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What the Bible says about Root of Bitterness
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Genesis 27:39-41

Once Isaac had given his - really God's - blessing, there was nothing left for Esau. The blessing was an "all or nothing" addition to the inheritance; it could not be portioned between Isaac's two sons. In reality, the subsequent "blessing" Esau receives is tantamount to a curse. In the New King James Version, it reads as if Isaac blesses Esau in Genesis 27:39-40, yet it is not a blessing but a prophecy.

As shown here, the two uses of "of" in verse 39 have been mistranslated; in this context, the Hebrew word implies, not "belonging to," but "from" or "away from." On this verse, the Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament observes, "By a play upon the words Isaac uses the same expression as in v. 28, 'from the fat fields of the earth, and from the dew,' but in the opposite sense, min being partitive [imparting] there, and privative [depriving] here, 'from = away from.'" Thus, Isaac prophesies that Esau's descendants would live in an infertile, arid area.

One consequence of this is prophesied in verse 40: There will be continual strife between the "have," Jacob, and the "have-not," Esau; they would engage in a constant, internecine quarrel over "the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven." More often than not, Jacob would be dominant - until Esau would rebel in frustration and anger. Isaac predicts that they will frequently come to blows, and occasionally, Esau's descendants will enjoy the upper hand for a time.

Esau's utterly human reaction upon hearing Isaac's words is consistent with what we know of his personality: "So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob" (Genesis 27:41). Too late, he realized the value of the blessing, and now his entire attention was focused in hatred against his brother. Hebrews 12:15-16 describes his attitude toward Jacob as a "root of bitterness," a profound and deep-set animosity that ultimately corrupts and defiles one who maintains it.

This reveals the mindset of Esau and his descendants, the Edomites. Everything that should have been theirs was now Jacob's, and they will fight until the bitter end of days to get it back! Yet God says it is not to be. His prophecy in the "blessing" allows Esau only occasional supremacy. Since Jacob's seed possessed both the birthright and the blessing, they would normally prevail and ultimately have the ascendancy.

The birthright made Jacob the recipient of a double portion of the inheritance, and the blessing was a gift of God by which the patriarch passed on the promised family blessings. These blessings included the patriarchy - "Be master over your brethren" (Genesis 27:29) - which was now Jacob's! This meant that, upon Isaac's death, the leadership position in Abraham's family passed not to the elder, Esau, but to the younger, Jacob. Esau was left to form his own house, but without the power, position, and wealth inherent within the birthright and the blessing.

In these prophecies, the Bible shows that dominant family traits are passed down to succeeding generations. Therefore, even today, Israelites generally think and behave much like their father Jacob, while Edomites still retain the attitudes and drives of Esau. Though not every Israelite or Edomite will imitate his ancestor's personality to the letter, these traits will surface as national characteristics, allowing perceptive observers to identify their origins and fit them into Bible prophecy.

For Jacob's thefts of the birthright and blessing, Esau hated his brother enough to begin to plot his death! This burning hatred has been passed on from generation to generation ever since that time, for approximately 3,700 years. This, then, provides us with a basic understanding of the contentious relationship between these two peoples.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
All About Edom (Part One)

Isaiah 14:12-15

Probably all of us have thought that we know better than those in charge. Watch out! Thinking like this is not wrong in itself, but it is something that lodged itself in the mind of Helel (the name of the "covering cherub" before he became Satan): "I know better than the one in charge," and in this case, it was God.

We can begin to see how his pride was beginning to exalt itself against God. It was moving to break the relationship between them. It was coming between Helel and God so that their relationship could not continue. Helel could not continue to serve God.

Most have felt that we have been overlooked, neglected, or abused. Most of us have felt rejected a time or two. Of and by themselves, these feelings are not wrong. But, again, we must beware, because these feelings can begin to generate pride. Such a thing fed Helel's feelings about himself. They simmered in him and made him angry, and he desired to assert his will to control the governance of all that was happening. "I will ascend to heaven," he said, and he tried to. We see the pattern here; we can see the process involved from beginning to end.

It ends in warfare against God, which is why a person of pride cannot have a good relationship with Him. A proud person cannot have faith in God, at least not very much. A small amount of faith can be there, but pride will definitely be a hindrance. This is why the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican in Luke 18:9-14 follows immediately after of the Parable of the Importunate Widow (Luke 18:1-8), which Jesus ends with, "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on earth?"—because humility is essential to faith.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Faith (Part Six)

Amos 2:1-3

Moab's major transgression was the result of a long-burning feud between Moab and Edom. Out of spite and anger, the Moabites dug up the bones of a long-dead Edomite king and threw them into a fire. This is another example of taking advantage of someone who is weak and defenseless. Can a corpse fight back? The principle here is that every sin has a boomerang. God noticed the sin, burning the bones of the king of Edom, and promised to avenge it (Deuteronomy 32:35).

John W. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (The Book of Amos) (Part One)

Romans 8:28

Attitude is an important factor in our Christian lives. The frame of mind from which we approach situations is a major dynamic in how we react to them. Our attitude could easily mean the difference between solving a problem and making it worse, and this has obvious ramifications to our growth in the image of God.

Man's natural state seems to lean toward pessimism. This springs from the fact that human nature and the flesh that clothes us are never satisfied; they always want more. Solomon notes, "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing" (Ecclesiastes 1:8). Our desire for more of even good things is like an addiction to drugs or alcohol. An addict will use a small amount at first, but soon, he needs more to give him the same feeling of euphoria or mellowness because the body and brain compensate to manage it. Before long, he is taking far greater amounts of the drug, and ultimately, the dose is lethal.

Because we are never truly satisfied, then, we tend to think that our best days are behind us and things can only get worse. Notice that, in literature, the Golden Age is almost always in the remote past, and though the author may express hope for the future, a lingering feeling of nostalgia remains for a time that can never be recovered. Even among Americans, known worldwide as a most optimistic people, many recall some era of our past as the "glory days" or "happy days." Some yearn to turn the country back to the principles generally followed by the nation's founders because they are what made America truly great, and this yearning is fed by dissatisfaction with present-day America and little hope for a more-principled tomorrow.

If one dwells on his dissatisfaction long and deeply enough, he will not only be pessimistic, he will soon become downright bitter. The author of Hebrews tells us that this was among Esau's problems. He allowed a root of bitterness, a constant gnawing of dissatisfaction, an empty feeling of deserving better, to drag him down (Hebrews 12:15-17). He reached a point where his bitterness was so much a part of his nature that he could not change for the better.

The story of Job instructs us more positively. We could call Job the "anti-Esau." God allowed Satan to take everything of value from him short of his own life: his children, his wealth, his health. Even his wife told him, "Curse God and die!" (Job 2:9). To make matters worse, his three friends—supposedly there to encourage him—sat around and lectured him on how he must be some kind of sinner to have attracted such stupendous curses on himself!

Sure, Job was depressed. Who would not be? He says, "May the day perish on which I was born. . . . Why did I not die at birth?" (Job 3:3, 11). Yet, as we progress through the story, we find that Job is not really a pessimistic man. Though he loathes what has happened to him, he maintains his integrity with feisty arguments and a keen desire to know why God has dealt with him in this way. As soon as God reveals His sovereignty to Job, the man humbly submits to it and repents (Job 42:1-6). Unlike Esau, Job does not let his sorry state drag him down. Instead, he optimistically chooses to do something positive to change his situation for the better.

The epilogue to the story reveals a lesson we can take from this: "Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12). Job's "golden age" is before him, not behind, and the key to his optimism is his relationship with God. Because he knows that God is in control of events—from the spinning of the cosmos to the smallest detail of his life—things would only turn out for the best. Jesus certainly echoes this in Luke 12:32-33: "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

So, are you optimistic or pessimistic? If we are confident that God is with us—and He tells us positively that He is not only with us but in us (John 14:20; 15:4; 17:21)—our glass should not be half-full but brim-full and running over!

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Reasons for Optimism


 




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