November 23, 2025: Blessings for Esau - Genesis 36

Today we will conclude our third installment of our series,

Legacy of Blessing. Next Sunday begins Advent, and

so we're looking forward to walking together through that

entitled Legacy of Blessing. We are probing Genesis and

seeking wisdom for our most foundational questions.

What am I, who am I, and why am I here?

For a culture that is desperate for answers and in a confusing

and chaotic cloud of ideologies and lies regarding these most

profound questions. It's a fraught place to live.

And we, the Church, have the audacity to claim that this old

book has everything that we need for life and godliness, which

means that it delivers profound and exceptional beautiful

answers to these our deepest questions.

What are we? We are human beings, created

male and female in the image of God.

We make human families that are procreative and we are able to

multiply and fill the earth. We are tasked to tend and garden

and protect God's beautiful planet.

And last, these purposes of God are frustrated and thwarted by a

great enemy, Satan, who came and tempted the first humans to

rebel against God. And so we have a frustration in

these beautiful areas. God is determined to bless us in

spite of ourselves and comes to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob with

profound promises to give them a place to live, a land to make

them into a great nation, a nation of priests, for the

purpose of being able to mediate blessing to all the nations of

the earth. Sadly, as we go through the

stories of the patriarchs, we see sin once again threaten all

of these categories. And particularly as we've been

working through the stories of Esau and Jacob, these two

brothers who were rivals in utero in the womb, they are

tussling and they come out and the rivalry extends.

And we are very nervous as we're reading the Bible if this too is

going to end in murder, just as it did with Cain and Abel before

them. How bad is this sin problem?

Will it overwhelm God's promises like a flood?

Or will God's grace extend beyond human sin and provide

redemptive action to bring indeed his people to their

precious home, to bring warring rivals into Shalom, into

peaceful reconciliation in order so that they may indeed mediate

blessings to a world that has lost and in great need of a

Savior? This narrative tension drives us

into each chapter. Once again, we will go into

chapter 36. As I said, it's the conclusion

of this section. And what we will find here is a

very long genealogy. And I decided to be merciful to

our Scripture reader and to myself and to y'all.

We are not actually going to read through all these names

this morning, but we do believe that all of Scripture is God

breathed and profitable for us. And so we will spend some time

in this chapter gleaning what we may in order to have life and

godliness. And we can notice structurally

that Genesis tends to do this after we get a narrative section

following the tension, but also focusing specifically on the

chosen Son of promise. We also get information about

the sibling or the non chosen line.

So if you remember when we were learning about Abraham, Abraham

parted from lots and we yet we're still told things about

Lot's legacy story extends into the next generation.

Abraham has two sons, Ishmael and Isaac.

Isaac is the son of promise, but we still learn things about

Ishmael, particularly how he becomes the head of a very large

and important family. And so we come to this text and

the pattern continues. Now we're going to learn some

things about Esau, the non chosen son, to learn how the

Lord was working with him in this story.

It'll give a genealogy or some history about his line.

And that's where we find ourselves this morning.

The first thing that we're going to discover is that God blessed

Esau because of Isaac. It's important to recognize that

God is blessing Esau in this text, though He is not the

chosen son of promise. Now, there isn't a Bible verse

that's explicitly going to say to you, behold, the Lord did

then bless Esau because of Isaac.

There's no verse like that in this chapter, but rather you

need to be able to see the pattern that has been developing

through the text and notice some things that are happening that

imply that indeed the Lord is blessing Esau because of Isaac.

The pattern, as I said, begins in Genesis 17 where it is more

explicit. God says to Abraham this in

Genesis chapter 17, beginning in verse 20.

Genesis 17 · chapter mention

As for Ishmael, I have heard you.

Behold, I have blessed him and and will make him fruitful and

multiply him greatly. He shall father 12 Princess, and

I will make him into a great nation.

But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall

bear to you at this time next year.

In the New Testament, the writer of the Hebrews understands that

Esau is blessed as well. In Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 20,

Hebrews 11:20

it says this. By faith, Isaac invoked future

blessings on Jacob and Esau. And as you read this text, you

already know coming into this chapter that Esau is fabulously

wealthy. Fabulously wealthy.

He was worried that he was going to miss the blessing because of

his grasping brother and the great deceit.

He's murderously angry, but as time plays out, the Lord blesses

him and blesses him and bless him, and he's got tons of

wealth, 400 fighting men, and a huge family.

But we're also going to see that there are very important

departures in this text as Esau moves away from the chosen line.

2 important departures in the text 1 is that you're going to

see that he assimilates his family with the Canaanites.

Remember that was appalling to Rebecca.

She wanted Jacob to go away and get a wife from the family and

not assimilate with the Canaanites.

We're going to see that Esau assimilates with the Canaanites,

but we're also going to see that he departs physically from the

land of Canaan, moves away from Jacob, and has his own country.

Let's begin in verse one. These are the generations of

Esau, that is Edom Esau took his wives.

You're listening. Esau took his wives from the

Canaanites, and it goes on to list this family, but they're

also seeing that he moved away. This is the text that Phil read

earlier, verse 6. Then Esau took his wives, his

sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his

livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had

acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from

his brother Jacob, for their possessions were too great for

them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings

could not support them because of all their livestock.

So Esau settled in the Hill Country of Seer.

Esau is Edom, so you should hear an echo of the story with

Abraham and Lot. Do you remember why they had to

separate says because the land could not support all of their

great wealth, particularly the livestock.

So the text is saying clearly here that Esau has been blessed

with a huge family and he's also been blessed with so much wealth

that it's time for him to depart and move into a different place.

So we have these departures. But we can also see as we go

through this text and as you look at the the headings to the

paragraph divisions, that there is prestige in Esau's family.

And that the biblical writers trying to highlight the

blessings of God to him, particularly by notice noting

like Ishmael before him that his sons are important chiefs and

kings. If you can look down at verse

15, it says something like this. These are the chiefs of the sons

of Esau. And you get this list and then

it repeats the word chiefs over and over and over in this

chapter until you get the point. These guys are important.

The family is blessed. If you move down to verse 31,

the word kings is used. These are the kings who reigned

in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites.

Again, the writer is telling you of prestige, a monarchy that

precedes even the monarchy of Saul and David and Solomon.

If you skip down to verse 40, you'll hear the similar

language. Once again.

These are the names of the chiefs of Esau according to

their clans. So you see the abundance that

Esau experienced because of his proximity to Isaac, his father.

He received material blessings from God, abundant descendants,

chiefs and kings. We also see a departure as he

moves to become a different people in a different place.

But the Bible is very clear about this relationship.

Now as Israel grows and as Edom grows, that they're supposed to

remember the story that they are siblings, they are brothers,

they are supposed to be allies. In Deuteronomy chapter 23,

Deuteronomy 23 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 7, the Bible says to the nation of Israel,

you shall not abhor, that means hate.

You shall not hate and Edomite, for he is your brother.

Children born to them in the third generation may enter the

assembly of the Lord. There is a pathway for them to

be blessed in the Direct Line. And so you have this

relationship between the two countries and you're wondering,

will this be a good and peaceful relationship or will it be

fraught and characterized by rebellion and rivalry?

And so now I need to take you on just a brief little sidebar so

we can zoom out and think about the two nations in biblical

history. It's brief, I promise, so that

we can see how the rest of the Bible discusses Esau.

What goes on in the National History is that as time

progresses, Israel does indeed have a series of great kings as

a dynasty, and in the time of King David, Israel does rule

over the Edomites, the descendants of Esau.

You can read about that in Second Samuel 8.

But later we find when the Kingdom is unraveling and

Israel's under direct threat from Babylon, that Edom betrays

his brother. Israel, attacks Israel allied

with the Babylonians. The prophets in the Bible,

particularly in Obadiah, are very upset with this betrayal.

There's very strict and condemning language that says

that they are going to experience divine retribution.

And indeed, historically this happens.

Babylon wipes out Edom and though Israel is brought into

exile, but then brought back and their line continues today.

Edom cut off because of this great betrayal.

And it's given in such strong prophetic language, even in the

voice of God saying Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated.

So great is this divine retribution for this horrible

sibling betrayal. As we come into the New

Testament, the symbol of Esau gets used in a couple of

interesting ways. 1st we have to note that on the one hand, God

was blessing Esau and his descendants because of Isaac,

but on the other hand, over the course of ages and this betrayal

that happens, we see Esau brought up as kind of a symbol

of rebellion. And Paul even quotes this line.

Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated in a difficult

chapter in Romans. In Romans Chapter 9, Paul will

Romans 9 · chapter mention

quote this very line as he teaches his readers about God's

mysterious freedom and sovereignty over human beings.

So though Esau experienced material blessings because of

Isaac, biblically he turns into an example of God's judgement on

the enemies of his people. So here we have an interesting

example of God's mercy and loving kindness, joined also to

a warning of divine justice and righteousness on the other.

And so these tandem truths come to us and serve as an example to

us, particularly friends, because we are the Gentiles in

the story. We are the ones outside of the

lines of Israel. And so when we come to Esau, we

need to be paying attention because these tandem truths of

God's blessing to us because of who we are related to, but also

his warnings of apostasy and rebellion right there in Esau.

So we have to listen carefully given our status as Gentiles.

It's important when you're talking about God blessing Esau

because of Isaac. You can guess what I'm going to

say next in our second movement. God blesses us because of Jesus.

God blesses us because of Jesus. We've been talking about how

Jesus is the true and better Jacob throughout this series.

He is the Son of promise. He is the Chosen 1, but we're

also going to notice that he sticks to the mission of God,

which is first to reveal himself to the Jews, to make a nation of

priests, and then through them outwardly to the Gentiles.

First to the Jews, then to the Gentiles.

So what I have queued up for you next is a story from Matthew 15,

beginning in verse 21, where we see in the life of Christ the

true and better Jacob, Him following this sort of plan,

first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.

Matthew 15, I'm beginning in verse 21.

And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of

Tyre and Sidon. Dun Dun Dun, Gentile territory.

You're paying attention, Gentiles, you're paying

attention. What's going to happen?

And behold that strong biblical language that says, pay

attention, a Canaanite woman, a Canaanite woman.

And behold, A Canaanite woman from that region came out and

was crying. Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of

David. My daughter is severely

oppressed by a demon. Verse 23 but he Jesus did not

answer her a word that's strange.

And his disciples came and begged him.

So she's begging now they're begging, begged him saying send

her away for she is crying out after us.

She's so annoying Canaanite woman.

Interestingly, the text seems to make you think that Jesus is on

their side. He sticks to the script because

this is the biblical plan, first to the Jews, then to the

Gentiles. He says he answered in verse 24.

I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

I think He's got a twinkle in his eye as he looks and says

this. She's encouraged, but she knows

the Bible better than they do. Verse 25 But she came and knelt

before him, saying, Lord, help me.

And he answered, it is not right for the children's bread to take

the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

She said, yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that

fall from their master's table. There is blessing for Gentiles

in proximity to the chosen 1 and I'm begging for whatever you

got. Have mercy on me.

Jesus answers verse 28. O woman, great is your faith, be

it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed

instantly. So we see in the life of Christ

that God blesses us Gentiles because of Jesus.

We also see this first to the Jew and then to the Gentile

pattern throughout the rest of the New Testament.

If you read it in the book of Acts, remember, the expansion of

missionary activity starts with the Jews, doesn't it?

Apostles are Jewish. But then it moves out from

Jerusalem, Samaria, all the way out to the ends of the earth to

the Jews and then to the Gentiles.

And you can also see that this is a hard lesson for Peter

'cause he's told to eat stuff he ain't at before and to go places

he hadn't been before, and he's supposed to go first to the

Jews, then to the Gentiles. As God seeks to bless the world

through the Jewish people, we also see this Gentile expansion,

this missionary expansion, first to the Jews, then to the

Gentiles and the life of Paul who specifically understands his

calling as the apostle to the Gentiles, doesn't he?

He says in Romans chapter one verse 16, I am not ashamed of

the gospel because of the power of, because it is the power of

God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for

the Jew, then for the Gentile. What are some applications for

us as we consider this Old Testament New Testament pattern

of the chosen line of priests mediating blessings to those who

are not in the chosen lines? What does it mean for us today?

Since we are Gentile recipients of the covenant promises to

Israel? Since we are we are the Gentile

recipients of the covenant promises to Israel, the Bible

teaches us that we must honor the Jews.

We must honor the Jews. Romans 11 makes this point over

and over and over. It says, listen, Gentiles, just

because Israel isn't believing right now, don't all y'all get

cocky. The blessings belong to the

patriarchs. They coming down from you.

It's like a big tree. Big tree, a blessing.

And guess what, Gentiles, you're grafted on and this living SAP

that's coming up through there and making you alive is in

continuity with all of that. Don't get cocky.

Romans Chapter 11, verse 18, it says do not be arrogant toward

Romans 11:18

the branches, Gentiles, if you are, remember it is not you who

support the root, but the root that supports you.

So do not become proud, but fear.

And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will

be grafted in. Paul is very hopeful about their

future, for God has the power to graft them in again.

He warns them about pride in verse 25.

Again, lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to

be unaware of this mystery. Brothers, a partial hardening

has come upon Israel, and to the fullness of the Gentiles has

come in. And in this way all Israel will

be saved as it is written. The deliverable, the Deliverer,

will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from

Jacob, and this will be my covenant with them when I take

away their sins. We must honor the Jews Now.

Honoring the Jews does not mean that we completely support all

of modern Israel's policies. We must look at those with

gospel lenses and Christian ethics, even if it means saying

hard things. But it also means that there is

no room in the Christian religion for anti-Semitic

rhetoric, comments or affections in our hearts.

We must honor the Jews when in as much as we are honoring the

Jews, remembering that their blessings we are grafted into,

we must also bless the outsiders.

We must also bless the outsiders, and if in that case

it means that they are Palestinian outsiders, we have

to care about them too, don't we?

So we come to this with Christian discernment and wise

understanding. Searching the scriptures in

community with one another. We were.

We need to humbly recognize outsiders.

Why? Because we is 1.

All the Gentiles are outsiders. That means when you come to a

text with an outsider in it, you should pay attention.

Oh, yeah, Canaanites. Yeah, that's me.

Moabites. Yeah, that's me.

And recognize that God has been kind to outsiders in a pattern

all the way through the Bible. Rahab is a Canaanite, a

prostitute who harbors the spies and is blessed in genealogy.

Ruth is a get this friends, a Moabitess.

Also honored in the genealogy. And that's awesome.

Hope for you and for me, because we're the outsiders.

But it's also a humility check so that we don't form our own

holy clusters and huddles in Pharisaical arrogance, shunning

and oppressing and calling down fire from heaven on our enemies.

We must bless the outsider. That super hard.

It's going to take divine help by the Holy Spirit.

We must bless the outsiders. The text goes on and on about

this. Let's take a couple of examples.

Ephesians 211 directly tells you to remember your status as an

outsider. Ready.

Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles, outsiders,

were at that time separated from Christ.

Listen to this separated from Christ, alienated from the

Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of

promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

That's your status. That's my status.

Verse 13 But now, But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once

far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For He himself is our peace, who has made us both one, and has

broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

And he came and preached peace to you who are far off, and

peace to those who are near. Paul again now in Colossians.

The 4th chapter gives us more instructions.

How are we going to do this? It says, continue steadfastly in

prayer, being watchful in it with Thanksgiving.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a

door for the Word to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of

which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, which is how I

ought to speak. Gentiles walk in wisdom toward

outsiders, making the best use of the time.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salts,

so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Wow, watchfulness and prayer, loaded with Thanksgiving.

Looking for opportunity, making the best use of time, gracious

speech, season with salt so that you know how to answer each

person. That is a divine purpose, and it

will be given divine enablement by the Holy Spirit.

But if you notice carefully in this text, Paul mentioned some

pain, did you catch it? Paul mentioned some pain, did

you catch it? On account of which the gospel,

I am in prison. And the Bible's super clear

about this too, that our efforts to bless the nation's includes

blessing our enemies. And some of them aren't going to

like us very much. They're going to hurt us.

They're going to harm us. They're going to do all kind of

manner of evil to us. And Jesus says bless those who

persecute you. Now, if I'm supposed to bless

enemies, that's a problem. What about justice?

God, don't you care? You know what's happening down

here? This is a scary, horrible world

and we are taught, we are taught that we must trust the righteous

judge. Couple of things here.

This does not mean that Christians sort of lays into a

passive trust where we stop caring about justice.

It's not what it means. Some of you are going to be

called the law enforcement, public advocacy, the political

arena, and you're going to work hard from a Christian

perspective to try to pass just laws and advocate for the ones

who are brutally oppressed. And you're going to work towards

justice as a Christian. And holy calling, we're not

called to just completely lays out in some sort of passive

trust. We are supposed to work for

justice, but we're also supposed to do that within the bounds of

the law, because it is not Christian for us to take justice

into our own hands, for us to act as vigilantes and to act as

those who do not have gracious words seasoned with salt but

rather are cantankerous cussing fighters.

We must remember the tone matters, The content matters.

The rule of the law matters. We advocate for justice in the

here and now. But we're also going to realize,

friends, that some injustice we're going to take all the way

to the grave and to the resurrection and to the glory.

There are some consequences of sin that no prison sentence will

give back to a family what they have lost.

And for that loss we have to have heavenly hope and heavenly

eyes, and trust the righteous judge who will raise the dead

and perfectly pay back everything.

Redeem the lost, judge the wicked, and finally, at last the

great scales will balance in the person, in the work of Jesus

Christ the righteous who took condemnation for us in our

place. Hear the words of the Lord from

Romans 12. Friends, bless those who

persecute you. Bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.

Live in harmony with one another.

Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

Never be wise in your own sights.

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is

honorable in the sight of all friends, if possible, so far as

it depends on you, live peacefully with all beloved.

Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.

For it is written, vengeance is mine.

I will repay, says the Lord, to the contrary.

If your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing

so you will heap burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

In the here and now and in the life to come, everything will be

repaid. So to conclude, we Gentiles are

blessed in order to bless others, even our enemies.

Will you pray with me? Father in Heaven, we give you

thanks this day and this week for our many physical and

spiritual blessings. We also acknowledge those who

are in deep scarcity who need provision, and those who are

impoverished spiritually who need Jesus.

We lift up the hurting to you and ask you to be generous, as

you have been with us. Bless us now as we respond in

Jesus name and by the Spirit, Amen.