Heroes of Israel. Theodore Gerald Soares
seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not." And he was afraid, and said, "How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."
THE MEANING OF THE STORY
31. No man is altogether good and no one is wholly bad. Good and evil struggle for the mastery in us. Jacob is a man in whom this is very clearly seen. He was the twin brother of Esau, but Esau had the right of the oldest son. This was called the birthright. It was very important in that day. It meant that after the father's death Esau would become the head of the tribe, and would have twice as much of the property as his brother. Jacob did not like this and began to scheme to get the better of his brother.
32 (§10). What was the difference between the two men?
33 (§10). Tell the story of the hunting day and how Jacob sold the food to his brother.
34 (§10). What do you think of Esau in this affair? He gave up a great future for a little satisfaction.
35 (§10). Jacob was "smart" or "clever" in his bargain. Was he brotherly? Is it honest to charge all that you can get for something that people must have?
36 (§11A). The last solemn blessing of the head of the tribe was considered very important. How did Isaac arrange that it should be given to Esau?
37 (§11B). There was a wretched favoritism in this family. What was Rebekah's scheme to get the blessing for her favorite? Tell the story.
38 (§11C). Picture the blind old father and the crafty son coming to him. How did he secure the blessing? Notice how one wrong leads to another.
39 (§11D). Tell the story of Esau's bitter disappointment.
40 (§11E). What revenge did Esau plan? Rebekah was afraid: what advice did she give to Jacob? When the man had to flee for his life, how much had he gained by his deception? Do the "smart" men always win? If they do is it worth while?
41 (§12). The Lord is wonderfully forgiving, and he still wanted to lead Jacob to a noble life. Follow the journey on the map. What did Jacob do when night overtook him? There are great rocks at Beth-el that look something like a huge staircase. How did these form themselves in Jacob's dream? This is a simple, beautiful story of the old time when men thought they saw God in dreams. Tell the whole story in your own words.
42 (§12). What promise did the Lord give him? What vow did Jacob make?
WRITTEN REVIEW
Call to mind the meaning of magnanimous. Taking advantage of another's need as Jacob took advantage of Esau is the opposite of magnanimous. When the earthquake occurred in San Francisco some stores that had bread put up the price so high that very few could buy it. Soldiers compelled them to sell it for the regular price. How were those storekeepers like Jacob? Why was their conduct wrong? Write the answers to these two questions in your notebook.
V. ISRAEL, THE GODLY
THE STORY
§13. Jacob's Return after Twenty Years (Gen. 29:1, 16, 23, 28; 30:43; 31:17, 18)
And Jacob came to the land of the children of the East. And he served Laban, his mother's brother. And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. And Laban gave his two daughters to Jacob to be his wives.
And Jacob increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses.
And after twenty years Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon the camels; and he carried away all his cattle, and all his substance which he had gathered to go unto the land of Canaan.
§14. Jacob's Fear of Esau (Gen. 32:1-21)
A. THE MESSAGE TO ESAU
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir. And he commanded them, saying, "Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau, 'Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now: and I have oxen, and asses and flocks, and menservants and maidservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.'"
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him."
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; and he said, "If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape."
B. JACOB'S PRAYER
And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, which saidst unto me, 'Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good': I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children. And thou saidst, 'I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'"
C. THE PRESENT TO ESAU
And he lodged there that night; and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother; two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and said unto his servants, "Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove."
And he commanded the foremost, saying, "When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, 'Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?' then thou shalt say, 'They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he also is behind us.'"
And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, "On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him; and ye shall say, 'Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me."