Genesis 25 — Thoughts

Why All the Sibling Rivalry in Genesis?

The story of Jacob and Esau never made a lot of sense to me when I was a kid. I got the sense that we were supposed to root for Jacob and see Esau as the villain. But why?

Jacob doesn't exactly have a lot of positive qualities. The most we know about him is that he can trick his brother. Is that something for us to admire?

And Esau doesn't seem all that bad. The worst we know about him is that he doesn't think very clearly when he's hungry. But who does?

It wasn't until I started looking for the Gospel in the Old Testament that stories like this began to make a little more sense to me. You see, there's a pattern — in Genesis especially — of the younger brother taking the older brother's place. Isaac was favored over Ishmael. Jacob will be favored over Esau. And Joseph will come to rule over all his brothers.

This pattern is there because it's trying to tell us something about our own relationship with Jesus. He is the Older Brother — innocent and heir to God's inheritance. We are the younger brother — undeserving, even ill-deserving. As God's only begotten Son, Jesus has the birthright and the blessing of God. And as sinners, we have no claim to anything of God's.

And yet, Jesus chose to give up His status and take our place on the Cross so that we could take His place in favor with God. Because of His sacrifice, we are given His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) and adopted as children of God (Romans 8:14). Like the younger brothers in these Genesis stories, we have taken the place of our Older Brother, Jesus.

We don't deserve it. It's just grace. Thankfully, Jesus rose back to life and is now seated in glory at the right hand of the Father. And that's grace for us, too.

(Originally written July 21, 2020)