From the time Jacob and Esau were in their mother's womb, they were struggling with one another. God explained the situation: these were two warring nations.
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While their father, Isaac, did all he could to overlook the obvious, their mother knew in her spirit that these two boys had opposite spiritual destinies, according to Jewish scholars. Esau became the "material man" satisfied with the world's riches, while Jacob became the "spiritual man", following his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac, who "were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland." (Hebrews 11:16 New Living Translation)
In yesterday's blog, "The Evil Twin" I brought up the idea, commonly agreed upon by Jewish scholars, that the mysterious man Jacob wrestled through the night with on the banks of the Jordan River, at the ford of Jabbok, was the guardian angel of his "Evil Twin", Esau. Jacob was wrestling between his flesh and his spirit, his wealth on earth or his wealth in heaven, his influence and prestige on earth or his influence and prestige in heaven.
Jacob had good cause for alarm that night. He had separated his camp into two that night because of a report that his "Evil Twin" was on the war path, with 400 soldiers. Jacob figured one group could escape while the other group was under attack.
Some profound things happened during the night. After praying a sincere prayer for God's help, Jacob wrestled until dawn with the mysterious stranger, who asked Jacob's name. Jacob did not try to hide his true identity, as he had done in past troubles. He answered honestly. And the stranger both blessed Jacob and gave him his new name, Israel, which means, "God fights", because, the stranger said, "you have fought with God and with men and have won." (Genesis 32:28 New Living Translation) His old name, Jacob, meant "heel grabber" or "deceiver".
A new name meant a new identity for Jacob. Was this a case of identity theft? No. It was a case of identity replacement. Jacob received a better, broader identitiy at the end of that wrestling match, symbolized by his new name.
What happened the next day when Jacob encountered Esau's army? Esau offered terms of peace. Did God change something in the situation so Esau perceived things differently? Or did Esau view Jacob as an ally now, a "material man" of great wealth, no longer a threat to his comfortable existence? Both theories are inspected in Jewish tradition.
But, we do see Jacob making a deliberate decision to separate from his materialistic brother. Jacob may have outward wealth, but his inward treasures were in heaven. Esau's treasures lay strictly in this world. The wrestling match had ended with a new name for Jacob and a crippling of his physical strength--perhaps a symbol that the spiritual side of Jacob had won the struggle with the physical or material side. To this day, kosher preparation of meat excludes the thigh portion of the animal in a process known as "porging", in honor of Jacob's battle wound. The brothers went their separate ways and do not have a recorded meeting again until their father's funeral.
This is a powerful story, packed with symbolism. We can't know, for sure, what changed that night,
to make Jacob and Esau's encounter a peaceful one. But, we do see clearly that it is one thing to be at peace with an opposing faction, it is quite another to form an alliance. Jacob agreed to terms of peace but not to "becoming Esau", the "material man", satisfied solely by this world's riches, with no thought of heavenly riches.
We can all learn from that.
--Posted by Mama O.
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