For the purpose of this study we would suggest that the 12th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews should be read first. It is our intention to show that in this chapter, within the space of a few verses, we have brought together a number of Old Testament passages, each of which has as its background the contrast between Jacob and Esau. These passages illustrate the intricate fabric which with such cunning workmanship has joined scripture to scripture to emphasise to the Hebrew believers a lesson they needed to learn desperately, and which should fill our hearts with awe at the wonder of inspiration.
Esau is, of course, mentioned by name, but the allusions to Jacob only become apparent when reference is made to the Old Testament quotations; and we start by drawing attention to what appear to be some verbal links with Genesis 32.
Here we have the record of how Jacob, having fled from Laban, prepares to meet his brother once more. Esau, remember, had sought to kill him before his sojourn in Padanaram – a portent of the hatred that was to exist afterwards between Israel and Edom. Not unnaturally Jacob is filled with fear and apprehension as to the possible consequences of this confrontation. Thus Hebrews 12 reflects the advice that was so needful for him at that time: “Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet” (verses 12 & 13). What sound advice for Jacob, the supplanter, the man of guile, who by devious means had taken advantage of his brother in the pasts Such methods must be rejected by one who was now not simply Jacob, but Israel, a Prince with God; though, as a result of that experience, his thigh was put out of joint and he halted upon his thigh as he passed over Penuel. Hebrews reflects the thought in the words of verse 13 (R.S.V.): “So that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” So Jacob comes to Esau and they meet in peace. Hebrews says, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (V.14), and after he wrestled with the angel Jacob called the place ‘Penuel’, for he said, “I have seen God face to face” (Gen.32:30).
We might compare also how the angels of God met Jacob prior to this incident, and remember his words, “This is God’s host”, and how he called the name of the place ,Mahanaim’ (the two camps) (Gen.32:1 & 2), with the “innumerable company of angels” and “the church of the firstborn” (for we all inherit the birthright in Christ) to which we are come (Heb.12:22 & 23).
The words of Hebrews 12:14 in their exhortation to “follow peace with all men” lead us, however, to another scripture. The words appear to be an allusion to Ps.34:14: “Seek peace, and pursue it”, and the contrast between Jacob and Esau remains with us, for Genesis 32 seems to form a background to the Psalmist’s thought also. “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him…” (v.7) is surely a reflection on Jacob’s experience: “This is God’s host”; and the name ‘Mahanaim’ (the two camps) was, of course, a reference to Jacob’s camp and the heavenly host encamped around him.
The exhortation to “keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (v.13) was a reminder not to follow Jacob, the supplanter, but rather to be Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile.
The obvious question is, of course, Why should David have thought particularly of Jacob’s experience at this time? Perhaps the literary information at the head of the Psalm gives us a clue.
“A Psalm of David when he changed his behaviour before Achish”
Evidently he wrote the Psalm about the time when he feigned madness before Achish king of the Philistines. But what caused him to flee to these alien people for safety? It was a fact that,when David came to Ahimelech the priest at Nob, there was also there a certain man of the servants of Saul, Doeg – and Edomite, a descendant of Esau. Thus David in his hatred of this man thought of the experiences of Jacob and Esau as he sought comfort in the Lord his God, and perhaps meditated also on the words wherewith Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph (Gen.48:15,16 – cp. Ps.34:6-10;16,17 and 22).
Returning to Hebrews 12, however, there is yet another quotation that takes us to a passage of scripture that seems alive with references to Jacob’s return from his exile in the land of Padanaram, and indeed full of thoughts that are reflected in the language of Hebrews (cp. Heb.12:12 and Isaiah 35:3 &4):
| Hebrews | Isaiah |
|---|---|
| Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees (v12) | Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees (v3) |
| lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let is rather be healed (v13). |
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart (v6) And an highway shall be there, and a way (v8) |
| and holiness (v14) | The way of holiness (v8) |
| without which no man shall see the Lord (v14) | they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God (v2) |
| But ye are come unto mount Sion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (v22) | And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads (v10). |
If Isaiah then speaks of Jacob and his experiences, what of Esau? It is suggested that chapters 34 and 35 should be studied together in this connection. For ch.34 speaks of God’s judgments upon the nations under the figure of Edom (see verses 5 & 6 with their references to Idumea and Bozrah). Once more, then, we have Jacob and Esau before us, and, perhaps most remarkable of all, a further link with Hebrews that is not immediately apparent.
We have entitled our study ‘A Root of Bitterness’, and this is taken, of course, from the direct reference to Esau in Hebrews 12 (vv.15 & 16):
“Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you…. lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.”
Thus we have the example of Jacob commended to the Hebrews, whereas they are reminded of Esau as a terrible warning, for the implication of the words concerning him is that he was an idolater, a man who valued spiritual things so lightly that he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. He was a worldly-minded man (N.E.B.), for he worshipped material things and valued them more than the eternal things that God had promised. He was likened in his fleshly appetites to a noxious and a poisonous weed, and these words about the root of bitterness are themselves a further quotation from the 29th chapter of Deuternonomy (v.18). The connection with idolatry in this passage surely establishes beyond all doubts that Esau was a man of such character.
What is interesting to note, however, is the punishment prescribed here for idolatry: “The whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning….like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah,and Zeboim..” (v.23); for this very language is taken up in Isaiah 3)4 and used to describe God’s judgments against Edom (vv.9 & 10):
“The streams there of shall be turned into pitch, and the dust there of into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever.”
It was the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was the punishment prescribed for the idolator, for that poisonous, noxious weed that contaminated all that came into contact with it. We have, then, Esau (Isaiah 34) and Jacob (Isaiah 35).
What conclusions can we draw from this intricate and complex pattern of scriptures quoted in Hebrews 12, which all appear to have connections with the history of Jacob and Esau?
Two reasons, at least, can be emphasized to explain the use of these passages. Firstly, these Hebrew believers were in danger of returning to that way of life from which they had been called out. Weak hands and feeble knees must, therefore, be strengthened, and they must walk in straight paths for, like Jacob of old, they had inherited the right of the firstborn which the natural Jew, like Esau, had forfeited by his rejection of the grace of God.
Secondly, we believe that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written shortly before the fall of Jerusalem. Can we imagine the feelings of Jews, when all those things that were dear to their hearts, that they had been brought up to believe were changeless and abiding were now showing every indication of disintegrating before their eyes. Although they had answered the call of the gospel and given their allegiance to the Lord Jesus, there was a very real danger that their national feelings would be aroused. Their hearts would be moved for Zion and for the Mosaic economy. They would be particularly susceptible to the influences of those who would lead them back to the Law.
Thus we have this emphasis on the Fathers who were pilgrims, strangers and sojourners (11:9 & 13), men for whom God had prepared a city (11:16) in contrast to the literal city of Jerusalem that then was. They looked for a city that had foundations (11:10); they were not mindful of that country from whence they had come out, for they had opportunity to return (11: 15). So the apostle thinks of Jacob and Esau, for, after the return from Padanaram we have a most pointed contrast between the two men. Genesis 36 gives us the generations of Esau, and it talks of the Dukes of Esau. The word ‘duke’ is interesting. It means ‘a chieftain’, ‘a prince’, and it is suggested that it is derived from a Hebrew word for a thousand (see Ellicott’s Commentary). It would appear to imply that the families of Esau were organizing themselves into communities of this size over which these men presided. They were establishing themselves in this world, for Esau was a profane man, and the last verse of the chapter is significant in its summing up:
“These be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession” (v.43).
Their roots were in this world. Their hope went no further than this earthly, mortal life. This was the limit of their horizon. Then in just one verse (Gen.37:1) that really belongs to the chapter before, the contrast is made:
“And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.”
What then would these Hebrew believers show themselves to be? Pilgrims and strangers in the earth like Jacob, looking for the City that hath foundations, or worldly-minded men like Esau, embracing that existing order that was shortly to pass away?
So the apostle could write, again with a marked contrast between the Jewish economy that was shaking at its foundations and was shortly to pass away, and the future Kingdom of God:
“And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (verses 27 & 28).
The Solution