June 28, 2021 — When Tears Are Not Enough

It’s true, Esau sought repentance, but not for his own heart; it was his father, Isaac, he wanted to repent. We seldom find repentance when we think it’s the other fellow’s fault!

Fooled by the conspiracy between his younger son and his wife, old Isaac gave Jacob the blessing of the firstborn. Is the way to a man’s heart really through his stomach? Jacob thought so. He stole the birthright from Esau with a bowl of lentil soup; he stole the blessing from Isaac with a plate of goat stew. Now we wait for the other sandal to drop. Sure enough, in comes Esau with his freshly caught venison, or whatever it was, and he brings a heaping serving to his father. Again the question from the blind old man: “Who are you?” And again the answer: “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau” (Gen 27:32). Can you feel the tension in the room? The Bible records: “Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, ‘Who?’” (v 33). Then the sad news poured out. Jacob had beaten Esau to the punch. Isaac’s stomach was full with the goat meat from Jacob, and now Jacob’s life was full with the blessing of Isaac. Esau, grown man that he was, burst out with bitter crying. “Bless me—me also, O my father!” he pled, but it was too late. He would be blessed, but not with the blessing of the firstborn. Here the New Testament adds its own commentary. Be very careful, we are warned, that you not be “like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears” (Heb 12:16-17). Note! It was not his own repentance he sought. Are these the words of a penitant? “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob” (Gen 27:41). It was his father’s mind he wanted changed, not his own. But it was too late. Bartering earth’s pleasures for God’s blessings will always be a bad deal.