So listen now to God's holy, inspired, and errant word, beginning in Genesis chapter 36, verse one. These are the generations of Esau, that is, Edom. Esau took his wives from the Canaanites, Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah, the daughter of Phanah, the daughter of Zibion the Hittite, and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. And Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz, Basemath bore Reul, and Oholibamah bore Jeyush, Jelum, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. Then Esau took his wives, his sons, daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he'd acquired in the land of Canaan, he went into a land away from his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom. These are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. These are the names of Esau's sons. Eliphaz, the son of Veda, the wife of Esau. Re'ul, the son of Basimath, the wife of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz were Timon, Omar, Zepho, Gathim, and Kinaz. Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son. She bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife. These are the sons of Rayu, Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizah. These are the sons of Bazimath, Esau's wife. These are the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zebia, Esau's wife. Shibor to Esau, Jeyush, Jelom, and Korah. These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, the chiefs Timon, Omar, Zepho, Kinaz, Korah, Gathim, and Amalek. These are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Adah. These are the sons of Reul, Esau's sons, the chiefs. Nahath, Zerah, Shema, and Mizah. These are the chiefs of Rayul in the land of Edom, and these are the sons of Basimath, Esau's wife. These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife, the chiefs Jayush, Jelam, and Korah. These are the chiefs born of Oholibamah, the daughter of Vanah, Esau's wife. These are the sons of Esau, that is Edom, and these are their chiefs. These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land. Lotan, Shobal, Zibion, Adah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman, and Lotan's sister was Timna. These are the sons of Shobal, Alvan, Manahath, Ibal, Shephel, and Onam. These are the sons of Zibion, Ayah and Anah. He is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of Zibion, his father. These are the children of Anah, Dishon, Holy Baba, the daughter of Anah. These are the sons of Dishon, Himnon, Eshbon, Yitron, and Heron. These are the sons of Izer, Bilhon, Zahavon, and Akon. These are the sons of Dishon, Uz, and Varon. These are the chiefs of the Horites, the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibion, Anah, Dishon, Izer, and Dishon. These are the chiefs of the Horites, chief by chief in the land of Seir. These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites. Bila, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Denhava. Bila died, and Jobob, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place. Jobob died, and Cushom, of the land of the Timanites, reigned in his place. Husham died and Hedad, the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. Hedad died and Samlah of Mazreka reigned in his place. Samlah died and Sha'ul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place. Sha'ul died and Baal Hanan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his place. Baal Hanan, the son of Achbor, died. and Hadar reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pa'u. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezacham. These are the names of the chiefs of Esau according to their clans and their dwelling places by their names. the chiefs Timna, Alva, Jetheth, Oholibama, Elah, Pinon, Kinaz, Timon, Mibzar, Magdiel, and Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, that is Esau, the father of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. Ascends our reading. In God's word, let's ask his blessing now upon it in a word of prayer. God, we do come now, and we ask that you would speak to us through this text, which might at first prove, well, intimidating. But this is your word, you have inspired it, you have preserved it for your own purposes, and so we pray that it would be useful to us tonight. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. It's been a while. By that I mean it's been a while since we have encountered that very important phrase in the book of Genesis. These are the generations of. That's the phrase which provides the structure to the book, guiding us from one phase of the story to the next. The last time that we saw it was in Genesis chapter 25. where we were introduced to the generations of Isaac. Since then, there have been 10 chapters developing the family history of Isaac's descendants. Now, we come to the generations of Esau, Isaac's son. And this perpetuates a pattern which has been repeated throughout the book of Genesis. Think about what we've just read earlier in Romans chapter 9, about the election of one, the passing over of another. In the book of Genesis, the genealogy of the non-elect son typically precedes the genealogy of the elect son. almost as if to get it out of the way. Cain came before Seth, Ham and Japheth before Shem, Ishmael before Isaac, and now Esau before Jacob. But there is a noticeable difference between Esau's genealogy and those of the other non-Elek sons. Namely, Esau's genealogy is long. It's long. It's, dare we say, arduous. Usually the non-elect genealogy is short and sweet. But reading this chapter, Maybe you don't feel this way. You didn't have to pronounce all the names out loud. But we are greeted with an almost overwhelming list of sons and grandsons and kings and chiefs. It's hard to pronounce all the names, let alone keep track of all of them. And so what are we to do when this is our sermon text? What are we going to do with Genesis chapter 36? I recommend that we come this chapter and approach it as if it were an impressionistic painting. Are you familiar with that? A Monet, a Manet. It's interesting. They had such similar names. Instead of picking apart every little detail in the text, I'm not going to give you a biography of each of these men. we are going to look for the broad strokes. We're looking for the broad brush strokes, focusing on the message which shines through all the names. And when we look for that message, that broad brush message, what do we find in Genesis 36? We find that Esau's glory shone forth through the royal dynasty which descended from him, while Jacob's greater glory lay concealed throughout the time of his sojourning. That's what we learn in this section of Genesis. Esau's glory shone forth through the royal dynasty which descended from him, while Jacob's greater glory lay concealed throughout the time of his sojourning. In order to see this, we will come to text in three parts. Viewing first Esau's story in chapter 36, verses 1 through 8. Second, Esau's glory in chapter 36, verses 9 through 43. And finally, Jacob's faith in chapter 37, verse 1. So Esau's story, Esau's glory, and Jacob's faith. First, we come to Esau's story in verses 1 through 8. To begin the chapter, we read the announcement that these are the generations of the family history of Esau. And right up front, Esau is equated with Edom. Don't miss that. Esau, very importantly, this is underlined and underscored for us several times throughout the chapter, Esau is the father of the Edomite kingdom, which would long coexist alongside Israel. And according to verses two and three, the way that this nation began to form is that Esau took three Canaanite wives, Adah, Aholibama, and Basamoth. The three women, we're told, have differing ethnic backgrounds, but Moses groups them all under the broad category of Canaanite. This is a reminder, an important reminder, that Esau did not choose to marry within the chosen family, much to the chagrin of his parents. Even in these choices, he was exhibiting the marks of God's choice and displaying through his choices that he was not among the elect. But verses 4 and 5 do tell us of the sons which resulted from these marriages. Two of the wives are only said to have birthed one son, while a holy mama bore three. But the thing that all of these sons had in common is that they were born while Esau was still living in the land of Canaan. At the start of Esau's life as a family man, he inhabited the land promised to his father by God. However, verse 6 proceeds to tell us of his departure from that land. While all of the promises bequeathed to Abraham and Isaac were connected to the land of Canaan, Esau made the decision to leave. He took his wives, his children, his livestock, and his property, and he headed south. Verse six characterizes this movement as, into a land away from his brother Jacob. Even in their travel itineraries, these two men are displaying the choices that God made before they were ever born. And so he travels away from his brother Jacob. And why? Well, like Abraham and Lot before them, there was a competition for resources. They both had a tremendous amount of stuff. And Esau felt that the land of their sojournings could not support the two of them. Specifically, there would have been trouble keeping up all the livestock combined together in one location. And so when Jacob comes home from Canaan, Esau permanently now steps out. They're still at peace. This is not a sign that Esau is once again angry at his brother, but from henceforth they are going to be peaceable apart from one another. Esau walks away from the promised land and into the hill country of Seir or Edom, which was located to the southeast of the land of Canaan. That's the story of Esau. The man who had been struggling against his younger brother Jacob since he was in the womb finally decided to ride off into the sunset. He would go away from the place where God's covenant faithfulness was going to be displayed in order to make a name for himself. He's going to go into Edom to make a name for himself. And because of his exclusion from the covenant, his significance would soon decline. But as we see, as we come to verses 9 through 43, Esau did have a glory of his own. And so as we come to verse 9, we transition from Esau's story to Esau's glory. In the first eight verses, we receive in the text a narrative of Esau's life. at least his later life, but the rest of the chapter provides a very detailed genealogy. That's why we have this apparent reintroduction here in verse 9, saying once again, these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites. The signal here is once again, we're going to jump now deeper into the genealogy of this older brother. And when you read this section, It may, if you're paying attention anyways, strike you as repetitive and confusing. But don't get discouraged because, remember, we're going to look for the broad strokes tonight. If you were to outline the rest of this chapter in summary form, you might do it like this. It'll amaze you how quickly we can fly through this and figure out everything that's happening in Genesis chapter 36. Verses 9 through 14. tell us about Esau's sons and grandsons. So some of the details from the first eight verses are repeated, but then the text advances a generation beyond where we got in the opening story. That's what's happening in verses nine through 14. Moving on. Verses 15 through 19, Repeat the names of Esau's grandsons. and this is important, explain which ones served as chiefs of the people in Edom, highlighting their pomp and their power. So that's one of the things that might seem confusing as you work through this genealogy if you don't notice it. We're getting lists of sons and grandsons, and then we're getting many of those same names repeated as we are informed which ones served in positions of power. And so verses 15 through 19, identify for us the chiefs among Esau's sons and grandsons. Then, verses 20 through 30 give a genealogy of Seir the Horite. That's who lived in the land prior to Esau. That's who was there when Esau showed up. These were the folks whom Esau had to overcome and supplant in order to take the land. Later on, Esau's family would intermarry with some of these people. But in the beginning, they were a separate people already existing in the land when Esau went in. And their chieftains are singled out and named in verses 29 through 30. Next, verses 31 through 39. tell us about the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites. So now we are informed that while Israel still lives without a human figurehead, Esau's descendants were producing kings of renown. As one died, another would pop up in some other location to take his place and rule over the people. That land was stocked full of men capable of ruling and reigning over their peers. And then finally, in verses 40 through 43, we are given an additional list of chiefs coming from Esau, ruling according to clans and dwelling places. Okay, that's Genesis 36 in a nutshell. We hear about his sons and his grandsons, the chiefs among his sons and his grandsons. We receive a separate genealogy of Seir the Horite. Then we learn about the kings who came from Esau. And then finally we receive a list of chiefs who reigned in his name. Now, there are a handful of names scattered throughout these interrelated lists, which we could say more about. We're not going to, though, because many of them, even the ones that we could say a little bit about them, many of these folks remain obscure. They remain very obscure, and that's one of the things that makes this chapter challenging. But again, Impressionism, looking for the broad strokes, if we step back, view all these people from a distance, and take in the scene, what do we see? We see Esau's great glory. We see Esau's great glory. When he goes down into Edom, he builds something far beyond what most of us are able to accomplish in a lifetime. Esau establishes a legacy for himself that was so great that it takes up an entire chapter in the Bible. We can even admit that this section of the scriptures teach us that God blessed Esau to an extent, at least in terms of temporal things. He has children. He has grandchildren. He essentially founds a nation ruled by chiefs and kings descended from his own loins, trampling over his opponents to make it happen. I mean, as our eyes trace the page, seeing all these names and all these glorious titles, we are liable to think, we are liable to think, are we not, that Esau is a man worth celebrating? But then perhaps we hear that little voice in the back of our mind. What's it say? Jacob. I loved, but Esau, I hated. Those are the words of God. First delivered by the prophet Malachi, then repeated by the apostle Paul. The Lord in heaven says of this man who was so glorious, Jacob I loved, but Esau, I hated. You see my friends, God did bless Esau. the children, the land, the earthly glory. He could not have achieved any of that if the God of his fathers had not allowed it. But those blessings, when we really turn them over in our minds, we find that they are superficial. They are temporary. They are fleshly. As a result, Calvin describes this lengthy genealogy exalting the offspring of Esau as an honorable sepulcher. In other words, it makes a pretty gravestone inscription for a man long dead and cast into hell. Let this be our reminder that we cannot judge by appearance as the world judges. It's not the case. that the biggest, the most prosperous or the most outwardly glorious is the best. Having the appearance of blessing is not necessarily the same as having the stamp of God's approval. This is true of nations. This is true of churches. This is true of families. And this is true of individuals. The Lord, in his mysterious providence, allows the wicked to prosper. First season. He has not plotted out history on the basis of a merit principle. The good guys don't always win and the bad guys don't always lose. Recall that when you begin to feel that the grass is greener somewhere else. Maybe you think, well, if only I could live in this place. And if only I could join this church overflowing with people and money, doesn't mean a senior citizen. If only I could have a family that behaves like that and has such a blessing. And if only my reputation and status were to improve, well, then it would all just be perfect. That's Esau thinking, my friends. That's Esau thinking. And untethered from the word of God, Esau thinking might just carry you out of Canaan and then eat him. So be on guard against the pursuit of earthly glory. Guard yourself against discontentment. Guard yourself against coveting. Because humanly speaking, Esau had it all. His glory was undeniable. But at the same time that His glory was undeniable, God had passed Him over. Like a flower, He would bloom and He would flourish for a season. And be given enough time, the glory would fade. And in stark contrast, to Esau's story and glory is Jacob's faith, which we catch a glimpse of in Genesis 37, verse one. Perhaps this seems an odd place to end our sermon text. Why pull in one verse from the next chapter? The chapter divisions aren't original. They are a medieval innovation. Helpful, very helpful. But they're not original. What's original is the text. And looking at the text, we know that verse 1 belongs with the Esau section. Because verse 2 says, these are the generations of Jacob. That starts a new section. Only then does the next chapter, so to speak, in the book begin. So standing at the tail end of this portion of God's Word, standing in sharp contrast with all that has been said of Esau, we find Jacob. And I do want to give credit where credit's due. I want to give credit tonight to Will Wood, you all know Will Wood, that's why I mentioned him, for helping me to see this contrast more clearly through his own teaching on Genesis 36 and 37. His reflections stimulated and informed my own. So with that said, we read this in verse 1. Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. That's the contrast between everything in chapter 36. When Esau left, Jacob stayed. When Esau removed himself from the natural context of the covenant, reflecting the choice which God made before the foundation of the world, Jacob remained within it. When Esau became severed from the promises, Jacob continued on as their rightful recipient. When Esau departed looking for earthly glory, Jacob stayed behind. He was willing to walk by faith, not by sight, content with pilgrim plotting in light of God's assurances that better things were to come. And so the question we have to ask ourselves is, was he right to settle for that sort of life? Would it pay off? And to answer that question in an informed way, I think we have to look well beyond Genesis chapter 36. We have to consider, in a very flyover fashion, the long history of Israel and the Edomites, two groups which were frequently at odds with one another. While history up through the time of Moses saw those two groups uneasily coexisting, violence becomes the order of the day when Israel finally catches up with Edom and gets a king. Under Saul and under David, Israel wreaks havoc on the Edomites. They destroy them nearly. Later, Edom would get their comeuppance and they would regain independence during the days when Jehoram reigned in Judah. This put them in a lofty, exalted position and they were in so lofty a position that they were in a position to mock the people of God when they were carried off into exile by Babylon. This is a transgression which is treated as heinous in the writings of the prophets especially. And we see an example of this in the book of Obadiah. because the prophet Obadiah finally declares of Edom, the way they treated Israel at the time of the exile, he says this, because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off. God's declaration of doom. would then go on to be vindicated in the later periods of Edom's history. As they became, particularly in that intertestamental period coming into the time of Jesus Christ, they became subject to a number of other kingdoms, most notably the Romans. Edom began to wither on the vine under the heat of their oppressors. They had laughed when Israel had been treated that way by Babylon, but when they were placed under the same pressure, they couldn't take the heat. And by the time that you get to the New Testament, the inhabitants of that region aren't even known as Edomites anymore. They're called Edumeans. Interestingly, that's not mentioned much in the New Testament. We saw it recently in Mark chapter three, when we read that big list of people from different places who had gathered around to hear Jesus teach and participate in his Galilean ministry, people from Idumea were mentioned in that number. And even more interestingly, there are a few prominent Idumeans in the New Testament. You probably wouldn't know that if you had not done some extra-biblical historical reading. And again, I credit Dr. Wood for reminding me of this. Do you know who the prominent Edumeans in the New Testament are? I'll give you a hint. Most of them have Herod in their name. Most of them have Herod in their name. For example, think of Herod the Great. He's the one serving as king over the Jews at the time of Jesus's birth, doing the bidding of the Romans and trying to kill the Messiah. Here's another example. Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas, who mocked Jesus before his crucifixion and sent him back to die at the hands of Pontius Pilate. Both of these men are Idumeans from the region formerly known as Eden. There are others. There are others, but the point is that at various points throughout the New Testament, you have these Idumean rulers opposing Jesus and his apostles. So from the days of Genesis on down through the time of the New Testament, the days of Jesus, The descendants of Jacob and Esau were locked in a perpetual struggle with one another. At times it looked as if Esau might actually win. That was true during the exile and it was true when Jesus and his followers were being harassed by the Herods. But my friends, the good news is that Jesus won. the Herods would all bite the dust eventually and they would fall into disrepute with the rest of the Edomites and Edomians and we think of them primarily as those whom Jesus, the son of Jacob, confounded through his triumphant resurrection from the grave. And so to return to the question which we asked earlier, was Jacob right to settle for the life of a pilgrim wandering the earth while his brother pursued glory? Would it pay off? The answer to both of those questions is yes. Yes. Because the pilgrim plotting of Jacob was temporary. It was temporary. It would pave the way for Israel's future, which would ultimately culminate in the death and resurrection of Jesus, which opens the door to incomparable glory, both now and forevermore. As we've noted so many times in our study of this book, the Canaan below was always intended to be a prelude for the better country which we enter through Jesus Christ. And you know what? The hidden path of Jacob's, excuse me, the hidden glory of Jacob's path, which paved the way for Jesus is so much greater than Esau's outward glory. In fact, it is so much greater that Jacob's glory becomes Esau's only hope. Jacob's glory becomes Esau's only hope. The prophet Amos, who transmits several condemnations of Edom, he also transmits to us a gospel message for Edom. Looking to the day when Israel would be restored by her Messiah, the prophet says in Amos chapter 9, verses 11 and 12, In that day, I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by name." Declares the Lord who does this. That's the passage. which Jane cites at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 to defend Gentile inclusion in the church. This passage promising the restoration of David's booth when Edom and the nations of the earth will be brought into the fold. So while Jacob and Esau's paths diverge in Genesis, it is through the ministry of Christ descendant of Jacob, long awaited Davidic king, that the salvation of Esau's descendants becomes possible. That's how their salvation becomes possible. Their hope is our hope. Jesus came to bring Edomites and other Gentiles into the booth, into the tent of David. And Jacob was willing to walk by faith and sojourn in the land of his fathers so that we might be saved and find a home in the restored city of God. Unless we say that while Esau's glory shone forth through the royal dynasty which descended from him, Jacob's greater glory lay concealed throughout the time of his sojourning. But this was all part of God's plan. Through Jacob, not Esau, God had chosen for his covenant of grace to come to fruition. And through Jacob, not Esau, redemption for the nations would be wrought. And therefore, let us take from this text the better path, the better life, the greater glory. to walk with faith in the Son of Jacob, who both conquers and redeems the Edomites. Because through Him, God is working out His glorious purposes for all His people day by day. Let's praise Him now.