If you will recall, last week when we talked about Isaac, we mentioned that he was the father of twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Esau was the first born, quickly followed by Jacob who, according to scripture, came out clutching his brother’s heel. In fact, this informs his name, since by these standards Jacob means “supplanter” or “grabber”, which as we’ll find out become a very descriptive name for young Jacob.
Jacob trades for Esau’s birthright-Genesis 25:27-34
The notion that the birthright of the eldest born son was the most significant isn’t limited to just Biblical times, however it is prevalent here, and becomes a major portion of the story. As the boys grew up, Esau became Isaac’s favored son, while Rebekah took a particular shine to Jacob. Esau was known as the hunter, the go getter, essentially the jock in the family. I imagine these qualities informed why Isaac was taken with Esau; they made Esau look like the natural candidate to take charge of the family after he’d passed on, the natural leader to inherit God’s promise of a might nation. Jacob, he was something of a home body, never found far from the homestead.
One day when Esau returned from a hunting trip, he was famished. Jacob is there, and offers a trade; the stew he was cooking for Esau’s birthright. Esau accepts right away, which really shows how little he thought of his birthright. Let’s look at some aspects of this part of the story:
1) Did Esau really trade his birthright for a bowl of soup?In all likelihood, Esau didn’t take the offer seriously. It is entirely possible that he considered it a joke. However, the fact that he was willing to joke about something as significant as his birthright shows he had a rather careless attitude about it.
2) What does this say about Jacob?
Jacob shows us very early on that he’s a thinker. He may not have believed the barter for soup to be serious, but he quite likely used it as a test to see how serious about his birthright Esau actually was.
Jacob supplants his brother-Genesis 27:1-40
Several years later, Isaac believes he’s dying. His eyesight is fading and he feels its time to give the blessing of the first born. Remember, though that his wife Rebekah favors Jacob over Esau; she wants to see him succeed over his brother. It could be that she remembers God promise before they were born that the “older shall serve the younger” (25:23). However, like Abraham and Sarah so many years earlier, she isn’t willing to wait and see how God intends that promise to play out. Rather she decides to make things happen in her time, not God’s. We all know how well this usually works out.
So she hatches a plan. Esau leaves on a hunting trip in order to obtain the meat for Isaac’s favored meal. Meanwhile, Rebekah and Jacob slaughter a goat and Rebekah prepares the meat as Isaac’s favored meal and has Jacob, pretending to be Esau, present it to him. Isaac is understandably confused, asking why the hunting trip took so little time, but he’s convinced by the meal. Then he’s questioning whether or not this is in fact Esau. A thing to remember is that Jacob and Esau are fraternal twins, in that they were born together but don’t actually look alike and may only vaguely sound alike. In fact, Esau is considerably hairier than Jacob. Make of that what you will, but Isaac’s suspicions are raised enough that he asks for proof, to feel the arms of his son. Rebekah planned ahead though, laying goat skins over Jacob’s arms so that Isaac is fooled into believing this is his hairy son.
3) Is it reasonable to think that Esau was so hairy that a goat skin is a convincing substitute?Having working with the hands and arms of a variety of people over the last year or so, I think this is completely plausible. I am not exaggerating when I say that there are some people out there that are in fact that hairy. Regardless of you belief in the validity of this story, I can tell you that this aspect is completely within the realm of possibility.
4) Isn’t it a false blessing when Isaac bestows the blessing meant for Esau on Jacob?
One could reasonably assume that Isaac’s blessing would still fall on Esau despite it being Jacob present, but that’s where we look at the dialog of the story: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field, that the Lord has blessed. May God give you of heaven’s dew, and of earth’s richness-an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.” (27: 27-29)
At no point in the blessing does he call his son by name, rather laying his hands directly on his son and speaking the words. That’s the significance here, which means the blessing is completely applied to Jacob, regardless of who Isaac thought he was.
And it’s right about here that Esau walks in on the whole situation and quickly realizes what has happened. By gaining the blessing, Jacob seals the deal on the birthright as well, regardless of whether or not Esau was serious about the original deal. But its time for Jacob to pack up and get out of Dodge, as it were, because Esau is mad, and Rebekah is fearful that he’ll kill Jacob.
Jacob returns home a wealthy man-Genesis 31-32
While Jacob is away from home, he meets with his uncle Laban, and works for him for seven years. In that time he becomes fantastically wealthy. He starts his trip home after some twenty years away, now with four wives and twelve sons. We’ll get into that next week.
On his return he questions God’s promise of protection on his journey. He is afraid that Esau is still holding a grudge, and sends 550 animals ahead of his family as a peace offering. A masterful stroke of strategy, but also tells of his lack of faith.
The night before Jacob is to meet with his brother, he is involved in one of the most unique encounters in all of scripture. He finds himself in a night long wrestling match with an, at first, unidentified individual of supernatural strength and endurance. But Jacob is stubborn in a fight, not willing to let go, even after this stranger merely touches his hip and dislocates the joint. He says to Jacob “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” Jacob responds “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asks for Jacob’s name, and then says “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
Here we find another instance of renaming. God has done this before, with Abraham and Sarah, and will do it again later in scripture. The purpose of the renaming is a means of cutting away the mortal trappings. It shows that he is no longer under the strict authority of men, not even his father and mother who gave him that name, but now under the direct authority of God alone. He has been reborn through God’s word and with that new birth comes a new name.
Jacob meets with his brother and they make peace, and become a family once again.
What we learn from our walk with Jacob is that once again you don’t have to be perfect to be a hero of faith. Jacob shows us that the ends don’t justify the means and that if we allow God to do his work and stop trying to speed things up through our own actions, our blessings will be greater and more fulfilling. Yes, Jacob was blessed, but at what cost? He lost over twenty years with his family and his mother had passed on before her favored son came home. Not it’s not actually a bad thing to be a gung ho go getter when you are the leader, however it shouldn’t come at the cost of your principles or of your family. Jacob stands as a hero of faith because he reminds us that impatience and manipulation may get you want you want, but at a great cost, and that even through that cost, God will still do great things.
Let us close in prayer;
Father God, we come to you humbly asking for the patience and wisdom to enjoy your blessings as you send them to us, and not to try and force your hand. Often we find ourselves wrestling with Your will, and with those around us, and often we can feel overwhelmed. Give us the strength to endure and open our minds to see that we should not wrestle against Your will, but rather trust in You and be guided by Your Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Have a blessed week and walk with light.
Michael Bauch
No comments:
Post a Comment