Bible Study I'm hungry: sell me your birthright

[tim-from-pa]

I heard a million sermons about Esau selling his birthright to Jacob, but most people do not even know what the birthright was nor the significance of it. Yet they preach on something they have little clue as to what it is as if its no more than a cracker-jack blessing to illustrate our personal spiritual growth or whatever.

Considerations:

1. How was it passed and ultimately to whom?
2. What did it contain?
3. For what purpose (why)?

Yet..... and I say this seriously, this was the foundation of Genesis and the whole bible!! Misunderstand this, and one basically misunderstands much of the bible!!

(Maybe I'll answer the 3 points later, depending.)

 

[cyberjosh]

I'll leave the particulars to you, but yes indeed it was very important and not a light matter at all. It was given to the first born in which they recieved a "double-blessing" from God himself, and of course the favor of the father in material possesions as well, for God deemed the first born to be the kinsman redeemer of his brethren, the defender of the family, etc. thus they were given more in order to be the strength of others. And it was indeed a great blessing. To see Esau's nonchalance in giving it away upon a whim is atrocious and shows how little he really appreciated the divine blessing that was given to him as the right of the firstborn!

God Bless,

~Josh

 

[Guest]

I heard a million sermons about Esau selling his birthright to Jacob, but most people do not even know what the birthright was nor the significance of it. Yet they preach on something they have little clue as to what it is as if its no more than a cracker-jack blessing to illustrate our personal spiritual growth or whatever.

Considerations:

1. How was it passed and ultimately to whom?
2. What did it contain?
3. For what purpose (why)?

Yet..... and I say this seriously, this was the foundation of Genesis and the whole bible!! Misunderstand this, and one basically misunderstands much of the bible!!

(Maybe I'll answer the 3 points later, depending.)

What does this topic have to do with you?

 

[tim-from-pa]

TROLL WARNING:

The above poster Shelli was kicked off another forum I was on because of discord he created. Don't say I did not warn everyone here. This poster automatically goes on my ignore list.

 

[tim-from-pa]

I'll leave the particulars to you, but yes indeed it was very important and not a light matter at all. It was given to the first born in which they recieved a "double-blessing" from God himself, and of course the favor of the father in material possesions as well, for God deemed the first born to be the kinsman redeemer of his brethren, the defender of the family, etc. thus they were given more in order to be the strength of others. And it was indeed a great blessing. To see Esau's nonchalance in giving it away upon a whim is atrocious and shows how little he really appreciated the divine blessing that was given to him as the right of the firstborn!

God Bless,

~Josh

Yes, you are correct in #1. And I'll answer both #1, and #2 for now and come back later for #3.
As you said, the birthright was what one had by right of physical birth, not to be construed with other means and interpretations such as "new birth" or whatever. And like you said, the eldest got a double portion unless God intervened which He sometimes did. Who did the birthright, or the promises to Abraham go to?

They went to Isaac, then Jacob, then to the tribe of Joseph (Jesus was from the tribe of Judah).

#2 What did they contain? Well, amongst other things they were to receive:

1. a great nation,
2. great name,
3.given a land of promise to Abraham's seed,
4. Abraham's seed as the dust of the earth,
5. Abraham's seed as the stars of heaven,
6. become many nations,
7. many kings,
8. seed shall possess the gate of his (their) enemies.
9. Excessive blessings (even materially) to his seed

Source: Genesis 12, 13, 15, 17, 22 and there's even more chapters that reiterate the same things.

Later on Jacob "split" the promises so that Judah would have the Kings and the right to rule, and that's it. but everything else belongs to the tribe of Joseph. I'll state why later.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Lastly, the purpose of the Birthright (#3):

There must have been a reason to pass the birthright down and why it contained all the things promised. The reason can be found amongst the same verses that tell what the promises contain, i.e.:

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12)

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.(Genesis 22)

And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. (Genesis 24)

And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed {Genesis 26)

And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 28)

In short, God created a people (family) for the purpose of blessing a fallen world, and it would be through these blessed people, and nobody else that this would be accomplished (both in OT and NT covenants, as the promises have elements of both).

The apostle Paul saw the "seed" as Christ Himself, in whom, all people would be blessed, and he based that argument (esp in Genesis 22) on the fact that seed is singular tense. But in the context, one can see that the physical seed would be many as well, and thus the promises were talking about Abraham's descendants.

That's the birthright in a nutshell and why God instituted it to carry out His plan---- the one (physical seed) and the multitudes of (physical) seed from Abraham's loins that would become many nations, with many kings, well blessed, and a blessing to all the world. In the book of Numbers, the prophet Balaam compares the number of the seed to a quarter of the world's population.