(Continued from previous post)
As the story continues, so does the irony: Jacob becomes a servant in the house of his “brother” (Gen 29:15! Could it be that this is why Gen 27:29 speaks of “brothers”?) Laban for twenty years. This is the result of Rebekah and Jacob’s desire to get the blessing for Jacob and make him master over Esau, though Jacob was not worthy of that blessing. Thus both Rebekah and Jacob have also been tricked – Jacob has the blessing and his brother is his servant, yet Jacob does not benefit from this but instead has to flee and himself serve his “brother.” The roles have thus been reversed: Jacob, the master over his brother Esau, has become the servant of his brother Laban and this brother now treats him exactly the same way Jacob treated Esau! The master becomes the servant, the deceiver the deceived. Yet it is precisely this role reversal that prepares Jacob to truly become the “greater” of Gen 25:23. For when he finally returns home and is about to meet Esau, he no longer views himself as master but rather as the servant of his brother.
Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; and I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.””(Gen 32:4-6)
And he commanded the one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’ then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’”(Gen 32:17-18)
And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you” So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”(Gen 33:5)
“Please let my lord pass on before his servant; and I will proceed at my leisure, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.” (Gen 33:14)
Note how Jacob consistently refers to Esau as his lord and to himself as Esau’s servant. Through the experience of serving his brother Laban Jacob, who became lord over Esau through deceit, has come to the point where he views himself as his brother’s servant. Interestingly enough, it is at this point that Jacob also secures the blessing once more, not by lying but by admitting his true identity, which results in his name being changed. Significantly, the blessing occurs only after the name change: thus Jacob does not receive the blessing as Jacob, the younger, but as Israel. The name change is, of course, the outer symbol of an inner change: Jacob, who wanted to attain the blessing through his own shrewdness and because of this deceived his brother and father through a change of identity, in the process becoming Esau’s master, has become Israel, a man who, realizing his own helplessness, humbly asks for the blessing and because of this has his identity changed by God and who now presents himself as Esau’s servant. Thus the divine trickster has achieved his purpose for Jacob and the oracle in Gen 25:23 has been fully fulfilled: the verdict of Gen 27 still stands – the older Esau shall serve the younger Jacob. Yet the younger Jacob, who became the firstborn, as well as the greater, has now also become the servant of the lesser Esau.
Which reminds us of another greater (firstborn) who came to serve the lesser and who calls his followers to do the same:
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mk 10:43-45)
P.S.: I do realize that Gen 25:23 speaks primarily of nations, which suggests that the experience of their father Jacob was to be instructive for all Israel. This also further supports an application of the story to spiritual Israel.
Happy New Year everyone!
The Word 