Why we slander Jacob 2

Let's be perfectly clear. No matter what you may think of any of my other posts on this blog, the bible clearly teaches that Esau's sale of the birthright was the evidence of his rejection by God, not the cause. On the other side of the coin, Jacob's purchase of the birthright was the evidence of God's choosing him, not of him being fraud. Jacob purchased what was most valuable, what was passed down from Abraham. It had nothing to do with selfishness or cheating or greed or money or inheritance of lands or flocks. It had everything to do with the blessing of God.

It meant that a man who was unlike the entire world, including his own brother, because he knew that what counts is not land, or property, or money, or power, or even a father's favor. What matters is the favor of God. Strangely, Esau knew later that what he had lost was valuable. Yet, he thought he could treat it lightly and not suffer for it. That's another thing that scares us - the one-time decision he made was unchangeable. I am not sure of all that this event means for us, but I do know that we should emulate Jacob, not Esau, and value what God values. Yet, the majority of teaching about Jacob seems to favor a negative view of his positive choice.

I know why I have had a prejudice against Jacob in the past. He's chosen. That's right, I envy him because he's chosen. In other words, he did nothing to receive God's blessing. He was chosen before birth. But this is the Christian message - we do nothing to deserve our salvation. How can Christians, who above all others should acknowledge the message of unearned salvation, have a problem with Jacob?

Perhaps we have been too much like Esau, not valuing what God values. Perhaps we envy Jacob, who unlike Esau valued what God valued. We must overcome our own fleshly failure of the past and believe that Esau's destiny is not our destiny, that we have been born again to a living hope. If Christ's atonement means anything, it should mean we can accept our failures, no matter how Esau-like, and recognize that we have been born again to be like Jacob, valuing what God values.