Toldot/Generations
- Genesis 25:19-28:9
- Malachi 1:1-2:7
This week’s torah portion contains a story of two brothers that prompted me to come up with a slogan that I have used for years and will explain as we go: “Don’t eat the Porridge!”. I can already ‘see’ my wife Christie’s face when I tell her what I have written…she won’t be able to hide her ‘knowing’ smile. It’s such a blessing to have such a special wife that can communicate appreciation and love in a little glance and smile: God is so good! Anyway, onward through the portions this week! I will start at the end of the ‘story’ rather than the beginning; in Malachi we have our two protagonists viewed through the lens of history, so to speak, as the Lord God Almighty appraises their heritage, as expressed in their descendants lives; not a very ‘happy’ picture! Not surprisingly, for reasons I hope to later explain, Esau or Edom as his family is referred to by the Lord, doesn’t exist in a very good light, and in fact the Holy One of Israel, in verse 3 of Malachi 1 says: “…But Esau I have hated.”. Not a great tattoo or headstone slogan to be remembered by. Yet though God says, “…Jacob I loved”, he and his later offspring didn’t live up to the ‘billing’ that the Lord God of Israel had given him. We probably can’t even begin to feel the Lord’s disappointment and even frustration (if He were a mere mortal, of course), with Jacob’s ‘downstream’ family. God even, in a way ‘slaps’ him by saying: Malachi 1:11 “My Name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered in my Name”. A little context here; Gentiles were considered so unclean that a Jew couldn’t even have a meal with one; let alone they ‘name’ the Name of the One and Only True God, and further to even consider seeing them burning incense to Him; which only the most holy of Jews, as priests, could do. Wow, what a punch in the gut! There are numerous of these ‘punches’ and ‘slaps’ in the text, but I have to move on; or rather, move back to the beginning of the torah portion. So where did I get this idea of the porridge? The ‘short’ version is that since Esau was the firstborn, he got the father’s blessing; Jacob however (with his mother’s prodding) felt that it should have been his. Jacob even tried to get out of the womb first (twins) but had to settle for second… Esau was more of a ‘man of the earth’ type character and in some ways was probably less concerned with spiritual matters that the father’s blessing conveyed. I may be taking some ‘liberty’ here with the text, but one day Esau was hungry and desired a hearty stew (porridge) for his manly appetite. This opened what seems like an unlikely opportunity for Jacob to essentially ‘steal’ the birthright from his twin brother. Jacob thus cunningly offers to make Esau one of his favorite meals, in exchange for the father’s first son’s blessing. You might even be wondering, how that would even work, but that is another part of the intrigue of the text that I have to skip for now. Anyway, in an incredibly self-centered moment, Esau agrees to the ‘exchange’. I will now, cut to the chase for the sake of time and space. Why would an individual give up a spiritual blessing, for mere food? Exactly! What does that ‘speak’ to us?
Basically, as I see it; Esau couldn’t appreciate the ‘unseen’ (things of the Spirit) and was ‘mired’ in valuing only the tangible things of this life! It was more than just being hungry that tripped him up; he couldn’t ‘see’ the blessing of the Holy One of Israel, he couldn’t ‘weigh’ in the scales of his heart, what really mattered and had eternal value. So, my ‘word’ to us all: “Don’t eat the porridge!” Don’t just focus on our cravings and desires and miss the blessing of the Spirit of God… by john eisner
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