JACOB NEEDS A LOT OF WORK!
Genesis 25:21-34; 27:1-10; 28:20-21
Rev. Paul Wrightman 6/18/23
WE CONTINUE OUR SERMON SERIES
ON THE MOST IMPORTANT TEXTS IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE,
FROM THE BOOK OF GENESIS TO THE BOOK OF REVELATION.
LAST WEEK WE GAVE AN ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATION
OF THE STORY OF ABRAHAM’S ATTEMPTED SACRIFICE OF ISAAC.
WE CONSIDERED THE CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS CONTEXT
OF THE NEAR EAST AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM’S SOJOURN THERE,
AROUND 1800 BCE, AND LEARNED THAT INFANT SACRIFICE
WAS THE ORDER OF THE DAY.
IT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS RITUAL
FOR PEOPLE IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD
AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME.
ALL EYES WOULD HAVE BEEN ON ABRAHAM,
A NEWCOMER TO THE AREA, TO SEE IF HE WOULD FOLLOW SUIT
OR SPURN THE BELIEFS OF HIS NEIGHBORS.
PEER PRESSURE WAS AS REAL BACK THEN AS IT IS NOW.
GIVEN THIS CONTEXT, NOTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN
MORE “NATURAL,” SO TO SPEAK, THAN FOR ABRAHAM
TO HAVE A DREAM IN WHICH HE THOUGHT HE HEARD GOD
INSTRUCTING HIM TO KILL HIS FIRST-BORN SON, ISAAC.
ABRAHAM OBEYS GOD’S SUPPOSED REQUEST,
AND HAS BEEN CONSIDERED A MODEL OF OBEDIENCE
EVER SINCE.
WE SAW HOW THE REAL TEST OF ABRAHAM’S OBEDIENCE, HOWEVER,
WAS NOT THE DECISION TO ENGAGE IN CHILD SACRIFICE.
THE REAL TEST OF ABRAHAM’S OBEDIENCE
WAS HIS DECISION TO OBEY GOD
WHEN GOD TOLD HIM NOT TO KILL HIS SON.
ISAAC IS SPARED, BUT DEEPLY WOUNDED PSYCHOLOGICALLY.
THE JEWISH TRADITION UNDERSTANDS THIS,
AND POINTS OUT HOW ISAAC IS BY FAR
THE MOST RETICENT OF THE THREE MAJOR PATRIARCHS
ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB.
WE PICK UP THE BIBLICAL STORY AGAIN
WHEN ISAAC AND HIS WIFE REBEKAH HAVE TWIN BOYS.
IN HEBREW CULTURE, THERE IS AN EXTREMELY STONG TRADITION
OF THE FIRST-BORN SON AUTOMATICALLY BEING CONSIDERED
THE PRE-EMINENT OF ALL THE SONS.
JACOB IS THE FIRST OF A LONG LINE OF OLD TESTAMENT “HEROES”
WHOM GOD CHOOSES TO LEAD IN SPITE OF THE FACT
THAT HE IS NOT THE FIRST-BORN.
WE HAVE A STRONG HINT HERE – A HINT THAT WILL BE DEVELOPED
THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE AND WILL FIND ITS
CULMINATION IN JESUS –
THAT GOD DOES NOT APPRECIATE AND WILL NOT ABIDE BY
MERE HUMAN CONVENTION.
GOD’S CHOICE OF JACOB APPEARS TO US AS ARBITRARY,
AND THIS IS EXACTLY THE THEOLOGICAL POINT
THAT THE CYCLE OF STORIES ABOUT JACOB IS TRYING TO MAKE –
THERE WAS NOTHING THAT JACOB DID OR COULD DO
THAT CAUSED GOD TO SINGLE HIM OUT IN THIS WAY.
JACOB HAS DONE NOTHING (INDEED, COULD DO NOTHING)
TO DESERVE, OR MERIT, GOD’S FAVOR.
GOD’S FAVOR TO JACOB, AS IT IS TO EACH OF US, IS UNEARNED,
GRATUITOUS.
GOD’S CHOICE OF JACOB TO BE ONE OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS
OF ISRAEL WAS BASED ON NOTHING LESS
THAN GOD’S LOVE FOR JACOB,
AND THERE WAS NOTHING THAT JACOB COULD DO
THAT WOULD MAKE GOD LOVE HIM LESS.
AND JACOB DOES A LOT THAT IS DOWNRIGHT UNLOVABLE.
WE HAVE THREE MAJOR DEMONSTRATIONS
OF JACOB’S PROBLEMATIC PERSONALITY
IN TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READINGS:
HE TRICKS ESAU OUT OF HIS BIRTHRIGHT,
STEALS ESAU’S BLESSING, AND HAS THE TEMERITY
TO TRY TO MAKE A DEAL WITH GOD.
THE FACT THAT JACOB IS SUCH AN UNDESERVING CHARACTER
MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR US TO APPRECIATE GOD’S CHOICE
OF HIM OVER ESAU IN TERMS OF GOD’S PLAN TO FORM A PEOPLE
WHO WOULD BRING GOD’S BLESSING TO THE WHOLE WORLD.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE ENTIRE CYCLE OF STORIES ABOUT JACOB,
HOWEVER, AS WE WILL IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS,
WE NOTICE A DEFINITE TRANSFORMATION
TAKING PLACE WITHIN HIM.
AS WE SHALL SEE, JACOB GROWS OUT OF THE SELFISHNESS
AND DECEPTION WHICH CHARACTERIZE HIS YOUNG ADULTHOOD
AND MATURES INTO A SIGNIFICANT PERSON OF FAITH
IN HIS MIDDLE YEARS.
THE MEANS OF THIS TRANSFORMATION
IS GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR HIM.
IN A VERY REAL WAY, THE LARGER STORY OF JACOB
IS THE STORY OF HOW GOD SAVES JACOB FROM HIMSELF.
THE VERY UNFLATTERING PORTRAIT OF JACOB
THAT WE RECEIVE IN TODAY’S TEXTS SETS THE STAGE
FOR THE PROFOUND TRANSFORMATION
WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE WITHIN HIM AS HE MATURES.
LET’S LOOK AT EACH OF JACOB’S PROBLEMATIC
ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS IN TURN.
THE STORY OF JACOB’S TRICKING ESAU OUT OF HIS BIRTHRIGHT
IS ALSO THE STORY OF ESAU’S STUPIDITY.
THE BIRTHRIGHT WAS THE RIGHT OF THE FIRST-BORN
TO INHERIT TWICE AS MUCH AS ANY OF THE OTHER SONS.
IN THAT CULTURE AT THAT TIME, ESAU’S BEING BORN FIRST,
EVEN IF ONLY BY A FEW SECONDS, AUTOMATICALLY GIVES HIM
THE RIGHT TO INHERIT TWO-THIRDS OF ISAAC’S WEALTH.
JACOB, THE SECOND-BORN, WAS ENTITLED TO ONLY ONE-THIRD.
WE’VE JUST HEARD THE STORY OF HOW ESAU, THE HUNTER,
COMES IN FAMISHED, AND IN HIS IMPATIENCE TO EAT IMMEDIATELY,
BARTERS AWAY HIS BIRTHRIGHT FOR A BOWL OF JACOB’S STEW.
JACOB IS DEFINITELY THE WISER OF THE TWO
IN TERMS OF THE WAYS OF THE WORLD.
THE OATH HE EXACTS FROM ESAU MAKES
HIS BROTHER’S RECKLESS EXCHANGE LEGALLY BINDING.
WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE RIFT THAT JACOB’S CONNIVING
CAUSED BETWEEN THE TWO BROTHERS.
WE GET THE DEFINITE IMPRESSION
THAT THERE WAS NOT MUCH LOVE LOST BETWEEN THEM.
THIS IMPRESSION IS DRAMATICALLY CONFIRMED
IN THE STORY OF HOW JACOB STEALS ESAU’S
FINAL BLESSING FROM HIS FATHER ISAAC.
IN THAT TIME AND PLACE, A FATHER’S FINAL BLESSING
WAS CONSIDERED TO BESTOW A LION’S SHARE
OF THE FATHER’S POWER TO THE ELDEST SON.
THE STORY OF REBEKAH AND JACOB DECEIVING ISAAC
AND DEFRAUDING ESAU, WHILE MEANT TO BE ENTERTAINING FARE
AROUND A CAMPFIRE, WAS ALSO TRAGIC.
IT TRIGGERS, AMONG OTHER THINGS,
JUST WHAT REBEKAH HOPES TO PREVENT,
BOTH HER SONS LEAVING HOME,
AND INTENSIFIES ESAU’S HATRED OF JACOB.
AS WE SHALL SEE, GOD EVENTUALLY BRINGS ABOUT
A RECONCILIATION BETWEEN THE TWO BROTHERS.
BUT REBEKAH AND JACOB CERTAINLY DO NOTHING
TO CREDIT THEMSELVES IN THIS PARTICULAR INCIDENT.
AGAIN, CONCERNING JACOB, WE NEED TO REMIND OURSELVES
THAT THE AUTHOR’S MAIN PURPOSE IS TO MAKE THE POINT
THAT JACOB CERTAINLY DOES NOT DESERVE THE BLESSINGS
HE RECEIVES.
JACOB’S CHARACTER AS REVEALED IN THIS STORY
STANDS IN CRITICAL NEED OF MORAL AND SPIRITUAL MATURATION.
HE INDULGES IN TWO SERIOUS LIES.
FIRST, HE CLAIMS TO BE HIS BROTHER (27:19).
SECOND, HE CLAIMS THAT GOD HAS AIDED HIM (27:20)
IN A HUNT WHICH NEVER TOOK PLACE.
IN THE LATTER INSTANCE, NOT ONLY IS JACOB LYING, HE IS ALSO TAKING THE LORD’S NAME IN VAIN, SWEARING FALSELY.
THUS, ONE OF THE GREATEST OF ISRAEL’S ANCESTORS
IS REVEALED AS A SANCTIMONIOUS LIAR AND CROOK.
THE AMAZING THING IS THAT THESE UNFLATTERING REVELATIONS
WERE EVEN ALLOWED INTO THE BIBLICAL TEXT.
SUCH UNFLINCHING HONESTY HELPS TO KEEP THE FOCUS ON GOD,
AND GOD’S POWER TO TRANSFORM,
AND NOT PLACE TOO MUCH EMPHASIS
ON WHAT OUR ANCESTORS IN THE FAITH
WERE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH IN AND OF THEMSELVES.
THIS IS WHY THEOLOGIANS REFER TO THE “HISTORY OF SALVATION,”
AND NOT THE HISTORY OF ABRAHAM, OR JACOB, OR DAVID,
OR ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING.
HUMAN BEINGS ARE CERTAINLY AN IMPORTANT PART
OF THIS HISTORY,
BUT IT TAKES GOD’S LIFE-GIVING AND LIFE-CHANGING LOVE
TO CONVERT BROKENNESS INTO SALVATION.
AFTER THE THEFT OF HIS BLESSING,
NOT SURPRISINGLY ESAU VOWS TO KILL HIS BROTHER JACOB.
JACOB FLEES FOR HIS LIFE TO THE LAND OF HARAN,
TO FIND SHELTER IN THE FAMILY OF HIS UNCLE, LABAN.
ON HIS JOURNEY TO HARAN JACOB HAS A WONDERFUL DREAM
OF A LADDER POPULATED WITH ASCENDING AND DESCENDING
ANGELS, SYMBOLIZING GOD’S PRESENCE WITH HIM.
UPON WAKING, JACOB SPONTANEOUSLY UTTERS A PHRASE
WITH WHICH MAY OF US CAN IDENTIFY:
“SURELY THE LORD IS IN THIS PLACE, AND I DID NOT KNOW IT!” (28:16)
IN THE DREAM GOD HAD GRACIOUSLY TOLD JACOB
“KNOW THAT I AM WITH YOU AND WILL KEEP YOU
WHEREVER YOU GO.” (28:15)
GOD’S PROMISE TO JACOB IS UNCONDITIONAL.
INSTEAD OF CELEBRATING GOD’S PROMISE, HOWEVER,
JACOB HAS THE CHEEK TO ATTEMPT TO MAKE A DEAL WITH GOD.
HE SAYS TO GOD: “IF YOU WILL BE WITH ME,
AND WILL KEEP ME IN THIS WAY THAT I GO,
AND WILL GIVE ME BREAD TO EAT AND CLOTHING TO WEAR…
THEN YOU SHALL BE MY GOD.” (28:20-21)
IN THE STARKEST WAY THE BIBLICAL AUTHOR
HAS CONTRASTED GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE TO JACOB
WITH JACOB’S VERY CONDITIONAL PROMISE TO GOD.
AT THIS POINT IN THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE,
THE AUTHOR HAS PUT US READERS IN THE POSITION
OF EXCLAIMING “ JACOB NEEDS A LOT OF WORK!”
IN COMING WEEKS WE WILL SEE HOW JACOB DID THE WORK
AND FINALLY BECAME A PERSON OF GOOD CHARACTER
INSTEAD OF BAD.
AT THIS POINT, HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO DWELL
ON THE PROBLEMATIC ASPECT OF JACOB’S PERSONALITY.
IN AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE JACOB MORE ACCESSIBLE TO US,
I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT ENVY, OR JEALOUSY,
OVER HIS BROTHER’S GOOD FORTUNE AT BEING THE FIRSTBORN
WAS THE ROOT CAUSE OF JACOB’S OBNOXIOUS BEHAVIOR.
RATHER THAN PRESENT SEVERAL SHORT ILLUSTRATIONS
TO FLESH OUT THE DESTRUCTIVE RESULTS OF JEALOUSLY,
I’D LIKE TO SHARE ONE LONGER AND PARTICULARLY POWERFUL
PICTURE OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF INDULGING THIS EMOTION.
I OFFER IT AS A PARABLE, OR METAPHOR, OF THE DESTRUCTIVE
SIDE TO ENVY OR JEALOUSY THAT ALL OF US EXPERIENCE.
OUR SITUATION MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE DESCRIBED
IN THE FOLLOWING NARRATIVE,
BUT THE TEMPTATION – AND ITS POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES –
REMAINS THE SAME.
OUR STORY COMES TO US FROM G.W. TARGET IN HIS BOOK
THE WINDOW AND OTHER ESSAYS:
“THERE WERE ONCE TWO MEN, BOTH SERIOUSLY ILL,
IN THE SAME SMALL ROOM OF A GREAT HOSPITAL.
QUITE A SMALL ROOM, JUST LARGE ENOUGH FOR THE PAIR OF THEM -- TWO BEDS, TWO BEDSIDE LOCKERS,
A DOOR OPENING ON THE HALL,
AND ONE WINDOW LOOKING OUT ON THE WORLD.
ONE OF THE MEN, AS PART OF HIS TREATMENT,
WAS ALLOWED TO SIT UP IN BED FOR AN HOUR IN THE AFTERNOON,
(SOMETHING THAT HAD TO DO WITH DRAINING THE FLUID
FROM HIS LUNGS) AND HIS BED WAS NEXT TO THE WINDOW.
BUT THE OTHER MAN HAD TO SPEND ALL HIS TIME FLAT ON HIS BACK – AND BOTH OF THEM HAD TO BE KEPT QUIET AND STILL.
THIS WAS THE REASON THEY WERE IN THE SMALL ROOM
BY THEMSELVES, AND THEY WERE GRATEFUL
FOR THE PEACE AND PRIVACY – NONE OF THE BUSTLE
AND CLATTER AND PRYING EYES OF THE GENERAL WARD FOR THEM.
OF COURSE, ONE OF THE DISADVANTAGES OF THEIR CONDITION
WAS THAT THEY WEREN’T ALLOWED MUCH TO DO:
NO READING, NO RADIO, CERTAINLY NO TELEVISION –
THEY JUST HAD TO KEEP QUIET AND STILL, JUST THE TWO OF THEM.
THEY USED TO TALK FOR HOURS AND HOURS –
ABOUT THEIR WIVES, THEIR CHILDREN, THEIR HOMES,
THEIR FORMER JOBS, THEIR HOBBIES, THEIR CHILDHOOD,
WHAT THEY DID DURING THE WAR,
WHERE THEY HAD BEEN ON VACATIONS,
ALL THAT SORT OF THING.
EVERY AFTERNOON,
WHEN THE MAN IN THE BED NEXT TO THE WINDOW
WAS PROPPED UP FOR HIS HOUR,
HE WOULD PASS THE TIME
BY DESCRIBING WHAT HE COULD SEE OUTSIDE.
AND THE OTHER MAN BEGAN TO LIVE FOR THOSE HOURS.
THE WINDOW APPARENTLY OVERLOOKED A PARK
WITH A LAKE WHERE THERE WERE DUCKS AND SWANS,
CHILDREN THROWING THEM BREAD AND SAILING MODEL BOATS,
AND YOUNG LOVERS WALKING HAND IN HAND BENEATH THE TREES.
AND THERE WERE FLOWERS AND STRETCHES OF GRASS
AND GAMES OF SOFTBALL,
PEOPLE TAKING THEIR EASE IN THE SUNSHINE,
AND RIGHT AT THE BACK, BEHIND THE FRINGE OF THE TREES,
A FINE VIEW OF THE CITY SKYLINE.
THE MAN ON HIS BACK WOULD LISTEN TO ALL OF THIS,
ENJOYING EVERY MINUTE –
HOW A CHILD NEARLY FELL INTO THE LAKE,
HOW BEAUTIFUL GIRLS WERE IN THEIR SUMMER DRESSES,
AND THEN AN EXCITING BALL GAME,
OR A BOY PLAYING WITH HIS PUPPY.
IT GOT TO THE PLACE WHERE HE COULD ALMOST SEE
WHAT WAS HAPPENING OUTSIDE.
THEN ONE FINE AFTERNOON,
WHEN THERE WAS SOME SORT OF PARADE,
THE THOUGHT STRUCK HIM:
WHY SHOULD THAT MEN NEXT TO THE WINDOW
HAVE ALL THE PLEASURE OF SEEING WHAT’S GOING ON?
WHY SHOULDN’T I GET THE CHANCE?
HE FELT ASHAMED AND TRIED NOT TO THINK LIKE THAT,
BUT THE MORE HE TRIED,
THE WORSE HE WANTED TO CHANGE [PLACES].
HE’D DO ANYTHING!
IN A FEW DAYS HE HAD TURNED SOUR.
HE SHOULD BE BY THE WINDOW.
AND HE BROODED AND COULDN’T EVEN SLEEP,
AND GREW EVEN MORE SERIOUSLY ILL –
WHICH NONE OF THE DOCTORS UNDERSTOOD.
ONE NIGHT, AS HE WAS STARED AT THE CEILING,
THE MAN BY THE WINDOW SUDDENLY WOKE UP
COUGHING AND CHOKING, THE FLUID CONGESTING IN HIS LUNGS,
HIS HANDS GROPING FOR THE BUTTON
THAT WOULD BRING THE NIGHT NURSE RUNNING.
BUT THE OTHER MAN WATCHED WITHOUT MOVING.
THE COUGHING RACKED THE DARKNESS – ON AND ON –
CHOKED OFF – THEN STOPPED.
THE OTHER MAN CONTINUED TO STARE AT THE CEILING.
IN THE MORNING, THE DAY NURSE CAME IN
WITH WATER FOR THEIR BATHS
AND FOUND THE MAN BY THE WINDOW DEAD.
THEY TOOK AWAY HIS BODY, QUIETLY, WITH NO FUSS.
AS SOON AS IT SEEMED DECENT,
THE MAN ASKED IF HE COULD BE MOVED
TO THE BED NEXT TO THE WINDOW.
THEY MOVED HIM, TUCKED HIM IN,
MADE HIM QUITE COMFORTABLE,
AND LEFT HIM ALONE TO BE QUIET AND STILL.
THE MINUTE THEY’D GONE,
HE PROPPED HIMSELF UP ON ONE ELBOW,
PAINFULLY AND LABORIOUSLY, AND LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW.
IT FACED A BLANK WALL.”
FOR SOME REASON, THIS ILLUSTRATION REMINDED ME OF JACOB
AND HIS JEALOUSLY OF HIS BROTHER ESAU.
ALTHOUGH YOU AND I HAVE DONE NOTHING
AS REPREHENSIBLE AS THE JEALOUS GUY DID
IN THAT HOSPITAL ROOM,
I SUSPECT THAT EACH ONE OF US
HAS HAD MOMENTS WHEN OUR JEALOUSLY
OVER THE GOOD FORTUNE OF SOMEONE ELSE
HAS CAUSED REAL DAMAGE TO A RELATIONSHIP.
THIS SAD ILLUSTRATION WAS A REMINDER TO ME
TO NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES,
ACT OUT OF ENVY.
IT WAS ALSO A REMINDER TO ME THAT ON MY OWN STEAM
I AM OFTEN POWERLESS NOT TO ACT ON MY JEALOUSY.
IT REMINDED ME TO TURN IT OVER TO GOD,
ASKING GOD TO TAKE IT, AND REMAKE IT
INTO POSITIVE ENERGY FOR GOOD.
IN TERMS OF IMPLICATIONS FOR DAILY LIVING,
WE CAN EACH ASK OURSELVES THE QUESTION:
“HOW HAVE I BEEN LIKE JACOB
IN TERMS OF DECEIVING, LYING, EVEN STEALING
TO GET SOMETHING THAT RIGHTFULLY BELONGED TO ANOTHER?”
HAVING DONE THIS,
WE CAN MOVE ON TO ASK GOD FOR FORGIVENESS,
AND FOR GOD’S HELP TO TURN THE DESTRUCTIVE ENERGY
OF JEALOUSY INTO THE POSITIVE ENERGY
OF COMPASSION AND LOVE.
AMEN.