The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1908-01-24
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
PROFESSOR HUGH BLACK.
Subject: Esau's Temptation.

1
airy, preached Sunday in the Lafay-
ette Avenue Presbyterian Church 10 a
large audience. His subject was,
"Esau's Temptation." He took his
text from Genesis 25:32: And
| Esau said, Behold, / am ~ the point
| 10 die; and what profit shall this
! birthright do 10 me-" Professor
| Black said:
We cannot suppress natural SYM
| pathy with FSau in this scene be-
/ tween the two brothers. He seems
| as much sinned against as SHINING,
! and in comparison with the cunning,
! crafty character OF Jacob he appears
/ the better OF the two. His very faults
/ lean 10 virtues side. We think, as we
| look at his bold. manly, impulsive
| figure. There is nothing of the cold 3.
calculating, selfishness, the astute
! trickery, the determination 10 get
| his pound of flesh, which make his
brother appear mean beside him.
! With our swift and random and sur
| face judgments we are inclined to
! think il unjust that Esau should be
set aside in the great history of grace
! for one who could be guilty OF both
malice and fraud in advancing his
| own interests. We are not at present
dealing with the character OF Jacob
! or we would see that this hasty judg-
| ment. true so far as IL goes. is some
thing less even than half the truth.
and that though hehere and elsewhere
| sinned and was punished through all
his life for his subtlety and selfishness.
! yet he was not the monster of unbroth-
erly malice merely which this scene
I might suggest and that he had quail
tiles of heart and spirit which made
| It inevitable that he. and not Esau,
should be chosen for the line OF Gods
! purpose. Our subject is Esau and his
weakness and fall in the presence Of
his overmastering temptation.
Esau's good qualities are very evil
dent, being Of the kind easily recog-
nized and easily popular among men,
the typical sportsman who is only
sportsman, bold and frank and free
and generous, with no intricacies OF
character, impulsive and capable Of
magnanimity, the very opposite of
the prudent, deXterous, nimble man
OF affairs, rather reckless indeed and
/ hot-blooded and passionate. His vir-
tues are already, we see, dangerous
~ near 10 being vices. Being largely
creature Of impulse, he was. in
crisis, the mere plaything of animal
passion. ready TO satisfy his desire
without thought OF consequences.
Without self-control, without spir-
itual insight, without capacity even
! TO know what spiritual issues were,
judging things by immediate profit
and material advantage. there was
not in him depth of nature out Of
which really noble character could
, be cut. This damning lack OF self
control comes out in the passage of
our text, the transaction Of the birth
right. Coming from the hunt hungry
/ and faint, he finds Jacob cooking
pottage OF lentils and asks for il. The
sting OF ungovernable appetite makes
! him feel as II he would die If he did
not get it. Jacob takes advantage of
his brothers appetite and offers to
barter his dish Of pottage for Esau's
birthright
There would be more superstition
in the minds of both of them as to the
value Of the birthright. Both of
them valued il as a vague advantage,
carrying with il religious worth,
but it meant nothing tangible; and
here was Esau's temptation, terribly
strong to a man Of his fiber. He was
hungry, and before his fierce desire
for the food actually before him such
thing as a prospective right of birth
seemed an ethereal thing of no real
value. If he thought Of any spiritual
privilege the birthright might be sup
posed 10 confer. il was only to dis
miss the thought as not worth con-
sidering. Spiritual values had not a
high place in his standard OF things.
He could not be unaware OF the ma
terial advantages the possession OF
the birLhright would one day mean.
He must have known that IL was
something 10 be recognized as the
eldest son, with special rights Of in
heritance and precedence and author
ity after his fathers death. These
things were real enough to MIN, even
though he might have no notion of a
deeper meaning in being the heir OF
the promise. But in the grip of his
appetite even these temporal advan-
tages were too distant 10 weigh much.
in the presence of immediate satisfac-
tion the distant appeared shadowy
and unreal and not worth sacrificing
present enjoyment for. He feels he
is going to die, as man of his type
is always sure he will die il he does
not get what he wants when the
pdSSlOu Is vi LlNls anu SURPRISING
he does die, 1t will be poor con-
ISOLATION that he did not barter this
Intangible and shadowy blessing of
his birthright. Behold ! am at the
point to die; and what profit shall
this birthright do TO me?'
The Bible writer's speak OF Esau
elways with ~ certain contempt, and
with all our appreciation Of his good
natural qualities, his courage and
frankness and good humor, We can
not help sharing in the contempt.
The man who has no self-control,
who is swept away by every passion
OF the moment, whose life is bounded
by sense. who has no appreciation of
the higher and larger things which
call for self-control-that man is,
after all, only a superior sort of ami
NAL, and not always so very superior
at that. The author OF the Epistle 10
the Hebrews calls Esau "a profane
person. who for one morsel of meat
sold his birthright." ~Profane"
means not hlasuhemOus but simply