Choosing God Instead of the World - Learning From the Lives of Jacob and JosephSýnishorn

Read: Genesis 25:27–34; 1 John 2:15–17

SOAP: 1 John 2:15–17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.

Into the text

In the exchange between Jacob and Esau over the birthright, we find no lasting resolution between the brothers and no divine approval for either of their actions. However, the inclusion of the story sets up several important plot lines: the contrast between Jacob and Esau, the conflict between the brothers, and the beginnings of the fulfillment of God’s promise for the older to serve the younger.

Esau is described as a profane person who despised the things of God and sought a life of worldly freedom. Jacob so desperately desired the blessing of God that he would go to any means to acquire it. Esau was wild, and Jacob was calm. Esau was physical, and Jacob was shrewd. Esau was loved by Isaac, and Jacob was loved by Rebekah. While Jacob sought to acquire God’s blessings, Esau sought to fulfill his fleshly desires. Both were skilled hunters, Esau with wild game and Jacob in craftiness.

Neither Jacob’s nor Esau’s actions in this story were exemplary. Esau allowed his flesh, his desire to satisfy his physical hunger, to take ultimate importance, even over the sacred things of God. He lived to satisfy his flesh and acted on impulse, causing him to despise his birthright. Though it is clear Jacob manipulated and controlled his brother to get what he wanted, the text does not make moral judgments on Jacob’s actions the way it does on Esau’s. God used this event to carry out His plan to elevate Jacob to supremacy over his brother, as He had promised.

As the events of Jacob’s life unfold in Genesis, we will see the importance of choosing between God’s way and the way of the world or for personal gain. Jacob was continually faced with choices between God’s best and his own way. As followers of Christ, we are called to live differently from the world. We cannot live like Esau did, seeking to satisfy our flesh. Instead, we are to seek the things of God. However, even when we highly esteem God’s blessing the way Jacob did, we are not excused from sin. We must still act in accordance with God’s law, being honest and upright, even if deception is the easier option. The world is passing away, but when we do the will of God, we find eternal life.