Where's Jesus? The Family line of Esau (Genesis 36)

Genealogies.  I hate genealogies.  Not only are they full of names that are hard to pronounce, but they often have people that I am unsure why the time and paper was even taken to record them.  So this week's Where's Jesus blog was a difficult one for me to get excited about, nevertheless, Jesus is here too.

This is the last mention of Esau in the book of Genesis, so what can we learn about him and his progeny and how does that relate to Jesus Christ?  In verses 7-8, the word says,

"their possessions were too great for them [Jacob and Esau] to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock.  So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir."

These brothers have both been blessed by God but one is forced to leave the promised land while the other stays in the land.  It is at this point the narrative changes to a strict genealogy with a listing of all of Esau's descendants.  Notably, only one name actually has historical significance.  It is Amalek, the grandson by a concubine who fathers the Amalekites (verse 12), a nation that attacks the Israelites as they are leaving Egypt (Exodus 17:8).  And a nation that God promises "to be at war against from generation to generation" (exodus 17:16).

As I have been reading Galatians this year and preaching from it, this passage strikes me very similarly to Galatians 4:21-31 where Paul allegorically interprets the Abraham-Hagar-Sarah story.  Such an interpretation underlies my thoughts on this passage today.  Jesus has only one people, those he has chosen, they are represented by Jacob,  Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Romans 9:13).  While God's blessings flow over to every person in the world, the chosen and those not chosen cannot share in the promised heavenly city any more than Jacob and Esau can exist in the promised land.  There is only room for the chosen people.

Unfortunately, those who aren't chosen always persecute those who are, just as Amalek and his descendants do, ultimately falling under the complete judgement of God and being totally eradicated from history.  This is the future destiny of all who are figuratively Esau's descendants.  So as you can see, Jesus is in the story as the one who is chosen and who inherits the promised land and all those in Christ enjoy all of his blessings, while also being persecuted as he was persecuted.