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Lesson Six - Roots of Motivation

"Jacob have l loved, but Esau have I hated" Malachi 1:2-3; Romans 9:13 (KJV).

In this scripture, the Lord is referring to the nations of Israel and Edom, which had taken on the characteristics of their founders, Jacob and Esau. Esau and Jacob are given to us as examples of the kind of lives that attract either the love or hatred of God (read Genesis chapters 25,27-23).

What was it about Esau that caused the Lord to express such strong feelings about him? And why would Jacob, with all the personality problems that he demonstrated throughout his life, draw the love of God? As we follow the characters of these two men, as they are described in the Old and New Testaments, we will see that it was a particular attitude of heart that each one had an attitude that was the motivation of their whole lives. Today, the Lord is desiring that we, as Christians, have the heart-attitude and motivation of Jacob, and not Esau.

Two Attitudes of Heart

Esau and Jacob were twins born to Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 25:21-27). Jacob received his name because he was born holding onto the heel of his brother. "Jacob" means "supplanter" or "one who takes the place of someone else by treacherous or underhanded means" - and, as Jacob's life later showed, his name certainly did describe his character, for he tricked and schemed his way to take Esau's place as the firstborn and to get everything he wanted. But with all his faults, Jacob had the one ingredient in his life that drew the love of God and released the Lord to be able to work in his life, changing him into the kind of person He desired him to be. Verse 27 of Genesis 25 gives the key to Esau and Jacob's heart-attitudes:

"When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents" (NASB).

Esau - the man of the field

In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of the "field" as a picture of the world (see Matthew 13:24-30,36-43; John 4:34-38). The statement that declared Esau a "man of the field" not only described his occupation, but also, as the Bible unfolds, was a picture of his heart-attitude. Esau was a man who loved the things of the world - who lived for the pleasures that life could give him now.

Jacob - the tent-dweller

Esau at that time was also living in the tents with his father and mother, but the scripture does not characterise him as a dweller in tents. It does, however, specifically separate Jacob as the one who lived in tents. Hebrews 11:8-10 gives the reason why:

"By faith Abraham . . . made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

Jacob, with Abraham and Isaac, had one main focus in life - he had his eyes on an eternal dwelling place. He believed God's promise to Abraham, his grandfather, that he would be the father of many nations (Genesis 12:2-3; 17:4-6,16; 18:18; 22:17-18). This promise was ultimately to be fulfilled in Christ and the New Creation that came forth from Him - for it was the New Creation people, born through Christ's atoning work on the Cross and in His Resurrection, that make up the "City" of God (see Hebrews 12:22-24; 13:14; Galatians 3:7-9,13-19,29; Revelation 21:2).

The key to Jacob's life was that "living in tents" represented a transient life. His whole attitude was that he was a foreigner and pilgrim in the world (Hebrews 11:13-16). With all his faults and failings, he had his eyes on one major goal - God's eternal purpose.

The Birthright

Read Genesis 25:29-34. The birthright was the method that God had designed for the inheritance to be passed from one generation to another. The firstborn son received:

But far more than this, the firstborn received the right to fulfil in his generation the next step in God's continuing plan and purpose (Genesis 17:7). When Esau sold his birthright to Jacob to satisfy his temporary physical hunger, he was virtually saying that he put no value on the purposes of God.

"See to it that no one is sexually immoral or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son" Hebrews 12:16.

The Blessing

"When Esau heard his father's words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, 'Bless me - me too, my father!'...Isn't he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright and now he's taken my blessing!'" Genesis 27:34,36 (read also verses 1-33).

Esau thought the blessing was separate from the birthright. When he sold the birthright to Jacob, he knew he was selling him the right to be part of God's purpose, but he had no intention of selling him the material wealth and blessing of his inheritance. He did not realise that the blessing was the result of the birthright. Note that Esau "burst out with a loud and bitter cry (verse 34) when he heard he had lost the blessing, but not when he sold the birthright.

The Arena of Faith

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entables, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" Hebrews 12:1 (read also 11:1-40).

After having listed the acts of faith by men such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Paul uses the picture of a race that is in progress, but which is obviously not yet completed. In other words, it's a relay race, with many taking part - and there is an ultimate goal for the whole team. The heroes of faith in the past have all faithfully fulfilled their lap of the race, and have passed the baton on. Abraham passed it to Isaac. Isaac was going to pass it to Esau, but he didn't want it. Jacob desired it more than anything else in life and took it up. Down through the centuries it has been passed from one generation to another, until today. Now it's our turn in the arena of faith, and Paul paints the picture of all the heroes of faith throughout the centuries now sitting in the "grandstands" of heaven, cheering us on as we run the last lap, to complete the race that they began - so that all together we might reach the goal.

The Scripture exhorts us to learn from the lives of those recorded in the Bible (1 Corinthians 10:6-11). Christians who are only desiring blessings from God, like Esau, often become self-centred. But if God's plan is the centre of our lives, as with Jacob, then the blessings will come automatically (Matthew 6:33,19-34; 1 John 2:15). The roots of our motivation are either in Esau or Jacob. God desires each of us today to have a Jacob spirit.

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Copyright © 1981,1996 Paul, Bunty and David Collins. All rights reserved. This study may be freely used and reproduced, wholly or in part, by the Christian Church for the non-profit purposes of study and training only, provided copyright and contact information is included.

Unless otherwise stated, all scriptures quoted in these studies are from the New International Version of the Bible, © New York International Bible Society, used by permission. Other versions referred to are: KJV (King James Version), NKJB (New King James Bible), TLB (The Living Bible), Amp (The Amplified Bible) and The Message. All versions used by permission.

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