February 28, 2013
WHAT DO POLYGAMY, STRANGELY NAMED BABIES, AND A TWISTED FAMILY TREE HAVE TO DO WITH ME?
Genesis 36
Sallie Dean
Central Truth
There is great contrast in a life lived by the flesh and a life lived by the Spirit. There are always consequences for living by our flesh and arrogantly refusing to trust God. Why miss out? God graciously wants to bless all who repent and trust in Jesus.
Key Verse | Genesis 36:1, 6
Now these are the records of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). . . . Then Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all his household, and his livestock and all his cattle and all his goods which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. (Genesis 36:1, 6)
Genesis 36
Esau's Descendants
1 These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). 2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter 1 36:2 Hebrew; Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac son; also verse 14 of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. 4 And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
6 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. 7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)
9 These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. 10 These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. 11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 (Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife. 13 These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. 14 These are the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
15 These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. 17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. 18 These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. 19 These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.
20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. 22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna. 23 These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24 These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father. 25 These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. 26 These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 27 These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28 These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 29 These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, chief by chief in the land of Seir.
31 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. 32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. 33 Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 34 Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35 Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. 36 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. 37 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates 2 36:37 Hebrew the River reigned in his place. 38 Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 39 Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pau; his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.
40 These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.
Dive Deeper | Genesis 36
A fun song that helps me remember my Abrahamic lineage all the way to Christ (yes, very useful for water-cooler conversation) is Andrew Peterson's Matthew's Begats.
"Abraham had Isaac; Isaac, he had Jacob; Jacob, he had Judah and his kin . . . ."
Well, Jacob's twin brother Esau is the patriarch of the featured family of Genesis 36. This chapter serves as a pause in the narrative to open up the Edom family scrapbook.
Each of the twin brothers was a mess, but God chose to graciously reveal Himself to the world through Jacob, making a never-ending covenant with his people (Genesis 28). God tells both twins that their greatness will only be found by trusting in Him.
Esau was a hairy man's man who continually chose to feed the cravings of his flesh, trading his birthright for stew and marrying multiple wives of idolatrous nations. Sometimes, I see Esau in myself when I have urges to serve my flesh and act on what I want. Specifically, it's a hassle to wait on God and much more gratifying to take the situation by the ears and attempt to control it on my own. How prideful and foolish I am to think I know better than God, my good Father!
In this passage, we see Esau's family tree growing and Edom becoming a mighty nation with many political and military leaders to boot. But there are always consequences for living by our flesh and arrogantly refusing to trust God. The Edomites would temporarily thrive, but would become extinct because of their attitude of "we do what we want, and we don't need God." Edom isn't even on the map today (see Obadiah 1; listen to the Obadiah series, part 1 at http://www.watermark.org/media/the-book-of-obadiah-part-1-learning-from-esau-why-we-need-to-be-jacob/1236/ and part 2 at http://www.watermark.org/media/the-book-of-obadiah-part-2-theres-more-there-than-you-think/1239/).
Even though we have all turned our backs on God, He graciously wants to bless all who repent and trust in Jesus.
Jesus, the promised Messiah, would come through the line of David and from the line of Abraham, the same bloodline of Jacob and Esau. Even through a broken family of misfits, Christ came to give us life so we can put to death our self-seeking flesh and live abundantly by His Spirit.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you have something you feel like you can get on your own and don't need to wait on God's timing to receive?
2. In what unhealthy ways do you strive for greatness on your own?
3. What habits reveal your appetite for getting what you want (anger, addictions, manipulation, etc.)? Ask your community.
4. How do you feel when worldly folks prosper and you have to wait for blessings?