In the beginning: roots and…
Isn’t it ironic that what so many call The Good Book doesn’t put a high value on moral pride and seems to go out of its way to honor those who have made a mess of their lives?
What’s even more amazing is that the people of the Book haven’t found a way to clean up their family history. Consider for instance Jacob, Patriarch of the nation of Israel. At birth, his tiny hand grabbed the heel of his older twin Esau. So he was named Jacob, meaning “supplanter”: one who wrongfully or illegally seizes and holds the place of another (Gen 25:26).
This is not the first time the word heel occurs in the Bible. It is second to the account in which God tells Satan of the epic conflict that would follow his deception of Eve. In this prediction the Snake would bruise the heel of a child of the woman, but that child would crush the Snake’s head.
The association with the child who would bruise the heel of another seems to have an early application to Jacob. By deceit and deception he tries to make a way for himself. With the help of his mother, he fraudulently conspires to obtain the “family blessing” that belonged to Esau. By repeatedly lying to his father who was too old and too blind to keep his wits about him, Jacob lays hold of the family inheritance that would have otherwise gone to the oldest son.
The rest of the story seems to defy the logic of morality and religious principle. By deceit, Jacob inherits a family blessing that was first given by God to Abraham. By lies, Jacob misled his aged and blind father so as to hear Isaac say to him, “Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!” (Gen 27:29).
Seems to me that if we were going to make up a story to explain who we are, and where we have come from this isn’t the way we would begin. The father of the 12 tribes that gave us the Bible and Jesus seems to have a lot in common with the great Deceiver who would one day bruise the heel of One who would crush his head (Gen 3:15).
Not an attractive word picture. Is it an early clue that people like us really do have a chance for mercy?
(+23 rating, 23 votes)
Loading...