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34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. ~ Genesis 26:34-35
Today, we close out our study of Genesis 26 which is primarily about Isaac, the son of Abraham. Even though he lived longer than Abraham, Jacob and Joseph, less is written about him than was written about the others. This chapter ends with two verses about one of Isaac's two twin boys, Esau who married two different Canaanite women. You will remember that earlier, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob only to regret it later. This one decision was one of many that distanced Esau from his father. Esau was determined to distance himself even further from God by refusing to come under His authority. One way that this showed up in Esau's life was in the choice he made to have two wives.
Marriage is one of the most important decisions we will make in this life because it impacts our lives and the lives of our posterity. Even though he was forty years old, Esau didn’t consult his parents but instead revealed his blatant disregard for them by choosing to marry women who did not believe in the God of the Bible. The fact that he didn’t even talk with his parents about his decision shows he knew they would not be pleased with his choice.
In v.34 of today's passage we read, "When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite."
Both Abraham and Isaac modeled a monogamous marriage between one man and one woman for life, in accordance with God’s original design in Genesis 2. Abraham did had many concubines which in the surrounding Canaanite culture was acceptable but not prescribed by God. Polygamy has never been approved of by the God of the Bible. The decision on the behalf of Abraham was a poor decision because it impacted the thinking of his posterity, mainly his grandson Esau. What parents do in moderation or in this case grandparents, the kids will do in excess.
The longest chapter in the book of Genesis is dedicated to the story of Abraham’s servant finding a wife for Isaac from their family line. Yet, Esau didn’t care about how important and significant marriage was: he just married two of the local girls. In the choice of Rebekah for Isaac, there was much prayer, but with Esau, not one prayer. And, since these two women were Hittites, they would not have worshipped the One True God of the Bible. They would have followed after the false gods of the land, and they would try to lead their new husband even further astray.
Esau married at the very same age as his dad, Isaac, but instead of one wife, he married two. Esau married two Hittite women. In marrying these two, Esau rebelled against God’s design for the family. Instead of a wife from Mesopotamia, Esau married two from Canaan, the people who were under a curse. It was foolish for Esau to do this because if he had listened to the Lord and had been defined by Him, he would have had a much better life than he did. Esau fostered a rebellious mindset toward God because God had dealt with him in truth. I once had a friend who would often say, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad." Esau never got over his anger because he had buried his feelings. And, we all know that "Feelings that are buried are buried alive."
In v.35 of today's passage we read, "And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah."
Esau married two different women because he wanted to gain worldly power and influence by marrying them, but in the end, Esau’s wives "turned out to be thorns in the sides of Isaac and Rebekah." The person we marry probably has more influence on our spiritual journey than any other person on this earth. Our world would be much better off if we better understood that God designed marriage to be a covenant relationship between one man and one woman for life.
Instead, our culture has followed after the way of Esau. Most don’t hold the marriage bed in high esteem. In fact, it is the practice of most to encourage a multiplicity of sexual partners. This is the result of the fact that we don’t think that relationships need to be between two people of likeminded convictions. As a result, we are reaping the fruit of our disregard for God's instructions in this area.
Esau was not a believer in the God of the Bible for he was not defined by Him. We know that we are being defined by God when we invite His culture into our lives. God has been clear, for example, according to 2 Corinthians 6:14 that a believer is not to marry an unbeliever. God says to the believer "do not be unequally yoke together with an unbeliever."
The picture of being unequally yoked comes from farming. Oxen and mules don’t work well together. They will pull a load differently, so if you put them in the same harness, they’ll be very ineffective. We must not think of the Word of God as a luxury, it is essential to our survival. If it is our desire to live in a way that we have never lived before, we must come to think in a way that we have never thought before. In Deuteronomy 32:47 we read, "For it (the Word of God) is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life."
These words of Moses have been my story. I came to the Lord one month short of the age of eighteen. Immediately the Lord placed it in my heart to get into to as many Bible Studies as I could find. As an eighteen year old kid, those many Bible Studies that I attended kept me out of a lot of trouble. Not long after that, it was the Lord's Word that led me to Columbia Bible College where I met my wife. And since then, I have gradually learned that the Word of God is truly my life. For if we allow the Lord to define us by obeying His Word, the life we desire we will receive.
