5 Lessons To Learn From The Story of Jacob and Esau

Last Updated on July 4, 2021 by Pastor Ikechukwu Chinedum

Today we will studying the 5 lessons to learn from the story of Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau were the two sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Jacob was a cattle herder while Esau was a fierce hunter. These two sons were twin and they shared different strengths and qualities. While Rebekah their mother love Jacob more, their father Isaac love Esau better. The story of the these two sons is such that has diverse Lessons for both parents and young individuals.

Besides the fact that Jacob had the covenant of God over his life, some factors also neccessitated the event of him having the blessings of their father instead of Esau who happened to be the first child. God made His intention about these two sons. God stated in the book of Malachi that Jacob I love and Esau I hate. However despite the love and kindness of God towards Jacob, there are still some lessons to be learned from their story.

A Man Must Have Control Over His Stomach

One of the factors that made Esau become the receiver of the blessings of their father is because he had sold his birthright to Jacob for a plate of food. The scripture in the book of Genesis 25:29-34 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom. Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Esau lost the consciousness that he was the elder because he was hungry. He needed to just fill his stomach with food to quench his hunger. He sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a plate of food. Their father Isaac may not have known when this happened between his two sons, however, when it was time to give the blessing out to the eldest son, Jacob had the blessing instead of Esau. A man must have control over his stomach. Hunger must not be the controller of a man.

Little wonder the book of 1 Corinthians 6:13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them.

God’s Blessings Doesn’t Eradicate The Process

For every man to be great in life there is a process that must be followed and if any man jumps the process, he has only elongated the time for fulfilment.  This was eminent in the life of Jacob. He surely had the blessing of God, however, his life was almost nothing to be written home about. He was living in penury and he was just a few drop away from poverty.

First, Jacob was in Laban’s house to work as a cattle rearer. He worked for years just so he can marry Rachel, but after seven years, he was given Leah instead. He had to work another seven years for Rachel. All these were to prepare Jacob to become a great man. Meanwhile, Esau had become so great despite the fact that he was not the carrier of the blessing.

The simple lesson from this is that great things take enough time to incubate.

God Doesn’t Hate Anyone

“Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated. I turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the jackals in the desert.

As against this popular belief that God truly hated Esau, God doesn’t hate anyone. He is the creator of the universe, how can he possibly hate what he has created?. This popular quote from the scripture Jacob I love but Esau I hate is just to ascertain the extent to which God loves Jacob and a proof that he is the child of covenant. Meanwhile, that doesn’t mean Esau never prosper. In fact, Esau had become a great man, rich and highly influential long before Jacob found purpose.

Esau was able to forgive Jacob quickly because he was a changed man. He had more slaves and more cattles than his brother Jacob. This is to establish the fact that God doesn’t hate any man.

Encounter With God Answers All

Genesis 32:24–30 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name? “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,  because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel,  saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

The night before Jacob met Esau after many years, something spectacular happened that night, he had an encounter with God. The Bible recorded that he wrestled with a man till break. When the strange discovered that he could not defeat Jacob, he begged him to let him go, but Jacob refused. Jacob told the man that I won’t let you go unless you bless me.

The scripture recorded that the man asked what his name was and he said Jacob, the strange told him, your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Isreal because you have struggled with God and with human and you have prevailed. That night Jacob had an encounter with God and his life changed. The anger of his brother Esau was surprisingly quenched because of the encounter Jacob had with God overnight.

There Is More To A Name

Genesis 32:28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome

The name of a man carries power. For years Jacob lived in fear and anxiety of what his brother Esau would do to him when he meets him again after he stole their father’s blessing. Esau had vowed that he would kill Jacob when he sees him. Meanwhile, Jacob, even with the blessing could not find the bearing of his life.

But after his name was changed from Jacob to Isreal, it was as though he became a new person. Everything about him changed that very moment. Even Esau had no choice than to make peace with him.