God's Ways Are Not Our Ways

Cold and hard.  The ground, the rock under his head, his thoughts toward his brother… Jacob shifted around trying to find just the right position.  Though he wasn't accustomed to a rock for a pillow, his body was so tired that simply being horizontal propelled him into that in-between twilight zone as dusk crept over the wilderness.

As he drifted off to sleep, his mind began to drift

For as long as Jacob could remember, his mother, Rebekah, had told him about God's word to her when she was pregnant with him and his brother, Esau.  The two of them were so active, she swore that they were fighting before they were even born.  It was so bad that she asked, "God, why is this happening to me?"  And surprise, surprise … God answered.

Two nations rare in your womb,

and two peoples from within you shall be divided:

the one shall  be stronger than the other,

the older shall serve the younger.

Genesis 25:23

The older shall serve the younger.  That wasn't the way that it was supposed to be, he knew.  But then again …  God's ways are not our ways. 

The older shall serve the younger. This was the phrase his mother had drilled into him from before he was toddling around the tent.  His brother, Esau, was out the door as soon as he was old enough to string a bow.  But Jacob was content at his mother's knee.  He loved to hear her stories especially the one about their birth.

The time came for you boys to be born.  Esau came first.  
But you, Jacob, came hard after him.  Most babies come head first.  
But not you.  The two of you came out, it seemed to me, 

in a single push with your hand, Jacob, holding onto your brother's heel.  

You grabbed your brother's heel.  And you grabbed my heart, Jacob.  Genesis 25:24-28

In some ways it seemed like Esau didn't have a choice in the matter.  This word had been spoken over them before they were even born.  And yet, Esau never cared about being firstborn.  Never cared about the birthright.  God's ways are not our ways.  

***

One day as he stood stirring the lentil stew for dinner that night, his brother burst in from hunting.  "I'm starving, Jacob.  Give me some of that stew you're cooking."  

"Well, it's for dinner.  You'll have to wait."

"I can't wait.  I'm starving.  Give it to me."

The idea had been planted all of his life.  The older shall serve the younger.  Now was his chance.

"Well, okay.  But on one condition.  I'll give you stew; you give me your birthright.  I become like the older brother."

"What difference does a stupid birthright make if a person is dead.  Which I'm going to be if you don't give me some of that stew.  Have the birthright!"

And as easy as that, it was done.  He would have twice the inheritance of Esau.  

Unfair, it seemed.  Deceitful, definitely.  God's ways are not our ways.  

***

As the years went by, Rebekah often reminded him that although he had the birthright, he still needed the blessing -- the blessing of his father, Isaac, so that God's words to his mother would be fulfilled.  The older shall serve the younger.  

His father lived a long life, but Isaac knew that his days on earth were drawing to a close.  Today was the day he would give the blessing.  And though he had heard, nearly as often as Jacob, "The older shall serve the younger," it was his choice who would receive the blessing.  And he chose Esau.  

"Esau, bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before I die." 

As Esau went away from the tents of his family and into the surrounding wilderness, Rebekah found Jacob.

"Jacob, today's the day you get your blessing.  But we've got to work hard."

Before Esau could get back with his kill, Rebekah prepared goat stew doctored up a bit to taste like she'd used venison.  While the stew was simmering, she found her Esau's best clothes and helped her favorite son get dressed. 

From the bristly skin of the young goats, she fashioned coverings for Jacob's hands and neck.  "Not only do you have to smell like your brother, you have to feel like your brother."

"The stew's ready.  And you're ready, Jacob. Today is the day that you get not only the birthright, but you get the blessing.  Today your father will codify what we've known all along will happen.  The older shall serve the younger."  

He went to his father.  He was sneaky.  He had secured the birthright through manipulation.  He thought of the deceptions he had pulled through the years.  But  this was big.  He had to get it right.  

Jacob screwed up his courage and greeted Isaac, "My father."

"Son!  Which one are you?"

He took a deep breath.  There was no going back.  "Esau, my father. I'm Esau.  I have the delicious stew you wanted.  Sit up and eat some.  Get your strength up and give my my blessing."

"You are back so soon from the hunt?  How is that possible?"

The lie slid easily off his tongue. "God helped me." 

The patriarch smiled.   God helped him.  But still he wondered.  He knew that the word had been spoken, but this blessing was his to give.  He was the patriarch.  It was up to him which son would have the blessing.  And he wanted it to go to Esau.  "Come near to me son.  I must know for sure whether you are Jacob or Esau."

Jacob thanked God for his mother who was as deceitful as he was.  He approached his father and guided his hands to his goat-skinned covered ones.  

Isaac smiled and his doubts evaporated.  He would give him the blessing.  With one hand resting on Jacob's head and the other hand raised to heaven, Isaac gave the younger the blessing.  

Let the peoples serve you,

and nations bow down to you.

Be lord over your brothers … 

Genesis 27:29

The deal was done.  What had been stated could not be reversed.  The older shall serve the younger.  God's ways are not our ways.  

He left his father's tent to find his mother.  Just as he left, his brother arrived with his stew.  "Father, I'm ready.  Bless me."

The truth hit Isaac. He had been tricked, not only by his son, but by his wife.  Anger gripped him.  Adrenaline flooded his system.  And Isaac trembled violently.  "The blessing was mine to give,"he thought.

"Esau, my oldest, it's done.  I've given the blessing.  And although I don't like it.  Although Jacob was not my choice, it will stand."

"Please, father, give me a blessing too." Esau begged. "Jacob tricked me once in getting the birthright.  Now he's tricked you and me both and taken the blessing."

"Esau, it's done.  He shall be lord over you.  The older shall serve the younger."  God's ways are not our ways.  

***

Although there had always been animosity between the two, now the hatred was so deep from Esau to Jacob that violence brewed beneath the surface of every interaction.  "I'll kill him." Esau thought.  

And when his father's servants empathized with him, he told them too.  "He may have the birthright and the blessing now, but when I kill him, I'll get what is mine. I will get my way."  

His mother heard the rumors.  She took them seriously and made the arrangements for Jacob to find refuge in the house of her brother, Laban.  His father, Isaac, heard the plans and agreed that they were good. 

"What was done, was done," Isaac thought.  "God's ways were not my ways, but what's done is done."  The older would serve the younger.  

***

Jacob spun the stories through his brain as he shifted his position and drifted into sleep "I've done nothing wrong.  I've simply claimed what was given to me by God," he murmured to himself as his eyelids drooped heavy and his breathing slowed.  

And then, sometime in the night, he dreamed.  

From the earth to heaven stretched a ladder.  Angels were going up and down on the ladder.  And above it all, stood the Lord.  

"I am the Lord.  The God of Abraham and the God of your father, Isaac.  The land you see will be for you and your children.  Your children shall be as numerous as dust.  Through you and your offspring, all of the families of the earth shall be blessed.  And I will not leave you until I have done it all."  (Genesis 28:13-15)

With a start, Jacob awoke.  The dream was so real.  "God's in this place.  And I didn't even know it."  

***

God chose Jacob as the one through whom the promise would be passed.  Why him?  Why not Esau?  Why a liar, and a cheat, and a deceiver?  The older shall serve the younger. God ordained it, and yet Esau, by his will, participated by giving up the birthright.    

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither ar your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:10-11

Isaac wanted the blessing to be passed to his firstborn, but God said, "No."  God's ways are not our way.  

But God showed Jacob that there would be a way.  A way to bridge the divide between heaven and earth. A way that would come through the line of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob …  A way that was an ark in the flood, a ram in the thicket, a ladder spanning the divide opening the way into the very throne room of God. 

In spite of the deception, the manipulation, and the lack of apparent fairness, God used Jacob to carry the promise into the next generation.  And he used Jacob's dream to reveal to us more about the Savior.    God's ways are not our ways … But a way is coming.  

If you find yourself getting tripped up in this story, you're not alone.  But for the purpose of today, focus on the coming way, the coming ladder that would make a way for us to come into God's presence.  God's ways are not our ways … but a way is coming.  

***

Are you in a situation in which God's ways are hard to accept?  What is God speaking to you as you read this story?  Would you like prayer?  Please leave a comment.  It would be my joy to pray for you today.  

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