Again and again the Bible makes it clear that God is good. The NT makes it clear that God is love and that His love is poured out on all though not in exactly the same way on every individual. We are never to imagine that God only has love for His own people or that He is only good to those that fear Him. Of course it is wonderfully true and wonderfully encouraging for the believer to know that his God loves him, cares for him and provides for him and that in the fullest possible sense and we should rejoice in that. However we must be careful not to go too far and to assert that, since God does not shower every blessing upon all men, He does not grant any blessing at all.

In His loving kindness and mercy God does indeed good to all and we need never imagine otherwise. The unbeliever may indeed enjoy more temporal blessings than the believer and these blessings while falling short of salvation are nevertheless real and tangible.

Esau was just such an unbeliever who received a great deal from the LORD but he remained just that an unbeliever and missed out on the greater blessings of salvation and the Bible shows us that Esau quite simply didn't value those greater blessings.

We will take a final look at Esau this evening as Moses wraps up his account of Esau's life here in ch.36.

"These are the generations of Esau…"

Moses is primarily concerned in the Book of Genesis with tracing the line of the promised seed, the Messiah who was to come to rectify the ruin brought about by the serpent's successful tempting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Focusing upon this covenant line does not mean that Moses is inattentive to other players however. He has already dealt with Ishmael the half brother of Isaac and so now before moving on to deal with what proceeded from Jacob Moses will tie up the loose ends concerning Jacob's elder brother Esau.

While Esau will indeed disappear from the scene the same cannot be said of the nation that he established: the nation of Edom. So as Moses brings the story of Esau to a close he also provides his readers with an account of the origin of a people closely related to them yet hostile towards them. Regularly through the OT the people of Edom are found to be set against Israel.

The people of Israel of Moses own day, who were massing on the borders of the Promised Land, had recently encountered the people of Edom themselves. They had requested permission to traverse Edomite territory but Edom had refused permission. The temptation would have been great for the Israelites to harbour grudges because of this and Moses had to issue special instructions to stop this from happening:

Deut.23:7 "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother."

Relations were to remain tense though through many years of history with Israel obliged to maintain as brotherly an outlook as possible in its dealings with Edom. Edom would never respond with any fraternal spirit.

Because of the way Edom behaved towards Israel including rejoicing at the news of the Fall of Jerusalem several of the OT prophets include pronouncements of judgment against Edom. These prophets include: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos and Obadiah. And indeed in the very last book of the OT, Malachi, the tensions between the two nations are still being referred to.

But all that lay in the future as Moses wrote. He was concerned to draw attention to the fact that Esau had been the recipient of many blessings. It is to those blessings we must now turn our attention.

A large family

The first blessing Moses mentions is that of offspring.

The desire to have children is very strong and always has been. In our own day with all our technological advances and medical skills we still can't exercise an absolute control over reproduction. Childless couples suffer and go to extraordinary lengths to try to secure the child (the children) they so ardently desire. In the Bible we've come across a number of cases already of where childlessness had been a real issue and a real cause of anxiety.

Esau experienced none of these traumas. He's taken a number of different wives and they've all born him children – he's taken it all for granted, it was all so natural, so normal. And yet the Psalmist will later tell us:

Ps.127:3 "Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward."

So many in our world today are wrapped up in their family life – their family is the all important thing to them, blood is thicker than water we say – but where is the appreciation that this is a blessing generously bestowed by the Lord?

Esau's family was a blessing – a real genuine blessing – and he was quite content with it – he wasn't interested in the greater, the spiritual blessings.

Are you in danger of being satisfied with the lesser blessings of having a family life and not earnestly seeking God's higher blessings?

Nor was this all. Esau not only had children but the children he had grew up to be successful! They got on in life. When we look at our own day how many would give their eye teeth to secure the success of their kids. You know the lengths that some parents will go to on behalf of their children: schooling, sports, clubs, courses etc. etc. Well Esau's kids all did well – they grow up and become chiefs of his family clan as the nation begins to come together.

It was probably true that when compared to his brother Jacob Esau had got on with successful family life somewhat more quickly. We have no hint in the records that Esau experienced anything of the difficulties that Jacob had. To all intents and purposes Esau's family life was carefree and successful.

The sad thing was Esau seemed satisfied with these blessings.

Prosperity

If having a large successful family wasn't blessing enough the LORD granted Esau the blessings of material prosperity as well.

This was exactly the type of prosperity that suited Esau. He was a man who just loved instant gratification. You remember how he happily sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup. He wanted his food and he wanted it straightaway! And now we read that he has much of this world's riches.

We have already seen that he could ride out to meet Jacob with the support of 400 hundred men. When Jacob offered him a number of impressive gifts Esau could initially turn them down saying "I have enough". Now he's back in Canaan and we find out what that "enough" comprised. He had livestock, beasts and property in addition to the various members of his household. In fact his possessions were such that the land couldn't support both him and Jacob together – Esau was blessed with much of this world's riches. And sadly, it would appear that this world's riches were sufficient for him, he was not a spiritual man and had no interest in spiritual riches. God blessed him in real ways but these blessings served as something of a cul-de-sac for Esau. To change the metaphor it would seem that material and physical blessings blinded him to the reality of treasures in heaven which he made no attempt to secure.

Many in our world today live just like that. I wonder whether you are in danger of living like that too. I remember a Pastor in Cromer telling me of a discussion he had with a shop-keeper. The shop-keeper responded to my friend that he wasn't interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ what he wanted was money! Not many are so crass as to put it like that but many are so crass as to live that way! And Jesus wisely warned that you cannot serve God and mammon!

Don’t blame God here – material blessings are blessings nonetheless. In his generosity he gave much to Esau (in His generosity He gives so much to so many in our day) but Esau didn't look beyond these blessings to the Giver he just took the blessings and turned his back on the God who gave them. Are you in danger of being just like Esau?

Success and status

Moses tells us that Esau finally decided to leave the Promised Land – the place where God had dealt with his ancestors. Esau heads off to settle permanently now in the region of Seir and Seir is away towards the East, located S.E. of the Dead Sea. You'll remember, I trust, that such an eastwards movement is synonymous with going away from the presence of the LORD. But then Esau wasn't bothered by the presence of the LORD. He was a down to earth kind of man. He just did it and lived for the moment.

And even in going away from the presence of the LORD he continues to enjoy success in his life. He settles in Seir a country that is already occupied but gradually he and his clan become the dominant force there. Power and status and Esau gains them as his people increase in importance.

Listen to Moses in Deut.2:12 "The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place," cf.v.12.

Plenty of folk in the world today who are interested in power and status. There is nothing wrong in being powerful – possessing power can be a great blessing though it brings with it great responsibilities – but how sad if such blessing is the height of a man's ambition. How sad when in pursuing power he turns his back upon the LORD and walks away indifferent to the spiritual blessings he is abandoning.

Are you in danger of so wanting others to think and speak well of you that you are in effect turning your back and walking away from the LORD's presence?

Esau did make a name for himself. He passed his nickname onto the nation he established. He even made it into Heb.11 that great chapter of the heroes of faith as a recipient of the blessings of his father Isaac. Yes, and he was blessed but he only ever actively pursued the blessings of material here and now prosperity. There's no word about him being a man of faith himself!

Esau remains unchanged

In two earlier chapters the fact of Jacob's name being changed to Israel is recorded. The name was not just a label but descriptive in some way of the person so named. Jacob had been a cheat and a twister but God transformed him into an Israel, a man who strives with God. The new name Israel that Jacob received spoke of a change in his character and in his being as he encountered God in a vital and living way.

Paul in the NT explains why such a name change is appropriate:

1Cor.5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Have you noticed that Moses is concerned that we should realize that Esau undergoes no similar transformation? Again and again in these verses we are reminded that Esau is Edom. You see it in v.1; v.8 and again in v.19 – v.43 is very similar too.

What does this mean?

Well the identification remains the same throughout. Edom means red. Right the way back in ch.25:25 we're told that at birth Esau came out hairy and red. He began life red. Then the years pass and Esau comes in from hunting and he's famished and can't wait for food. He buys a bowl of lentil soup, red lentil soup, from his brother Jacob at the cost of his birthright! At that moment the identification is made for the first explicit time – Esau is Edom.

More years pass. Esau has prospered, he's received many blessings and his temper and hatred against his tricky brother have calmed down. But has he experienced any real fundamental change? No, he hasn't – he is still Esau, that is Edom. The nickname sticks because nothing has happened to change his character. All the blessings have proved ultimately useless to bring about the profound changes necessary.

Esau moves away from the Promised Land. He has been so close to further blessing yet has remained utterly indifferent to it. All Esau is interested in is the worldly blessing – the health wealth and prosperity of his day.

And what about you?

Have the material physical blessings you've experienced satisfied you? Are you content with them? Do you think that is all that really matters? Don't you realize that with these blessings you can be eternally lost, just as lost as was Esau?

Paul stated the matter plainly:

Rom.14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. "

How easy it is to strive for the wrong thing and to miss out on God's best! So then let us take heed to Jesus' words of warning:

Jn.6:27 "Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal."