36–2: Esau’s Line Left Eretz Israel — Jacob’s Line Claimed It

Do you remember back in Genesis chapter 27, after Esau was tricked out of his blessing, Isaac said to Esau, “Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above.”

If you recall, I specifically said that most Bibles will NOT say “away from the fat of the land” but usually take out the phrasing “away from” and make it to say the opposite, that Esau will live in a fertile place where there is abundant moisture.

Out of sympathy for Esau, apparently, the ancient sages removed the word AWAY from the text.

However, the earliest Hebrew manuscripts plainly show that Esau would go away from the fatness of the land.

And that is exactly where he went, to a desert named Arabah.

From this point on in the Scriptures, Esau/Edom is viewed as becoming increasingly wicked.

However, at the same time, a certain degree of respect is accorded to Esau.

“But you are not to detest an Edomite, because he is your brother.” -Deuteronomy 23:7

So we have a paradox.

Simultaneously, Esau in the bible is cast as an unrighteous and wicked person AND as a brother who should be shown deference.

This is an issue that I will explore in a later post, but just know that it is this very paradox that is the source of our misunderstanding of many of the conflicts happening in the Middle East today.

Now here is another interesting paradox, or maybe I should say irony.

Isn’t it interesting that all of Esau’s sons were born inside the promised land but were removed from it?

And the chosen descendants, Jacob’s sons, were born outside of the promised land (in Mesopotamia) and were brought into the promised land.

This is amazing symbolism.

I see two awesome takeaways.

First, it doesn’t matter whether or not you were born in or out of the promised land.

All those who call on the name of Lord will be saved. Period.

Second, it is possible to have known God but then walk away from Him as Esau did when he took his family and removed them from the blessing of the promised land.

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