Right Thing To Do?

Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife, and that he had warned Jacob, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan-aram. It was now very clear to Esau that his father did not like the local Canaanite women. So Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. [Genesis 28.6-9]

It is simply not enough to do the right thing for the wrong reason.

Prior to this time, Esau had married two local Hittite women (Judith and Basemath). The Bible points out (Genesis 26.34-35) that Esau's wives were problematic to the family. The interesting thing is, it was Esau's two local wives that probably made it important to Isaac that Jacob (still unmarried) not do the same thing.

What is sad about Esau's marital move is that in trying to position himself better with his father and mother - just because that was what Jacob did, he likely only made matters worse by marrying into Ishmael's lineage (Abraham's son of faithless disobedience) even though it was his kin. It was clear that Esau had no concept of God's Promise as it pertained to lineage and blessing.

This is no real surprise however as Esau was likely suffering from conditional love by his father (performance-based - see Without Condition). This is also likely why Esau would think "doing what Jacob was to do" would get him back in good graces with his father Isaac. It's just sad really.

Esau's story is worth studying. In most cases, it is worth not repeating with our own lives.

Father, help me (us) to understand that what we "do" should be based on Your Word to us and not what someone else does. Help me to remain mindful of Your plan and purpose for the earth as it pertains to Your will for my life.