Genesis 36:1-43
Q.1. What was the significance of Esau’s marriages? What explanation do we have for the location of his family? Where did they settle? – (Gen.36:1-9)
Esau had caused grief for Isaac and Rebekah, firstly by marrying two Hittite women who were Canaanites. (Gen.36:1-2 c.f. Gen.15:7, 16-21). It was further recorded that when – 8 Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father, Isaac; 9 and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth (Gen.36:3 c.f. Gen.17:18-22; 28:8-9). One observation we can take from the lives of Jacob and Esau, is the degree to which degeneration of the faith can take place in just one generation. They had just buried Isaac, their father (Gen.35:28-29). Whereas Jacob had passionately pursued the blessing of God (albeit through deception), Esau married the ungodly women of Canaan. The explanation for the locations of the two brothers is not unlike that of the reason for the parting of Abraham and Lot – For their property had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they sojourned could not sustain them because of their livestock (Gen.36:7 c.f. Gen.13:5-11). It seems that God used the explosion of the two families to force them geographically apart, to minimise the ungodly influence of the Edomites on the godly line of Jacob (Israel). Esau settled – … in the hill country of Seir. Esau was Edom (Gen.36:8 c.f. Gen.25:30). The region of Edom was in the wilderness south-east of Israel. The Edomites were known in later times as the Idumeans. The Herod’s who tried to kill the Baby Jesus, and also the leaders of the infant Church, were Idumeans (c.f. Mt.2:16; 14:1-10; Acts 12:1-2).
Q.2. What do we learn about Amalek? What was mentioned about Anah? How great did the descendants of the godless Esau become? – (Gen.36:9-43)
We are also introduced to the grandson of Esau, Amalek (Gen.36:12). His descendants, the Amalekites, had an entrenched hatred of Israel. As early as Exodus 17, we read of the battle between Israel and the Amalekites, after Israel was delivered from Egypt (There was something sinister about this nation – God has sworn war against the Amalekites from generation to generation (c.f. Ex.17:16; Dt.25:17-19). In the Book of Esther, we read about the attempts of Haman (a descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites) to exterminate the Jewish race. To this very day the Jews celebrate the Feast of Purim to commemorate the overthrow of Haman and their other enemies (Est.9:26-28). It was recorded that Anah – … found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon (Gen.36:24). His diligence brought an unexpected blessing. We learn that Esau’s descendants also became mighty, and that – … the kings (who) reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel (Gen.36:31). They became a formidable nation, and there is still enmity between them and God’s people.