Gen. 36 Wrapping up Esau by Studying Bible Truths and Teachings on Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 12:21am · In our last study of Genesis, we began wrapping up loose ties regarding Jacob in preparation to focus the remainder of Genesis on studying the life of Joseph. We looked at the birth of Benjamin, the death of Rachel, and the incest of Reuben. Today, we’ll move forward to look at Esau’s legacy. Turning our Bibles to Gen. 36, we see the only chapter in the Bible devoted to Esau. It’s not surprising though considering he rejected the things of God. However, his legacy would be so prominent and interwoven with the history of Israel, God gave a complete chapter to it. Many would have skipped over this chapter as it seems to be difficult to determine its purpose in scripture, but as we go through it, hopefully, its value will be seen. While genealogies are often hard to follow, they do always serve a purpose. Remember, ALL of God’s Word is inspired and is profitable, even when we don’t always know what for. I will also go on and warn you this chapter can get a little confusing, because a few different people have the same names. We’ll see Esau’s wives have 2 names each, with 2 of them having the same name. Then, there’s Anah and Dishon for example, who also bring confusion. As we move on into verse 1, we see it says Esau is Edom. Both of these names mean red. One importance of establishing that here is as you look at Israelite history later on, we see the Israelites will have a lot of conflict with the Edomites. Physically, these groups are nothing more than distant relatives. Spiritually however, they had nothing in common and couldn’t stand each other. This goes back to the very beginning of our discussion of Jacob and Esau. Esau went after the things of the world while Jacob sought things above. As we continue into verse 2, we see Esau’s 3 wives mentioned – Adah, Aholibamah, and Bashemath. When were these wives first mentioned? Adah and Aholibamah were mentioned in Gen. 26:34-35. Bashemath was mentioned in Gen. 28:6-9. If you turn to those passages, you’ll notice different names given there than what we’ve noted here. What seems to be the case is the wives have their given names and their new names. We’ve talked in the past how this was a common thing in Bible times to go by more than one name. It was normally in regard to a change in character though. That doesn’t seem to be the case implied with these though. It’s believed Esau’s wives were given new names more as a way of appeasing his parents. Does anybody remember what Isaac and Rebekkah thought of their daughters-in-law? They didn’t like them (26:35, 27:46, 28:8). Rebekkah even used them as the excuse to send Jacob away to Padan Aram. All this goes back to what we know about Esau. He followed after secular things, the things of the flesh. God’s will was for the Jews to be separated from the world. Esau wanted the opposite, to be a part of the world, and to fulfill the lusts thereof. He didn’t seek after the things of God. He went after the things of the world. Even after Jacob left, Esau still lived in Canaan with Isaac and Rebekkah. So, at some point, probably when Jacob left, he gave the women more acceptable names. He probably did it at that time, because scripture tells us that’s when he found out his parents didn’t like them. As we get to verse 4, we see wife 1 and 3 referenced, then it comes back to wife 2, Aholibamah. Based on this, the fact she gave him 3 sons, and her family’s prominence, she’s believed to be Esau’s favorite. Verse 5 says all his sons were born in Canaan. It’s interesting that all Esau’s sons were born in Canaan, THE PROMISED LAND, but all left to make a name for themselves elsewhere (in Seir). While at the same time, all the sons of Jacob except 1 (Benjamin) were born outside of the promised land, but all chose it for their home. It’s awesome how God uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect plan. Turning to verses 6-7, we see the final straw for Esau. Jacob has come back home after about 30 years. He basically came back and took up where he left off, as the son of blessing. So, once Esau saw that Jacob was back for good, he packed up and left. The official reason? There wasn’t enough room for his flocks and Jacob’s. Their wealth is that large. We’ve seen this same thing some time back with who? Abraham and Lot. Verse 8 tells us Esau moved to Seir. Is that his first time going there? No. We don’t know when he went there first, but it was probably at least back when he was about 40 or younger (over 60 years prior). That is where Aholibamah was from. We’ll talk about that more in a minute. At this point in scripture, Esau is about 107 years old (same as Jacob), so basically for about 60-70 years, he’s gone over there, but he hadn’t moved there permanently until now. He may have even had a place to stay there. Why would we say that? Remember when Jacob returned? He sent word to Esau that he was coming home. He sent the messengers to Seir. Then, when Esau left Jacob, that’s where Esau went back to. And, that’s where scripture tells us Jacob said he’d meet Esau, although that never happened. Verse 8 then wraps up like verse 1 started. Esau is Edom. This statement reinforces what we’ve said about Esau already: his worldliness, his disregard for spiritual things, and his lack of concern for the people of God. But that all points us to future events. All this culminated through his lineage. Esau’s descendants were thorns in the flesh of Israel for centuries to come, and some were even bitter enemies of Israel as time moved forward. For example, with the Edomites, when the Israelites were wandering in the desert (after leaving Egypt) and wanted to pass through the Edomites’ land, the Edomites refused them passage (Num. 20). Because of that and other horrible treatment, God prophesied judgment against them in the books of the prophets (like Ez. 25). The Amalekites, another group of descendants from Esau, also would be thorns in the flesh of the Israelites. In Ex. 17:8-16, we see the first mention about them after Moses lead the people out of Egypt. They would do battle with the Israelites. Then, later during the kingdom age, God took the kingdom away from Saul for making a deal with them (1 Sam. 15:26). The descendants of Esau essentially followed the same path as the descendants of Ishmael, another person raised in the house of Abraham, but who also turned his back on the things of God. That’s why it’s not surprising that Esau married into Ishmael’s lineage. Unfortunately, later on, we’ll see Joseph’s brothers sell him to some of that line. Moving on to verse 9, we’ll look into Esau’s sons and grandsons and their rise to power. Let’s first remember Esau’s second wife, Aholibamah, is believed to be his favorite. Here’s a little more depth to support that view. Her family was likely very prominence, because her father, Adah, had discovered springs in Beeri. She was believed to be a temple priestess (her name means “tent of the High Place”), a positive name for temple prostitutes in actuality, so this would have afforded her more position. Verse 41 tells us she was a female duke (not duchess, but duke), so she had attained political power. The fact she gave Esau 3 boys as opposed to 1 son each from the other 2 wives normally spoke highly of the wife. Then lastly, the way scripture segregates her apart from the other 2 wives points to her higher position within the family. You’ll notice Esau’s sons are mentioned initially, but then repeated as some form of royalty. It’s not clear if it’s simply a royal position or actually a military leadership type role, but both have been suggested. In any case, that leads us to an important point about the location Esau’s chosen to live. Esau lived in Seir. In Seir, there is a place known as Petra. It also goes by the name, Bozrah. Has anyone ever heard of this place? This was a strategic place, because of the pass that went through the mountains. Basically, whoever controlled it, controlled the passage through it. As you can imagine, if you controlled it, you could require fees to pass through, similar to a toll gate. Likewise, because of the geography, it was difficult to overcome this area militarily (at least from without that is). The fate that befell the Horites, the group through who Esau gained power in this area, is the same that befell the Romans, and what many say is going to happen to America. They weren’t destroyed from without.