The author of Hebrews tells us to "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears" (Heb 12:15-17). We have "the grace of God" and "root of bitterness", where Esau is an example of "immoral or godless" people. How was he an example of that? He "sold his own birthright for a single meal." Okay ... I'll take it at face value, but apparently there is a further description. Afterwards he desired the blessing but "found no place for repentance." Immoral or godless. Got it. And then this phrase: "though he sought for it with tears." The phrase is somewhat ambiguous. He sought what with tears?
There are two primary viewpoints here. One is "repentance" and the other is "the blessing." And, I think both are possible. The claim that Esau "sought for it with tears" likely comes from Genesis. In the account, Isaac gives Jacob the blessing he intended for Esau, the first born (Gen 27:1-29). Esau arrived for the blessing and found out it had been dispensed. He asked for another, and Isaac gave him bad news (Gen 27:30-40). It says, "When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, 'Bless me, even me also, O my father!'" (Gen 27:34). Esau wept because he desired the blessing. No question. But the Hebrews text says that the fundamental reason he did not inherit the blessing was "he found no place for repentance." Esau, then, found neither the blessing nor repentance. The failure to repent cost Esau the blessing. He found ... neither.
The notion that Esau couldn't repent is unacceptable to most, but it is actually rationally required. That is, if Esau, like every single human on the planet, was "dead in sin" (Eph 2:1), "hostile to God" (Rom 8:7), "evil from his youth" (Gen 8:21), then repentance would be impossible ... without intervention. Lay that against Scripture, and you'll find the notion that God ... grants ... repentance (Acts 5:31; 2 Tim 2:25). In Esau's case, he did not receive his blessing because he did not repent. Both were gifts from God. He didn't receive either. And it's tragically common. "Me? Repent?" Jesus preached it (Mark 1:15; Luke 13:3-5). But it's unnatural ... for natural man.
2 comments:
Even in our salvation and repentance, we like to try to take some of the glory from God. That old nature clings tightly.
“To repent” is often defined as “to change one’s mind.” I might be able to reason myself from one intellectual point to another, in order to change my mind to some degree, but I am not able to change my heart that same way. I cannot soften my hard heart on my own--that requires changing my nature, which only God can do in a person. This is why we say we cannot cause our own salvation by “choosing Christ” but that God changes our hearts in order to receive the Gospel--to repent and believe and receive the blessing from His Hand.
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