Genesis 32:22-31
Assaulted by God
James Sledge August
2, 2020
When
I was a child, my father would read Bible stories to us before bed. I can still
see the big Bible Story book he used. It had stories about Jesus, but as a
child, the Old Testament stories stood out more. There were a lot of “hero” type
stories: David fighting the giant Goliath with only a sling, Samson, the Hebrew
version of Hercules. And then there were all those stories about Abraham and
Sarah and their offspring: Isaac, Esau and Jacob, and then all of Jacob’s sons,
including Joseph.
The
characters in those Bible stories didn’t seem much like real people to me. Perhaps
that was just how far removed they were historically and culturally. Or perhaps
it was because the Bible stories themselves had a kind of comic book quality to
them.
Whatever
the reasons, I was well into adulthood before it dawned on me what a messed up,
dysfunctional family Abraham and Sarah’s clan was. It starts with the
half-brothers Ishmael and Isaac and only gets worse from there.
Rebekah
and Isaac have twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Esau is the first born by a few
seconds, and the sibling rivalry is off and running. Not that the parents help
matters much. Dad likes Esau, and Mom likes Jacob. Esau is an outdoorsy,
hunting and fishing sort of guy, and Dad
plans to pass on the family business to him. Jacob is a Momma’s boy who likes
hanging out in the tent. He’s also sneaky and manipulative, a scoundrel who
takes advantage of Esau’s tendency to act first and think later. And his mother
is happy to assist.
Jacob
and Esau are born when Isaac is quite old, and he is feeble and blind by the
time the boys are fully grown. Sensing that his time is short, Isaac calls Esau
and asks him to go out hunting and bring back some savory game they can enjoy
together. After the meal, Isaac will formally sign over the family business. In
the language of the Bible, he will bless Esau.