{"id":8,"date":"2008-05-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/2008\/05\/01\/the-squandering-of-esau\/"},"modified":"2009-09-15T14:53:15","modified_gmt":"2009-09-15T18:53:15","slug":"the-squandering-of-esau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/2008\/05\/01\/the-squandering-of-esau\/","title":{"rendered":"The Squandering of Esau"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I had the opportunity to address our student body here at NTBI just before they all left for their summer break.\u00a0 A few nights earlier I was telling the story of Jacob and Esau to my children; in particular that part where Esau squanders his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup, of all things!\u00a0 I felt I should continue the focus on this story with the students.\u00a0 Maybe some of the principles will be an encouragement to you too.<\/p>\n

Imagine having a brother like Jacob; someone who seems dead set on making your life miserable.\u00a0 Imagine Esau returning from the field so famished with hunger he could think of nothing else.\u00a0 The Biblical record gives us a glimpse into Esau’s life at a moment of decision.\u00a0 But before we can apply the universal principle let’s look more closely at the details.<\/p>\n

The story of Esau’s squandering is found in Genesis 25:27-34.\u00a0 It comes immediately after the description of the twins rivalry in the womb and even during birth.\u00a0 To say that there was tension between the brothers is an understatement.\u00a0 Jacob’s deception finally drove Esau to plotting murder.<\/p>\n

Jacob was a sneak.\u00a0 I wonder if it was just by chance that Jacob was making a meal when Esau returned from the field?\u00a0 To ask Jacob for some food would not have been an easy thing for Esau to do, but he was vulnerable and his immediate need was so great that it drove his decision making.<\/p>\n

Rivalry combined with\u00a0an eclipsing sense of immediate\u00a0need made up the recipe of Esau’s squandering.\u00a0 He was plotted against in a moment of weakness and as my good friend would say, he ‘folded like a cheap suit.’\u00a0 He swore to give his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of lentil soup.\u00a0 Just like that it was done.\u00a0 He squandered.\u00a0 Later he would cry bitter tears (Gen 27:34).<\/p>\n

Esau’s birthright was no token.\u00a0 It was his livlihood.\u00a0 It was spiritual in nature.\u00a0 It had to do with political position in the community.\u00a0 It would adorn him with authority and a name that held sway.\u00a0 It was a blessing from God.\u00a0 But it was no longer his.\u00a0 Now it belonged to the deceiver, Jacob.<\/p>\n

In the context of the life of the average NTBI student this story might not seem too applicable.\u00a0 But don’t we all struggle with an internal rivalry?\u00a0 Aren’t we easily distracted, if not consumed, with what seem to be the immediate needs of our daily experience?\u00a0 Then, just like Esau, you and I could easily squander a great blessing.<\/p>\n

Jacob had no respect for his older brother.\u00a0 He was willing to use the closest of human bonds for his own gain even to the detriment of that relationship.\u00a0 Our sinful nature has the same cunning and selfishness.\u00a0 The ‘god of this world’ has no respect for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 He would do anything to destroy that relationship.<\/p>\n

Esau couldn’t see past his immediate circumstances.\u00a0 He lived his life using his human eyes and his emotions to judge what is right and good.\u00a0 He happened to be hungry; what are we feeling?\u00a0 Depressed, anxious, abandoned, unloved, stressed, deserving, okay, in control?<\/p>\n

Living unaware of who is plotting against us and choosing to use our human perspective to determine the way is our recipe for squandering.\u00a0 And our ‘birthright’ is not token either.\u00a0 Fellowship<\/span> with our Savior who is our very life is at risk.\u00a0 Usefulness in ministry<\/span>, and future reward and responsibility <\/span>all can be squandered in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

But we have the story of Esau and much more recorded for us in Scripture.\u00a0 We don’t have to make those foolish mistakes.\u00a0 The NTBI students have three months of summer to themselves.\u00a0 My challenge to them was to be careful and gaurd their hearts against squandering.\u00a0\u00a0We might not have the summer off, but\u00a0we all\u00a0need to take heed and learn from the story of Esau too.<\/p>\n

Missy and I know that we have squandered in the past.\u00a0 We have allowed our circumstances to define what is true, and have fallen prey to our flesh.\u00a0 We know that decision can easily be made again.\u00a0 It is our desire to remain on gaurd and in fellowship with the Lord so that we can be useful to him and enjoy His life flowing through us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We are thankful for the great blessing and responsibility that has come our way through this ministry at NTBI.\u00a0 Pray with us that we would not be like Esau and squander our ‘birthright.’\u00a0 Pray that we would not allow the cares of this life to move us in our decision making.\u00a0 Thank you for partnering with us for the furtherance of the Gospel to those who have never heard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the opportunity to address our student body here at NTBI just before they all left for their summer break. A few nights earlier I was telling the story of Jacob and Esau to my children; in particular that part where Esau squanders his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup, of all things! I felt I should continue the focus on this story with the students. Maybe some of the principles will be an encouragement to you too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1054],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-the-very-latest-news","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/benjamin-hatton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}