The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and
two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than
the other, and the older will serve the younger." Gen. 25:23
NIV. The Old Testament is wrought with
tradition. Headship from one generation to another is taken extremely seriously
when it comes to firstborn sons. Why would God have a younger son then rule
over an older firstborn son? It is astoundingly out of sorts for the time and
culture. God must have had His reasons.
Rebekah becomes pregnant and prays to God because in her womb she feels
a struggle. God tells her she is having twin boys that would become great
nations. Davis writes, “Quite surprisingly God further stated that “the elder
shall serve the younger.” This was contrary to ancient Near Eastern custom…” [1]
So what is the significance of this
decision of God to have a younger son rule over an older firstborn son? Gary
Inbinder in his work, Jacob and Esau, states that the purpose of the
younger serving the older is held in the different personality types of the
brothers, and which of them would serve mankind most markedly.[2]
Esau was ruddy and hairy, and man of the fields, a man seeking only to satisfy
the here and now of his life – not a man bent on evil mind you, but neither is
he a learned man looking to spur progress. Jacob was smooth and lanky, a man of
the indoors – tents, an intelligent man, a man that thinks far ahead and can
better serve humanity with his keenness. The article is a good read and has a
wonderful perspective on how all of humanity in some way, has Esau and Jacob
natures, this balance is what keeps humanity from total annihilation he says.
Daniel J. Elazar in his work, Jacob
and Esau the Emergence of the Jewish People, also looks at the life of the
two brothers from the perspective of which would better serve the people of
Israel. The younger ruling over the older is not, it seems an affront on Esau
personally, rather a decision of God to choose what would be, and I dare say
it, the lesser of two evils. Elazar writes, “God is faced with having to choose between two combinations
of traits and to select what would be better for leadership of his people.”[3]
Again, Esau is a man of the fields, best suited for the ruggedness of the out
of doors, military, and the immediate. Jacob is a thinking man, cunning, and
deceitful. But in the end, God has His way by tempering Jacob. Elazar says God
chose Jacob because he could be molded into what He wanted for the people of
Israel – to continue the covenant made to Abraham.
[1] John J. Davis. Paradise
to Prison: Studies in Genesis (Salem:
Sheffield Publishing Company, 1975), 232.
[2] Gary Inbinder. 2003. Jacob
and Esau. Humanitas 16, no. 1:90-96, http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/docview/195237786
(accessed October 11, 2012).
[3] Daniel J. Elazar. Jacob
and Esau and the Emergence of the Jewish People. Jewish Center for Public
Affairs pg1-8, http://jcpa.org/dje/articles/jacob-esau.htm
(accessed October 12, 2012).
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