Hebrew 12:15-17
[15] See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; [16] that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. [17] For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. (ESV)
Verse 16 makes a strange comparison. Those who are sexually immoral are like Esau. What heinous sexual sin did Esau commit? He sold his birthright. Wait, what? How does Esau selling his birthright compare to sexual sin? To answer that, let’s look at Genesis 25 where this is recorded.
[29] Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. [30] And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) [31] Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” [32] Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” [33] Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. [34] Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. (ESV)
What Do We Know about Esau? Did he meet God’s conditions for repentance?
1: Esau is called a “profane” person (Heb. 12:16).
The basic meaning of the original word translated “profane” is “outside the temple,” “removed from the sacred, unconsecrated” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). It has been translated as “godless,” “irreligious,” “irreverent,” “careless about God.” The word seems very appropriate in describing the character of Esau. He did as he pleased, and made no effort to frame his life to the Divine pattern.
2: Esau “despised his birthright” (Gen. 25:34).
The word translated “despise” means “to disesteem:–despise, disdain, contemn, think to scorn” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). This suggests that he did not take seriously the birthright or the loss of it–very possibly because he did not really believe that he could lose it. The double portion was his because he was the eldest son, a fact nothing could change. When he made the exchange with Jacob, he very likely did not think it was anything “for real.”
Esau was not seeking a place in the Divine plan, and did not see the opportunity that lay in his path for the taking. Little did he realize that this was no ordinary inheritance, or that in that inheritance lay the destiny of the nation. Esau could have been an instrument in God’s hand, but he did not seek God or try to work with God. And by giving away the inheritance he forfeited what he could have had.
Esau’s “repentance” very possibly means that he changed his mind about forfeiting the inheritance when he found he could not recover the loss. The word translated “repentance” (metanoia) has two meanings. Both involve a change of one’s mind, but one definition implies guilt, as turning from one’s sin, a “reformation”; the other means the “reversal of a decision.” It seems likely that Esau’s repentance was of the latter type, especially in view of the fact that God did not accept Esau’s repentance. The word from which metanoia is derived (metanoeo) means “to think differently afterwards; to reconsider.” By seeking “repentance” Esau indicated that he now saw the value of wheat he had thoughtlessly given away and wished to reverse the decision and claim the inheritance. When he found that the loss was irretrievable (the integrity of the system had to be maintained by the bestower) he was grief-stricken.
Esau in making the decision to sell his birthright did so of his own free will. Jacob and Esau as individuals were both free to choose their own course of action; but God, by His Divine foreknowledge, revealed in advance that Jacob would be favored above Esau. As the apostle Paul wrote, “It was said unto her [Rebecca, before the children were even born], The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom. 9:12-13).
We need to look at this from the broader context of the whole Bible to understand what is going on here. Hold on tight. We are about to do a brief flyover of the biblical story of redemption. God creates the universe and all creation is meant to glorify him, the perfect and good Creator. The pinnacle of his creation is humanity, Adam and Eve, made in God’s image. As image bearers they are to steward God’s creation and spread the Glory of God over the whole world. They fail at this completely by disobeying God, seeking to to be gods themselves instead of being content with being made in the true God’s image. Now humanity is under the curse of sin with no hope to save themselves unless God acts on their behalf. God promises to act and points forward to a redeemer who will come and save people from their sin. Eventually God would call Abraham and make him into the great nation of Israel. It is through Israel that God brings his redeemer and this redeemer will not be just for Israel but for people from all tribes, tongues, and nations. Centuries later God himself will become a man, Jesus Christ, from this nation of Israel to die for our sins and rise again so that we might be raised to new life in him.
Esau was born very early in this story of redemption. Esau was the firstborn son of Abraham’s son, Isaac. As firstborn Esau had special status consisting of this birthright which was linked to God’s glorious plan of redemption. It was through Abraham’s descendants that the Savior, Jesus, would come. Esau despised this birthright though and carelessly dismissed it just because he was hungry. He traded involvement in God’s eternal plan of redemption for a single bowl of stew. His fleeting, momentary desires led him to despise the eternal plan of his Creator. This is why the writer of Hebrews calls Esau immoral and unholy.
When you are sexually immoral — whether that means you are looking at porn, lusting after a coworker, sleeping with someone who is not your husband or wife (whether you are married or not) — you are behaving exactly like Esau. You are foolishly despising the eternal plan of your Creator for the fleeting desires of your flesh. If you persist in your sin you will not inherit forgiveness and eternal life just as Esau never inherited the blessing of his birthright. This is serious, and it is all the more serious when our culture is constantly trying to deny these things. Our culture is preaching to us that we should despise God’s plan and give in to our momentary desires. It teaches that we should follow our heart, have sex when we want with whoever we want (as long as they consent), be whatever gender we think we should be, and basically put our own subjective feelings above any objective truth from our Creator. Basically, we are taught that we should be Esau. But what happened to Esau?
Hebrews 12 says that Esau found no chance to repent. Why? Because he was seeking after only the blessing he lost and not true repentance. It was the lost blessing he was seeking with tears, but there was no true confession of his sin with a desire to turn from it. His momentary desires led to no lasting fulfillment so he tried to obtain the blessing of God without truly turning from his sin. The good news is that if you confess your sexual immorality and seek forgiveness through Jesus then there will be true repentance. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV). I pray that you will not be like Esau and despise God’s eternal redemption for your temporary desires. Please do not give up eternal blessings in exchange for unsatisfying, momentary desires. Turn to Christ and you will find both repentance and blessing in his grace.
In Summary
It appears that Esau’s “tears” were not for his sinfulness but for his material loss, the realization that he had forfeited something of value which he could not recover. We have no evidence that he repented from his wrong course and made a right-about-face in his life.
