Will You Sell Your Birthright?

Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Genesis 25:32-34

Many us have heard the story of Esau selling his birthright to his brother for a cup of stew. Is this just a cute Bible story, or is there a message for us today? Esau stated he was about to die. Why did he think he was going to die? We have to look outside the sixty-six book Bible to find a possible answer.

And all the mighty men of Nimrod, who had left him to go to the wilderness, heard the cry at a distance, and they knew the voices of those two men, and they ran to know the cause of it, when they found their king and the two men that were with him lying dead in the wilderness. And when Esau saw the mighty men of Nimrod coming at a distance, he fled, and thereby escaped; and Esau took the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod’s father had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land, and he ran and concealed them in his house. And Esau took those garments and ran into the city on account of Nimrod’s men, and he came unto his father’s house wearied and exhausted from fight, and he was ready to die through grief when he approached his brother Yaaqov and sat before him. And he said unto his brother Yaaqov, Behold I shall die this day, and wherefore then do I want the birthright? And Yaaqov acted wisely with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Yaaqov, for it was so brought about by Yahuah. And Esau’s portion in the cave of the field of Makpelah, which Avraham had bought from the children of Cheth for the possession of a burial ground, Esau also sold to Yaaqov, and Yaaqov bought all this from his brother Esau for value given. And Yaaqov wrote the whole of this in a cepher, and he testified the same with witnesses, and he sealed it, and the cepher remained in the hands of Yaaqov. YASHAR (JASHER) 27:9-14 את CEPHER

Jacob and Esau’s life spans overlapped that of the great king Nimrod. Anyone who is familiar with this history knows that Nimrod was a type of anti-messiah in Abraham’s day, and actually sought the life of Abraham when he was still a baby. Esau came across Nimrod while they were both hunting, and for whatever reason, decided to ambush Nimrod and two of his attendants.

Gen 10:8 And Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty warrior.
Gen 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it was said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh.”
Gen 10:10 Now, the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Most understand that “a mighty hunter before Yahweh” was not a good attribute of Nimrod. The word translated “before” could also be translated “against” or “in the face of”. Nimrod was likely where the mystery religions started after the flood, and he is the start of all world mythologies, from Gilgamesh right down to Santa Claus.

Rev 17:9 This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
Rev 17:10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while.
Rev 17:11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.
Rev 17:12 And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.

What does this all have to do with Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of stew? Esau was running from the anti-messiah system of his day because he just slayed their leader, a type of anti-messiah. He was on the run and was assuming he would die. He made several mistakes. For one, he murdered Nimrod on his own accord when Yah says, “do not kill”. Instead of repenting and trusting Yah to save him, he went to his brother and sold his birthright for a final meal, figuring he was going to die. He gave up his inheritance to the kingdom that Abraham was promised by Yah.

Rev 13:13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,
Rev 13:14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
Rev 13:15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
Rev 13:16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,
Rev 13:17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

Someday we may find ourselves in the position where if we do not worship the image of the beast and take its mark, we will not be able to by or sell, and be slain. It is not so hard to picture this happening any more in a world where tyranny rules and even Christians are being used as tools of the satan [השטנ[. To take the mark and worship the image is the same as selling our birthright. Our birthright enables us to inherit the kingdom.

Both Revelation and the prophet Isaiah tell us of the beast that is slain.

Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Rev 19:21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

Isa 27:1 On that day, Yahweh will punish with his cruel, great and strong sword Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and Leviathan, the twisting serpent, and he will kill the sea monster that is in the sea.

In this picture we have those with the mark and who worshipped the image thrown into the lake of fire, and the rest were slain by the sword of the Messiah. It doesn’t look good for either group at this event. Where are those who did not sell their birthright?

Rev 19:6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
Rev 19:8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Rev 19:9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Isa 27:13 And this shall happen: on that day, a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria will come, and those who were scattered in the land of Egypt, and they will bow down to Yahweh on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

“The fine linen of the saints is the righteous deeds of the saints”. This should shout out “commandment keeping” to anyone who understands scripture. This is the age old argument. James states that we are justified by our faith producing works.

Jas 2:22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
Jas 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
Jas 2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Jas 2:25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
Jas 2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Paul seemingly contradicts James in his letter to the Romans to those who do not understand:

Rom 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Paul is saying that following the letter of the law will not justify a person. He is fighting that mindset continually in his letters. James, on the other hand, is telling us that having faith will produce works, the result being that works prove faith and without them a person isn’t justified because it shows they do not have faith. Faith is still the focus, and our actions will determine if we really have faith. A person can camp out at either place, trying to rely on works, or a lawless gospel. Both camps are in error.

Our Saviour spelled it out for us. Notice there was no mention of faith at the judgement of the nations. If works were required of these people, why not us? Their works were the evidence of their faith. How can a person say they have faith in the Creator, yet not do what He says?

Mat 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Mat 25:32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Mat 25:33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Mat 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
Mat 25:36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Mat 25:37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
Mat 25:38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
Mat 25:39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
Mat 25:40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Mat 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Mat 25:42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
Mat 25:44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’
Mat 25:45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
Mat 25:46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

We need to figure this out now more than ever. A weak, “anything goes” gospel is not going to suffice. We take all of our passions very seriously, so why not studying scripture and learning what Yah expects from us? There will be no one to blame but ourselves when the day to judge sheep from sheep and goats from sheep comes.