Rebecca, Isaac, Esau and Jacob

Question:

What is this all about anyway? Is it about creating our own reality? Is it about not taking seriously the commitments we make? (Esau didn't think his commitment to Jacob was serious?)

Comment:

The story of Rebecca, Isaac, Esau and Jacob is one of the densest and richest in the entire Bible in terms of understanding the nature of our relationship to God and the kinds of mistakes we can make in learning to express that relationship in our human lives. Rather than work through the lengthy story, let's just look at the four principle characters in terms of mistakes and lessons.   Isaac is the least knowable of all the early patriarchs. He's clearly skillful enough to have accumulated a vast fortune, but his spiritual leadership seems to be lacking. Perhaps that early 'false sacrifice' experience with his father Isaac left him a bit distrusting or resentful. Wealthy though he is, he lives within the limitations of a tent, and his spiritual blindness has manifested as a physical equivalent. His mistake is in trusting to his human senses of taste, smell and touch in bestowing his inheritance and his blessing. The lesson is that spiritual choices cannot be effectively made based solely on mortal input.   Rebecca seems to have the relationship with God that her husband Isaac lacks. She is clearly a take-charge woman. She is told during pregnancy that her twin sons will live in conflict with each other, and that the younger will dominate the elder. Her mistake is in assuming that it is her responsibility to make that happen; she engineers the intricate plot by which the younger Jacob tricks his father into bestowing the inheritance and the blessing. (The inheritance represents the eldest son's share of the estate, which by law would be twice that of his younger brother; the blessing represents the spiritual leadership of the tribe.) She does not trust God to accomplish what she believes God intends, so she steps in to manipulate things herself. The result—the lesson—is that she loses the very son she has been fighting for, since he is forced to flee his brother's wrath.   Esau—like his father—is led and defined by his human appetites. When he is hungry in the moment, he wants to be fed in the moment. Nothing else is important. A future inheritance, a spiritual blessing—they have no meaning or significance when he is caught up in immediate needs and wants. He fails to appreciate the truth of who he is, and in failing to appreciate, he loses his unique identity as the eldest son of a wealthy tribal leader. And yet, the truth is that he had no particular interest in the estate, and he would have been a terrible spiritual leader for the tribe. It would seem from the story that he was able to learn his lessons, make new choices, release old resentments and live a fulfilling life before reconciling with his brother. So what seemed to be a catastrophe succeeded in freeing him to express his own unique energy in his own way.   Jacob—the supplanter—learns two important lessons. First, finding your good involves stepping into the unknown. In fleeing into the wilderness after the deception he is abandoning everything he thought he knew about himself, and everything he thought he wanted and/or was entitled to. Ultimately you can't 'inherit' great spiritual power; you have to claim it for yourself. Through all the challenges, hardships and success—and much like Joseph later in the story—"God meant it for good." He does, in fact, become the patriarch of the Hebrew people—but not by simply stepping into his father's shoes. It requires many life lessons—and it requires that he be healed in terms of his own past.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed