Sin always has its consequence. Even though we can hide from man, we cannot hide from God. Sin will always find us out.

1 Esau – The consequence of his greed

Esau sinned against God when he despised and sold his birthright. He gave up the blessings of his birthright and then regretted it. Because he coveted after the blessings even after he had sold his birthright, he had to face the consequence many years later. As he insisted that his father Isaac blessed him, Esau received a curse through the “blessing” that Isaac gave to him. He would have “the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven” but he would have to strive for them through war (Gen 27:39-40). Edom (Esau) would also have to be subjected to Israel (Jacob). By application, we too will suffer the consequence of our sin of greed.

2 Isaac – The consequence of his disobedience

Isaac knew the revealed will of God: the older will serve the younger. Despite knowing this, Isaac disobeyed God for lesser things: his love for venison. We too may disobey God for lesser things when we are preoccupied with material gains for our personal satisfaction. We must seek first the kingdom of God. In the course of Isaac’s disobedience, he set a bad example for Esau and caused him to have a low view of God and to disobey God.

3 Rebekah and Jacob – The consequence of their false obedience

Their means to achieving the end (albeit good) is wrong. Even though they knew the revealed will of God, the way in which they “obeyed” was wrong. They took matters into their own hands, and failed to trust or wait upon God. They had to suffer the consequence of Esau’s hatred for Jacob. Jacob had to run away from home to save himself and he lived with the fear of Esau killing him. Rebekah had to suffer the consequence of sending her beloved son away and not be able to see him again for the rest of her life.

We cannot run away from God or the consequence of our sin. It is never too late to turn back to God. God is sovereign and merciful. He will allow the consequence to work for our good. He will not allow the consequence to be so unbearable that we can never turn back to Him. If we have sinned against God, let us not delay but quickly turn back to Him in repentance. May God help us all.