13th September 2026 (am) – Genesis 36

Andy Bruins preaching from Genesis on Sunday 13th September 2026.

This chapter comes at the end of Jacob’s career and just before our attention shifts to his children. It sums up the other wing of Isaac’s family, the line of his older son Esau, who became the father of the nation of Edom.
The New Testament presents Esau as godless (Hebrews 12:16-17). And it is worth spending some time contemplating the fruit of his way of life the fruit borne out in the line that descended from him.

Q If you knew that in your near future there was a huge financial inheritance coming your way, how would that affect the way you lived in the meantime? How might this be very different from people around you who have no such hope?

Q Read v1-8. Who does Esau marry? Where does Esau settle? What drives these decisions? (see also 28:6-9).

Q v10-19 tells us about how Esau’s family grew when they settled in the land of Seir. How successful do you think Esau was?

Q v20-30 names the sons of Seir the Horite. Who were they? What happened to them (see Deuteronomy 2:4-6 and 12)?

Q v31-43 names the kings of Edom. How do we see the promised blessing of God coming true for Esau? In what way is this blessing inferior to the blessing given to Jacob?

Q How did Edom treat Israel (Numbers 20:14-21)? How were the Israelites supposed to treat Edom (Deuteronomy 23:7-8)? What did God ultimately have planned for nations like Edom (Isaiah 55:1-5)?

Q How can we, “The Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16) play our part in the bringing of the nations under the blessing of God (Genesis 12:3)!?