Romans 9:9-13 for this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son." (10) And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (11) (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 of Him who calls), (12) it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger." (13) As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
We have established thus far that even though Ishmael was circumcised and his descendants practiced circumcision, nevertheless they were not included in God's covenant of circumcision; because they had not converted to Judaism. And so this brings us to Esau and his descendants. We have seen in the previous passage that God established His covenant of circumcision with Isaac, and Isaac would have circumcised both Esau and Jacob on the eighth day after their birth. And so according to the scriptures that we have seen in this series thus far; as direct descendants of both Abraham and Isaac and also being circumcised on the eighth day, both Esau and Jacob would have been included in God's covenant of circumcision. And yet we have the account in the scripture quoted above where God says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated". Clearly, as one whom the Lord hates, Esau reached a point when he broke God's covenant and was therefore cut off from His people (Genesis 17:14). And so the question is asked, what did Esau do to elicit this response from the Lord?
Hebrews 12:14-17 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: (15) looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; (16) lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. (17) For you know that afterward when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
We have asked the question, what did Esau do that caused him to be cut off from God's covenant of circumcision? The apostle Paul provides us with the answer in the above-quoted passage of scripture; for in this passage, Paul teaches us that the Lord rejected Esau because he sold his birthright. Paul goes on to tell us in this passage that when Esau finally realized the full impact of his action, he diligently and tearfully sought repentance for what he had done, nevertheless there was no recourse. The full account of Esau's attempted repentance is recorded in the book of Genesis 27:30-38.
Genesis 25:29-34 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. (30) And Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary." Therefore his name was called Edom. (31) But Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright as of this day." (32) And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?" (33) Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day." So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. (34) And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
The incident of Esau selling his birthright is recorded in the above-quoted passage of scripture. This passage declares that Esau despised his birthright, and that would be an accurate description of Esau's attitude; because to sell one's birthright for a plate of food after a hard day's work, was a display of Esau's utter contempt for his birthright as Isaac's firstborn son. And so many years later, because of what Esau had done, God allowed Jacob to deceive Isaac into bestowing Esau's blessing upon Jacob. The account of that incident, including God's prophetic words spoken over both Jacob and Esau's descendants on that occasion, is recorded in Genesis 27. Because the prophetic words spoken by Isaac on that occasion impacted the futures of both the Jews and the Palestinians, we will discuss them later in this series. Nevertheless, in this section, we want to concentrate on the reason why Esau and his descendants are excluded from God's covenant of circumcision. And so in light of that, the question is asked, why was Esau's despising of his birthright so significant, that it elicited God's response of cutting Esau off from His covenant? The answer lies in Esau's right as Isaac's firstborn son. So what right was that? We have seen in an earlier passage that God changed Jacob's name to Israel, thus making him the father of the nation of Israel (Genesis 32:28). And so as Isaac's firstborn son, it was Esau's right to have his name changed to Israel, and thus become the father of the nation of Israel. So how do we know that? For us to understand that concept we need to recognize that just as the Old Covenant is a copy and shadow of the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:4-13), Israel after the flesh is a copy and shadow of the Israel of God. So why is it important for us, in this context, to understand that Israel after the flesh is the shadow of the Israel of God? The reason is because of who the Father of the Israel of God is; it is the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that because God said it was; “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord: "Israel is My son, My firstborn” (Exodus 4:22). And so we see that when Esau rejected his birthright to be named the father of Israel after the flesh, he was rejecting the Father of the Israel of God, i.e. Jesus (Israel) the Messiah, God's firstborn Son. Understanding this truth explains why Esau's despising of his birthright, was the cause of his being cut off from God's covenant of circumcision. Because this particular truth pertains to the second Israel, we will discuss this concept in a lot more detail in the following sections. When Esau was cut off from God's covenant, it impacted his descendants as well; for unlike Ishmael, Esau never passed on to his descendants the practice of circumcision. We know that because historical records reveal to us that in the year 110 BC, the Jews attempted to force some of the Idumaeans living in Judea to convert to Judaism. Before the Idumaeans could convert however, they first had to be circumcised, thus indicating that unlike Ishmael’s descendants, circumcision was not practiced by Esau’s descendants[1]. And so we see that God's promise to Abraham applied to Esau's descendants, i.e. those who were not circumcised would be cut off from His people and His covenant. Many centuries later when the Idumaeans, as part of the Palestinian population, converted to the Muslim faith, they then also adopted the Muslim tradition of circumcision. Nevertheless, even though the Palestinians practice circumcision, they are not included in God's covenant of circumcision with the nation of Israel. And so we have seen in this series thus far that the first Israel is referred to in scripture, as Israel after the flesh. And we have seen that there are two criteria for one to qualify as a member of the nation of Israel. Firstly, one must be a partaker of God's covenant of circumcision with the nation of Israel, i.e. one must be part of the Jewish faith. And secondly, one must be a biological descendant of Jacob, the founder of the nation of Israel.
Michael E.B. Maher
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