Believe in God’s Promises
Yael Eckstein | November 9, 2026
Esau comes in from the field, dust covering him. His breath comes quick, uneven.
The smell reaches him before his eyes adjust to the dark.
He stops.
Jacob sits near the fire, the stew bubbling. He stirs it slowly.
Esau steps closer. “Give me some,” he says.
Jacob looks at Esau, then back to the pot. “Sell me your birthright,” he says.
Esau lets out a breath, almost a laugh. “What is that to me?” he says. “I am about to die.”
Jacob’s hand moves once more through the stew.
The fire settles. The pot gives a soft sound.
Esau shifts. Dust from the field dances in the firelight.
Hunger is all he knows.
That other thing. So far away. Unknown.
He reaches for the stew.
“Swear to me,” Jacob says.
Esau swears.
Jacob gives him the bread and the stew.
Esau eats quickly.
And Jacob sits near the fire, watching.
Genesis 25:32
“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
This Scripture tells us something heartbreaking about Esau.
After a long day, Esau came home hungry. His brother Jacob had prepared a simple meal—lentil stew. And in that moment of exhaustion and impatience, Esau made a decision that would echo through history.
He sold his birthright.
For stew.
Esau tells his brother, “Look, I am about to die… What good is the birthright to me?” Of course, Esau wasn’t actually about to die. He was young and strong. But Jewish tradition offers a profound explanation for his words.
Esau knew something important. He knew about God’s promise to Abraham—that his descendants would one day inherit the Land of Israel. But Esau also knew that this promise would not be fulfilled right away. It would take centuries. There would be exile and slavery in Egypt before redemption would come.
So Esau’s not-so-rational reasoning went like this: If the birthright means a promise that won’t be fulfilled in my lifetime, what good is it to me? I’ll be gone by then. Why should I care?
In Esau’s eyes, the future wasn’t worth waiting for. He chose immediate comfort over eternal purpose.
Jacob, on the other hand, believed that God’s promises matter—even if they take generations to unfold. Even if we don’t live to see them fulfilled.
Esau teaches us what happens when we live only for the moment. But Jacob—and the generations after him—teach us the power of believing in God’s promises, no matter how long they take.
For centuries, the Jewish people prayed to return to the land God promised to Abraham. Generation after generation lived and died without seeing that promise fulfilled. And yet, we prayed. We believed. And we refused to give up on God’s Word.
Today, as I study the Bible with you from the Holy Land, I cannot begin to express my gratitude to God for two things: that His promise was fulfilled in our generation, and that all the generations before us never stopped praying.
One More Moment
Join us for a new season of Nourish Your Biblical Roots: Holy Land Digs! Across eight episodes, we’ll explore Israel’s biblical sites and uncover the stories hidden beneath the soil.