458 - The Jacob Cycle

The Jacob Cycle
By David Steele

I. The Parents (Genesis 21-26)

His name was Jacob: "Supplanter," "The Heel,"
"He who strives with God."
His story begins amidst unusual obstetrics,
This male comes Special Delivery;
But we'll not start there.
Birth is, after all, a chapter two event
As any biographer knows.
First, there are prenatal matters to discover,
Careful inspection of the family tree,
Dutiful notation of its stock,
Chromosomal characteristics, and traditional tendencies.
People begin … with a past.
With this we start.

"So Abraham begat Isaac
And Isaac begat Jacob …"
Our "Heel" is the grandson of the distinguished adventurer,
Abraham, Yahweh's pioneer,
Who leaves the comforts of secure middle age
To explore new lands and fresh horizons
In response to The Word.
When folk speak of faith they talk of Abraham.
His illustrious blood flows through Jacob's veins.
Isaac links the two.

We know far less of Isaac than we realize.
The record, upon analysis, resembles a parenthesis.
It skips from childhood stories to golden year events.
The center is missing.
Faith's storytellers mention Isaac
When they recount the tales of his distinguished father
Or his supplanting son.
They are not interested in all his middle years.
Perhaps they found him dull.
We must read between the lines.

David Steele is the minister of Christ Presbyterian Church in Terra Linda, San Rafael, California. He is a graduate of Westminster College (Utah), Princeton Theological Seminary, and San Francisco Theological Seminary where he received a doctor's degree. Dr. Steele has served churches in Maryland and Utah and was for several years chaplain at Punabou School in Honolulu.

459 - The Jacob Cycle

Contented chuckles were his maternal gift.
Sarah bubbled with joy at Isaac's birth.
She named her boy "He laughs"
(That's what Isaac means.)
As though the Great Good God shared in her mirth.
The boy grew very close
To that mother with a twinkle in her eye.
When death, at last, erased her smile,
Isaac grieved hard.

His youth was not all fun and games.
There came that day when the young Isaac
Struggled against the ropes which bound him to that mountain altar
And saw above him wild-eyed Abraham,
Knife in hand,
Intent upon the ultimate act
Of dedication or dementia.
The essence of that moment when he knew his father meant to kill
Remained his secret.
Isaac never spoke about it.

So the offspring of the laughing mother
And the father with a knife
Grows to manhood.
Where? In a foreign land!
The respect his clan enjoyed in the old country
Evaporates in Canaan.
Isaac must make his way as an immigrant.
He bears the stamp of immigration.
His clothes do not conform to local style
Nor do his customs.
He speaks in some patois
Or pidgin.
The natives snigger.

He remains a foreigner throughout his life.
And how do immigrants survive?
They find some worthless, neglected land,
Do they not,
And work it lovingly from dawn to dusk.
They dig their wells and irrigate
And pile on the manure
Until that desert blossoms as the rose.
And just when folks start realizing:
"That Isaac may be strange
But he sure knows how to grow tomatoes!"
The owner rediscovers his forgotten land.

460 - The Jacob Cycle

"Sorry, boy, you're squatting on my property.
Mighty obliged for the way you've kept it up.
Move on."
And move he does. The cycle starts once more.
That's Isaac's life, in a nutshell.
The immigrant, moving from place to place,
Improving the land … forced out … moving on.
He makes no waves.
He knows his place.

Isaac is such a disappointment to Rebekah
When she steps off that caravan
A picture bride from the old country.
Why, back in Haran folk spoke with pride
Of Abram, their distinguished native son,
His lustre has not dimmed by years of absence.
What girl wouldn't leap at the chance
To marry into Abram's clan?
Her family agreed. It was a perfect match.
There was no lengthy dickering about the dowry.
But here in Canaan her romantic image is shattered.
The son and heir of mighty Abram is.. . A Truck Gardener.
Overalled … Hat in hand … Smiling obsequiously …
And kow-towing to the local peasants.
She is ashamed
Of him …
For him.

This proud daughter of the north will keep her bargain.
She knows how to be a wife.
She will bed and board her spouse with loving care,
But hers will be a Haran home.
She will not learn the local dialect,
Nor will she opt for their barbaric fashions.
She does not neighbor,
Shows no interest in Canaanite cuisine.
Her husband's heritage is oozing away in some damned melting pot.
Her home shall be pure
As she was taught.

 

At first they argue:
"Honey, it's market day
Come, join me in the booth."

"And watch you lick those foreign boots?
Never."

461 - The Jacob Cycle

"We're in their country now,
We must adjust and learn their ways."

She does not budge.
She will not change.

At last, they both agree to disagree
And go their separate ways.
Isaac struggles on to find that niche
That will allow an immigrant a foothold
In this foreign land.
Rebekah raises walls about her home
To keep the strangeness out.
They keep their counsel … bide their time.
Both are thinking:
"When the children come, it will be different."

Each child inherits, so it seems
A bundle of parental dreams.
And Jacob, master of deception,
Will find that he is no exception.

II. The Twins (Genesis 25:19 to 27:40)

Rebekah reported, that beginning in the seventh month,
Those babies in her womb were hyperactive.
All that pummelling, with hands and fetus,
Was downright uncomfortable.
She wished they would wait more patiently in line.
The midwife had a time sorting out all the arms and legs.
When, at last, she pulled the hairy baby into life
She found the sibling clutching at his heel,
As if to pull him back.
It was an omen.

They have no trouble with names for the twins.
The elder with all that auburn fuzz is Esau …"Hairy"
(Later he will go by "Red").
The younger is named Jacob…"The Heel."
We'll see that's quite appropriate.
The parents dote, as well they should.
Right off the bat Isaac is attracted to the elder.
He likes the scrappy little fellow,
Thinks that covering of baby hair is macho!
That boy will make a man!
But, Jacob …

462 - The Jacob Cycle

Well, Isaac is glad Rebekah cottons to him.
He seems a mite puny…and effeminate.
Too bad his second child is not a girl.

Twins who are not identical we call fraternal.
But we search in vain
For some sign of brotherly affection between Jacob and Esau.
They do not play contentedly together in the nursery
Nor whisper secrets when the lights are out.
They share no Corsican bond.
What a pity Isaac and Rebekah are not younger.

A special sort of providence
Tends to guard the families of the young.
Young parents are not about to end their own life exploration
Just because they have some kids.
Their children are babysitted early and regularly.
Mom and Dad have living of their own to do.
Grandparents may cluck a bit
About how the young folks gad about,
And don't they realize they now have parental responsibilities?
But the simple economics of family raising on a smallish income
Tends to guarantee that it's not overdone.
Parental absence provides growing space.
Children plan and play, experiment and fight …
And blossom.
It works out well.

Older parents tend to clutch their children.
Growing up is much too fraught with danger
To entrust to little ones.
They worry when the kids are out of sight.
So these twins are coddled.
As soon as they can toddle
Esau joins his dad out in the fields,
While Jacob helps his mom around the house.
They seldom stray far from parental care.

Esau takes to outdoor life.
His father passes advice 'bout soils and irrigation
As they work together in the rows.
"There's farming in him,"
Isaac thinks contentedly.
Toward day's end they hunt.
That youngster tracks and stalks
As though responding to some wild primal memory.
Isaac can't keep up with him.

463 - The Jacob Cycle

There's much about the boy to make a father proud.
And how the lonely immigrant is thrilled
By what he sees in school.
His first boy shines … Oh, not in the classroom
But in what is closest to his father's heart.
The boy is not a foreigner.
Extroverted … skilled in sports …
Esau is always in the middle of the gang.
His son is accepted in this difficult land.
When later on Esau marries
Not one, but two girls from the neighborhood,
Isaac is pleased.

Rebekah is not!
She's disgusted at the way their eldest has gone native.
Thank God for Jacob!
She tutors him amidst the household chores,
And when the school years come
He leads the class in academics.
The boy is very bright.
And best of all
He does not care to mingle with the riff-raff after school.
He hurries home to study … and to mother.
They putter in the kitchen.
He has a knack with herbs and spices. He'd make a chef.
But she is more ambitious for him.
Her son (She thinks of him as hers),
Her son will bring fresh lustre to the family crest,
So tarnished by her groveling husband.
Pride, respect, and honor …
As they knew in Haran,
Will once again be theirs when Jacob takes command.

When Jacob takes command?
That's certainly presumptuous!
Esau is the eldest … rightful heir …
The apple of his father's eye.
Esau will inherit all.
Isaac has no plans for Jacob.

Rebekah does! She'll find a way
To leapfrog her Jacob past his brother.
She bides her time,
Shares with her pride and joy the heritage of Haran,
And schemes.

464 - The Jacob Cycle

Jacob is his mother's son.
He learns her lessons well
And finds he does not need a mother's help
To take the first step toward his patrimony.
It happens in the kitchen.
Jacob is simmering a savory pot of pottage
(A sort of minestrone soup),
When he is accosted by his brother famished from the hunt.

"Jacob, I am starving!
Quick, a bowl of your outstanding soup!"

"What will you trade for it?"
Said a bit coquettishly.

"Don't play games. I'm hungry, man.
It's nourishment I need."

"How about a bowl of soup … for your birthright."

"All right!
What good's a birthright if I starve to death.
Now pour that soup!"

Jacob quickly shares the news with mom.
They chuckle together.
Esau is so gullible …
To barter off his birthright for a mess of minestrone.

It's no big deal to Esau.
Nor to Isaac when he hears of it.
A childish trade, little more,
Like bubble gum or baseball cards.
The birthright needs the patriarchal blessing.
Isaac plans to place his hands on Esau's head
And in that mystic moment his boy inherits all.
Isaac intends to get around to that blessing
One of these days.

One of these days …
Procrastination is a common virus infecting humankind.
It is, however, particularly virulent
When we face decisions concerning our mortality.
One of these days we intend to plan for retirement,
Or make a will.
One of these days we will get rid of all this junk,
Sell the rambling house

465 - The Jacob Cycle

And move into a smaller place.
One of these days …

That's Isaac
Putting off the blessing of his son.
He waits too long.
When "one of these days" arrives,
The man is blind and semi-senile.
A veritable pigeon!
Jacob and Rebekah are ready for the plucking.

One morning Isaac announces:
"This day I bless my son.
Esau, take your bow and find me a tender mountain goat.
Prepare a feast! And you shall have the blessing."
The young man sets off on his day-long task.

Once be is gone
Jacob and his mother start to work.
A kid is slaughtered from the family flock.
The stew with Isaac's favorite spices is carefully prepared.
Rebekah dresses Jacob to simulate his brother.
On go Esau's clothes.
Goat hair is pasted on the arms and neck a la the Hairy one.
A sweaty undershirt adds the proper Eau de Esau.

Isaac is a bit surprised
When called to feast in early afternoon.
"My son must be a master of the hunt to kill so soon."
The meal is exquisite.

He drinks more than he should … yet still is cautious.
"Come here my son,
My eyes are gone,
But with my hands and nose I sense your presence. "
The conspirators are tense as Isaac embraces Jacob.
The father is suspicious of the phony voice,
But the smell convinces him.
"My son, Esau, my heir,
Kneel to receive your father's blessing."

Rebekah is breathless as Jacob kneels.
Great smiles engulf them both as words are spoken:

"May God give you of the dew of heaven
And of the fatness of the earth,
And plenty of grain and wine.

466 - The Jacob Cycle

Let peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you.
Be Lord over your brothers,
And may your mother's sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
And blessed be everyone who blesses you!

So be it … Amen!"

So be it! The masquarade is over.
The words are said.
There is no taking back.
Jacob now stands heir to Abram,
Patriarch of Yahweh.
He and mother have won.

And all this seems a trifle odd
To find within the Word of God.

III. The Dream (Genesis 27:41 to 28:22)

Esau is furious
When he learns his brother has purloined the prize.
He'll not leap manfully across the net
To shake the victor's hand.
Esau is furious
With his conniving mother, his senile dad,
But most of all he's angry at himself
For being such a sucker.
So Jacob now is heir to mighty Abram's legacy,
And he's expected to kow-tow to that mama's boy?
He nearly throttles Jacob then and there.

Let them gloat!
Esau knows he is no match for Jacob and Rebekah
In a battle of wits.
But it takes no Machiavellian mind
To know that Jacob will have trouble governing the clan
From a pine box.
The elder brother bides his time,
Watches his father weaken day by day,
And lets his mother know
In no uncertain terms:
"On the day dad dies
Get ready for two funerals."
Is he bluffing?
Rebekah thinks not.

467 - The Jacob Cycle

Of course she has a plan
(She always does).
When she and Isaac are alone, she plays her ace.
"It's time that Jacob took a wife," she says,
"And I'll not have him mating with these local girls
As Esau has.
I'll have no further native cows
Mooning 'round my living room.
My son deserves a proper wife,
A girl of breeding, culture, and tradition
Who understands the greatness of our clan.
It's time you sent your son to Haran."
The old man acquieses … What can he do?
Secret plans are made for Jacob's trip.

Esau once again is conned.
His long awaited weekend hunting trip
Provides the perfect cover for Jacob's quick departure.
He's hardly ridden out of town
When Rebekah packs the lunch in Jacob's knapsack.
They tearfully embrace.
And then he's gone … to Haran.

Esau returns to find his bird has flown the coop.
Chalk up another victory for Rebekah.
Yet, there's a mother's worry in her heart.
"Can Jacob get along without me?"

Can he indeed!
To tell the truth
Jacob barely makes it through that first day on the road.
Within an hour the pack begins to chafe his tender skin.
By noon both feet have blisters.
He dares not stop to rest
For fear his brother may catch up.
He must push on in spite of screaming muscles.
His home body is ill prepared for such a journey.
The indoor pallor soon turns fiery red beneath the blazing sun.
Sweat oozes from his mounds of baby fat.
Never has be been so glad to see the setting sun
That grants, at last, permission to make camp
And rest.

A bit of dinner helps.
Jacob does know how to cook,
Even on the road.
There is a healthy sense of tiredness

468 - The Jacob Cycle

Pervading aching muscles
As he dawdles after supper by the campfire.
But now this sense of relaxation
Allows his inner fears to surface.
Has he escaped his brother's wrath?
Does Esau lurk behind those trees
Beyond the dwindling fire light?
He cannot yet interpret the meaning of nocturnal noises.
The rustling of leaves,
The calls of carefree critters,
The scurrying sounds of varmints startle him.
His imagination paints great ghoulish pictures
Of dangers round about.
He is alone! Terribly Alone! Completely Alone!
Alone! Without Mama!
At last he sleeps … and dreams.

Perhaps around a mountain campfire,
Beside a lake, or on a surf-swept beach,
We sang of Jacob and his dream:

"We are climbing Jacob's ladder …
Every rung goes higher, higher . .

And felt the peace surround us.

Jacob dreams …
A ladder reaching to the sky,
Angels climbing up and down,
And Yahweh, there above, with arms outstretched in blessing.

"I am the God of your fathers.
Jacob, you are mine.
You are loved.
You are cared for.
I am with you … to protect you,
Forever!"

The terrors fade, as Jacob dreams.
The lonely fugitive is not alone.
Rebekah's boy has found
Or been found
By a greater Mama.

We may well ask
Why in that dream is no mention made
Of the deception of a father,

469 - The Jacob Cycle

The cheating of a brother,
Of an unholy maternal alliance?
Why doesn't Yahweh speak this night
Of Jacob's past?
Perhaps he does. We know only what Jacob hears.
The God of love he meets there at the ladder
Conveys to him Rebekah's love, writ large.
Jacob hears no embarrassing ethical questions.

And so he wakes.
His heart is strangely warmed!
He's saved! Born again!
Zapped by Amazing Grace!
Alleluia!

Jacob is elated.
He raises up an altar and strikes a bargain
(Somewhat crude) with his heavenly Mama.
"If you will keep me safe," he says
"Where ere I go
What ere I do,
Then you will be my God.
And" (this should seal the bargain) "
And I will tithe!"
Jacob is a new man
As he sets off on his great adventure.
The frightened, lonely boy is gone.
He's got the Lord now.
There's a spring in his step,
A song in his heart,
And peace in his soul.
Haran, here he comes!

Brother, sister,
Have you been saved?

So Jacob's known that happy day
"Born again" is what we call it.
But should you meet him on his way,
Keep you hand upon your wallet!

IV. The Sting (Genesis 29:1 to 31:55)

Can this be Jacob?
This bronzed Adonis striding athletically
Toward the Haran well
Hardly resembles the spoiled Mama's boy

470 - The Jacob Cycle

We knew (and found it hard to like)
In Beersheba.
It's a long way from Beersheba to Haran
Six hundred miles, as the crow flies …
Too far for Rebekah's apron strings to reach.

There's little that resembles that pudgy, pale gourmet
In this lank, lean young man
Whose muscles ripple in the morning sun.
What has wrought this transformation?
Days of hiking over tough terrain?
Encounters with a highwayman or two?
Weeks or months of heavy hired labor
To replenish a dwindling wallet?
We can only surmise.
The journey has been rugged
That we see,
Yet Jacob has survived.
No, not survived, merely
He has overcome!
And he knows it!
The boy is gone; a man now walks before us,
Confidence oozes from each pore.
John Wayne has arrived!

And what a macho way
To introduce oneself to long-lost relatives.
The clan is gathering about the well
Waiting for sufficient hands to lift the heavy covering stone.
Here comes the handsome stranger,
Sizes up the situation,
Moves, without a word, to that well
And single handedly removes the rock!
He humbly acknowledges the "ooh's" and "ahh's"
As though accustomed to them.
No bully will kick sand in this one's face.
And then the question (a la Gabby Hayes):
"Who are you stranger?"
"I am Jacob…your kinsman,
Rebekah's son … Abram's grandson."
And now the shouts, the hugs, the joyful introductions
Aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces
Gathering 'round to shake his hand. "
Rebekah's boy is here."
It's party time.

Laban is insistent.
Jacob must share his compound.

471 - The Jacob Cycle

There's room aplenty … can always use another hand …
And besides, he will not think of sister Rebekah's boy
Living with a flock of strangers.
Jacob is pleased with the offer.
He likes his hearty uncle,
Feels at home among the kinfolk,
But, most of all, his eye has picked out Laban's daughter,
Rachel.

Ah, Rachel!
A look, a smile, a word from her
And ten thousand Mantovani singing violins
Resound in Jacob's soul.
He stammers like a school boy in her presence.
It's love at first sight …
And second … and third …
Within a month he's asked the father
For her hand in marriage.
Laban agrees … somewhat reluctantly
(Though Jacob does not notice).
But Father drives a hard bargain.
At the end of seven year's indentured service
Jacob may take Rachel for his bride.
The love-struck suitor readily agrees.
We read: His love for her was so great
Those seven years of service seemed to him as but a day.
Now, that's deferred gratification!

Father Laban has a problem.
He likes Jacob,
And well appreciates the interest shown in Rachel.
Land sakes, the girl's a knockout-a perfect ten!
Laban has never worried about
Finding suitors for his younger daughter.
But what about her sister,
Leah? What chances will she have of being courted
Once the raving beauty has packed up and gone?
It is a problem.
No patriarchal father cottons well to visions
That his eldest may be spinstered.

Leah is no beauty, that's clear;
Though we tend to wonder why.
The text implies she has "weak eyes."
Does she stumble over furniture?
Or fumble with the evening tatting?
Why have "weak eyes" kept her off the marriage market?
Do men seldom make passes

472 - The Jacob Cycle

At girls who wear glasses?
This "weak eye" business is confusing.

Perhaps we have a garbled text.
Some scholars now contend
That Leah's eyes were "tender" or "lovely" …not "weak."
When this girl wore a veil her lovely eyes
Implied a promise the rest of her could not fulfill.
So much for theory!
The fact remains, Laban has a homely older daughter,
And he intends to see she is a bride.

During those long seven years,
Laban does his best to point out Leah's virtues.
He waxes lyrically about her home-cooked meals,
And draws attention to her nifty needlework.
She'll make a fine wife for some lucky man,
He tells his nephew.
He mentions (more than once)
The hefty dowry he intends for Leah.
Jacob fails to be impressed.
His heart belongs to Rachel.

Well, there's more than one way to skin a cat,
Or a son-in-law.
Laban has the family knack,
We've noted earlier in sister Rebekah,
For deception and intrigue.
Jacob might well be alert upon his wedding day.
But the poor boy is so enamoured of his beloved
That he becomes the perfect patsy.
The groom accepts those drinks
"To calm his nerves,"
Proffered by his father-soon-to-be, throughout the day.
The ceremony itself is just a blur
(Isn't it always?)
Jacob cannot, for the life of him,
Recall staggering into the nuptial chambers
With his heavily veiled bride.
The next morning when he awakes
To find the giggling Leah at his side,
He knows he has been taken.
Ah, Jacob, your chickens have come home to roost.
Shades of Isaac and Esau!

Laban is all smiles that day.
He hopes his son-in-law will bear no grudge.

473 - The Jacob Cycle

He trusts the boy will understand a father's plight.
Leah must be wed, and now she is
So Laban is quite willing
To add the lovely Rachel to the deal.
At weeks' end she and Jacob may be wed
And he can work off her price
In service for another seven years!
What can Jacob do?
Before long two brides adorn his bachelor pad.

The story for the next few years
Becomes a fertility sweepstake.
The sisters now vie with one another
For their husband's attention,
In a mad dash for motherhood.
Leah is the early leader.
She suckles several sons before her sister throws in a substitute.
When Rachel's serving girl bears Jacob's son
Then somehow she has gotten on the scoreboard.
But Leah has a maidservant
And her kids count for Leah.
It's quite a bedroom farce
Filled with love potions and secret machinations.
By the time the menage a cinq is finished
Jacob has sired eleven sons and a daughter!
There's no indication in these years
That Jacob ever failed to do his duty.
What is his secret?
Rhino horn? Gensing tea?
Massive shots of Vitamin E?
Ah, the burdens of polygamy!

Jacob's skill in breeding
Takes on a new dimension.
Once he has served his time for Rachel's hand
He and Laban both agree
That all animals in the common flock
Which bear a certain color
Shall belong to Jacob.
As the years go by Jacob's animals increase beyond genetic norms.
The sons of Laban see their family inheritance
Being siphoned off by their suave brother-in-law.
Skullduggery is suspected … never proved.
Well, the old Jacob is back at work.
Laban has more than met his match.
Haran is becoming too small for both of them.

474 - The Jacob Cycle

Jacob suspects his welcome has worn out.
When Laban leaves to supervise the spring shearing,
Jacob gathers up his clan
And sets his face toward home.
He's now a wealthy man …
His wives and children, flocks and servants
Make an impressive caravan.
As a parting gesture
Rachel purloins her father's household images
And hides them in her baggage.
Jacob is unaware of this wifely act,
Undertaken, so it seems, to somehow guarantee
Her husband's legal right to his inheritance.
A few days down the road
An angry Laban overtakes the caravan.
He's outraged at Jacob's swift departure,
Accuses him of theft,
Demands the quick return of stolen goods.
But thanks to Rachel, a search uncovers nothing
But Jacob's righteous indignation.
The two men nearly come to blows.
At one point they agree:
They cannot trust each other.
So they erect an altar
And join in a pledge
That has become the Mizpah benediction.

"The Lord watch between you and me,
While we are absent one from the other."

This is no expression of peace and solidarity
By men whose hands are clasped in faith.
It is the call of men who hold suspicions
Upon the God of Vengeance
To be policeman in their parting.

So once again, our hero gets
To leave a place midst angry threats.
My, Jacob surely has the knack
Of causing folks to blow their stack!

V. The Match (Genesis 32:1-32)

"Winning isn't everything.
It's the only thing."
This sage advice, learned at mother's knee,

475 - The Jacob Cycle

Has guided Jacob well these many years.
His past is filled with trophies:
Abram's legacy is his
Snatched from under his naive brother's nose;
His manhood has been wrested from the wilderness;
Riches have become his prize
In the contest with crafty old Laban.
Jacob has got it all:
Prestige … position … family … wealth …
You name it …
This is one helluva successful guy
Who wends his way toward Canaan.
Jacob is a winner all right,
But tell me,
Would you buy a used car from this man?

Or would you make of him a patriarch of faith
And put him in a Bible?
Of course he has been "saved,"
"Born again" as a youth at Bethel's ladder.
Perhaps he still gives his testimony
Explaining how the Lord has blessed his faith with wealth.
(Tithing millionaires are always in demand.)
But he's not been encumbered
With any sort of golden rule.
The rule that's won him gold is more direct:
"Get them before they get you!"
Once we have seen him open and vulnerable.
But look what that great love for Rachel cost him.
He lost his wits, his cunning,
And became a loser!
It has not happened again.
It must not happen again!
"Winning isn't everything.
It's the only thing!"

Jacob's going home.
A success! A winner!
So why these dark, negative, foreboding thoughts?
They begin at Mahanaim.
Through Jacob's mind march legions of soldiers
Who are clearly not his to command.
He thinks: "This is God's army."
He's bothered by this vision
Though he can't tell why.
Then comes the troubling news:
"Your brother Esau waits for you beyond the Jabbok

476 - The Jacob Cycle

With four hundred men!"
That's it! Jacob begins to understand.
He is traveling toward a meeting with his past
Incarnated in Esau
Who has sworn his death.

That evening Jacob prays.
We've never heard him speak this way before.

"God, I am unworthy of your steadfast love.
God, you have granted me more than I deserve.
God, I fear my brother.
God, I am afraid
For my wives
My children
For myself.
God, I have never felt such fear. What can I do?
God, I am afraid.
God …"

Strange words from this self-made, successful man.
There are no atheists in foxholes.

He does what can be done.
Off go two hundred, twenty goats,
Then a like number of sheep,
Thirty camels and their colts,
Fifty head of cattle,
Thirty donkeys …
All with the same message.
"Dear Brother Esau,
I am eager to see you once more.
Please accept these humble gifts.
Shalom,
Jacob."
Bribery may help,
Though Jacob doubts it.
He camps beside the Jabbok.
Gathers wives and children 'round about him,
Hugs them all, bids them fond farewell
And sends them off before him.
"Perhaps they may be spared,"
He reasons,
"If I'm not with them."
Now he is left alone.

"And a man wrestled with Jacob
Until the breaking of the day."

477 - The Jacob Cycle

Ladies and gentlemen,
In this corner, wearing purple trunks
Jacob-Supplanter … The Heel.
And his opponent …
"A man!"
The bell sounds.
Jacob, you must wrestle now.
Wrestle Jacob!
Not plot, scheme, connive, wheel and deal,
Wrestle, dammit, wrestle!
Get in there and grapple!

Grab that past of yours, and own it.
Wrestle with what you have been
And are
And may become!
Grasp your frailty … take hold of your mortality.
That's death that's got you in his arms.
That's life breathing down your neck.
That's God!
Get in there, Jacob
And wrestle with your God!

"And a man wrestled with Jacob
Until the breaking of the day."

We've got to hand it to Jacob
That fellow is a scrapper!
There in the empty Jabbok arena
It's soon apparent he has no hope of winning.
A touch by his mystic adversary
And our hero's hip is dislocated.
But Jacob holds on.
All night in that sweaty ring
The man holds on.
He holds on through the shame, the regrets, the fear,
The agony, the pain …
Jacob holds on!
He's not about to whimper "uncle"
Or throw in the towel.
He'll see this match to its completion.

At the dawn the grip has not been broken.
"Let go … we've had enough,"
His opponent commands.
"Not until … you bless me!"
And then …

478 - The Jacob Cycle

"You have been Jacob-deceiver, supplanter, 'Heel'
From hence forth your name is Israel
For you have striven with God
And with men
And you have prevailed."

At last the exhausted wrestler can relax.
Jacob has not won,
But Israel has prevailed!
There is so much our hero yearns to know
Now that it is over.
He craves, as do we all, answers …
Theories …doctrines … eternal truths …
Some mental scheme to bring renewed control.
"What is your name?", he pleads
Perhaps the name will give some clue to mental mastery.
The response is short:
"Why ask?"

It's quite a shock to see this new man
Limping into his tomorrow.
His hands are empty.
No bags of gold; no rabbit up his sleeve,
Empty hands …
As empty as on the day when he was born …
No, emptier … for they hold no brother's heel.
He has no schemes nor scams.
It's strange, but he can't seem to recall
His mother's words that once seemed so important.
(Wasn't it something about winning?)
He limps now and will to his dying day.
And in that limp conveys to all
That he has shared the pain of our mortality.
(Never trust a patriarch without a limp.)

This limping wrestler now walks toward his brother
With empty hands.
Gone are all his weapons of control …
So defenseless … empty
And yet, somehow, the man is full.
For something in this limping gait declares:
This is Israel!
This is one who knows he is a man!
This is one who knows he is God's man!
He will prevail!

Jacob limps into history.
And later on some folks will notice

479 - The Jacob Cycle

A man, carrying a burden,
Toward a hill called Golgotha.
His walk will be distinctive.
And folks will say to one another:
"Say … that one limps … just like Israel!"

So Jacob, master wheeler dealer
Is Israel, the wounded healer.
And we among the human throng
Are called to come and limp along.