And once again the oldest sibling rivalry on earth, dating back centuries before the birth of Christ, is churning up for some action. Twin brothers and religious (and political) patriarchs Jacob and Esau, grandsons of Abraham who is noted of being the "father of many nations (Genesis 17:5)"; actually began their beef in their mothers' (Rebekah) womb (Genesis 25:23-26). These extremely unique beginnings would more than likely lead to a volatile relationship between any set of twin brothers; but with a grandfather who had such a proclamation on his life and family, another layer is added. Without spending a huge amount of key strokes describing the story, I encourage you to read Genesis 17 - 27 to get a gist of the relationship between the boys. We'll get into the "last straw" between Jacob and Esau in a minute; but some fun facts to note about them:
*2 of the 3 Abrahamic religions come from Jacob (Judaism and Christianity)
*Islam, 1 of the 3 Abrahamic religions, is practiced by nationalities and ethnic groups derived from the lineage of Esau.
*Jacob is the father of a nation and ethnic group Israel (Hebraic Jews)
*Esau is the father of the ancient kingdom of Edom; which is the father of past nations and several ethnic groups (Palestinians, some Europeans, Turks, etc.)
It could be said that Esau and Jacob had underlying animosity towards each other as young children and teenagers for plenty of reasons. And this seems to climax in Genesis 27, where Jacob, as directed by his mother, disguised himself as his brother in order to receive a monumental blessing from his dying father. Again, get your read on to get the full story--but for the sake of this work, let's look at the blessings issued by Issac, the boys' father.
Issac declared that God would give Jacob "heaven's dew and the earth's richness" and that "nations would serve" under him and "bow down to him." He capped it off by saying, "be lord over your brothers and may the sons of your mother bow down to you." When Esau approached to get his blessing (which he thought was that blessing) he instead received this: "Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of heaven above. You will live by the sword and serve your brother; but when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck."
Although the opposition between Esau and Jacob (Palestinians and Israelis) has never died out or down, and the Palestinians have certainly been living by the sword, most of us know that this "throwing" the yoke off his picked up the pace around post World War II, when victorious countries began carving out the state of Israel for the displaced and surrounding Jews--and there hasn't been much let up ever since. We also know that the United States has openly made Israel an ally for this nearly 70 year period--which can rightly classify the U.S. as at least a piece of the "yoke." The restlessness that Issac pronounced for Esau is manifested in the majority of the unrest in the Middle East and in all of the aggression (physical, verbal) towards the Israelis and Jews from the earlier identified peoples world wide. Frankly, the determination of Esau and later Edom has been a proponent of anti-Semitic views for thousands of years. This latest action of Palestinians wanting their own official state confirms that the restlessness is real and moving the world to the last three innings of the ball game.
What's the meaning of all this? Do I feel the U.S. Administration should stay out of it? Of course I do, because a hot conflict is inevitable--but it may be more damaging for the U.S. to pull away at this point. Does this mean that the world is coming to an end? Not necessarily, but it is an indicator of some violent times over there that will definitely impact our sons and daughters. Because you best believe the yoke will come off by force, and with that will come a certain level of retaliation fueled by entitlement and resentment. Due to the fact that the "greatest country in the world" more than likely be yoke status, be prepared for whatever president that's in office sending America's budding young adults to the Holy Land when cars start exploding around the West Bank and Gaza.
Vote very wisely.
Peace
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