1. Jacob competes for the birthright
We are reading Genesis and it tells from chapter 12 “Patriarchal history*”. The male protagonists of the Book till chapter 11 were Abraham, the father of the faith, and Isaac, the meek. Now we start learning about the life of Jacob. Jacob was a pragmatic and cunning man. He provoked unceasingly conflicts with his relatives and neighbors. It seems rather difficult to appreciate such a character. Nonetheless he succeeded the blessing of God for Abraham and Isaac then formed the Twelve Tribes of Israel. At first, we don’t understand why God chose that undesirable person as his tool. But we are about to see the Providence or the plan of God behind Jacob’s life story. God’s will goes far beyond humans’ thinking. From today for 3 sequences, we reflect on God’s plan of salvation.
Jacob’s life starts this way, ; -When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, who came from Northwest Mesopotamia. She was Bethuel’s daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac’s wife could not have children, so Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant.(Genesis 25:20-21)
Rebekah conceived twin boys. She felt unease because the babies struggled inside her. So she went to hear from the Lord. Then, ; -The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your body, and two groups of people will be taken from you. One group will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."(Genesis 25:23)
Probably, she could not grasp exactly what God meant. Only at the birth of the twin, she vaguely guessed the meaning. The Book describes the scene ; - When the time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins. The first baby was born red. Since his skin was like a hairy robe, he was named Esau.(Genesis 25:24-25)
‘Edom’ in Hebrew means ‘red’ and Esau ‘hairy.’ When Genesis was written, Israel has a neighbor country Edom. The people of Edom were said suntanned and wearing furs. They lived in the mountainous land, Seir. Those Hebrew words point to the future of Esau as the progenitor of the people of Edom. (see Genesis 36:20) As for the other baby, ; - When the second baby was born, he was holding on to Esau’s heel, so that baby was named Jacob.(Genesis 25:26)
‘Jacob’ means ‘heel,’ and ‘Holding on to someone’s heel’ in Hebrew idiom says ‘tricking someone.’ Jacob became the father of the Twelve Tribe of Israel.
God’s words meant that Jacob (Israel) would prevail over Esau (Edom). Isaac gave birth to Esau and Jacob who were founders of the people of Edom and Israel respectively. And the Patriarchal history shows which one became more powerful and dominated the other. The conflict between two boys then two peoples was triggered thus. ; - When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter. He loved to be out in the fields. But Jacob was a quiet man and stayed among the tents. Isaac loved Esau because he hunted the wild animals that Isaac enjoyed eating. But Rebekah loved Jacob.(Genesis 25:27-28)
Esau symbolizes the hunting people of Edom who lived in mountains. Jacob represents the people of Israel who lived in cultivating fields. The real nature of the conflict was the gap of two different types of culture. And the competition of two boys was based on the right of heritage, the birthright. It happened this way. ; - One day Jacob was boiling a pot of vegetable soup. Esau came in from hunting in the fields, weak from hunger. So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red soup, because I am weak with hunger.” That is why people call him Edom. (Genesis 25:29-30)
In ancient civilisations of Meddle-east, the eldest boy had in principle the prerogative to inherit the household. But Jacob, who was born after Esau, thought it was unfair not to have equal right to the brother. And he intended to swindle it from Esau. For that precise purpose, Jacob prepared the vegetable soup. And when Esau asked Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red soup, because I am weak with hunger,” he answered, ; -"First, promise me that you will give it to me."(Genesis 25:31)
Esau was too hungry to care about the importance of the birthright. ; - So Esau made a promise to Jacob and sold his part of their father’s wealth to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and vegetable soup, and he ate and drank, and then left. So Esau showed how little he cared about his rights as the firstborn son. (Genesis 25:32-34)
* Structure of Genesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesis#Structure。
2. Jacob swindled out for the blessing
The birthright is not merely the right of succession of family wealth. It has a more important meaning, taking leader’s title of the tribe. And Esau neglected that heavy significance, blinded by a bowl of soup. Therefor Hebrews gives the lesson, ; -“Be careful that no one takes part in sexual sin or is like Esau and never thinks about God. As the oldest son, Esau would have received everything from his father, but he sold all that for a single meal.”(Hebrews 12:16)
Jacob must be blamed from ethical point of view but the main issue of the episode is Esau’s stupidity. Because competence of leader determines the future of community. And an easy man like Esau cannot be qualified for a leader. The writers of Genesis thought that God chose Jacob instead of Esau for that reason.
And Jacob is portrayed as a more wicked man than before in chapter 27. The birthright must be validated with a blessing of the father. Isaac, getting older and aware of his approaching death, wanted to give his eldest son the very blessing. Isaac sent for Esau. But Rebekah and Jacob plotted together to steel the blessing. They took advantage of Isaac’s poor eyesight. (see Genesis 27: 1-29) In that way, Jacob received the blessing of the father in place of Esau. Recognizing their betrayal, Isaac gat furious and said to Esau, ; -“ Your brother came and tricked me. He has taken your blessing.”(Genesis 27:35)
The blessing must be unique. Isaac could not reset his mistake. Thus God’s words, ‘the older will serve the younger,’ realized. The writers saw God’s will behind the story. Naturally, Esau hated Jacob and ; - he thought to himself, “My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. Then I will kill Jacob."(Genesis 27:41)
Since then, Jacob started a life of fugitive. He run away to Haran where his maternal uncle lived. He spend 20 years of hard time there and never met again Isaac and Rebekah in life. Esau lost the birthright because of stupidity and Jacob had to take the tough path of living due to wickedness.
3. God’s choice for us
Jacob is an egocentric and cunning person. He took any means to achieve his aims without sympathy for others. But, on the other hand, he was sensible enough to the importance of birthright. In contrast to him, Esau was an amiable but thoughtless one. He ‘despised his birthright’ imprudently. (see Genesis 25:34) And we wonder which is desirable as the leader of community, an easy and stupid person or skillful but dishonest. That might be a point of today’s reading passage, looked form humans eyes.
Humans seem fighting continuously to inherit the household. For example, Solomon killed his brother Adonijah to succeed the throne of his father king David. (see Genesis 2:25) But how does God think about the matter ? To reflect on the issue, we chose Romans 9:11-12 as today’s invocation verses. ; − But before the two boys were born, God told Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger.” This was before the boys had done anything good or bad. God said this so that the one chosen would be chosen because of God’s own plan. He was chosen because he was the one God wanted to call, not because of anything he did.
Esau and Jacob were born from the same parents. They were genetically equal. Nonetheless God chose Jacob ‘before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad.’ God selects tools regardless of their family line, character, or quality of behaviors to realize his will. Bedsides, Paul said, the birthright was a simple rule invented by humans. God chooses ones and ignores others freely. And Jacob, the second son, was chosen and not Esau, the eldest. It means that, as Paul said, all depend on God’s will.
Then what does ‘God’s choice’ lead to? Jacob was selected to inherit God’s blessing. But did he get happy? The record in Genesis suggests that he didn’t. At first he competed with his brother for the birthright. And, due to that dishonest act, he had to run away from his family and go to his uncle Laban in Haran. And he competed again with Laban who was craftier than him concerning earthy wealth. Then Jacob gat married with two daughters of Laban in exchange of the free labor of 14 years. Those wives, Leah and Rachel, were very jealous of each other and disputed continuously. After 20 years in Haran, Jacob gat back to his homeland. His children also fought among them for the right of succession to Jacob. So much so, toward the end of his life, ; - Jacob said to him, “My life has been spent wandering from place to place. It has been short and filled with trouble—only one hundred thirty years. My ancestors lived much longer than I.”(Genesis 47:9)
His life doesn’t seem happy. However it must be meaningful. He fought many times with others and overcame dangerous situations.
And each time, he met God and was saved at those critical moments. On the way from the homeland to Haran, he met God at Bethel. God promised him there, ; - “ I am with you and will protect you everywhere you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”(Genesis 28:15)
When he run away from Laban’s house with his household he met the messengers of Lord. ; - When Jacob also went his way, the angels of God met him. When he saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.( Genesis 32)
He received another blessing of God just before he saw Esau again on the riverside of the Jabbok River, Penuel*. And after seeing Esau, he met God at Bethel again and the promise was reassured. God said, ; -“The same land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you and your descendants.”(Genesis 35:12)
Jacob’s life was oriented through those experiences. The Bible is a strange book. The writers seem to be court secretaries under David and Solomon. They didn’t conceal in their records that the founder of the people behaved dishonestly. He cheated and lied to steel blessings of God from others. Furthermore, those ancestors didn’t achieve admirable works afterwards. We might say that they wrote the Book from a point of God, not from humans’.
Due to the sin committed by Adam and Eve, the relation between God and humans collapsed. And that rupture was projected to relationship among humans. And the writer of the Book of Genesis witnessed the fact objectively. Abraham, though he was chosen by God, lied and offered his wife to Pharaoh for his own sake. His son Isaac biased toward Esau and so did his wife Rebekah toward Jacob. The unfair love triggered conflicts between two boys. Then the second son Jacob cheated his elder brother Esau and formed the twelve tribes of Israel. Those episodes symbolize the human sin itself.
Nonetheless, God loved Abraham. He also made Isaac the successor of the promise. And God protected Jacob too. Then, after all, God gave birth to Jesus in the family line of those three. Furthermore, the disciples of Jesus, though they committed sins too, worked as God’s tools to hand down blessings of God to following generations. Thanks to them, we are blessed now. We, as God’s people, are given the task of transmitting the same blessing to others. Being chosen as God’s tool is to spread the blessing, not to receive it from others. We are not chosen to enjoy a happy and comfortable life. But we are invited here to live a meaningful life by forwarding that very blessing.
*Mahanaim, Jabbok River and Penuel http://www.bibleplaces.com/jabbok.htm
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