These two were just complete opposites. One was hairy and one was smooth; one enjoyed the outdoors and the other liked to stay in tents. One seemed to have one particular driving force (he liked to hunt), and the other was a complete man, a well-rounded man who was able to keep several balls in the air. This is the meaning in the Hebrew when Jacob is described as a "mild man." He was not one to have a laser-like focus on one interest, but was a man of great talent in several areas.
One of Esau's problems was that he could not really see that which was truly important. Whatever was before him at the time drew his complete attention. He seemed to take no thought of future problems, future blessings, or future consequences. He counted his birthright as nothing—worth no more than a meal!
This is the attitude that Esau and his people have had ever since. Just to compare the two of them mentally, in the games people play, Esau was no match for Jacob. Jacob could run circles around Esau at any time. It was not that Esau was dumb; it was just that his personality did not provide him the wherewithal to keep up with Jacob's deceptions. Twice Jacob had swindled him out of priceless inheritances! The birthright made Jacob recipient of that portion of the inheritance that belonged to the firstborn alone, and the blessing Jacob took to himself was that gift of God by which the patriarch passed on the promised family blessings for the future. These birthright blessings included the patriarchy—which was now Jacob's! We read the part where he was made Esau's master. This meant that the leadership position in Abraham's and Isaac's family passed not to the elder, Esau, but to the younger, Jacob; thus, he would become patriarch when Isaac died. Esau would be left to form his own house, but without all the advantages and wealth inherent within the blessing and the birthright.
Do you remember that I told you to tuck the word cooked away in the back of your mind? It was because of the word pride in verse 3 that I asked you to do this—"the pride of your heart has deceived you." This is the word zadon in the Hebrew and has as its root the word ziyd. This root is translated cook in Genesis 25. They are cognate words, and it seems as if Obadiah specifically used this word to make us go back and think about what happened when Jacob cooked a pot of stew for Esau. The reason why Esau took that came from his pride. He did not humbly ask his brother for some stew because he was on his last leg. He was too proud to do anything else, perhaps.
I want to make the connection between these two words. The word cook would be better translated boiled or seethed. The idea is that when water or anything else has heat applied to it, it begins to boil after a time; and it is from this "boiling up" that the Hebrews gain their understanding of pride. It was somewhat like an offended puffing up. Esau became heated and angry, and it manifested itself as haughtiness, an overweening pride. This is a trait that he passed on to his descendants. This is a clue leading us back to the similar word inspired in the Genesis account of these two brothers. Just as stew boiled up under heat, so Edom puffs itself up thinking that it is self-sufficient. God says, "No way! I can—and will—bring you down from wherever you are!"
