Despising the Heavenly Inheritance
ESAU deliberately sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. The Bible says that he "despised his birthright." All the brilliant possibilities that were in store for a wealthy prince of the East were counted as nothing compared with a paltry meal of victuals! We say, How could he be so foolish? He was not so near dead but that he could have stood it a little longer without food. While he was bargaining with Jacob, he might have been preparing food for himself. The whole Bible-reading world has doubtless been united in condemning Esau for his foolishness. Yet there are thousands and tens of thousands of Esaus in the world to-day. When a man says: "I know I ought to keep the Sabbath, but my business would be ruined if I should; I can't do it," he is trading Heaven and all its joys for a portion of this world, which he has no assurance of holding for a minute. He virtually says that an eternity of heavenly bliss is not worth so much in his estimation as a few years of earthly trouble. He despises the heavenly inheritance. How can such a one speak lightly of Esau?