Did Esau's weeping over the lost blessing change his spiritual standing?
Esau's weeping over the lost blessing did not change his spiritual standing at all. Though he sought it with tears, he did not respond by believing what God says or becoming a man of faith. Emotional grief and wailing alone produced no change in his status in faith.
The context shows Esau learning that Isaac had positioned Jacob as overseer and lord, with his brethren given as servants and sustained with corn and wine. Esau then asks, "Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me also," and lifts up his voice and weeps. This is what Hebrews meant, that he sought the thing with tears. Les teaches that in spite of all the weeping, wailing, crying, and tear-shedding Esau went through, it did not change his status in faith one bit. Esau does not come out of the experience saying, "From now on, I'm going to believe what God says" or "From now on, I'm going to be a man of faith." Les also applies this to people today who may go through an emotional upheaval, explaining why he is not much in favor of emotionalism: people can be forced by emotion to do things they do not really mean. His favorite cliché is that anyone convinced against their will is unconvinced still. He gives an example of people brought into a home to watch a tape, after which someone tried to force them to get on their knees and ask the Lord to come in. That does not work, because it is not the way God does things; He opens hearts, and it may take time.