In this chapter we find the account of the ‘generations[1],
the offspring of Esau’. Here we have the story of the father of the nations that have essentially nothing positively to contribute to the story line of the
Bible.
The story of the Bible is mostly about the history and development
of God’s covenant people. This does not negate the fact that there are a ‘non-covenantal’,
non-elect people on the face of the earth. They too are made in the image of
God, but unlike God’s covenant people they have no future with God. To such a group of people we now turn our
attention. They present a sobering
truth, and each one will have to
determine for themselves whether they
belong to God’s covenant people or
whether they belong
to that group of people that have
nothing to do with the God who is the Creator of all mankind, who is the God that has divided all of mankind into these two groups of people.
Following this we shall consider the life of Joseph, a son of the covenant, and with
him the book of Genesis shall be brought to a conclusion.
OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 36
1. Esau’s wives and children in Canaan (vv. 2-9).
2. Esau’s move to the hill country of Seir – Edom and a list of his grandchildren (vv. 10-14).
3. The names of the chiefs in Seir- Edom (vv. 15-19).
4. An account of the Horites, the original people in this area of Seir (vv. 20-30).
5. A list of the kings, offspring of Esau who ruled in Edom (vv. 31-43 cf. 1 Chron. 1:35).
So then chapter 36 is a family register of Esau’s offspring. Remember that God made a promise to Abraham
that he would be "the father of many nations’’, and Esau is a physical offspring of Abraham, although he would not
follow the faith of Abraham. So too we remember that the Jews of Jesus‘ day prided themselves in
being an offspring of Abraham, a fact which Jesus
challenges, for although they are physical descendants of Abraham, they
did not possess the
true spiritual faith of Abraham [e.g. John 8:39-47].
1. Esau and his
three wives and children in
Canaan (vv. 2-9).
A brief history of Esau is needed. Esau was the son of Isaac
and Rebekah. Rebekah gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob (Gen.25:19-28). Esau is the firstborn of the twins, but before they
were born, she was told that the older twin would serve the younger (25:23). This story is similar to Abraham’s
sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Though Ishmael
is Abraham’s first born (mother Hagar), the covenant promises and the messianic
line will go through Isaac (mother Rachel). We must point out again that
the doctrine of election runs through the Bible like a golden thread. It
is a mysterious thread, but it is a clear thread, woven by the hand of God. It
forms part of Paul’s
treatise on the doctrine of
salvation in Romans 9.
And so it was, that from birth Esau showed a behaviour and
values contrary to the covenant line. Notably, he sold his birth right to his
younger brother (25:29-34).
Inevitably he also lost out on his father’s blessing of the firstborn (Gen.27). Take note of his father’s prophecy
concerning him in Genesis
27:39-40. Much to the grief of his
father and mother he married foreign women (27:46, 28:6-9). He despised
his birth right; he despised his family
roots. The commentary of Hebrews
12:15-17 is sobering:
“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; that no one is sexually immoral
or unholy like Esau, who sold his birth right for a single meal. 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.”
Esau was also known as Edom, which means “red” - see 25:25
and 30.
He was born with a red appearance, but his name ‘Edom’, became settled when he exchanged his birth
right with Jacob for a pot of red lentil
stew. Hence he was known as ‘red’.
In time the people of Esau became known as the Edomites.
Esau took three wives[2] and with
them he had five sons. An interesting observation can be made from 36:10.
"Eliphaz" was his firstborn son to his first wife Adah. There
has been some discussion as to whether this is the same Eliphaz as in the book
of Job (Job 4:1 - Eliphaz the Temanite). There seems to be some
credibility to this because the land of Uz (i.e. attributed to a son named Uz) is mentioned in 36:28.
Teman is mentioned in 36:15.
These two evidences may point toward Edom as the homeland of Job.
Also take note of 36:12: "Timna was a concubine of Esau's son Eliphaz ... she bore
Amalek to Eliphaz". Concubines
usually don’t feature in the history of families. But here she is singled out because she is the mother of the
sworn enemy of the Israelites known as
the "Amalekites" (cf. Exodus
17; Deut. 25:17,19; I Samuel 15). This is the only child of a concubine
mentioned in this genealogical list.
2. Esau’s move to the hill country of Seir
–Edom, and a list of his grandchildren (vv. 10-14).
The hill country of Seir
would be the country God had given him for a possession (see Deut. 2:5; Josh. 24:4). Canaan
was reserved for the covenant nation represented here by Jacob. They could not co-exist economically (36:7). But it was more than that. They
were fundamentally different people. The God of the covenant had made a firm
and everlasting distinction between them. Esau therefore withdrew to the hill
country of Seir. God’s counsels shall certainly stand. “God determines our allotted periods and the boundaries of our dwelling
place”. [Acts 17:26].
3. The names of the chiefs in Seir- Edom
(36:15-19).
The names of Esau’s sons and grandsons in Seir are recorded, but
not much more than that. The genealogy goes scarcely further than the third and fourth generations. Remember that the primary interest of the
inspired writers is to record the story of the covenant people of God – if you
like, the story of the OT church and the
NT church - which constitutes the royal line of
Christ.
Please note that Esau’s descendants had an ordered political
arrangement. They had chiefs and they had military inclinations. The prophecy of 27:40 tells us that they
would live by the sword. Jacob’s
sons by contrast were peaceful pastoralists/shepherds (47:3).
4. The Horites (36:20-30)
In the midst of this genealogy of the Edomites we find
another genealogy – that of the sons of Seir the Horite (36:20). They are first mentioned in 14:6, and they are an evil tribe. In time the Edomites would conquer
them and dispossess them, but not without their cultures mixing and blending
with them. Here is the pathology of Esau’s gradual demise. Esau had sold his birth right. He had lost
his blessing. He had married foreign wives, much to his parents displeasure, and then he disappeared into those foreign cultures. Like Cain in 4:16 he went away from the
presence of the LORD. That is unfortunately the sad trajectory of many
children that have been born to covenant parents.
5.
A list of the kings, offspring of
Esau, who ruled in Edom (vv. 31-43 cf. 1 Chron. 1:35).
By degrees then it seems, the Edomites obtained full
possession of the country, and we read in 36:31
that they were ruled by kings. They had kings long before there was ever a
thought given by Israel in terms of having a king.[3]
God was their King, and Moses was his spokesman, and that was enough. As long
as Israel was in the hands of godly leaders she was alright. We take note that God had promised Jacob
earlier in 35:11 that kings would
come from his offspring in time. But, as
we survey the OT we know that all
earthly kings would eventually become a
snare to the nations which they were
called to serve.
CONCLUSION
·
There would be
numerous problems between Israel and Edom through the years.
[Numbers 20:14-21; Judges 11:16-17; 1 Samuel 14:47-48 ; 2 Samuel 8:14; 1 Kings 11:14-25; 2
Kings 14:22; 16:5, 6 ; 2 Chronicles
20:10-30; 21:8-15; Amos 1:6, 9]
·
There
are numerous prophecies against Edom.
[Isaiah 34:5ff; 63:1ff; Jeremiah 49:7-22; Lamentations 4:21,22; Ezekiel 25:12ff; 35:lff; 36:2-6; Amos 1:11, 12; Obadiah
The classic NT distinction of the Bible is that of children
of darkness versus children of the
light. They are at war with each other. That war is apparent in our day.
In NT terms we can however no longer make distinctions of
covenant versus non covenant nations. In NT terms it is the people of the new covenant, saved by the blood of Jesus, and called to
belong to him, and drawn from every
nation, tribe and tongue, constituting the church, the bride of Christ.
Again, it is important that we examine ourselves in this
regard as to where we stand.
Are we sons/ daughters of Esau or sons/ daughters of Jacob? That is the ultimate distinction by which the
Great King Jesus will one day
separate His sheep from everything else.
[1] This
recurrent phrase marks the divisions of the book of Genesis (cf. 2:4; 5:1; 6:9;
10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2).
[2] 36:2 "Esau took his wives from the daughters of
Canaan" The names of Esau's Canaanite wives are recorded in three
different places: Gen. 26:34, 35; 28:8; and 36:2ff. However, the problem arises
when these three accounts differ on the names of the wives. This discrepancy
has been explained in different ways: (1) that there were not three wives, but
four and (2) that these women had more than one name. It seems obvious from the
text that Esau had at least two wives from Canaan and one daughter of Ishmael.
[3] 36:31 "Now
these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned
over the sons of Israel" . Because of the mention of the kings of
Israel it seems to have been written in a later period when Israel had kings.
This seems to imply that Genesis, if not written later, at least was edited at
a later time. Those who hold to the documentary hypothesis (four different
later authors, J.E.D.P.) use this as solid evidence that Moses is not the
original author of the Pentateuch. Those who assert Mosaic authorship say that
this was a prophecy about the days when a king would appear. Israel is
prophesied to have a king in Gen. 35:11. Brief editorial comments like this one do not
seriously affect Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch
