Christ Church

Pentecost XI 2005

Christ Church

Morningside

Jacob .

I want to tell you a very old story…

Once upon a time there were two brothers. In fact they were twin brothers. But although they were twins they were, sadly, never very close. Indeed, from the very beginning they were always competing against each other. Their mother complained, so the legend goes, that even before they were born they used to wrestle each other in her womb! In the fullness of time they were both born healthy and hearty boys – although something very strange happened at the birth - the second child was delivered holding onto his brother’s heel.

The elder brother grew up to be “a skillful hunter, a man of the open country,” (Genesis 25:27), while his brother “was a quiet man, staying among the tents [of his family, for they were a nomadic people].” (ibid)

It happened that one day, the elder brother had been out hunting and he returned home very late. He was exceeding hungry and it just so happened that his younger brother was cooking some hot stew. So the elder brother said to the younger, ‘I’m famished, give me some of your stew.’ Well, the younger brother saw this as his opportunity and said, ‘yes, of course I’ll give you some of my stew, but first you have to promise on oath to give me your birthright as the first-born son.’ The elder brother was so hungry, and besides which he thought it was a bit of a joke on his brother’s part, that he readily agreed. And so, unwittingly, he gave away his birthright to his younger brother.

Many years passed…

And so it was when the twin’s father was old and very near to death he called for his eldest son and said, “I am an old man… now then, get your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare the kind of tasty meal that I like and bring it to me to eat,” (Genesis 27:2-4), and afterwards I will give you my blessing as my son and heir before I die. His father didn’t know anything about the foolish agreement that the older brother had made years before.

So the elder son collected his weapons and went out into the countryside.

Now, it just so happened that the twin’s mother had been listening to the two men’s conversation. Their father favoured the elder son because he was his heir but their mother preferred the younger son because he was quiet and thoughtful. So, on hearing her husband’s conversation with their elder son, she went to her younger and told him what had been said.

She told him to go and kill two of the goats from the family flock and then she would prepare the kind of meal that the old man liked. The younger brother could then take the food to his father, pretending to be his older brother, and then he would receive his father’s blessing instead of the elder.

When the meal was ready Rebekah (the mother) dressed her younger son (Jacob) in his brother (Esau’s) clothes and sent him off to his father (Isaac). Isaac ate the meal and then gave Jacob his blessing – the blessing that should have been Esau’s. I wasn’t until Esau returned from hunting that he and Isaac discovered what had happened. But by then it was too late. Isaac had already blessed Jacob and made him his official heir.

As you can imagine Esau was extremely angry and upset. He wasn’t going to loose his birthright that easily and decided to wait until his father’s death (which seemed immanent) and then he planned to murder his deceitful brother Jacob. Again, Rebekah, her ears ever at the keyhole, so-to-speak, discovered Esau’s intentions and told Jacob about the plot to kill him. Wisely, Jacob decided run away rather than face his brother and fled to the sanctuary of his uncle’s house Laban, who lived some distance.

Well, it turned out that Jacob did rather well with Laban. And in the course of time he married both of his uncle’s daughters – first Leah and then Rachel. He lived in his uncle’s household for many years and, because he was a shrewd businessman, he became very wealthy

Eventually Jacob decided to go back to his old family home and take his wives, children and all his newly found wealth with him. But his brother Esau still nursed a grievance against him and was waiting, along with a hundred men from his own private army, to kill his brother.

And this is where we pick up the story in today’s Old Testament reading from Genesis. If you want to know how the story ends then read Genesis, Chapters 33-36. Without giving too much of the plot away I can tell you that in the end Jacob and Esau were reconciled. Esau and his descendants became the rulers of the land of Edom – modern day Jordan; while Jacob (or Israel as he later became known) had twelve sons; and it was those sons who became the first leaders and patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Quite a story!

But from this story (and many other’s just like it) you can see that how, in many people’s minds, the Old Testament has gotten a reputation for being harsh, violent and brutal. And in many ways it is. That’s, perhaps, the negative side of things, but what I like about many of the stories in the Old Testament is that they are so honest and down-to-earth. They speak of very ‘real’ people in very familiar situations. And it is that very earthiness, this ‘wrestling with God’ (which is, incidentally, what the name Israel means) this wrestling with God that makes the stories of the Old Testament so compelling and, in my opinion, relevant.

Having said that, I have to say that I have very mixed feelings about Jacob. For one, I am appalled by the sneaky, back-handed way that Jacob steals Esau’s natural birthright as heir to his father – although I suppose you could argue that it was his mother who put him up to it – but I’m not sure that counts in his favour either!

It’s interesting to note that the name Jacob means – he grasps the heel (you might remember that he was born holding onto his brother Esau’s heel – figuratively grasping for his elder brother’s birthright).

And he was good to his name. All through his life Jacob seems an opportunist; always looking out for his own interests first, never slow in taking advantage of a situation for his own benefit. Maybe I find that hard because it’s just that I’m just jealous of his success – and the success of people like him!

But, again, although some of the things that Jacob does are less than noble (and who can’t say the same about themselves), he does have some positive qualities that make him both compelling and important:

He was prepared to work long and hard for what he wanted (the daughters of Laban, his wealth, trying to be reconciled with his brother) – he has patience, determination and ‘stickability’.
He was prepared to admit his faults – in particular to his brother Esau – and to apologize and to try to make amends for the wrong he had done.
Jacob wrestled with God – Was he prefect? No. But he learnt how to have an honest and open relationship with himself, with other people and with his God and he learnt how to try and put his life into the context of his faith. He learnt the lessons of saying sorry, of the value of honesty and integrity – of being true to oneself and one’s inner values.

And so, yes, I am disturbed by this story but I’m also encouraged by it. I am disturbed by:

It’s violence
By Jacob’s deceit and lack of thought for his brother
The dysfunction of old man Isaac’s family – the way that his wife Rebekah cheats one of her sons to favour the other. His uncle Laban cheating Jacob and then trying to kill him (read Genesis 29 – 31 for more details)

But I am encouraged by the story because it shows that:

You don’t have to be perfect to receive God’s love and blessing – O.T. theme
You don’t have to always get it right to be a success – whatever one sees as being a success
You get a lot more than one chance to do the right thing
Forgiveness is always possible – even in the most extreme of circumstances

A lot to learn from this story, certainly, and a lot to be encouraged by too. Above all I am grateful for God’s key words to Jacob, words that have been repeated time and again all down the long centuries that separate us and our time from Jacob and his time, and they are these:

God said, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you… I will not leave you…” (Genesis 28:15)

Words for Jacob, yes, but words as surely for us and our time too.

Simon Justice
31st July 2005

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