But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal. John 12:25 (MSG)
Jacob and Esau – Jacob Series – Part 2
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
It’s easy to take sides when we read the story of Jacob and Esau. I’ve heard Jacob called many different things, but it's not often that we read the scriptures empathically, trying to put ourselves in the story, and ‘feel' the lessons ‘journeyed out' by its characters.
There's an amazing Jewish method when approaching and interpreting the Biblical text and it comes from the word “Pardes.” In Hebrew and Aramaic, it's spelled without any vowels, PRDS, and works as an acronym for their approach to Scripture:
Peshat: meaning “surface, straight,” refers to the literal meaning – the “first reading meaning.”
Remez: meaning “hints,” refers to the deep, hidden and symbolic meaning beyond the literal sense. “Is there something else going on here?”
Derash: comes from the Hebrew word “darash,” meaning “to inquire and seek.” It's the seeking of the comparative (Midrashic) meaning – how does it connect and compare with other parts of the whole biblical text? The narrative as a whole (For instance, Jacob and Esau compared to the Parable of the Lost Son)? How does it fit together (or not *wink*)?
Sod: meaning “secret, mystery.” This is the deepest level of interpretation. It’s the esoteric/mystical meaning found through inspiration or revelation.
You journey through the first three steps to arrive at the fourth level of personal application and revelation. But that doesn’t mean you’ve arrived at the FINAL interpretation. Every year, Jews read the same passages of scripture with the sense that there is even more to be found within them then what they discovered the year before. In a service, after they’ve read from the Torah, they return it to its holding place and say a blessing over it: “It is a tree of life to them who hold it fast.” A tree of life that is ever growing, alive and active, full of movement and color and light.
(In a sense, Pocketfuel is our own way of following these four steps – perhaps in a mixed up, unordered kind of way. We’re not theologians, or pastors, or people with special degrees. We’re just two people who are passionate about searching out the mystery as best we can with as many people as we can. I think too often, we get lulled into a kind of life that doesn’t dig deep. There is so much going on that we rarely ask questions, we rarely go on spiritual quests. We’d much rather think that we have arrived at our destination, when the truth is, meeting Jesus is just the first step in our quest. And there is much to discover.)
Back to Genesis 27…
Jacob and Esau made a deal with a bowl of soup for a “first born's birthright.” Years later, their father Isaac was dying and it was time for him to place the blessing upon his firstborn. Through the meddling of his mother, and a whole series of events, Jacob presented himself before his blind and fading father, pretending to be someone else, and calling himself by another name.
“I’m your firstborn son, Esau.” He said.
Oh, how many times I wish I had another name. To be in the shoes of someone more fortunate than me. How many times have I plotted and planned to get what I thought I deserved? How often have I struggled with my identity?
Yes, Jacob deceived his father. And you could stop thinking right there. But what was behind the deception? Why was he doing it?
Jacob was a lot like you and I. He wanted more. He believed he deserved more. And he was willing to do whatever it took to get it.
We live in a world corrupted with “whatever is takes to get to the top.” There are nations and people and cultures and groups and religions and all kinds of contentions that are fighting for first place. We think that on the platform of ‘first-ness' we will finally be able to take a breath.
Generations after Jacob and Esau, Jesus said to his friends, who were struggling to find their place in the world, “In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.” (John 12:25 MSG).
Over to you! Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Go to Part 3 – Bless me »
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