JACOB AND ESAU

Reading: Psalm 119:105-112, Romans 7:15-25, Matthew 13:1-23, Genesis 25:19-34
Preached at First Presbyterian Church Baldwin, NY, on July 10th 2011

A printable PDF file can be found here.

Jacob and Esau never could get along. Even before they were born they fought for position in Rebekah’s womb. After they were born, things just got worse. As different as chalk and cheese, one favored by mum, the other favored by dad, they were a disaster waiting to happen.

It wasn’t that one was the sinner whilst the other was the saint. They were both equally capable of irresponsible and devious acts, a fact made worse by the fact that in Jacob’s case his mother positively encouraged his wrongdoing. Yet…both were also recipients of God’s blessing, and destined to become the father’s of great nations.

There’s a lot of different ways of looking at this story. On one level it’s about the sort of troubles that can arise in any family. The hierarchy and chain of command amongst older and younger brothers and sisters can be a tremendous source of conflict. It often seems people born into the same families just can’t get along and the passing of years can harden their animosity.

I was reading one commentary on this story that focused on the changes that were to coming in the nation of Israel. It saw Esau as representing the old agricultural ways, his whole personality being associated with the red earth. Jacob on the other hand represented the new economic order that would come into being, a life based around cities and settlements and the opportunities trade would bring.

The central image is that of conflict. There is conflict between Isaac and Rebekah. There is conflict between the lifestyles of Jacob and Esau. There is conflict between the purposes of God and the cultural traditions that society held regarding inheritances.

Even the naming of Jacob is a source of conflict. In Hebrew his name means, “he who grabs by the heel‘ or ‘the one who supplants’. Hebrew names carried with them a sense of character and purpose. Maybe giving a second born twin such a name as ‘Jacob – “the one who is grasping after his brothers rightful dues” was inviting trouble!

Esau, on the other hand, simply had the meaning ‘Red’. That ‘red’ theme reappears a number of times. We’re told he is born ‘red all over, like a hairy garment”. At the end of the story Esau wants the ‘red soup’ so badly that he’s prepared to give up his birthright for it! The red hairy guy loses it all for the sake of a pot of red stuff! Eventually he becomes so red mad in rage that he would happily spill some of Jacobs red blood as an act of revenge, a fact that causes Jacob much to worry about further down the road of his life!

The picture of conflict is everywhere in this story. Conflicting loyalties. Conflicting ideas. Conflicting desires. Conflicting loves. The first signs of conflict appear in the womb of Rebekah. Jacob and Esau were in conflict before they were born!

Scripture suggests that we are all conflicted people. In Paul’s letter to the Roman church, chapter 7, verses 14-19 he speaks of a conflict that, like the fighting twins in Rebekah’s womb, took place deep in his own life.

“For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.”

Quite some conflict going on there with Paul! It’s a conflict that seems to be a fundamental part of his growth towards Christian maturity; that he recognizes that whilst he aspires to great things, his life didn’t always come up with the goods. This tension, between ‘how we feel should be’ and ‘how we actually are’ can be a frustrating inner conflict that, we never seem to master.

It is a conflict that is birthed in us from the moment we arrive on the planet. You see… I reckon that there’s a bit of the Jacob and a bit of the Esau in us all. Both their good points and their bad points!

We are told that Esau was the skillful hunter. He was the outdoor one, ‘the man of the field’. Yet he was also the one driven more by appetite than thought. His desire for ‘the red stuff’ led him to squander his birthrights. He lived only for the day and gave too little thought about the consequences of his actions.

Do we see a bit of Esau in our self? On the positive side, there’s a part of us that just wants to get the practical things done. You’ll work hard to get what you want. You are impatient with those who seem to be ‘all talk, but no action’. But on the negative side, a little voice now again whispers in your ear, “Just satisfy that immediate need you sense, and never mind the consequences!”

What about Jacob? Well he was the thoughtful one. Different translations use such words to describe him as ‘peaceful’, ‘plain’, quiet’ and ‘mild’, all of which are an attempt to translate the Hebrew word ‘tal’, which can mean ‘innocent and upright’. Later in the story he explains that his brother was a “an hairy man” whilst he was “a smooth one”. He’s a planner, which is good, but he’s also a schemer, a smooth talker, prepared to take advantage of others to get what he needs.

Is there something about Jacob in the way we are? We have those reflective moments when all is well with the world. But underneath the surface things are not always so pretty. There are motivations and desires that move us in the wrong direction. There is a devious side to Jacob. The Jacob voice whispers, “Just wait for the right time… and when it comes, forget about what’s right and what’s wrong, the end will justify the means.”

What to do about all this conflict? What happens in their story is this. Humanly speaking they are hopeless. It’s a wonder they never murdered each other. This is not though, simply a human story. It’s an account that speaks to us about the Grace of God. That God could take these two feuding brothers and, despite their animosity, still work towards the founding of Israel, is nothing short of a miracle.

It is in the grace of God that we also should place our hope as we travel through whatever conflicts touch our own lives, be they within us or around us. At the end of the day Jacob and Esau are what they are by the Grace of God. In our lives it can be no different. As I reflect on my own life, it’s fairly obvious to me who has been responsible when things have gone wrong. I take full responsibility for the mess ups!

But those times when things have gone well? I always feel that those times are the result of God’s grace working in my life. Like Paul I’ve often felt like “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.” Like the fighting twins in Rebekah’s womb, it sometimes seems that that’s the way things have to be. Maybe we should give up on ourselves and just live as we please. Not so!

In verse 24-25 of Romans 7, Paul speaks of his reason for not being frustrated by the conflict his life experienced. “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

“Thanks be to God!” declares Paul. In the midst of this struggle Jesus Christ was working. In the midst of our conflicts, Christ can also do amazing things. The fact that we are in the struggle at all is testimony to the work of the Holy Spirit within and around our lives. If God were not on our case, we wouldn’t be concerned to even make the slightest effort to live in a Christian way.

Because God loves us, because Christ died that we might live, because the Holy Spirit is still the great creative force that enables order to emerge from out of chaos, we can, with Paul, say “Thanks be to God”.

God was at work in the conflicts of Jacob and Esau. So don’t give up on yourself. Don’t give up on others either. Conflict is an inevitable part of discipleship. When Jesus talked about taking up a cross and following Him, He wasn’t just playing with words or using imagery. There will be those times when, because we are human, our actions are more like those of Jacob and Esau, than what we would expect of a disciple of Jesus.

The great news is …God’s Grace is greater than our sin.
Such is a theme reflected time and time again in the bibles story.
It’s there in the conflict of Jacob and Esau. The grace of God brought them through!
There was conflict in the life of Paul. God bought him through.
That Grace is there for us. As we commit our lives to Christ.
In His strength … Through His grace…
Praise God…
We can live through the conflicts of our own lives!
AMEN.

Rev Adrian Pratt