You Can’t Earn What God Gives

Genesis 28:1-9

Jacob Sent to Laban

¹Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. ²2Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ³God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. ⁴May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” ⁵Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

Esau Marries an Ishmaelite

⁶Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” ⁷and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, ⁹Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

(ESV)

Thought:
Isaac desires to send Jacob away to please his wife and also ensure that those from outside the family do not inherit the promises. It is the same thing that happened with Isaac and Rebekah. But then it ends on an interesting note, it says that Esau took note of this and so he went off and married one of his cousins, but not from the uncle on his mother’s side, but his uncle on his father’s side, Ishmael.

Why did he do this? It was an attempt to set himself up for a possibility of inheriting the promise and pleasing his father, it was a last ditch effort to secure some blessing or inheritance for himself, by marrying into the family.

But unfortunately he is doing exactly what his mother and brother did. Manipulate God into giving him the blessing, he is acting like his grandmother Sarah, taking the promise of God and yet trying to obtain through his own means and wisdom, as she did by giving Hagar to Abraham, who fathered Ishmael. There is lot of intermarriage going on here. But it boils down to the one main point, Esau thinks genetics and pleasing his father is the key.

But just like the rest of his family he is missing what God really requires of them, faith. He is sitting there wondering how can I get this blessing for myself, how can I change God’s plan, rather than trusting that God rewards those who seek him, not seek their own plans, wisdom and goals.

The blessing of God will never come to those who think they can do something to gain it. This was the foolishness of the Jews they took the law thinking they could please God through obeying it, not realising it was pointing them to have faith in God to provide what they needed, not to provide for themselves with their own means.

We receive the blessing of God by depending on him for everything, God doesn’t give his blessing to those who deserve it because none of us do. But he is happy to grant it to those who acknowledge they are not good enough and simply trust in him to provide.

Reflection:
Esau’s story challenges us to see where we still try to earn God’s favour—through effort, performance, or spiritual “strategies.” God’s blessing isn’t achieved by proving ourselves worthy but received by trusting Him. This passage invites us to lay down self‑reliance and rest in the God who delights to give grace to those who admit their need.

Prayer:
Father, keep me from trying to earn what You freely give. Expose the places where I rely on my own wisdom, effort, or plans instead of trusting Your promises. Teach me to depend on You alone, knowing Your blessing comes not to the deserving but to the humble who seek You in faith. Make my confidence rest in Your grace, not in myself. Amen.