Jacob and Esau
Linda Parry, Alan Parry
Paperback
(Augsburg Fortress Pub, Sept. 1, 1990)
When Rebekah' twins were born the first and oldest boy to be born was named Esau. He is easy to remember because he was red and hairy all over. Right behind him came his younger brother Jacob. As the boys got older they liked doing different things. Esau was good at hunting and loved doing things outside and Jacob liked to stick around home and did things on his own. Because Jacob stayed at home a lot he learned to cook with his mom. One day he had made some of his delicious stew that everyone liked. Esau had been out early in the morning hunting and he was very hungry. So hungry that he could smell the stew from a far way off. As soon as Esau got home he asked Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of your stew, I'm starving!" Jacob replied, "First give me your birthright." Wait a minute! You're probably wondering what a birthright is? Jacob and Esau's family believed that the oldest child should receive double of all the things they would leave behind after they died (this was the birthright). Things like money and the farm with all the animals. So when Jacob asked Esau for his birthright, Esau should've said, "No way! That's something special for me and I need to use it because every gift I receive is a gift from God." Instead Esau could only think of how hungry he was and he said, "Yes already, you can have my birthright just give me some food before I starve to death." By choosing food over his birthright Esau did a bad thing. He made a decision he couldn't change and he disappointed God by not seeing the importance of his special gift he would get later on and choosing a silly thing like a bowl of soup instead.