Tag: fear

Mixed Feelings

Posted on by jovial_cynic

וַיָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ הַמַּלְאָכִ֔ים אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֖ב לֵאמֹ֑ר בָּ֤אנוּ אֶל־אָחִ֙יךָ֙ אֶל־עֵשָׂ֔ו וְגַם֙ הֹלֵ֣ךְ לִקְרָֽאתְךָ֔ וְאַרְבַּע־מֵא֥וֹת אִ֖ישׁ עִמּֽוֹ׃

The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau; he himself is coming to meet you, and his retinue numbers four hundred.”
Genesis 32:7 (6) (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

A slow read of the story of Jacob (and Esau) shows you that the text is meant to unfurl line by line, thought by thought. You are meant to chew on every single word.

The messengers in the story bring back a report, but the report is intentionally ambiguous. There are so many hidden gems that show this.

For starters, the phrase “your brother Esau” contains the hebrew pointer (אל) for both “brother” and “Esau” separately. This is redundant, and it points to a duality. It reads something like “your brother, also Esau,” as though it is teaching us that the messengers are hinting at the dual nature and dual view of Esau: yes – he is your brother (good), but he is also Esau (wicked).

The text also gives us an interesting push-pull tension. The messengers say ” we went to him, and he is coming to you.” This isn’t written as a sequence of events. There are no causal-words. It’s like they are happening simultaneously.

“his retinue (men, but can also be ‘people’) number 400” carries no clear indicator of hostility or friendliness, but the rabbis see both implications.

They look at Numbers 20:20 and see the same language used to describe Esau coming out in force against Israel.

But they also look at Exodus 4:14 when Aaron comes to meet Moses, and the wording is associated with joy.

It appears intentionally unclear.

“he himself is coming” is actually “and also he is coming,” which has lead some rabbis to see another strange clue in a redundant word.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that one interpretation is that part of the storytelling of this section involves the unseen guardian angel of Esau – Samael. This angel is known as the accuser of Israel. The scriptures don’t teach this explictly, but it does serve as a functional teaching device, especially when you consider Jacob’s reaction.

Likely, you know the story and how it unfolds. Esau does not attack Jacob, but meets him with a loving embrace and celebration. But if you read it line by line, it’s clear that Jacob believes that Esau is going to attack him. In fact, the whole remainder of the chapter is Jacob wrestling with this fear.

What’s fascinating to remember is that Jacob is not really worried that Esau is evil. He is worried that Esau wants vengeance because of what JACOB did.

The teaching of “Samael, the guardian angel of Esau” shows us that Jacob’s fear is tied to an *accusation.* Jacob is wrestling with the harm that he did to his brother in the taking of the birthright and the blessing.

This wrestling turns into a physical wrestling with an unidentified angel later in the chapter. Rather than turn away and run, Jacob will meet his brother and accept whatever consequence is coming to him. He doesn’t know what will happen. It can go either way.

That’s the point.

Deferring to Esau

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He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now.
Genesis 32:4 (NIV)

Why does Jacob defer to Esau here in Genesis 32? Is it merely fear, or is there a pattern being set that we are meant to notice?

Obviously, part of scripture-study is about the narrative itself. Jacob *is* afraid. Verse 7 and 11 spell this out quite clearly.

In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well.
Genesis 32:7 (NIV)
Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.
Genesis 32:11 (NIV)

But there’s a hidden little gem here that points to one the 10 Commandments: “You shall honor your father and mother.” The “AND” in Hebrew is doing something unusual in this commandment. You can’t see it in English, but in Hebrew, there’s something… extra.

The hebrew of “Honor your Father and Mother” is “כַּבֵּד אֶת אָבִיךָ וְאֶת אִמֶּךָ,” and it literally (word for word) is this:
honor (כַּבֵּד)
[object marker; not a word] (אֶת)
father (אָבִיךָ)
and + [object marker; not a word] (וְאֶת) <— weird.
mother (אִמֶּךָ)

In hebrew, the second object marker isn’t necessary. It’s already obvious in the text that both father and mother are the objects in question.

It’s something like this:
Honor (now I’m talking about the next object ->) father and (now I’m talking about the next object ->) mother.
But it could have (and should have?) been like this:
Honor (now I’m talking about the objects) [father and mother].

The rabbis say that this is important. Torah is telling us something, and we should wonder what it means. Their conclusion is this: Torah has given us extra room in the commandment, and we should fill that extra room.
They fill it with this: “…and also honor your oldest brother.”

Therefore, when Jacob lowers himself before Esau, referring to himself as “servant” and to Esau as “lord,” he is not merely being humble. He’s not merely acting out of fear. The text is also teaching us that the fuller meaning of the Commandment is to honor those in a position of authority over you. Hence the “long life” promise.

This also fits quite nicely in my personal view that the command to honor your father and mother is really a command to forgive them. Older siblings, too.

Fear and Faith

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
Genesis 31:3 (NIV)

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.Genesis 31:13 (NIV)

In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well.Genesis 32:7 (NIV)

It is perfectly ok to be afraid.

Those Who Wander

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I think we’re meant to understand that the characters in Genesis know the previous stories in the text. Noah likely knows about the Garden of Eden; Abraham knows about the Flood.

And I think Sarah kicks Ishmael out because she knows the story of Cain and Abel. She’s afraid.

I think this is also a cipher. The text points back, not just to give us some extra character detail, but to tell *us* to look back at what is happening.

Ishmael and Isaac are linked to Cain and Abel.

We wonder about Cain’s offering and how God feels about him, but the text isn’t clear. We know that Cain left the face, or presence, of God, and God placed a mark of protection on him.

Does God love Cain? Is Cain in God’s heart, despite Cain’s wandering?

Perhaps this story of Ishmael’s exile gives us a clue.

Hagar and Ishmael are גָּרַשׁ (garash) “driven out” from Abraham’s household. It’s this same word in Gen 3:24 when Adam and Eve are exiled from the garden. It’s also the same word Cain uses when he wanders in Gen 4:13.

If these stories are linked, the way God treats Ishmael tells us how he viewed Cain and how he viewed Adam and Eve.

God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Genesis 21:17-21 (NASB)

And perhaps how he views us when we wander.

Motivated by Fear

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And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you encountered, that you have done this thing?” Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.
Genesis 20:10-11 (NASB)

In Hebrew, Abimelech actually asks “מָ֣ה רָאִ֔יתָ,” which means “What did you see?”

Abraham’s response is often written as “I thought,” but it is אָמַ֗רְתִּי, which actually means “I said,” which means he told his people.

Notice that Abraham never actually answers Abimelech’s question. Perhaps he didn’t actually see anything. He was simply afraid.

The Men were Afraid

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So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.
Genesis 20:8 (NKJV)

Why does the text tell us that Abemelech’s men were afraid?

In this chapter, we read that God appeared to Abimelech by dream and threatened his life unless he returned Sarah to Abraham. Abimelech tells his servants, and then the text says that “the men” were afraid.

There are speculations about the precise locations of Gerar (likely near the Negev region in Southen Israel) and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (near the Dead Sea), but it’s assumed that the places were about 40 to 50 miles from one another.

The rabbis note that by the time Abraham arrives, the people of Gerar could still see the smoke from the burning cities.

Perhaps the arrival of a prophet of the God who destroyed the cities was enough to terrify everyone. But the text doesn’t say “everyone” was afraid. It doesn’t give a vague pronoun here, even though it could have.

It said “and the MEN” were very afraid.

While the commentaries don’t say this, I wonder if “the men” are mentioned here to tie us back to the cities that were destroyed. There were wicked men in Sodom and Gomorrah, and perhaps the men here considered their own life choices and wondered if they were next.

One Jewish commentary says that perhaps the men were afraid that Abraham would not intercede for them and shield them from doom.

The men were very frightened. They were afraid that Avraham would refuse to pray for them.
Haamek Davar on Genesis 20:8:1

We already know that Abraham is a man who pleads on behalf of others. Perhaps here, God is teaching him to pray not just for his own people, but for the well-being and protection of others as well.

Fear Not

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He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Genesis 3:10 (NIV)

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Genesis 15:1 (NIV)

If you study it from the beginning, you’ll see that Genesis 15 is speaking directly to the things of Genesis 3.

These are the first two instances of this word “afraid” in scripture.

Authority to Rule Rightly

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Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.

Immediately after God blesses Noah and his sons in Genesis 9, we are given this strange and dark change: the animals of the world will view humanity with FEAR and DREAD.

In the Midrash, the rabbis note the change from Genesis 1, where humanity was blessed, told to be fruitful & increase and fill the earth, but were specifically given the authority/dominion over the animals. To RULE over them.

This authority to RULE appears to have been lost.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 1:28 (NIV)

This word “rule” (רָדָה, “radah”) is used a few more times in the Scriptures, but it isn’t shown to be restored or given back to humanity until Numbers 24, in the oddest way. It’s from Balaam, when he tries to CURSE Israel, and God turns the curse into a blessing:

“I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a scepter will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls of all the people of Sheth.
Edom will be conquered;
Seir, his enemy, will be conquered,
but Israel will grow strong.
A ruler will come out of Jacob
and destroy the survivors of the city.”
Numbers 24:17-19 (NIV)

The Christian sees Jesus in this, whereas some Jews point to King David or future Messiah.

In the Messiah interpretation, it points to a future when God’s own hand empowers a star to rise from Jacob’s bloodline with the scepter of authority. To rule RIGHTLY.

This Ruler will not rule creation with FEAR and DREAD the way humanity will wield it, as expressed in Genesis 9. The Ruler will rule creation the way God intended in Genesis 1.

Of course, someone will note that the Balaam prophecy looks a lot like “FEAR” and “DREAD” for the enemies of God’s people.

Yes. But the “enemies of God’s people” are spiritual things, not nations or tribes or people. This is a parable.