If we look back to see what Abraham did, and we compare his works with those of Isaac, we would understand that Isaac tried to be like his father. He dug out the same wells Abraham had dug, which the Philistines filled in. He made treaties similar to his father’s and he defended himself in the same manner that Abraham did. So, he had the same fears and the same goals. As we move on in the scriptures, it seems that both Esau and Jacob made an effort to be like their father, Isaac. However, Esau seems to have missed the point. While he wants to be like his father, he never really understands his father’s heart.
Isaac married Rebekah, when he was forty years old, and Esau married his first wife, when he was forty, seemingly to follow in his father’s steps. Nevertheless, the similarity ends there, and all we can say is that Esau mimicked his father, but he didn’t have his father’s heart. He married Canaanite women, and they were a source of grief for both his father, Isaac, and Rebekah, his mother (Genesis 26:35). Moreover, it seems that he was completely unaware of how unacceptable his choice was (cp. Genesis 28:8), and, probably, that’s the whole point. Esau made the choice by himself. He didn’t seek the guidance of his father, he simply copied what he saw, believing what he did was a true image of his father’s works. He was wrong. Moreover, when he realized he made a mistake, he tried to undo the harm he had caused by making another decision all by himself, never seeking help or advice from his parents. Esau was a loner. He thought only of himself, even when he tried to please his parents. How so? He sought to do so by expecting them to be pleased with the choice that pleased himself!
Whatever the circumstances were that culminated in Esau losing the blessing of Abraham, which Isaac was determined to give to him, Esau now saw that Isaac had purposefully and publicly blessed Jacob with the blessing that Esau desired for himself. Moreover, in Isaac’s blessing Jacob, Esau came to see that he had misunderstood the effect of his taking a wife from among the daughters of Canaan. His decision was displeasing to his father (Genesis 26:35), but he never realized it until Isaac publicly blessed Jacob (Genesis 28:1). However, this doesn’t seem to be all Esau misunderstood. He didn’t take it to heart that Isaac had fully embraced the fact that Jacob was given both the birthright and the blessing of Abraham. It made no difference what Isaac had intended to do from the beginning, because the blessing was really the Lord’s to give, and the Lord, through Isaac, had given the blessing to Jacob. However, the only takeaway, which Esau embraced from this event, was that it was displeasing to his father that he (Esau) had taken his wives from the daughters of the Hittites (Genesis 26:34; cp. 28:6).
We are told in the text that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother by going to Padan-aram (Genesis 28:7). On the other hand, we are never told in the text that Esau ever obeyed his parents in anything, except to do that which he loved to do. He was a man who lived by himself and for himself. Although he desired the approval of his father, that translated to the fact that he desired his father to approve of what he (Esau) had already done!
Therefore, seeing that Isaac, his father, disapproved of Esau marrying Canaanite women (Genesis 28:8), Esau sought to correct his mistake. However, instead of confessing his wrong, Esau, of his own volition, and without seeking the approval of his parents or asking for their advice, went to Isaac’s brother, Ishmael, to take a wife from one of his daughters (Genesis 28:9). Apparently, Esau believed the better choice would have been to marry a wife from one of the descendants of Abraham instead of the daughters of Laban his mother’s brother. Thus, Esau always seems to seek the approval of his father, but he never seeks his father’s heart in the matter. Everything must be done according to Esau’s heart.
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