Isaac and Rebekah are married by now, however Rebekah is barren and they ask the Lord for his help to conceive. The Lord aids them and Rebekah gives birth to two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob was a manly man, who ate venison and hunted, thus Isaac preferred him; but Esau preferred a more calm lifestyle (*cough* mama's boy *cough*) and thus Rebekah favored him over her other son. Showing favoritism never ends well, Rebekah... Anyway, Esau being a man of the fields was returning home one day, tired and hungry, and low and behold, there was Jacob with some porridge. Now, Esau was hungry, and Jacob had the porridge, and even though the brothers didn't like each other, what was Jacob to do but feed his own blood. Except, there was a catch. In exchange for the porridge, Esau had to swear his birthright to Jacob. Esau, nearing starvation (and stupidity) agreed, and from then on despised his own birthright. Apparently, starving seemed to him the more dangerous of the two situations.
Birthright is a funny thing actually, and it usually belongs to the eldest child in a family. With that in mind, I find it strange that just because a child happened to be born before his siblings that he should receive some special privilege that none of his other siblings can have. It just seems to be based on luck depending on who is birthed first, if you ask me; and that doesn't seem very fair... Regardless, I'm an only child, so I can't speak of birthright in the typical sense. In fact, I don't think I can speak of birthright at all. I don't believe I have any privilege that I have possessed from birth. While it is true that there are some born into this world with more privileges than others, that is not to be used as an excuse to behave in a manner such as Jacob. This is becoming less and less coherent... I know what I'm trying to say, but it is just not coming out right... Basically, I think birthright's are stupid. Thank you. And good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment