GENESIS 25:34; HEBREWS 12:14-17 After Esau had sold the birthright to Jacob and had finished eating and drinking, he “rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright” (Gen. 25:34). The word “despise” means “to look down on with contempt or aversion.” It also means “to regard as...

GENESIS 25:27-34 Jacob had been waiting for an opportunity to get the birthright from Esau. Jacob could have rightfully expected the birthright since God had promised that the elder would serve the younger, but Jacob’s methods of obtaining it were entirely wrong. Jacob sought the right thing in the wrong...

GENESIS 25:21-26 Jacob was a miracle child. Abraham and Sarah had waited 25 years for Isaac to be born, and Isaac and Rebekah waited 20 years for the birth of Jacob. Genesis 25:21-22 says, “Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated...

GENESIS 17:9-21 God did not refuse to bless Ishmael, but He caused Abraham to clearly understand that the covenant would be established with Isaac, who was not yet born. Ishmael was not to be an heir with Isaac. The Scriptures build on this principle in showing that the flesh (Ishmael)...