Genesis 36
The Genealogy of Esau
I.
Review
A.
As Jacob
returns from Padan Aram he wrestles with God at the Jabbok and then
from a position of weakness he meets his brother Esau.
1.
Esau
came to him with 400 mercenaries – not knowing what he would encounter when he
met Esau. But he was prepared.
2.
Esau did
not call upon his soldiers, rather he and Jacob were reconciled.
a.
Gen
35:29 – they attend their father’s funeral together
b.
Gen
36:6-7 – they evidently lived near each other after Jacob leaves Bethel and goes to live in Hebron .
II.
The text
of Gen 36
A.
The
introduction – 36:1
1.
“This is
the account of Esau” (NIV)
a)
One of
the ways that Moses begins a new story in Genesis is by the words “This is the
account of …”
1)
Gen 2:4,
5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:10, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1,9, 27:2
2)
You will
notice the phrase occurs twice in our chapter.
3)
We have
the account of Esau leaving Canaan
(36:1-9) and then the account of the genealogy of Esau and the Horites in Edom (36:10-40)
4)
What is
interesting is that Moses takes a chapter to give these accounts that revolve
around Esau – the one who is not favored; the one through whom God’s promise
does not go through. (Like Ishmael who also had an account given – 25:12)
5)
And so
we ask ourselves as we enter the text – Why would he give an account Esau? The promise goes through Jacob.
2.
It is
tempting when reading through Genesis to either read rapidly or just skip this
chapter with hard to pronounce names that we don’t really see any other place
in the scripture.
a)
But
Moses has a reason for telling this account.
He is writing to the Israelites in the wilderness and his goal is to
bolster their faith so that they will trust God and his promises to them. And this chapter aids in that goal.
B.
The
structure of the chapter
1.
36:1-8 –
Esau leaves Canaan and goes to Edom
2.
36:9-29
– Esau’s descendants
3.
36:31-39
– The chiefs (NIV)/dukes (KJV) in Edom
4.
36:40 –
Esau’s descendants who were chiefs
C.
The
first account – 36:1-8
1.
Esau and
Jacob part ways (similar to Abraham and Lot – 13:6) because their possessions were too
great for them to remain together.
2.
It seems
that they lived near each other and parted amicably, as Lot and Abraham did.
3.
Jacob is
in Hebron (35:27) and Esau leaves the promised land
and heads south (around the southern part of the Dead Sea in the Negev ) to the hill country of Seir.
D.
The
second account – 36:9-40
1.
Gen
36:20 – when he gets to Seir he encounters the Horites who “inhabit” the
region. They live there. It is their land.
a)
Horite –
means literally “cave dweller” (BDB) – not in the sense of cave man that might
come to our mind – the guy with a beard, a bear skin toga and a club who
grunts.
b)
But
rather – he lived in a cave because that is what the land provided for
him. Caves. (Those of you who just got back from Israel saw the caves in Qumran and along the Dead Sea .) (We
live in houses of wood and brick because that is what our land provides.)
c)
The
Horites had ruling structures (36:21- chiefs) and places where they lived. Seir was their place. They were established there.
d)
And Esau
leaves Canaan to move in here. How well do you imagine he
is received? (They don’t want him
there.)
2.
Dt
2:20-24 – Moses and Israel in the wilderness
a)
2:24 – Moses is seeking to provide a basis for
faith in Israel to trust God and take the Arnon Gorge in Transjordan and deal with the king of Sihon (Num 2121ff). (The Arnon Gorge is on the East side of the Dead Sea on the border between Moab and the Ammonites (Num 21:13 ). (ROR
p.40)
b)
And to
stir up this faith in the Lord for Israel to take the gorge he recalls in Dt 2:20 -23 how God worked in the lives of two other
people in the past – Lot ’s descendants the Ammonites (2:21 ) and then the Edomites (Esau’s descendants)
(2:22 ).
c)
Both the
Ammonites and the Edomites had people living in the land and the Lord destroyed
them so that the descendants of Lot and
Esau could live there.
d)
It is
significant to note that the promise of God does not run through Lot or Esau.
The story of Scripture is not about them, yet God displaces people for
them. He drives kings out and captures their cities for the Ammonites and the
Edomites.
e)
Israel will find herself facing organized cities,
kings and settled people when she goes into the Promised Land.
3.
The
message to Israel
a)
Imagine
now what he will do for you – the people who are favored, chosen and have the
promise.
b)
Jesus –
consider the lilies…birds…yet God cares for them. How much more us. Will he fail to keep his promises to us who
belong to him through faith in his Son?
His Son died for us.
E.
Isaac’s
blessing to Esau – Gen 27:39-40
1.
Esau
when he learns that Jacob stole the blessing that should have been his, he asks
his father if he has only one blessing.
And Isaac answered with:
a)
“Your
dwelling will be away from the earth’s riches, away from the dew of heaven
above”
2.
Israel as they marched through the wilderness and
came to Edom was able to see firsthand where the descendants of Esau, the Edomites,
lived. They lived in the Negev .
a)
Num 13:29 – The Amalekites lived in the Negev – and they are descendants of Esau – Gen
36:12
b)
Gen 36:24
– you know when you identify someone by telling about the time when they found
water – that the land they are living in is dry – “away from heavens dew” (KJV
has Anah finding mules, but the better reading is hot springs.)
c)
Josh 15:19 - Caleb promised his daughter to the man who
could take a certain city. Othniel took
the city. Caleb gave his daughter and some land in the Negev . She
told her newlywed husband to tell her dad to give them some land with
water. He hesitated. She did not.
She did not want the waterless Negev by
itself.
3.
Here is
the point: Isaac told Esau his dwelling would be in dry place and that is
exactly where Edom in the Negev is.
4.
So, when
this same Isaac blesses his son Jacob (Gen 27:27) saying, “May God give you of
heaven’s dew and of earth’s riches” then Israel can with good reason trust God to do just
that. What he told Esau came true. The dry Negev is a demonstration that God will give Canaan – a land flowing with milk and honey – to Israel .
5.
Sometimes
our faith can be strengthened as we see the things God gives those who do not
trust him.
a)
Eccl. –
Solomon says, as he looks at life apart from God (under the sun) that he has
seen what God has given him to be busy with and it all turns out to be vanity
of vanity – a chasing after the wind.
Life does not have any meaning apart from God except to eat, drink and
be merry. Tomorrow you die. You might have some fun, but is all there is?
There is a desire for more. And it is
not until God is brought into the picture that life has a genuine and lasting
meaning.
b)
Like Israel saw Edom living in the desert, as Isaac said he
would, we can look at the world around us and see the emptiness, darkness and
void in the lives of people who do not know God and realize that this is
exactly what God said would be there. In
Christ we have light, fullness and purpose.
This is what God promises those who believe in him. He keeps his word.
III.
He’s
your brother
A.
Jacob
and Esau are brothers.
B.
Esau’s
descendants and Jacob’s descendants are brothers. So as they interact with each other, Jacob’s
descendants are to treat Esau’s descendants as brothers.
1.
Dt 23:7
– Do not abhor the Edomite for he is your brother.
2.
This is
just another command Israel did not keep. Edom did not either.
C.
Brothers
don’t always act like brothers.
1.
Num 20 –
Edom did not Israel pass through their land on the way to the
Promised Land
2.
David
would later subdue the Amalekites and kill 18,000 Edomites ( II Sam 8:11 -13; Ps 60)
3.
2 Kings
14:1-7 – Amaziah, king of Judah , kills 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt Valley of Salt Dead Sea and Sela is a stronghold in Edom near Mt. Seir
4.
Haman, a
descendant of Esau (Esther 3:1) The Agagite (The Agagites were descendants of Amalek
- Gen 36:12; I Sam 15:7) tries to annihilate the Jews.
5.
According
to Josephus (Antiq p. 1207 PDF) In 126 BC John Hyrcanus subdued the Idumeans
and allowed them to stay if they would circumcise themselves (recall Gen 34).
6.
Herod
the Great – an Ideumean (Greek for
Edomite) tries to kill the king of the Jews.
(Brother meets brother…)
7.
Herod Antipas
– Lk 23 – humiliates Jesus and sends him back to Pilate to be crucified.
8.
From the
cross Christ prays and asks the father to forgive those who crucified him. Christ does not carry on the animosity. He came to carry it and its power over us
away.
a)
When
Christ comes into our life – he comes to remove sin – and to change us – to
drive out the animosity we have toward God (Rom 5:10 ) and toward others (Eph 2:15ff). Let it stop at the cross and let us respond
to our brothers and neighbors with the power of the gospel driving our life,
rather than our own fears and dislikes.
1)
We have
to be told not to abhor our brother – because our natural inclination is toward
disliking, not loving, separating ourselves from, and even hating others – and
carrying all of that forward in our life.
2)
On the
cross one brother died to stop all of that.
He took the last hit in his body – the last ridicule - from the other
brother in order to bring reconciliation.
He died to end it. No more
brother hating brother and teaching our children to follow in that. If we are living like that then it is time to
turn away from that, confess our sin and seek forgiveness through Christ.
3)
Faith is
believing that and acting upon it. By
his stripes I am healed – before God.
And because the stripes fell on him and he took them I have no reason to
strike back at my brother.
4)
With
hatred comes destruction – Obadiah 10,18.
And the Edomites disappeared when Rome came in in 70 AD. (Israel would have too, except for God’s promise.
And the same can be said of me.) Our promises from God in Christ are greater
than destruction. In Christ it is life
– before God and with one another together – forgiven and living in faith.
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