The Bitter Fruit of a Polluted Bed Text: Genesis 26:34-35
Introduction: Covenantal Contempt
We live in an age that has made an idol of romantic sentiment. The world, and sadly, much of the church, believes that marriage is fundamentally a private arrangement between two individuals, governed by their feelings, their attractions, and their personal happiness. The highest law is "follow your heart," which is another way of saying, "do whatever you feel like doing." This is not just folly; it is a direct assault on the biblical doctrine of marriage. Marriage is not a private contract; it is a public, covenantal institution. And for the people of God, it is one of the primary arenas where our loyalty to the covenant is displayed or betrayed.
The story of the patriarchs is the story of God establishing a holy line, a seed through whom the Messiah would come. This required a fierce and deliberate separation from the pagan cultures surrounding them. Abraham understood this perfectly, which is why he went to such extraordinary lengths to secure a wife for Isaac from within their kindred, and not from the daughters of Canaan. This was not about racial purity; it was about religious purity. It was about covenant fidelity. The line of promise was to be a holy line, set apart for God.
Esau, the firstborn of Isaac, shows his utter contempt for this entire project in two short verses. We have already seen him despise his birthright, selling it for a bowl of soup. Here, we see the practical outworking of that profane mindset. A man who despises his birthright will inevitably despise the covenantal obligations that come with it. His choice of wives is not a minor misstep or a youthful indiscretion. It is a flagrant act of spiritual treason. It is a deliberate pollution of the holy line. And it reveals, in Technicolor, why God's sovereign choice of Jacob was not only just, but necessary.
The Text
And Esau was forty years old, and he took as a wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they brought bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah.
(Genesis 26:34-35 LSB)
A Deliberate Defilement (v. 34)
The first part of our text establishes the mature and deliberate nature of Esau's rebellion.
"And Esau was forty years old, and he took as a wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite..." (Genesis 26:34)
First, notice Esau's age. "Esau was forty years old." This is not a teenager making a rash decision. Forty is the age of maturity, a milestone in a man's life. Moses was forty when he fled Egypt; the Israelites wandered for forty years. This was a considered, deliberate choice made by a man in his prime. He knew exactly what he was doing. He had forty years of instruction from Isaac and Rebekah. He knew the story of his grandfather Abraham and the charge to not take a wife from the Canaanites. His action was not one of ignorance, but of defiance.
Second, notice his action. "He took as a wife..." The text is blunt. He did not ask his father's blessing. He did not consult the God of his father. He simply took. This is the language of a man governed by his appetites, just as he was when he saw the red stew. He sees, he wants, he takes. This is the spirit of the world, not the spirit of covenantal submission.
Third, and most importantly, notice his choice. He marries not one, but two Hittite women. The Hittites were a Canaanite people, descendants of Ham through Canaan, a people under a divine curse (Genesis 9:25). They were pagans, idolaters, and were to be utterly driven out of the land God had promised to Abraham's seed. For Esau to marry into this people group was to form a direct alliance with the enemies of God. It was to build a bridge where God had commanded a wall of separation. This is the very definition of being unequally yoked. It is an attempt to mix the holy with the profane, light with darkness, Christ with Belial.
Esau, by this act, declares his allegiance. He would rather be a son-in-law to Beeri and Elon the Hittites than a son of the covenant to Isaac. He is casting his lot with the world. He is demonstrating that he has no taste for the things of God, no desire for the spiritual inheritance, and no concern for the purity of the promised line. His profane heart, which we saw in the sale of his birthright, is now on full public display in his choice of a marriage bed. A man's theology is never more clearly demonstrated than in his choice of a wife.
The Inevitable Grief (v. 35)
The consequence of Esau's covenantal treason is not joy or celebration, but a deep, spiritual sorrow for his parents.
"...and they brought bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah." (Genesis 26:35 LSB)
The text says these women "brought bitterness." The Hebrew is even stronger; it says they "were a bitterness of spirit." This was not a simple case of in-law trouble. This was not Rebekah being annoyed that Judith didn't keep the tent clean enough. This was a profound, soul-crushing grief. Why?
Because Isaac and Rebekah understood what was at stake. They saw the covenant promise being dragged through the mud. They saw their firstborn son, the one Isaac clearly favored, actively working to corrupt the family line. Every day was a fresh reminder of their son's apostasy. These Hittite women did not show up to the family gatherings and suddenly start behaving like covenant keepers. They brought their gods, their worldview, their morality, and their pagan assumptions with them. They were missionaries for a false religion, living at the very heart of the covenant family.
This bitterness was the grief of seeing the antithesis between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent collapse inside their own home. It was the pain of watching their son choose the world, the flesh, and the devil over the promises of God. Rebekah later says to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?" (Genesis 27:46). This is not melodrama. This is the cry of a mother who sees the entire covenant project, the very purpose of her life and family, being sabotaged from within.
This grief is a righteous grief. It is a holy bitterness. In our therapeutic age, we are told that the highest virtue for parents is to be "supportive" of their children's choices, no matter how foolish or sinful. We are told to celebrate sin in the name of love. Isaac and Rebekah knew better. They knew that true love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Their bitterness was the proper, godly reaction to seeing a son walk away from God and defile the covenant.
Conclusion: No Neutral Ground in Marriage
This brief and tragic account is not just a historical footnote. It is a flashing warning sign for the people of God in every generation. The principle remains unchanged: you cannot serve two masters, and you cannot yoke two opposing worldviews together in the covenant of marriage and expect anything other than bitterness.
The modern church is filled with Esaus. Young men and women who have grown up in the covenant, who know the stories and the commandments, but who treat marriage as a consumer choice based on looks, charm, and romantic fizz. They foolishly believe they can marry a pagan and somehow "win them over," a practice we might call missionary dating. But the Bible's testimony is clear: bad company corrupts good morals. You do not yoke a clean animal with an unclean one. The unclean one does not become clean; the clean one is rendered unfit for service.
Esau's choice was a declaration that he was a man of this world. His stomach and his passions were his god. And the fruit of this choice was not happiness, but bitterness for all involved. This is a call for Christian parents to teach their children the profound, covenantal nature of marriage. It is a call for young people to seek a spouse not just who is "nice," but who is a fellow heir of the grace of life, who fears God, and who is committed to building a godly line for a thousand generations.
And ultimately, it points us to the true and better Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. He did not come to make an alliance with a pagan world. He came to purchase a bride for Himself, the Church, and to wash her and make her holy, setting her apart from the world. Our marriages are to be a picture of that great reality. When we marry in the Lord, we are honoring the covenant. When we marry outside of it, we are, like Esau, showing contempt for our birthright and bringing a bitterness of spirit into the house of God.