For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
—Hebrews 12:17, ESV
The verse quoted immediately above is one that is popularly interpreted to teach that a person can reach a point after which they are no longer able to repent. Esau is the prime example of a person who reaches this state, so the popular interpretation of this verse goes. John Piper and John MacArthur are two well-known evangelicals who interpret the text this way:
For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent” — no place to repent, that is the literal translation, no occasion to repent, no repentance — “though he sought it with tears” (Hebrews 12:17). So, it is possible to backslide so long and so deeply that there is no return. Now is that what has happened with you? It doesn’t sound like it because Esau was rejected, not because he repented and wouldn’t be accepted, but because he couldn’t repent. That is what it says: He found no repentance. He found no place to repent “though he sought it with tears” (Hebrews 12:17). He had become so callous, so hard, so distant that there was no ability for him to see how horrible his sin was, to see how great the mercy is, to feel horrible and broken about his sin and turn away from it to the living God. He couldn’t do it. It was all a sham as far as he was concerned.
When Esau finally woke up to some extent and realized what he had forsaken, he made a half-hearted attempt to retrieve it. Just because he sought for it with tears does not indicate sincerity or true remorse. He found no place for repentance. He bitterly regretted, but he did not repent. He selfishly wanted God’s blessings, but he did not want God. He had fully apostatized, and was forever outside the pale of God’s grace.
I want to make the case that, as far as this particular text goes, Piper and MacArthur are reading into the text something that is simply not there. I can only conclude that they are inclined to read this text this way because of the theological framework that they are bringing to their reading of the text.
To begin, I find it remarkable that Piper appeals to "the literal translation." It's remarkable to me because the literal translation of this text is what leads me to the conclusion that Piper and MacArthur have misinterpreted the text. What follows is a screenshot of the ESV reverse interlinear rendering of the verse, which shows us the Greek words in their natural order with the English words overlaid:
for you know that also afterward, wishing to inherit the blessing, he was disapproved of, for he did not find a place of conversion (μετανοίας), though having sought it with tears.
—Hebrews 12:17, Literal Standard Version
For you know that even afterward, wishing to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance (μετανοίας), although having earnestly sought it with tears.
—Hebrews 12:17, Berean Literal Bible
for ye know that also afterwards, wishing to inherit the blessing, he was disapproved of, for a place of reformation (μετανοίας) he found not, though with tears having sought it.
—Hebrews 12:17, Young Literal's Translation
For ye know also afterwards, wishing to inherit the praise, he was disapproved of: for he found no place for a change of mind (μετανοίας), although having sought it with tears.
—Hebrews 12:17, Smith's Literal Translation
These literal translations, unlike the ESV rendering, make it clear that Esau found no place for repentance. Or, more literally, I like the words of Smith's Literal Translation: Esau found no place for a change of mind. But is this necessarily no place for his change of mind? Or someone else's? The best way to answer this question is to look to the Genesis text that the author of Hebrews is referring to.
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
—Genesis 27:30–40, ESV (emphasis added)
When you read this narrative, what is Esau seeking after with tears? Note the words I've emphasized in the passage above. He's seeking with tears for a blessing from his father. And when his father doesn't initially grant his request, he doesn't immediately yield. He tries to make an appeal for his father to have a change of mind and give him a blessing nonetheless. But by the end of the exchange with his father, Isaac has not changed his mind. Or we might say: Isaac has not repented of his refusal to bless Esau after Esau's request for Isaac to do so. Isaac leaves Esau with what effectively amounts to a curse, not a blessing. So when Hebrews 12:17 tells us the Esau found no place for a change of mind even though he sought it with tears, the best way to understand the author of Hebrews based on the narrative of Genesis is that Esau found no place for Isaac's change of mind—or Isaac's repentance, not that Esau found no place for his own change of mind (or his own repentance). The latter is simply not what the Genesis narrative is about.
The Genesis narrative through chapter 27 shows us that Esau found no place for his father's repentance when it came to blessing him. And the great irony of the popular interpretation of Hebrews 12:17 propagated by the likes of Piper and MacArthur is that the narrative of Genesis that follows from there shows us that Esau does find a place for his own repentance when it comes to his character.
If you continue in the Genesis 27 narrative from where we left off above after Isaac refuses to bless Esau despite Esau seeking for Isaac to change his mind, we see a snapshot of Esau's character at that time
Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
—Genesis 27:41, ESV
In the words of the author of Hebrews, it's clear from this verse that Esau had allowed a "root of bitterness" to spring up and cause trouble (Hebrews 12:15). But if we fast-forward a few chapters (and several years!) in the Genesis narrative, we see something remarkable.
And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.
—Genesis 32:9–11, ESV
Many years after Jacob had fled to the land where his uncle Laban had lived, he still feared for his life at the hands of Esau because he knew Esau wanted to kill him. After all, that was the reason he fled in the first place. So he has no expectation that Esau has repented in this regard. And he is appealing to God for deliverance from his brother's vengeance. But what does he find when he finally encounters his brother after all these years?
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.
—Genesis 33:1–11, ESV
Where Jacob expects that Esau would be filled with bitterness and vengeance (as he was when Jacob first left his homeland to flee to the land where Laban lived), Jacob instead finds Esau filled with love and affection. I can't help but think of the heart of the father in the parable of Luke 15 who runs to embrace and kiss his prodigal son come home. I don't think the parallels are a mistake. Esau here runs to embrace and kiss his estranged brother the same way the father in the parable of Luke 15 runs to embrace and kiss his estranged son. This is not what a bitter heart does! So the only conclusion we are led to draw from the Genesis narrative is that Esau eventually found a place for his own repentance when it came to his character. Contrary to the popular interpretation of Hebrews 12:17 which states that Esau reached a point where he could no longer repent, the Genesis narrative shows us that later on in his life Esau actually does repent! And where he was unable to change his father's mind in begging Isaac to bless him, it wasn't because God was withholding the blessing altogether. Rather it was because God was delaying the blessing so that instead of being blessed by his father Isaac (who wouldn't bless him as much as he begged), Esau would be blessed by his brother Jacob (Genesis 33:11) who is the one who had stolen the blessing from him in the first place (and who has to urge him to accept the blessing, a seeming inversion of his previous experience with his father)! O how inscrutable are God's ways!
The last time we hear of Esau in the Genesis narrative is in chapter 36.
Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)
—Genesis 36:6–8, ESV
This passage closely parallels the situation earlier in Genesis when the possessions of Abram and Lot had become so abundant that the land could not support them both dwelling together (Genesis 13). In that situation, to avoid strife, Abram lets Lot choose the land he wants and they separate, Abram going in the opposite direction. We see a similar situation here. And in this case the narrator emphasizes that Esau takes the initiative to leave and settle elsewhere, presumably to avoid strife between him and Jacob similar to the strife that had arisen between Abram and Lot earlier. In other words, Esau was aiming to promote peace. He was acting as a peacemaker, which brings us full-circle to the Hebrews 12 passage we began with.
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
—Hebrews 12:11, ESV
We began in Hebrews 12:17 with the popular interpretation making the case that Esau reached a point where he was unable to repent. But if we back up earlier in the chapter, we read of how God disciplines his sons to bring them to the place that they need to be. And when we finally get to where we need to be through God's discipline, one of the clear indicators of us having arrived is that God produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness in our lives. In our reading of the Genesis narrative, if we follow the trajectory of Esau's life from Genesis 27 to Genesis 36, and how he not only finally makes peace with his brother Jacob in Genesis 33 but also seeks to promote peace between his clan and Jacob's clan in Genesis 36, we see a man whose life yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness! Which is to say, we see a man who has been successfully trained by God's discipline.
So Esau becomes the prime example not of a man who is unable to repent as the popular interpretation teaches, but rather of a man who is trained by God's discipline and what it looks like for the peaceful fruit of righteousness to be finally produced in such a man's life.
So, yes, we should not be like Esau and we should strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord, as the author of Hebrews exhorts us. But not because we will "reach a point of no return." But rather because we would spare ourselves the pain of God's discipline if possible. In doing so, this is the shortest path to get to where God wants us to be when compared with the path we must travel if He has to train us by His discipline in getting there. I'm sure if we could ask Esau (which one day we might be able to), he wouldn't tell us that he has no regrets of selling his birthright since he eventually got to where God wanted him to be; rather he would tell us that he wishes he had never sold his birthright in the first place. And if he could go back and do it all over again, he would never repeat his error.
We have all sold our birthright, but we have a Brother in whom we may win it back, the elder Brother of us prodigals, who, instead of grudging us the fatted calf and the festival welcome, Himself has died that they may be ours; and that no penitence may be unavailing, nor any longing be unsatisfied for ever more.
—Alexander Maclaren
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