Thursday, November 12, 2015

40 Old Testament Stories: Jacob & Esau

If it makes you parents feel any better, sibling rivalry is not a new thing.

If it makes you children feel any better, parental favoritism is not a new thing either.

We have in this story a very human look at the patriarch.

Remember that Jacob will, later in the story, become Israel, he is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.  He is the one who gives his name to the nation that inherits the promises of God.

Notice that he is not a really good guy in this story.  He holds his hungry brother basically hostage until he gives up his birth right (not that Esau comes of really well in the story either).

But the trickster and blackmailer is not, perhaps, what we might be looking for in the patriarch of God's chosen people.

I suspect that a part of the story of Jacob is to remind us that God can use anyone.  He can use us even if we aren't particularly nice people.

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