Vayishlach
Genesis 32:4 - 36:32
In one of the classic literary works of all time William Shakespeare
tells the story of a great Scottish general, Macbeth. He learns from the
"weird sisters" that destiny has chosen him to be king of
In the Torah portions of the last few weeks we learned that God had
chosen Jacob to receive the blessings and covenants of his fathers Abraham and
Isaac. The fact that God had already chosen him and would bring about the
necessary events to bring about Jacob's destiny, did not effect Jacob's and
Rebbekah's need to try an manipulate events themselves, and try to ensure that
God would keep His promises. But by doing so, while securing for Jacob,
Isaac's blessing, it resulted in Jacob having to leave home, the estrangement
of Jacob from his brother, and father, and as far as we can tell from the
biblical record, never seeing his mother again. All in all a very sad tale.
While things end far better for Jacob, he like Macbeth got caught up in
his own sense of destiny. He too felt the need to make the words of the
prophecy come true by controlling the events in his life, and in doing so
caused great pain where there should have been blessing.
In this week's Torah portion, many years have come and gone. And
despite the failings of Jacob, God proves Himself faithful to His promises,
and to Jacob. Jacob and the family, and wealth that he has accumulated are
preparing to return to his homeland, and family. The portion begins with
Jacob's acknowledgement of God's faithfulness. Yet despite that
acknowledgement, Jacob still feels the need to take out a bit of insurance.
His inclination to control events still prevails. He will placate his brother
with gifts, while at the same time splitting his company in two just in case
his brother remains hostile. Always looking to rely just a bit too much on
himself, he has still not fully come to realize the true power of God in his
life. But things are about to change. In preparing to meet his brother Jacob
arranges to have his family sent ahead of him. We are told "Then Jacob
was left alone" (Gen.32:24).
Here alone in the wilderness is the place where we finally meet God.
Stripped of all pretense and protection, the masks that we wear must fall
away. Perhaps this is why the wilderness experience is so crucial in the lives
of so many of the great ones of God's people, from Moses to Yeshua, God has
used the wilderness to reveal Himself to His people. But it remains a struggle
for Jacob. As he has done all of his life he wrestles with the
"man", to claim for himself what he believes to be his. But there is
a flaw in his thinking. God has already determined that the blessing belongs
to him. If only he could receive the gift, rather than trying to wrestle it
away from the man, he would find the fullness of the blessing God wishes to
bestow on him. This is the very
problem that all of us face in our dealings with one another, and even in our
relationship with God. Rather than being able to receive from the other what
they might freely give to us, we all too often insist on taking it, even by
force if necessary. As a result of
the struggle, Jacob we are told does "prevail" His desire for the
blessing, and God's desire for him to have it overcome his need to control
events. But, I submit, there was no need for him to have struggled and
suffered so much for the promises that were guaranteed to him by God. There
would have been a better way. If only Jacob could have allowed himself to
submit to God. To believe in the destiny that God Himself had planned for him.
There would have been no need to manipulate his brother, or deceive his
father. Nor would he have had to separate from his mother, or to leave home
penniless. There would have been no need to live under the tyranny of his
uncle Laban, or the fear and worry of returning to meet his brother Esau.
Instead, trusting in the provision and protection of God, Jacob could have
lived his life in the fullness of God's blessing, waiting patiently for God's
timing to bring about his destiny. But perhaps there is no other way for us to
really come to the place in our lives where finally we recognize that God must
be in control of our lives. Perhaps it is through the struggle that we come to
know that without the mark of God on us, we will never truly know who we
really
are.