TALE OF TWO BROTHERS

In this blog, I will share a portion of the lives of twin brothers Esau and Jacob and their rocky relationship until one of them chose to change.

The Word of the Lord came to pass, and the once barren Rebekah birthed twins Esau and Jacob for her husband, Isaac. The Lord had described the twins to Rebekah in this way, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).

The scriptures revealed as they grew into young men, Esau, loved by Isaac, was a man of the field and a skillful hunter, while Jacob, loved by his mother, was a plain homebody man. One day after coming home from hunting, Esau, exhausted and hungry, sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of red pottage that Jacob had made (Genesis 25). Years later, when Isaac was old and had poor vision, he called Esau and told him to prepare his favorite venison meal, after which he would give him the double portion blessing. Hearing what Isaac planned, Rebekah plotted with Jacob and deceived Isaac into blessing, Jacob before Esau returned with the venison meal. When Esau heard and realized what Jacob had done, he begged his father to bless him, and his father replied, “Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck” (Genesis 27).

The scriptures revealed Esau hated Jacob for what he did and planned to kill Jacob when their father died. Rebekah was apprised of Esau’s intention, so she got Isaac to send Jacob to Paran to her brother Laban to find a wife. Jacob ended up staying in Paran for twenty years, and during that time, he reaped deception at the hands of Laban, similar to what he did to his father, Isaac.

When he decided to return to his home country, he feared for his life because of what he had done to his brother, but Esau had already forgiven him. Genesis 33 shares the details of the brother’s meeting. Jacob sent messengers to his brother informing him of his return, and Esau, accompanied by four hundred men, rode out to meet him. Trying to gain favor with Esau, Jacob sends a gift of 550 livestock ahead of himself. When they finally meet, Jacob bows seven times in homage to Esau. However happy to unite with his twin, Esau runs to him, embraces him around the neck, kisses him, and they both weep. After conversing, Esau offered to accompany Jacob and his family the remaining way home, but Jacob declined the offer with a false excuse. Esau and his men left Jacob and returned to Mount Seir, and Jacob disobeying God’s instruction to go to Bethel, took his household in the opposite direction to Succoth.

Unfortunately, Jacob was still a deceiver, and though He had a divine encounter on his way to meet Esau, his actions revealed a lack of complete trust in God and still retained some poor character traits. Esau, whom the scriptures did not share many details of his life during the twenty years absence of Jacob, had become loving and more trustworthy than Jacob when they reunited. Esau was willing to leave the past behind and have a positive relationship with his twin. I believe the word that Isaac gave Esau concerning when he had the dominion, he would break Jacob’s yoke from off his neck, came to fruition for him, for Esau and his 400 men could have easily slew Jacob and his household. When he was the dominating force, Esau forgave Jacob and freed himself from old wounds and the yoke that had been on his neck.

I close my blog with this question, “Which brother do you prefer to be like?” Either choose the brother that did not realize his worth but, after years, was able to forgive the person that took advantage of him or the brother destined to be successful but unable to relinquish bad traits. If you chose Esau, I hope you now view him differently and know you can forgive those who hurt you with time. If you decide, Jacob, know that despite bad traits, God still means to bless you while reaping what you sowed.