THE BROTHERHOOD OF JACOB AND ESAU (Told through the Letters of the Main Characters)

Hi everyone!

The Bible writes a lot of stories about the relationships between brothers and sisters. There are some good things we can learn from these, and some bad things we can see reflected in ourselves. I’m going to use the story of Jacob and Esau for this lesson. I want to tell this lesson’s story using the letters taken from the names of our two main characters. Spell out the letters together with me!

 E

 S

 A

 U

 —

  J

 A

 C

 O

 B

Edom: We know that Abraham the patriarch bore Isaac. Isaac married Rebecca. Rebecca was barren, so Isaac prayed fervently to God for his wife. God listened to his prayers for Rebecca to have a child. Rebecca felt the babies fighting inside her. God revealed to her that she was having twins, and He had a plan for the younger one to surpass the older. When the day came for her to give birth, behold, she gave birth to twins. The baby that came out first had red skin and hair that covered him like a hairy robe. So she called him Esau (write down the name “Edom”). Huh? His name’s Esau, so why did I write Edom? The word “red”, red like the color of Esau’s skin, can also be pronounced Edom. But he’s not called Edom because of his red skin. He had a big problem that gave him the nickname “Edom”. This problem started from something that Esau liked to do. He loved to:

Shoot:

As the two of them were growing up, Esau became a skilled hunter. He liked to meander about in the fields, while Jacob’s personality was very calm and composed, and he liked to hang around the tent. Because of that, Jacob was loved more by his mother. On the other hand, Isaac their father loved Esau more because he liked to eat hunted game. Esau not only won out Jacob over their father’s affections, but was also beat him in terms of:

Age: Esau was the firstborn son, and he had the birthright.

This is a special right given to the firstborn son. What does the birthright get you? Well, you get double the inheritance of your brothers; you get to receive all your father’s promises and blessings, and eventually you get to lead the family in place of your father. So Esau had a bright future to look forward to. And yet, something happened:

One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came back from the fields, famished. Esau told Jacob: “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” – This, this is the reason why people call Esau by “Edom” or “red”. Jacob heard this and right away said: “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. Esau took that bread and stew and brought it…

Up to his mouth: “and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.” It is very disappointing for Esau, who didn’t know how to treasure the things worth valuing. The Bible says that Esau was unholy, “who sold his birthright for a single meal.”

But if we talk about one of them, we have to mention the other as well. How would Esau have turned out if his brother wasn’t Jacob? The first thing we know about his younger brother is that he was always trying to:

Get blessings: The moment he came into the world, he was already pulling on Esau’s heel with his hand. That’s why he was called “Jacob”, “grasping the heel”. It means that Jacob was always trying to get what he wanted from others. He waited for the right moment to trick his older brother and get that birthright, and kept looking for other ways to get more blessings for himself. As it was, Isaac was advanced in age and his eyes were dim. He told Esau, “go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” Rebecca happened to hear this. She cooked up a scheme for Jacob and told him to get two baby goats from their family’s herd and bring them to her for her to cook a tasty meal that she knew Isaac would like. Then Jacob put on Esau’s clothes. He also took the skins of the young goats and covered his hands and neck with them so that it would feel like he had hair like Esau did. He pretended to be Esau so well that he tricked his own father into blessing him instead of Esau. In this way, Jacob stole all the blessings that should have belonged to Esau.

Even though Jacob did many bad things in his life, we can say one thing, which is that he had a heart that desired blessings from God. The pinnacle of this desire was demonstrated when he met God face-to-face at Peniel. In that same meeting, God changed his name from Jacob to:

[The translator tried his best, but in Vietnamese “Jacob” (5 letters) is “Gia-cốp” (6 letters). It’s kind of hard to work that one out without losing information. Thanks~]

Israel: This happened before Jacob came back to see his brother, who despised him. Jacob was very worried and afraid. While Jacob was by himself thinking, a man came up to him, and this man “wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day has broken.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ And he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then he said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel'”.

Coming back to the story of the two brothers, we feel very sad for Jacob and Esau because they were:

Alienated brothers: and so it caused many fractures and much hurt in their relationship, and caused their parents great sadness as well. Jacob had to run away because of this conflict. Rebecca was certainly incredibly pained; from that day until the day she died, she never saw her son again. During his time running away, God used Jacob’s circumstances and work to correct and teach him. What work was that?

Caring for sheep: He was a shepherd

Jacob learned the lesson that being out in the field is very hard work.

Jacob learned the lesson that not everything goes the way we want.

Jacob learned a painful lesson by being deceived by someone close to you.

Jacob learned the lesson that we must protect those close to us.

Jacob especially learned the lesson of fearing God. While he was with his wives and children on their way back to his hometown, He prayed: “I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant”. And instead of using some crafty ruse to face his older brother, he depended on God and pleaded with Him: “Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.”

God saw how his heart had changed from before, and He changed Jacob’s circumstances. It’s very surprising how God made it so Esau and Jacob could see each other again without killing each other. Instead they:

Offered each other a hug: this is one of the most beautiful images we see come out of the relationship between these two brothers. After so many months and years of hate and running away, Jacob continued forward, “bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” Then they:

Patched up their relationship: Leaving behind the things of the past, Jacob and Esau were restored back to a peaceful relationship. Now, they dealt with each other sincerely, no longer in a self-seeking manner like before. Before, Jacob was the type of person to try and seize what was Esau’s. But now, he was the type of person who tried to give gifts to his older brother. Before, Esau was hot-tempered and careless. Now, he knew how to think responsibly and generously. This is a beautiful conclusion to the story of these two brothers.