Consider this for a while. Mom and dad both have their favorites. One, by tradition, will get the blessing and become the patriarch when dad kicks. The other takes advantage of his brother's hunger, deceives his father, runs off, marries his cousins and, eventually, comes to grips with the fact that the desert isn't big enough for him and his brother and he'd better go back and make peace.
"Esau holds a blessing; Brother Esau bears a curse.I would say that the blame is mine But I suspect it's something worse.
The more my brother looks like me, The less I understand
The silent war that bloodied both our hands.
Sometimes at night, I think I understand." *
Finally, after getting his head together, Jake starts back home. Worried? No doubt. On the way, he wrestles with God. Now, about 30 years ago I knew a fella who wrestled professionally, Chris Multerer and I can honestly say he'd whup the tar out of anyone. The time he wrestled Jesse Ventura in '79 was a real hoot. But I digress...
Anyways, the notion of wrestling with God is where I was going. God clobbered Jake and let him live, dislocated his hip and sent him on his way. Jake hobbles off with his herds in front of him to make peace with his brother, who welcomes him with open arms and a heart of forgiveness. Esau has plenty and is just happy to see his lying, low-down brother.
But who does God pick? Yup, Jake. Why? Because, that's why. Jacob, now Israel, becomes a mighty nation and Esau is left to wander the world forever.
"It's brother to brother and it's man to man
And it's face to face and it's hand to hand...
We shadowdance the silent war within.
The shadowdance, it never ends...
Never ends, never ends.
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse
And wandering the land."*
*Words by John Perry Barlow
Copyright Ice Nine Publishing; used by permission
1 comments:
I have often been perplexed and troubled by this, too, Leonard.
I think the key to this conundrum is in Genesis 25:29-34, in which Esau sells his birthright for a bowl of stew.
I didn't understand this very well until one day I saw a film about Jews who were hiding during the Holocaust. I remember how one Jew took some sort of reckless attitude and risky behavior during a crucial point in the film, but what I really remember is how a fellow Jew challenged and shamed him with these words: "You would sell your birthright for a bowl of pottage?!" The emotion that the second actor put into that line was very intense. He accused the first Jew of selling out and betraying his people.
Or, as another commentary has explained: Genesis 25 replayed in modern times would be like a man selling his wedding ring for a hamburger to satisfy a hunger from having not eaten all day. It's crass, it's disloyal, and it shows a lack of reverence and respect for G-d.
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