The Tupelo journal., 1907-03-15
JACOB
AND ESAU
Sunday School Lesson for March IL, 1907
lily prepared for this paper.

deal truly are his delight.'-Prov. 1922.
TIME.-Accordlng to Bible margin
Esau sold his birthright about 1905 b. C..
16 years after the death of Abraham, and
| Jacob gained possession of 1t 20 years
| later B. c. 1880.
PLACE.-Jacob's early home was at
Beersheba. He fled far to the north to
Sharan near ~headwaters of Euphrates.
SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES.-Esau
| despising his birthright: Heb. 2l6, H.
Jacob chosen instead of Esau: Rom.
9:7-14; Nal. 1:2; Obadiah 17-19; Jer. 1913.
| Our birthright: Rom. S:14-17; John 3:16;
Rev. Pills. Selling our birthright: Matt
1926; ~19:16-22; 1913; Mark s:S7; Rev. 1873.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
The Two Brothers.-The two BROTH
ers were twins, but Esau was the
elder. They were born and reared at
Beersheba. They were as different
from n another as Isaac and Re-
bekah, but with a difference. Esau,
in whom Rebekah's nature was empha-
| sized, was the favorite Of Isaac, while
Jacob, who grated the shrewdness
and business sharpness of his moth
| er's family upon the home-loving and
religious and thoughtful nature OF his
father, was the favorite of Rebekah.
Esau failed because, though brought
up in a religious atmosphere, he chose
to go with bad companions and marry
heather wives. His fatal steps were
not the passionate impulse OF a mo-
ment. mo man sells his birthright
on the spot. He who sells his birth
right sells it many times in his heart
before he takes it openly to the a
ket. He belittles it and despises 1t
and cheapens it, at any rate to him.
self, before he sells it so cheapiy to
another" So "Esau had hunted for
| years with the brothers of Judith and
| Bashemath. He had eaten and drunk
en- and danced with the Hittite inhabi-
tants of the land. He had sacrificed
and sworn and vowed to their false
gods of the fields and the streams and
of the unclean groves-till at last, in
open definance of all decency and re-
ligion, he brought home two Canaanite
wives to his fathers covenanted
camp."-Alexander Whyte.
Jacobs career was a growth and
development. We see his choice OF
the better things gradually overcom-
ing his faults and imperfections. His
progress is slow and difficult, with zig.
gag motions, with reactions, like the
| chilly days and snowstorms of spring,
but it is moving on toward the sum-
mer harvests and autumn fruits.
The Birthrieht.-'The frst-born Is
the head of the patriarchal family, and
the right of the first-born includes
the representative privileges derived
from this exalted position ."-Delitzch.
"Esau was, by right of birth, the
head of the family, its prophet, priest,
and king; and no man can
such privileges, except as a sacrifice
required by God, without 'despising'
| God, who gave them. But more than
this: he was the head of the chosen
family; on him devolved the blessing
| of Abraham that, in his seed all am
lilies of the earth should be blessed:
| and, in despising his birthright, he put
himself out of the sacred family, and
so became a 'profane person. His sin
must not be overlooked in our indig.
nation at the fraud of Jacob, which,
as we shall see presently, brought its
own %retribution as well as its W
gain."-Wm. Smith.
The crafty Jacob, instead of sharing
his meal with the brother, who had,
doubtless, often given. him venison,
drove a hard bargain, and Esau sold
his birthright for a mess of pottage.
And knowing we'll Esau's ~fickleness,
Jacob made him take a solemn oath.
81 am dying of hunger" said the elder
brother with characteristic exaggera-
| ton, "and what is a birthright to me?"
Our Birthright.-As children of God
we all have a birthright far more val
liable than Jacob or Esau could dream
of. We have promises beyond the
range of their highest imaginations.
''The child in a Christian home has
for his birthright the Sabbath day.
and the Lords table, and the society
of the best people in the city. and
| first a youthhood, and then a man.
| hood, of purity and piety and the ser.
vice of Christ in His church: "A BIRTH
| right of trust and honesty and honor
and chastity. Whyte.
We are heirs of Coo, of his charac-
| ter, his love and care, his heavenly
home, his joy and peace. Our souls
may be temples of the Holy Ghost,
| full of "the desirable things of all ma
| TONS" We have an inheritance in
%corruptible and undefled, and that
| fadeth not away; "a far more ex-
ceeding and eternal weight of glory"
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of
man. the things which God hath pre-
pared for them that love him"
Selling Our Birthright.-Many a
man sells his birthright for a mess of
pottage,-his character, his conscience,
his usefulness, heaven itself, for pride,
for worldly gain, for honor, for pleas
ure.
Practical Points.
Never sell your birthright for any
inducement whatever, o make light
of religious things, or conscience, or
righteousness.
Never do wrong that good may
come.
Never do right things in a wrong
way; not wen gain your rights by any
kind of fraud or deceit; never seek to
promote a good cause by the devils
methods:
Overcome evil with good Other
wise your cup that God made to run
over with joy will be mingled with
sorrows unnumbered.