Genesis Roots: Jacob Flees the Wrath of Esau and Dreams of God

This week we continue my summer lectionary series called "Genesis Roots."  The word genesis means origin, beginning, or birth.  Root, in the context in which I'm writing, means essential core or source of life. In a way, the roots of the story of monotheistic faith rest in the stories we find in Genesis.

Younger brother Jacob (Rebekah's "favorite" son) is on the run from his "older" twin brother Esau (Isaac's "favorite" son)!  In our reading last week, Jacob had stolen Esau's birthright to him for a bowl of stew.  This week our story picks up right after Rebekah has helped Jacob tricked Isaac into giving Esau's "blessing" to Jacob as well.  Jacob has stolen everything from his brother, and Esau is angry enough to kill Jacob so Rebekah sends Jacob to Haran to find a wife from her family.

Jacob is what literary types label as "trickster."  A trickster is one who upsets normal rules of living by means of clever behavior.  They can also be the ones who drive the story from the edges!  And there is plenty of story yet to come.  In the fullness of time and maturity, Jacob fulfills God's plan for his life according to the bible story.  God re-names him "Israel" as he becomes the father of the Israelite people.  That ending is really hard to see from where we are now.   In our reading for this week, we drop in on Jacob just as he has run in the direction of Haran.

• Who do you identify with at this point in the story, Jacob or Esau?
• Do you generally take the part of the trickster or the tricked in your life?
• How does God come to you when you are fleeing your life?

I invite you to spend a few moments preparing your heart to worship God as you engage with the text via Lectio Divina.   Breathe deeply and envision God’s Spirit filling you with gratitude and grace.  Settle into a place of peace within yourself with a simple breath prayer.  Use this one or create your own.

Breathing in (who do you worship?)   ... God of gossamer strands
Breathing out (what do you need?)     ... weave your story in my dreams 

and when you are ready to move deeper into the text, pray ... Dream-Weaving God, I hear you calling me from the delicate edges of myself to move to the center of my soul.  When I play the trickster in my life, forgive me and use my circumstances to draw me close to you and to help me grow.  In Christ, Amen. 

Step 1: Lectio … Reading
Read  Genesis 28:10-19a (NET) slowly, taking in the story that is unfolding.
Listen for a word or phrase that catches your attention.
Silently focus on that word or phrase or perhaps an image that is forming.
Sit with your word or phrase or image for as long as seems good to you.
Allow it to sift through your heart and mind.
Let the story come alive in your soul through that word, phrase, image.

Click here to read in original Lectio Version: The VOICE Bible

Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. He reached a certain place where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones and placed it near his head. Then he fell asleep in that place  and had a dream. He saw a stairway erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it 13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants.  I am with you! I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

Then Jacob woke up and thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

Early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had placed near his head and set it up as a sacred stone. Then he poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel [which means House of God]

Step 2: Meditatio … Receiving
Continue to focus on your word or phrase or image.
Pay attention to the thoughts and feelings it evokes.
What memories come to your mind?
Ask God to continue to speak to you and reveal your path.
Listen and watch for God’s mysterious presence as you move through your day

Step 3: Oratio … Responding
Consider any desires that have been awakened by your prayer
Perhaps you have found an area of your life that needs attention
Do not rush ... wait and listen as God forms your prayers and desires

Step 4: Contempatio … Resting
Allow your word, phrase or image to fall away ...

To end your time of praying the scripture, engage with this beautiful verse from Psalm 46:10a

Be Still and Know that I am God ... silence

Be Still and Know that I am ... silence

Be Still and Know ... silence

Be Still ... silence

Be ... silence

silence

Allow yourself to rest in the silence for as long as it invites you     

If images are a pathway to God for you, you may want to pray while "gazing" upon this image from the Morgan Picture Bible.  Click on Folio 4r to see the whole page which consists of 4 images, 3 of which refer to the stories of Jacob from these last couple of weeks.  The Morgan Picture Bible, c. 1240s, is a medieval picture Bible of 46 folios, 43 of which are kept in the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum in New York.  It originally consisted entirely of images but eventually Latin inscriptions were made in the margins, followed by Persian and then finally Judeo-Persian.   You can find more information about the bible and images by taking the Link above. 

By Anonymous (The Morgan Bible [1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

If music is a pathway to God for you, listen to this beautiful song by The Fray called Be Still.  The video is so hauntingly simple.  Black background with white letting infuses the presentation with soul and I can feel myself sitting with Jacob on the stones at Bethel, in the "house of God."  And there really isn't anything better than being able to sit within the story with someone who has been touched by God.