RELOCATION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock. So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.

This is the account of the family line of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.

These are the names of Esau’s sons:

Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

The sons of Eliphaz:

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz.

Esau’s son Eliphaz also had a concubine named Timna, who bore him Amalek. These were grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.

The sons of Reuel:

Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau:

Jeush, Jalam and Korah.

These were the chiefs among Esau’s descendants:

The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau:

Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam and Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in Edom; they were grandsons of Adah.

The sons of Esau’s son Reuel:

Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in Edom; they were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah:

Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were their chiefs.

These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the region:

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs.

The sons of Lotan:

Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister.

The sons of Shobal:

Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.

The sons of Zibeon:

Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the desert while he was grazing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.

The children of Anah:

Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

The sons of Dishon:

Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.

The sons of Ezer:

Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.

The sons of Dishan:

Uz and Aran.

These were the Horite chiefs:

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These were the Horite chiefs, according to their divisions, in the land of Seir.

These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned:

Bela son of Beor became king of Edom. His city was named Dinhabah.

When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah succeeded him as king.

When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.

When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith.

When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded him as king.

When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the river succeeded him as king.

When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Akbor succeeded him as king.

When Baal-Hanan son of Akbor died, Hadad succeeded him as king. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

These were the chiefs descended from Esau, by name, according to their clans and regions:

Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they occupied.

This is the family line of Esau, the father of the Edomites.

Genesis 36:6-43

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Isaac, the son of Abraham, inherited the following covenant promise of God that had been given to his father:

“Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed Me and did everything I required of him, keeping My commands, My decrees and My instructions.” Genesis 26:2-5

We know that Isaac would go on to have twin sons with Esau the eldest and Jacob the younger. Only one of them would be able to carry on the covenant blessing of God from their father and God made it clear how that would go even before the two baby boys were born as He said this to their mother, Rebekah:

“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23

Well, we know how the story went, don’t we?

First, Esau foolishly gave his birthright away to Jacob in exchange for a mere bowl of red stew (25:29-34) and then Jacob, encouraged by his mother, tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing that rightfully was Esau’s.

You’ll remember the scene when Esau returned and went to his father who suddenly realized he had been tricked into thinking Jacob was his oldest son. Esau pleaded for his father to bless him too but it was too late. The blessing was Jacob’s but Isaac did say this to his beloved, favored son (25:28):

“Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.” Genesis 27:39-40

Now, initially we know that Esau held a grudge against his brother and even had thoughts of killing him but after Jacob had gone away to stay with his uncle Laban, a stay that lasted 20 years, Jacob was returning to his homeland only to encounter his older brother who embraced and kissed him, reconciling their differences (Genesis 33:1-4). And after catching up on things, the two brothers separated.

After this, we know Jacob, his name changed by God to Israel, would reside in Canaan with his twelve sons who would go on to be the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel, the advent of the Israelite nation. But what about Esau?

Well, we find a lot of the answers to that question in the 36th chapter of Genesis, the bridge to the story of Joseph that begins in chapter 37 and dominates the rest of this first book of the Bible.

Go back again to the words of God to Rebekah. He told her that there were “two nations” in her womb, “two peoples” who would be separated and as we at the beginning of our passage, it was Esau who relocated, moving to a “land some distance from his brother Jacob”. The reason the move was necessary was that the combined “possessions” of he and his brother “were too great for them to remain together” as “the land could not support them both because of their livestock”.

And so we read where Esau “took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan” and ended up settling “in the hill country of Seir”

What’s interesting about this story is that you will remember Jacob being less than honest with Esau after their reunion, saying this:

“My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” Genesis 33:13:14

It sounded like the reunion would continue but the scriptures let us know that Jacob had no intention of going with his brother.

So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth. 33:16-17

Indeed, the two peoples became separated by quite a distance with Esau to the south of his brother. And as we see in the remainder of this chapter, Esau’s nation developed nicely, he being the father of the Edomites who would go on to be in constant conflict with the nation of Israel, the issue between the brothers continuing long after their respective deaths.

And as I close, it’s interesting that the Bible never speaks about Esau’s death where we will see later how Jacob receives a grand burial complete with an Egyptian entourage. The younger son will indeed be honored above his older brother.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com