The Chiefs of the Flesh: A Tale of Two Destinies Text: Genesis 36:15-19
Introduction: The World's Head Start
There are certain chapters in the Bible that modern readers, and I suspect many preachers, tend to treat like long stretches of uninteresting highway. We put the car on cruise control, our eyes glaze over, and we just try to get to the next scenic overlook. The genealogies are often treated this way. They are seen as the inspired equivalent of a phone book, full of names we cannot pronounce, belonging to people we do not know. But this is a profound mistake. This is to read the Bible with secular, materialist eyes. The genealogies are the skeleton of redemptive history. They are the load-bearing walls of the entire biblical narrative. To skip them is to admire the paint while being ignorant of the foundation.
And Genesis 36 is one of the most important of these foundational chapters. It is the detailed record of what happened to the other brother. It is the history of the line that God, in His inscrutable sovereignty, set aside. Remember the prophecy given to Rebekah: "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger" (Gen. 25:23). Here, in this chapter, we see the formation of that other nation. While Jacob's family is still a band of wandering shepherds, possessing nothing but promises, Esau's line is already producing "chiefs," establishing a kingdom, and sinking its roots deep into the earth.
This chapter is a profound theological lesson, given to us in the form of a historical record. It is a tale of two destinies. It is the story of the kingdom of man, which gets a significant head start, and the kingdom of God, which seems to lag behind. The world always appears to be winning. The sons of the flesh always seem to have the political power, the influence, the titles, and the land. They build their cities and name their chiefs. Meanwhile, the sons of the promise are often pilgrims and sojourners. This chapter forces us to ask a fundamental question: Do you want the immediate inheritance of Esau, or the promised inheritance of Jacob? Do you want a chief now, or a King to come?
This is not just ancient history. This is a spiritual diagnostic. The spirit of Edom, the spirit of Esau, is the spirit of secularism. It is the spirit that exchanges the eternal birthright for a bowl of temporary, carnal stew. And as we will see, this choice has consequences that echo down through all of history. This list of names is not a phone book; it is a battle roster.
The Text
These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, are chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These are the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.
(Genesis 36:15-19 LSB)
The Organization of the Profane (v. 15-16)
We begin with the descendants of Esau's firstborn, Eliphaz.
"These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, are chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah." (Genesis 36:15-16)
The first thing to notice is the title: "chiefs." The Hebrew word is allup, which can be translated as duke, leader of a clan, or a military commander. This is political language. Esau's descendants are not waiting for a divine command. They are organizing themselves according to the pattern of the world. They are establishing hierarchies, building power structures, and creating a nation. This is what men do when they have rejected the covenant. They build their own towers of Babel. They establish their own kingdoms with their own chiefs.
This is the outworking of Esau's character. He was a "profane person" (Heb. 12:16), meaning he was common, secular, oriented toward the world and its appetites. He chose the tangible over the promised, the immediate over the ultimate. And so his children inherit this character. They are worldly men building a worldly kingdom. They have land, they have power, and they have chiefs. On the surface, they are a success story. They are everything the world admires.
But then, at the end of the list, we find a name that should send a chill down the spine of any student of Scripture: "chief Amalek." This is not an accident. This is not just another name in a list. This is the Holy Spirit embedding a landmine in the text. Who is Amalek? Amalek is the nation that will attack the weak and the stragglers of Israel as they come out of Egypt (Deut. 25:17-18). Amalek is the nation against whom God swears eternal war, from generation to generation (Ex. 17:16). King Saul will lose his kingdom because he fails to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Haman the Agagite, the villain in the book of Esther who tries to annihilate the Jews, is a descendant of the Amalekite king. Amalek is the biblical archetype of the serpent's seed, the embodiment of satanic hatred for the people of God.
And where does this poison come from? It flows directly from the line of Esau. The fruit of the profane, secular, birthright-despising man is a perpetual, murderous hatred for the people of the promise. This genealogy is showing us that the choice to live by the flesh does not produce neutral results. It produces Amalek. It produces active, violent opposition to God and His Christ.
More of the Same (v. 17-18)
The list continues, documenting the other branches of Esau's family tree.
"These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These are the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah." (Genesis 36:17-18 LSB)
The pattern continues. More sons, more chiefs. The kingdom of Edom is growing, solidifying, and becoming a formidable worldly power. Moses, as he writes this under the inspiration of the Spirit, is making a deliberate point to the children of Israel as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. He is showing them the strength and organization of their "brother" nation, Edom.
He also reminds them of the root of this nation by naming Esau's wives: Adah, Basemath, and Oholibamah. These were the Canaanite women whom Esau married, which were "a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah" (Gen. 26:35). Esau's first act of rebellion was to form unholy alliances with the pagan world around him. His kingdom is built on a foundation of disobedience. The chiefs listed here are the fruit of that grief, the result of that compromise. When you marry the world, you should not be surprised when your children look just like it.
The world's way is always to build through compromise, through strategic alliances, through political maneuvering. The kingdom of Edom is a testament to what man can achieve on his own terms. It is impressive, it is organized, and it is utterly godless. It is a kingdom of the flesh, by the flesh, and for the flesh.
The Official Summary (v. 19)
The section concludes with a summary statement that drives the point home.
"These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs." (Genesis 36:19 LSB)
This is the final stamp on the document. This is the official record of the nation that chose the world. The phrase "that is, Edom" reminds us of the transaction that started it all. Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of red (adom) stew, and so his name and his nation became Edom. His entire national identity is a monument to his one act of profane appetite. He is forever defined by what he chose over God.
And what did he get? He got chiefs. He got worldly power. He got his stew. And he lost everything that mattered. Meanwhile, Jacob, whose name means "supplanter," who wrestled with God and man and prevailed, is still a wanderer. His sons are not yet chiefs of a nation. They are contentious brothers who are about to sell one of their own into slavery. From a worldly perspective, the family of Jacob is a dysfunctional mess, and the family of Esau is a rising political power. This is always the way it looks to the eye of the flesh.
The Choice Before Us
So what is the point of this long list of Edomite chiefs? The point is to set up a stark contrast that runs through the entire Bible. It is the contrast between the city of man and the city of God. The city of man is built quickly, with worldly materials, and is governed by chiefs and kings of its own making. The city of God is built slowly, by faith, according to a divine promise, and its citizens are pilgrims and sojourners.
Edom got their kingdom first. Genesis 36:31 tells us that Edom had kings "before any king reigned over the sons of Israel." They had the head start. They had the worldly success. And their most famous king, centuries later, would be Herod the Great, an Idumean, an Edomite. And what was King Herod known for? He was known for trying to murder the infant Jesus, the true King of Israel. The spirit of Esau, which produced chief Amalek, ultimately produced the king who tried to destroy the Christ.
The line of Jacob, on the other hand, had to wait. They had to wait through slavery in Egypt. They had to wait through wandering in the wilderness. They had to wait through the time of the judges. But from their line came David. And from the line of David came the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
This chapter forces every one of us to look at our own lives. Are we building Edom, or are we waiting for the New Jerusalem? Are we seeking to become chiefs in the kingdoms of this world, or are we content to be pilgrims on the way to the kingdom of Christ? The world offers us a bowl of red stew right now. It offers power, recognition, and success on its own terms. It invites us to build our own little chiefdoms. The Gospel, in contrast, offers us a cross now and a crown later. It calls us to lose our life in order to find it.
We are all born sons of Esau. We are all born profane, oriented toward the flesh, eager to trade away our eternal inheritance for a moment of carnal satisfaction. But God, in His mercy, sent the true Son of Jacob, the Lord Jesus, to purchase for us a new birthright. Through faith in Him, we are cut out of the wild olive tree of Edom and grafted into the cultivated tree of Israel. We are no longer sons of the flesh, but sons of the promise. Let us not, then, live as though we are still Edomites. Let us not envy their chiefs or desire their stew. For their kingdom is passing away, but the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ will endure forever.