry for you. Esau became a slave because he couldn’t control his appetite. There are many young men today that lack self-control, you want to eat in the best of restaurants and live large, yet you don’t want to work. No wander you joined armed robbery gangs and yahoo boys. How long will you continue this kind of dirty life? What happened to all the great opportunities you had? You wasted it, for a plate of beans!
What was the result of this kind of life for Esau? The Bible tells us: “Afterwards, you know, he wanted to receive his father’s blessing; but he was turned away, because he could not find any way to change what he had done, even though in tears he looked for it” (Heb.12:17). Young man, there are mistakes you make today that no tears of regret would heal the wounds when you are old. There is a point you get to when it will be impossible to repent, yes when you find yourself in hell fire, your regret will be forever and ever. You will remember all the time the gospel was presented to you to turn to God and you rejected it. (See Prov. 1:22-33).
Friend, you still have the opportunity now to decide what your eternity will be. God is calling you in mercy. Even though you have already made terrible mistakes, don’t continue in your folly, run to God. He will pardon you, and redeem your life, and give you a brand-new life. Don’t continue further in your stubbornness.
