Devotionals by Raul Ries

MONDAY May 18, 2026

Missed Blessings

...lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.
Hebrews 12:16

The older brother of Jacob, Esau, was described as a profane person. What does the word profane mean? The word profane means “ungodly” or “unhallowed.” This was a serious flaw in his character. The evidence is seen when, for one morsel of food, he sold his birthright to satisfy his fleshly appetite. As the oldest son, Esau forsook his future blessings––the double portion given to him by his father as his inheritance and the leadership of the family.

Importantly, the covenant promises given to Abraham were also passed down from one generation to the next. Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob, his younger brother, for a bowl of stew. How did Jacob secure the birthright sold to him? Jacob received his brother’s birthright through deception.

When Isaac knew he was going to die, he spoke to Esau. He asked him to make his favorite venison meal, and then he would bless him. Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, overheard. The Lord had already spoken to her about Jacob. He was to receive the birthright: “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.” She devised a plan with Jacob to make that happen (Genesis 25:23).

Rebekah gave Jacob his brother’s clothes to wear. Esau was a skilled hunter­­––a man of the field. She asked Jacob to fetch two goats so she could prepare his father’s favorite food. She also placed animal skins on his hands and on his neck so that he would feel like his hairy brother, Esau.

Jacob was a mama's boy!  He did everything his mother told him. Then he went into his father’s tent to deceive him. Because he sounded like Jacob, but felt like Esau, his father asked him, “Are you really my son Esau?” (Genesis 27:24). Jacob lied. He kissed his father, as Isaac smelled his son’s clothes and persuaded it was Esau, he blessed him. Jacob successfully deceived his father, but there would be a price to pay.

God’s blessings are more than a fortune.
~C.H. Spurgeon~

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