Genesis 36, I'll begin reading
in verse 1. Now this is the genealogy of
Esau, who is Edom. Esau took his wives from the
daughters of Canaan, Ada, the daughter of Elon, the Hittite,
Aholabama, the daughter of Ena, the daughter of Zibion, the Hivite,
and Basimath, Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nabajoth. Now Adah
bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basimath bore Reuel. And Aholabamah bore
Jewish, Jalem, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who
were born to him in the land of Canaan. Then Esau took his
wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household,
his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had
gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from
the presence of his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too
great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were
strangers could not support them because of their livestock. So
Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom. And this is the
genealogy of Esau, the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.
These were the names of Esau's sons, Eliphaz, the son of Ada,
the wife of Esau, and Reuel, the son of Basimath, the wife
of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz were
Teman, Omar, Zepho, Getem, and Canaz. Now Timnah was the concubine
of Eliphaz, Esau's son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These
were the sons of Ada, Esau's wife. These were the sons of
Reuel, Nahath, Zerah, Shemah, and Mizah. These were the sons
of Basimath, Esau's wife. These were the sons of Aholabamah,
Esau's wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibion.
And she bore to Esau, Jeush, Jelum, and Korah. These were
the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn
son of Esau, were chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief
Kenaz, chief Koraz, chief Gadam, and chief Amalek. These were
the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These were the
sons of Ada. These were the sons of Reuel,
Esau's son, chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shema, and chief
Mitzah. These were the chiefs of Reuel
in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Basimath,
Esau's wife. And these were the sons of Aholabamah,
Esau's wife, chief Jewish, chief Jelum, and chief Korah. These
were the chiefs who descended from Ahol-Abama, Esau's wife,
the daughter of Anah. These were the sons of Esau,
who is Edom, and these were their chiefs. These were the sons of
Seir, the Horite, who inhabited the land. Lotan, Shobal, Zibion,
Anah, Deshan, Etzer, and Deshan. These were the chiefs of the
Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. And the sons
of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Lotan's sister was Timnah. These
were the sons of Shobal, Alvin, Manahath, Ebal, Shefo, and Onam. These were the sons of Zibion,
both Ejah and Ena. This was the Ena who found the
water in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father
Zibion. These were the children of Ena,
Deshon and Deholabama, the daughter of Ena. These were the sons of
Dishan, Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Karan. These were the sons
of Etser, Bilhan, Zeavan, and Akan. These were the sons of
Dishan, Uz, and Aaron. These were the chiefs of the
Horites, Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibion, Chief Ena, Chief
Dishan, Chief Etser, and Chief Dishan. These were the chiefs
of the Horites according to their chiefs in the land of Seir. Now
these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any
king reigned over the children of Israel. Bela the son of Beor
reigned in Edom and the name of his city was Dinabah. And
when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in
his place. When Jobab died, Husham of the
land of the Temanites reigned in his place. And when Husham
died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field
of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was
Avith. When Hadad died, Samlah of Masraqah reigned in his place. And when Samlah died, Saul of
Rehoboth by the river reigned in his place. When Saul died,
Bel-Hanan, the son of Akbor, reigned in his place. And when
Bel-Hanan, the son of Akbor, died, Hedar reigned in his place. And the name of his city was
Pow. His wife's name was Mehedabel, the daughter of Matrad, the daughter
of Metsahab. And these were the names of the
chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their places,
by their names. Chief Timnah, Chief Alva, Chief
Jeheth, Chief Aholabama, Chief Ela, Chief Pinyon, Chief Kenaz,
Chief Temen, Chief Mibzar, Chief Magdiel, and Chief Irem. These were the chiefs of Edom
according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.
Esau was the father of the Edomites. Now Jacob dwelt in the land where
his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. Amen. We
will not be going through each and every one of these names.
I just kind of want to do an overview here of the genealogy
of Esau or the descendants of Esau and try to give an account
as to why it occurs here in the narrative. I had mentioned last
week this was probably going to be a shorter study than is
typical and I stand by that. It's going to be a shorter study
than is typical. But basically what we have are
two broad sections. In verses 1 to 8, we have the
journey of Esau to Seir. So in verses 1 to 8, he's in
Canaan, and then in verses 9 to 43, he dwells in Seir. So you've got the journey of
Esau to Seir, verses 1 to 8, and then the dwelling of Esau
in Seir, in verses 9 to 43. And then obviously, because it's
a genealogy list, it's interested in providing that genealogy,
and essentially the presentation concerns the sons of Esau, the
sons of Seir the Horite, and then the chiefs and the kings
of Edom. So the men that were in charge of this particular
region. But let's look first at this
journey of Esau to Seir in verses 1 to 8 with reference to the
genealogy of Esau. Now there's something that we
looked at when we first started the book of Genesis that it might
be good to review at this particular time. If you look back at chapter
37 or look ahead to chapter 37 at verse 2 It says, this is the history
of Jacob. Now that little phrase occurs
several times in the book of Genesis, and it's something of
a structuring device. The word is Toledoth, and it's
found in chapter 2 at verse 4, when it talks about the generations,
or the history rather, of the heavens and the earth, when they
were created. in the day that the Lord God
made the earth and the heavens. This comes up again in chapter
5 at verse 1. This is the book of the genealogy
of Adam. In the day that God created man,
he made him in the likeness of God. Chapter 6, verse 9, this
is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect
in his generations. Chapter 10, verse 1, now this
is the genealogy of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth,
and sons were born to them after the flood. It occurs in 11.10.
11.10, this is the genealogy of Shem. Shem was 100 years old
and begot Arphakad two years after the flood. Chapter 11,
at verse 27, this is the genealogy of Terah. Terah begot Abram,
Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. And then again
in chapter 25 at verse 12, and this is getting closer to our
passage and the reason for this long genealogy concerning Esau. But in chapter 25 at verse 12,
now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, and then chapter 25
at verse 19, this is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham's son, Abraham
begot Isaac. That brings us to chapter 36,
where we have the genealogy of Esau. Again, that Hebrew word
toledoth, it's a structuring device in the book of Genesis.
It's reiterated again in verse 9 in chapter 36. And this is
the genealogy of Esau, the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.
And then the final instance of toledoth is found in verse 2
of chapter 37. This is the history of Jacob. And so the reference is conspicuous
throughout the book. And so the story of Isaac begins
in chapter 25 at verse 19, and then it ends here in chapter
35 at verse 29 with a reference to his death. And then the story
of Jacob begins in chapter 37 at verse 2, and that will extend
to the end of the book, chapter 50, verse 26. So in essence,
chapter 37 to chapter 50 gives us the genealogy and the sons
of Jacob. So here in chapter 36, we get
the sons of Isaac's other son, Esau. So that's what's happening.
And typically with reference to the line, the seed that God
has chosen out of the world with reference to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, you typically get the genealogies of the non-elect
son first. You see that with reference to
Ishmael, and Ishmael and Isaac. If you go back for just a moment
to chapter 25. Chapter 25, you have the genealogy of Ishmael. It's given in chapter 25, verses
12 to 18, after the notice of Abraham's death. And then comes the genealogy
of, or then comes the emphasis upon Isaac. The same sort of
thing is happening here in chapter 36. You get Esau, the non-elect
son of Isaac, and then you have in detail the genealogy, chapters
37 to 50, not strictly genealogy, but rather the family of Jacob
given in great detail. So the line of Ishmael precedes
the line of Isaac, the line of Esau precedes the line of Jacob. So that's a common feature in
these genealogical lists also. And then with reference to the
length of this particular genealogy, it is, if not the longest, one
of the longest in the entire book of Genesis. And so it's
very important that we understand what's happening here. Well,
I would suggest, first of all, it is to underscore or reiterate
or highlight the faithfulness of God. And if God's faithfulness
is highlighted with reference to promises made to the non-elect
son, then I think by implication we ought to derive great comfort
and encouragement that the promises of God made to the elect son
will most certainly come to pass. God promised according to chapter
25 at verse 23 that there would be two nations or that there
were in fact two nations in Rebekah's womb. So chapter 25, 23, and
the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb, two people
shall be separated from your body, one people shall be stronger
than the other, and the older shall serve the younger. So we
see that very conspicuously and obviously in Genesis chapter
36. Esau is Edom. Edom doesn't vanish in Genesis
chapter 36. Edom is sort of right alongside
Israel all along the history of Israel in the Old Testament.
Now there are times when Edom is subjugated by Israel. King
David ultimately puts them in their place. Amaziah as well
subjugates them. But the fact is that they are
extant, that they continue along the way in Old Testament history.
And so God's promise concerning Esau that he would in fact become
a nation is realized or fulfilled according to Genesis 36. But
as well, Isaac had pronounced a blessing upon Esau. That's in Genesis chapter 27.
In Genesis 27 at verse 39 we read, And it shall come to pass when
you become restless that you shall break his yoke from your
neck. So there's the promise that there will be blessing.
He will enjoy the fatness of the earth. And certainly there
in Genesis 36, there is every evidence to suggest that that
was in fact the case. There was not enough room for
both Jacob and Esau in the land of Canaan. So Esau then goes
into the land of Seir. And one of the reasons is, is
because he had a great deal of blessing, a great deal of temporal
provision from the Lord. As Meredith Klein says, he writes,
it, the genealogy of Esau, displays the carrying forward of God's
revealed purpose concerning Esau, chapter 25, verse 23. and of
Isaac's inspired blessing on him in chapter 27 at verse 39. So if we didn't have Genesis
36 and this extended sort of genealogy with reference to Esau,
it would leave a question in our minds concerning the veracity
of God's promise. Does it come to fruition? Does
Esau blossom into or become this nation that was prophesied? And
most certainly the answer is yes. with reference to Isaac's
blessing upon him. If we had no chapter 36, we wouldn't
know whether or not Esau was reaping from the fatness of the
land or not. And so Genesis 36 serves in that
capacity. It is the genealogy of the non-elect
son. The genealogy or the family history
of the elect son will be taken up in chapters 37 to 50. And
so this is a great place for us to sort of reflect upon Esau
and his contribution in this regard. Now next in verses 1
to 8 you have the marriages of Esau in verses 2 to 5. Basically he married Adah, verse
2, a holy Bama, verse 2, and Basimath in verse 3. And then the text underscores
a specific problem that's already been highlighted relative to
Esau's marriages. Notice in verse 2 of chapter
36, Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan. Now
this was obviously an affront to his parents as we go back
in the narrative. In Genesis chapter 26 at verse
35, it tells us that what he did was an offense to his parents. Verse 35, in chapter 26, they
were a grief of mine to Isaac and Rebekah. And then again in
chapter 28, in verse 1, then Isaac called Jacob and blessed
him and charged him and said to him, you shall not take a
wife from the daughters of Canaan. What's the obvious implication?
Like your brother Esau has done. And so it was the mind of or
according to the will of Isaac that Jacob go to Pat and Aram
and take a daughter from the family ultimately of Terah. Dropping
down in chapter 28, you see in verse 6, Esau saw that Isaac
had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Pat and Aram to take
himself a wife from there. And that as he blessed him, he
gave him a charge, saying, You shall not take a wife from the
daughters of Canaan. And that Jacob had obeyed his
father and his mother and had gone to Pat and Aram. Also Esau
saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac.
So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahaloth, the daughter of Ishmael,
Abraham's son, the sister of Nabajoth, to be his wife in addition
to the wives he had. Now, he doesn't do this as a
further affront to Isaac, but rather he's trying to assuage
Isaac's sort of wrath against him. The interpretation that
is correct is that he does this to ingratiate himself to his
father by taking this sister, I'm sorry, he went to Ishmael
and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. So Wenham says, to
marry a relation rather than a Canaanite seemed to ensure
parental goodwill. So Esau decides to marry a daughter
of Ishmael. That it was only after he had
heard Isaac sending Jacob off that he realized his wives were
unpopular suggests Esau was rather slow-witted. So he was a bit
slow on the uptake, but he did have this idea, so he takes this
particular woman as wife. And then back to Genesis chapter
36, we notice that having engaged in this marriage to these Canaanite
women, he then has plenty of... he has wives. He has sons, he
has daughters, all the persons of his household, according to
verse 6, his cattle and all his animals and all his goods, which
he had gained in the land of Canaan. And from there he departs
from the presence of Jacob. This is likely after Genesis
chapter 33, when they had met. And then they make this decisive
stance in terms of where they're going to live. Of course, Jacob
inherits the promised land and Esau leaves that and he goes
to Seir. In fact, that contrast is sharp
at 37.1. Now Jacob dwelt in the land where
his father was a stranger in the land of Canaan. No more Esau,
no more sort of jockeying rivalry going on, but it's rather Jacob
and the land. Of course, there will be a foray
into Egypt for various reasons, as the text will make clear later,
but this shows God's willingness or God's timing with reference
to blessing the covenant people in the land of promise that He
had given to them. So he departs from Jacob, and
then the prosperity, again, of Esau is underscored in verse
7, for their possessions were too great for them to dwell together,
and the land where they were strangers could not support them
because of their livestock. It sounds very similar to Genesis
chapter 13, when Lot and Abraham could not occupy the same portion
of land, and they had dispersed from one another. So the same
sort of idea or concept is going on. And then, of course, he goes
to Seir, according to verse 8. So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir,
and Esau is Edom. Remember, Edom means red. It's
got the name from the mess of pottage, that red stuff that
was in the bull. This is how Esau has become known. And so the nation of which he
is the father of, ultimately, is the nation of Edom. There's
a whole book in the Bible devoted to prophecy against Edom. It's the book of Obadiah, one
of the minor prophets. You see the Edomites, as I already
mentioned, show up in the former prophets. You see David subjugate
them. You see Amaziah subjugate them. You see in the book of
Amos a reference to Edom alongside of Gentiles, and then that promise
makes its way into the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15, and
seems to be an argument for Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises
of God. In its original setting in Amos
chapter 9, the Edomites are specifically referenced, probably in connection
with Gentiles. So Edom was, in fact, a great
nation. Edom does continue alongside
of Israel throughout the Old Testament, and this is, in fact,
the place where, or this is, in fact, the accounting of the
sons of Esau and the chiefs of Edom and the kings of Edom. Now,
in terms of Israel's relationship to Edom, God told them in Deuteronomy
chapter 2, when they were in the wilderness wanderings, to
pass through the land of Edom and not to meddle with them.
In Deuteronomy chapter 27, He actually speaks to them and tells
them to have regard for them because they, or because Edom
is in fact a brother to Israel. So it wasn't the case that there
was this constant sort of warfare. Obviously in the history of redemption
and the history of Israel, they did rise up, they did create
problems for Israel, but as said under David and Amaziah, they
were subjugated. But also this land of Seir, if
you look at Deuteronomy chapter 22 for just a moment, I'm sorry,
Deuteronomy chapter 2 verse 22, you see that it was in fact God
that dispossessed these Horites out of the land of Seir. In order
that Esau would receive the blessing of this particular land. And
I think that's one of the overarching themes in Genesis chapter 36.
We know that Esau is not elect. We know that Esau is not the
son of promise. We know that that is Jacob and
the text has been very obvious that way. But nevertheless, with
reference to this man who is a reprobate, we'll see that as
we move through redemptive history, God nevertheless shows kindness
to him. It's a temporal, it's an earthly,
it's from the fatness of the land, but nevertheless the goodness
of God is evident in that he has given this provision to Esau. You need to understand that.
A lot of people throughout the world enjoy the good benefits
of God Almighty. Whether they're elect or not,
there are those that are not, those that are outside of the
covenant blessings of God Almighty, that nevertheless reap wonderful
things from the hand of God. That shows or demonstrates to
us His benevolence, His goodness, His kindness, His love and His
mercy. He is benevolent to His creatures,
His sovereignty rules over all, and He oftentimes blesses in
ways that are absolutely amazing. And so in Deuteronomy chapter
22, I'm sorry, 2 verse 22, it says, just as he had done for
the descendants of Esau who dwelt in Seir when he destroyed the
Horites from before them, they dispossessed them and dwelt in
their place even to this day. So it wasn't the case that it
was the superior military savvy of Esau, though no doubt he probably
had that ability, but it was God, ultimately, who drove out
these Horrites and who provided this land of Seir for Esau, again,
according to his goodness and his kindness. And so when we
get back to Genesis chapter 36, we pick up the narrative in verse
9. We are reminded that this is
the genealogy of Esau, the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir. And then as I said, it highlights
the sons of Esau in verses 9 to 14. They are listed according
to the wives. And then the chiefs of Edom in
verses 15 to 19. Again, listed according to Esau's
wives of their mothers. And then you have this reference
to the sons of Seir the Horite in verses 20 to 30. Now this
shows obviously the power of God. It doesn't specify in this
particular section, but it certainly does there in Deuteronomy 22
that it was God who dispossessed these persons from the land so
that Esau and his descendants could occupy this particular
portion of land, but it also shows the birth of the nation
of Edom under Esau. And then you have the kings of
Edom in verses 31 to 43. And essentially what you have
is a list of kings. You can read that for yourself.
And then this reference to the monarchy in Israel. If you look
at verse 31, it says, now these were the kings who reigned in
the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of
Israel. Now, we know that Saul was the first king of Israel,
and he took possession of the throne, or he was anointed by
God, Samuel, God through the prophet Samuel, or the seer Samuel,
in chapters 9 and 10 of 1 Samuel. So he's identified in chapter
9, he's anointed in chapter 10, and this comes as a result of
the people of Israel in chapter 8. clamoring for a king. They,
remember, want a king, and Samuel is upset by this, and so he pours
out his heart to the Lord. And the Lord says, Samuel, it's
not you they're despising, it's me. But we need to understand
that it was always God's intention for a monarchy in Israel. It
was always his purpose and plan to have that monarchy. So the
problem in chapter 8 in 1 Samuel is not that they wanted a monarchy. It's that they wanted a monarchy
so they could be like the other nations around them. It wasn't
the fact of monarchy, but it was the motivation by which they
were seeking it that was an offense ultimately to God, and it was
an offense to Samuel. But if you look at Deuteronomy
chapter 7, you see rules, laws, principles governing the kings,
I'm sorry, 17, the kings of Israel. Notice in Deuteronomy chapter
17 at verse 14. So though Edom had kings prior
to Israel, it was always God's purpose to have a kingdom in
Israel or have a monarchy. Israel literally was supposed
to be a kingdom of priests, but they never achieved that, but
they were in fact a monarchy. Initially, it was simply, you
had Saul, and then you had David, then you had Solomon, and then
after Solomon, there was a breach in the kingdom. You had a division
in the kingdom. and you had the ten northern
tribes and then the two southern tribes. You had Israel and Judah.
And that was consistent up until about 722 BC. And that's when the Assyrian
armies came and basically shut down the northern kingdom. And
then the southern kingdom was all alone. Judah was all alone
until about 587, 586 BC. And then Babylon comes and shuts
them down. And then, of course, they emerge.
They're back under governors. They don't have a king or a monarch.
at that particular time, they're still subject to whatever power
is in power, they sort of lost that autonomy and sovereignty.
But they were always purposed to be a monarchy, and Deuteronomy
17 evidences that. Notice in verse 14. When you
come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess
it, and dwell in it, and say, I will set a king over me like
all the nations that are around me, you shall surely set a king
over you whom the Lord your God chooses. One from among your
brethren you shall set as king over you. One needs to be from
among your brethren. Can't be a foreigner. Has to
be somebody from within the stock of Israel. You may not set a
foreigner over you who is not your brother. But he shall not
multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return
to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said to you,
you shall not return that way again. Neither shall he multiply
wives for himself, lest his heart turn away. Nor shall he greatly
multiply silver and gold for himself. So essentially, the
prohibition involves weapons, women, and wealth. Weapons, women,
and wealth, if there's too much, it will promote or produce apostasy
in the king. And the history of the monarchy
evidences that. Solomon, perhaps, is the best
example in terms of multiplying women. That was the means by
which his heart was turned away from the living and true God.
So the prohibition isn't that you can't have a wife, it's not
that you can't have money, and it's not that you can't have
weapons, it's that you cannot put your trust in those things
and you cannot multiply those things and then have reliance
upon them. And then notice as well, according
to verse 18, the responsibility of the king when he assumes the
kingdom. Also it shall be when he sits
on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself
a copy of this law in a book from the one before the priest,
the Levites, and it shall be with him, and he shall read it
all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord
his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and
these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren,
that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right
hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his
kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. Now had
the kings of Israel actually done or obeyed or complied with
that, probably things would have been a whole lot better. But
as far as I know, there weren't any of them that took that seriously
and wrote that law down for themselves and then meditated upon it day
and night, except perhaps for David. So going back to Genesis
chapter 36, it indicates the kings of Edom, and notice that
it's not a dynasty, it's not dynastic, it's not the son of,
the son of, the son of. It is rather a collection of
men that served as kings in Edom. And so this foreshadows, verse
31, sort of foreshadows the monarchy in Israel. And then it indicates
also the stability of the Edomites. The list of descendants of Esau
indicates a powerful nation governed by a monarchy. So God's promise
to Esau comes to fruition. He becomes a nation. The promise
to Rebekah indicates that they would never, however, be as powerful
as Israel. Remember the statement in 2523,
the older Esau shall serve the younger. And then, as I said,
the history of Israel demonstrates that reality. So it's not the
case that they ever become sort of a world power. They're not
like the Assyrian Empire. They're not like the Babylonian
Empire. or the Persians or the Medes, but rather they are there
alongside of Israel. The times that they do rebel
or the time that they do rise up, they are put down by Israel. But they are a kingdom and they
are a nation as God had specified and certainly Esau reaps the
benefits having been promised to him by Isaac, his father,
in terms of enjoying the fatness of the land. Now, with reference
to some practical observations concerning the chapter, I think
first of all we ought to appreciate the contrast between Jacob and
Esau. Esau is the reprobate and Jacob
is the elect son. There's certainly a contrast
between these two men. The promise concerning Esau was
temporal. It was temporal and it was good,
but it wasn't spiritual and it wasn't eternal. It wasn't lasting
in the sense that he would ultimately end in heaven. The promise concerning
Jacob was, in fact, spiritual. Jacob amasses quite a great deal
of wealth along the way as well, but life for Jacob isn't simply
temporal. It's not simply in the promised
land of Canaan, but Canaan is typical for him of heaven above
because he is, in fact, the son of promise. The promise concerning
both was that the older would serve the younger, and the history
testifies to that. The history subsequent to this
shows or demonstrates that reality. The genealogy of Esau shows the
fulfillment of God's promise to him, and then the beginning
of chapter 37 emphasizes the difference between the two sons.
Now you've got, as said before, Esau is out of the land. Walti
says, with the migration of Esau from the promised land, the stage
is now set for God to fulfill His promises to Israel. And most
of that, as I said, from 37 to 50, will be located upon the
sons of Jacob. Now, certainly Esau had a lot
of sons. I think Waltke mentions there
are 12. There's this federation of tribes. But what Jacob produces
in terms of his 12 sons is the vehicle by which Messiah will
come. It's the vehicle by which redemption
comes to the world, so the emphasis or the accent falls on the spiritual
with reference to Jacob versus the temporal or physical with
reference to Esau. And then the descendants of the
two emphasize that difference. Esau had many sons. He gave birth to a nation, but
Jacob ultimately gives birth to the Messiah, even the Lord
Jesus Christ. That was prophesied concerning
him already back in chapter 35. When God at Bethel says He called
His name Israel, according to verse 11, also God said to Him,
I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply a nation, and a
company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come
from your body. So definitely Saul, and David,
and Solomon, and then the line of kings from Judah and Israel,
Judah specifically, and then we of course have the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the promised seed in the
book of Genesis. As well, when we see the promises
of God fulfilled in Genesis 36, we have no reason whatsoever
to disbelieve the promise of God being fulfilled with reference
to the elect. If he is going to fulfill promises
made to a reprobate in terms of fatness of the land, he is
certainly going to take care of the people of God whom he
has foreordained from before the foundation of the world,
chosen in Christ before that foundation. He will see to it
that he will fulfill the promises made to the patriarchs regarding
the land and the sea. And that's precisely what the
rest of Genesis records. And then finally, the goodness
of God to the reprobate. Go to the book of Malachi, just
to see divine commentary on Esau. Malachi chapter 1. Verse 1, the
burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have
loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, in what way have
you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother,
says the Lord? Yet Jacob I have loved, but Esau
I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage
for the jackals of the wilderness. Even though Edom has said, we
have been impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate
places. So there's a contrast between
Jacob and Esau that God maintains when the nation of Israel is
calling into question God's constant love for them. In fact, look
at verse 2. I have loved you, says the Lord,
yet you say, in what way have you loved us? That kind of a
question should never be asked by the covenant people of God.
God demonstrates and manifests that love in ways unimaginable. We don't even know how many ways
He demonstrates that love to us, and yet that's one of the
recurring themes in the book of Malachi. God, through the
prophet, indicts the people, and instead of the people repenting
and forsaking their sin, they essentially say, what do you
mean? What do you mean? What are you saying? We did this
or we did this. And here they say, in what way
have you loved us? And then, of course, the theology
of the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 9 highlights the reality
that, in fact, Esau was reprobate. In Romans chapter 9 at verse
10, we're picking up in verse 6. There's an argument going
on here. We shouldn't jump in at the end. But it is not that
the word of God has taken no effect, for they are not all
Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children, because
they are the seed of Abraham. But in Isaac your seed shall
be called. That is, those who are the children of the flesh,
these are not the children of God, but the children of the
promise are counted as the seed. For this is the word of promise,
at this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son. You see,
not all Israel is Israel. Just because you have the physical
descendancy in your blood doesn't necessarily mean that's the case. He's going to argue that Gentiles
who are converted are Israel. So you have this interesting
juxtaposition in New Covenant theology. You have Jews who reject
Jesus are spiritual Gentiles. You have Gentiles, ethnic Gentiles,
who believe on Jesus, and they are spiritual Jews. This is why
at the end of the book of Galatians, Paul the Apostle can pronounce
peace upon the Israel of God. Well, the churches of southern
Galatia probably had some Jews in them, but it was primarily
Gentile. And so Paul says to the churches
of Galatia that they are the Israel of God. That's Paul's
point in Romans 9 to 11. It doesn't run, or the promise
of God's blessing and salvation doesn't run along ethnic lines. It doesn't run through the blood. It doesn't run through race,
but rather it runs through grace. And that's Paul's point, Romans
9 to 11. And then he picks that up in
verse 10 and says, and not only this, but when Rebekah also had
conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac, for the children
not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of
works, but him who calls, it was said to her, the older shall
serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau
I have hated. So the Lord's goodness is seen
in the temporal prosperity of Esau. The Lord's goodness is
seen in the fact that Esau is a great nation and that he benefits
from the fatness of the land. Now temporal prosperity certainly
does not save, but it does in fact highlight the goodness and
the kindness of God. And if we go back in the book
of Romans, there is an emphasis on the goodness of God which
ought to produce something on the recipient or on the part
of the recipient who benefits from that goodness. Notice in
Romans 2.1. Therefore, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you
are who judge, for in whatever you judge another, you condemn
yourself. For you who judge practice the same things, but we know
that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice
such things. And do you think this, O man,
you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same,
that you will escape the judgment of God? Now note verse 4, the
promise or rather the implication or the lesson that sinners should
receive when they reap the benefits of God. Verse 4 says, Or do you
despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God lead you to repentance? So that temporal blessing or
benefit is not salvific in and of itself, but it ought to set
forth in the part of the sinner or in the heart of the sinner
the fact that God is good and it ought to promote on the part
of the recipient of that repentance unto life. So there is that grand
design, there is that great faithfulness of God Most High, and Genesis
36 is just another statement to that effect. Another chapter
in the pages of Holy Scripture which tell us that the God who
promises is in fact faithful to make good on those promises
that Esau would be a nation and that Esau would reap the fatness
of the land. Well, let's close in a word of
prayer. Father, we thank you for your Word, we thank you for
your faithfulness, we thank you for your covenant and your mercy,
and we thank you that you've included us in these promises,
not just the temporal, but the spiritual. You've given us an
interest in the seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. You've given us
faith and repentance, and certainly we are the recipients of your
goodness, both at the temporal and spiritual level. and how
we praise you for that, how we thank you for the gospel of our
salvation, how we thank you for the incarnation of the Lord Jesus,
that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and that those
in that day and age saw, beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. How
we praise you that Christ is ultimately the focus in the book
of Genesis and that in the fullness of the time you sent him forth,
born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the
law. And God thank you for including us in these blessed promises
and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
