Full Transcript for From Eden to Esau: The Spiritual Power of Eating and Desire in Scripture

follow me sections with the application of how that section of reading, how does it apply to your life? 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:41.280 And have you noticed that if you're diligent in your come follow me, your life kind of plays out into the theme? 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:42.319 That's a really good point. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:42.639 Yes. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:43.759 I hadn't thought about that. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:44.400 It does. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:45.599 Like it kind of plays out. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:47.280 Your life becomes scripture in a way. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:47.520 Yes. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:48.319 So true. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:49.039 I love that. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:50.879 That's a really, really good point. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:59.199 Well, in preparing for this podcast, I read several rabbis through about the Parashat Toldat. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:06.240 And so I want to start off by reading parts of a commentary by Rabbi Yitzhak Arya Strymber. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:06.719 Okay. 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:07.680 And this is it. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:19.680 In the beginning of this week's Torah reading, Isav or Esau sold his firstborn status to his brother Yaakov, Jacob, in exchange for a dish of lentils. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:30.719 This verse says that Isav despised the firstborn status, meaning he despised the special service of God, which was created to the one who had the firstborn status. 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:39.919 In the end of this week's Torah reading, he regretted the sale and claimed that Yaakov had tricked him for having him to sell his firstborn status. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:49.280 This, says Rabbeinu Bekai, is a typical example of how the Yetzer Hera or the evil inclination works. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:59.120 The Yetzer Hera convinces a person to follow his lusts and fulfill his desires in life, which causes him to despise the service of God. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:04.319 At the time he does so, he feels like he is taking advantage of life and enjoying himself. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:09.360 But in the end, he will regret it and feel very pained about what he has done. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:14.560 Heeding the Yetzer Hera provides a fleeting sense of pleasure and satisfaction. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:18.480 But in the long run, he will not be happy with himself. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:28.959 The Birchas Peretz adds that Isav claimed that his brother Yaakov had tricked him, but in reality, he is the one who tricked himself. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:33.680 He fooled himself into thinking that he was getting the better end of the deal. 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:39.839 But the Midrash says that he mocked Yaakov and felt like he was taking advantage of Yaakov. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.879 And in the end, he realized that he had acted foolishly, but it was too late. 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:47.839 It wasn't just Esau who acted like this. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:56.160 People decide to indulge in materialistic pleasures instead of taking the time to study Torah and pursue other mitzvot or good deeds. 00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:58.639 At the time they do so, they feel good. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:10.720 They feel like they succeeded in living it up, but sooner or later they are left with a guilty feeling of emptiness and are consumed with guilt, ill feelings which outweigh all the pleasure they had at the time. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:12.720 They also trick themselves. 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:24.639 And as bad as one feels in this world, the real regret will be in the next world when one sees with clarity how foolish he was for giving up infinite goodness for some fleeting pleasure. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:27.279 That's the end of his little discussion. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:40.160 So what was interesting to me as I read this was that uh Rabbi Strember, he highlights something that suddenly struck me as I was reading chapters 25 and 27. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:46.079 And that was the role that appetite plays in these chapters. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.160 I suddenly really noticed that. 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:56.800 So I'm gonna run through what I noticed in Genesis chapter 25, and this is what it says. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:02.319 In chapter 25, verse 28, it says this. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:09.759 And Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his wild game. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:12.879 And the word for wild game is Said. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:15.120 That really struck me. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:21.199 Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his wild game, his Said. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:30.079 Well, then in chapter 27, verse 2, we read, Isaac said, Since I am so old, I could die at any time. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:40.639 Therefore, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game, some tzaid for me. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:45.600 Then prepare for me some savory food, matam. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:50.000 That's the Hebrew word, the kind that I love, and bring it to me. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:56.000 Then I will eat it so that I may bless barak you before I die. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:03.199 And then in verse 7, Rebecca repeats almost verbatim to Joseph what Isaac had said. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:15.439 This is what she says: Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, bring me some wild game, Saeed, and prepare for me some savory food, Matam. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.759 Then I will eat it and bless Barak you. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:35.120 In verse 9, go now to the flock and bring from their two kids, kids of the goat, and I will make from them savory food, matam, for your brother, such as he loves. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:36.560 Verse 14. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.319 And Jacob went and fetched and brought them to his mother. 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:44.959 Now that is so interesting because it parallels how Rebecca acts. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:47.120 We talked about that in the last one at the

well. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:49.439 Rebecca is just this whirl of activity. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:54.000 And then now Jacob goes and he went, fetched, and brought. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:58.000 And now his mom's going to be a whirl of activity again in preparing the meal. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:04.959 And it says then, and his mother made savory food, matam, such as his father loved. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:06.319 Verse 17. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:11.519 Rebecca gives Jacob the savory food, matam, that she prepared. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:12.720 Verse 19. 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:19.360 Jacob takes the food into Isaac and deceives him, saying, I am Esau, your firstborn. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.199 I've done as you told me. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:28.800 Now sit up and eat some of my wild game, Saeed, so that you can bless Barachmi. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:30.399 Verse 25. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:40.000 Isaac says, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's wild game, Sa'id, that my soul may bless Barachdi. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:41.679 Verse 31. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:46.960 Esau comes back from hunting and he makes savory food, Matam. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:57.759 He brings it to Isaac, and he says to Isaac, the same thing that Jacob said, My father, sit up and eat some of your son's wild game, Saeed. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.879 Then you can bless Barachmi. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:06.720 Isaac realizes something is very wrong, and he asks, Who are you? 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:13.519 And Esau replies, just as Jacob had done, I am Esau, your firstborn. 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:19.759 And then there's this poignant scene where Isaac is trembling exceedingly. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:34.720 He baraked him. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:46.320 And then Esau cried with a great cry, exceedingly bitter, and said, Bless me also, my father. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:47.679 It's so sad. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:57.200 Isaac tells him, Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing, and the word for blessing, Berakah. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:03.519 And Esau said, Is not he rightly called by the name Ya'a'kov? 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:11.519 For he has supplanted Akhav, which means to take by the heel, to supplant, these two times. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:14.000 It's such a sad, sad story. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:19.679 And there are obviously some very, very healthy, unhealthy family dynamics going on here. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:31.360 But what I noticed in chapter 25 and 27 is that Isaac loved Esau because of the food. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:32.000 Okay. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:36.000 The Zaid or the Maqtam that Esau provided him. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.240 He provides him wild game, Zaid. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:43.120 And in the very next verse, it says that Jacob was cooking food. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:47.200 He's cooking a mess of pottage or stew, however your translation. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:50.720 When Esau is born, he's described as red. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:11:00.240 And when he asks Jacob for some of the stew, he says, literally, feed me, please, with this red, red stuff, because I'm starving. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:06.000 And it really struck me in reading chapters 25 and 27 that food was playing a big part. 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:10.080 So remember, we talked about in the first part of this podcast. 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:15.759 When you see repetition, the author is telling you, pay attention. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:18.879 And so I was paying attention. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:19.440 Yes. 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:23.360 And I thought there's a lot about food in here. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:23.840 Yeah. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:29.679 And I looked into this, and sure enough, other scholars have noticed this because there is nothing new under the sun. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:30.000 Yes. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:32.639 As Ecclesiastes tells us, I'm not that unique. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:33.840 So I looked into it. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:43.759 I found there are several biblical scholars that see food and appetite as a narrative device connecting several scenes in these chapters. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:54.799 And they also know that Isaac's favoritism, just like I said, it comes from his enjoyment of Esau's savory food, his meat, his Zaid. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:01.039 Well, and also probably the eating together and the time that they're spending together. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:01.519 Yeah. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:02.000 Yeah. 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:04.080 Now we don't know on that because it doesn't say that. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:07.440 All it says is he loved him because he provided food. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:08.159 Got it. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:10.080 So that's what's interesting. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:19.519 So they conclude that there is a theme of physical appetite that shapes the family dynamics and the inheritance. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:20.960 They talk about this fact. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:30.240 The Jacob-Esau cycle is structured using the literary pattern of meal scenes and appetite to organize the story. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:35.120 So, first of all, appetite creates favoritism. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:41.519 Isaac loves Esau because he eats his wild game, his Zaid. 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:44.559 And that's Genesis 25 and 28. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:45.039 Okay. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:49.200 Appetite transfers the birthright. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:53.600 Esau sells the birthright for lentil stew because he's starving. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.960 And that's in Genesis 25, 29 through 34. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:02.960 Then the third thing, appetite becomes the condition for blessing. 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:09.600 Isaac requests Zaeid, venison, before he will give a blessing. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:12.960 And that's in Genesis 27, verses 3 through 4. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:16.960 And then food enables the deception. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:21.600 Rebecca prepares goat

meat disguised as venison. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:27.759 And then Jacob is able to deceive Isaac because of the food. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:32.559 So every turning point in this story involves food. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:33.039 Yeah. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:38.240 The repetition of meals turns food into the mechanism through which inheritance passes. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:43.279 Gordon Wenham, who's a really good scholar, I think. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:47.360 He's coming from the evangelical Protestant perspective. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:55.039 But anyway, in his biblical commentary, the biblical commentary that he wrote on Genesis, he notes this ironic narrative structure. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:14:00.000 The appetite repeatedly determines who receives the blessing. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:05.200 And he highlights the contrast between the brothers' relationships to food. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:08.720 Esau is a hunter who provides food. 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:11.360 Jacob is a pastoralist, right? 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.879 Like he's tending the sheep and everything, who cooks food. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:20.799 And Gordon Winham argues that this distinction frames the entire narrative cycle. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:30.480 He says that Esau's impulsive appetite explains why he sells the birthright and ultimately loses the blessing. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:37.200 This story repeatedly shows food influencing major covenantal decisions. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:44.000 The narrative contrasts short-term bodily desire versus covenantal value. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:48.080 The Genesis text itself emphasizes the result. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:53.039 Quote, thus Esau despised his birthright. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:15:01.519 Now remember, it is not common for biblical authors to make a didactic point. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:05.759 It is not common for them to say, this is why this occurred. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:06.240 Okay. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:06.720 Okay. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:14.639 So when it does happen, like in describing Rebecca as not only a virgin, but a virgin who had never known a man. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:16.240 Like that's very specific. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:16.799 Yeah. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:21.039 They're telling, they're describing her instead of letting the dialogue describe her. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:22.639 This is the point that they're making. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:24.559 Esau despised his birthday. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:38.399 So Gordon Wenham argues, and this is what it initially occurred to me, that the text is also subtly criticizing Isaac as well as Esau, because Isaac is also influenced by his appetite. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:47.519 Scholars will argue that this food motif illustrates, first of all, that it illustrates immediate appetite versus covenantal inheritance. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:51.519 Esau values present hunger over future blessing. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:55.840 Secondly, physical senses versus discernment. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:03.279 Because Isaac has not curbed his bodily sense of taste and smell, he is vulnerable to deception. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:06.879 And thirdly, reversal through domestic skill. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:12.960 Jacob wins inheritance not through strength, but through cooking and preparation. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:20.000 The story repeatedly shows the covenant passing through the kitchen rather than the hunting field. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:27.840 In an article that I read called Food's Symbolic Burden, David Kramer makes a really interesting observation. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:33.120 And this is what he says, and again, about parashat tola dat. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:42.080 It has often been noted, and properly so that parashat toladat is framed by two stories of deceit and dishonesty. 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:51.120 What has been neglected, however, is the recognition that central to both stories is the symbolic manipulation of food and drink. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:58.960 The role of food and drink in these and other stories is more than mere convention, more than a mere setting of scene. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.960 In fact, food carries a heavy symbolic burden. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:11.759 And by taking note of the manipulations of food in these stories, we gain access to meanings we otherwise would have missed. 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:17.839 Esau trades his birthright for the lentil stew, but Jacob also gives him bread and drink. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:26.559 Kramer asks, is there significance to the fact that Jacob offers more and Esau takes more than Esau has requested? 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:33.680 The answer lies, I think, this is still Kramer, in the consequence of such exchanges on relationships. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:44.799 An agreed-upon sale, such as the exchange of the stew for the birthright, creates a defined relationship, the details of which are negotiated in advance. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:57.279 But a gift, the bread and the drink, once accepted, creates unstated obligations and puts the party who accepts in a sort of subservient or obligated position. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:02.559 For this reason, you are unlikely to accept a gift from someone you do not know. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:11.920 And you will insist on reciprocating a gift if you want to insist, symbolically, on remaining in a position of equality with the gift giver. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:15.680 But Esau accepted and did not reciprocate. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.960 His inferior status was thereby established. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:22.640 He was the dependent one, subject to the will of others. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:26.720 Jacob, on the other hand, provided an abundance. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:29.279 He was the master of his own fate. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:42.960 Kramer goes on to note that when Jacob deceived Isaac and brought him the savory meat that Isaac had requested of Esau, Jacob also brought more than had been requested, wine

and bread. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:19:01.519 Kramer said that once having accepted the food, Isaac then owed Jacob a blessing and blesses him with not only the dew of the heaven and the fats of the earth, this is literally translated, but also with plenty of corn, which is a word for grain, corn and wine. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.200 So bread and wine. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.359 For Jacob, his own food generosity has paid off. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:16.319 By contrast, Esau brings his father only savory meat, and Isaac's blessing of him excludes the mention of corn and wine. 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:23.759 In other words, Kramer says, He who gives much food receives much food, a sign of blessing and abundance. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:29.200 In return, he who does not so provide will similarly not be blessed. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:41.359 And finally, in the article, Kramer notes that the connection of food and blessing is repeated in chapter 27, when we are told that there is a famine in the land. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:47.359 Isaac was going to go to Egypt to escape the famine because Egypt was the breadbasket of the Mediterranean. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:53.200 But the Lord tells him to remain in Canaan, promising to bless him and his offspring. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:20:00.319 And Isaac planted in the land, and he reaped in that year 100fold, and the Lord blessed him. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:04.960 Remember, blessing is expressed through the abundance of food. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:12.240 Kramer closes his article with this observation Why then is food so central to these narratives? 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:16.319 The answer, I believe, is that food is religiously significant. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:22.000 For more than we might sometimes like to admit, of course, on one level we know this. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:33.599 Moreover, this eating system has always been central to Jewish identity. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:38.559 One thing almost all ancient writers know about Jews is that we do not eat pork. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:43.359 But when I say that food is religiously significant, I mean far more than this. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:44.960 Let me illustrate. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:52.640 As a consequence, my Shabbat begins not on Friday night, but on Friday morning. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:21:00.079 It is at that time that I go shopping, always at my favorite market, and imagine the Shabbat dishes I will prepare. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:05.839 Then, when the shortness of time demands, I undertake my preparations, which often take hours. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.480 But this is not a burden, it is a blessing. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:15.359 When I do not shop and cook, I feel that something is missing, that I have been cheated out of a part of my Shabbat. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:22.079 Then in the evening, when I watch my friends and family eating what I have prepared, I get great pleasure. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:26.079 It is at that moment that my Shabbat is complete. 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:45.279 Judaism, he says, is not only a religion, a formal ritual and Torah, it is and always has been a religion of the kitchen, a way of life in which the masters of the kitchen, usually the women, were real religious virtuosi, sustaining the body and soul together. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:50.160 And Judaism has always believed in the importance of the body and soul together. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:55.359 Food matters, and it has always mattered Jewishly. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:57.839 I loved that article. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.759 So the covenant passed. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:01.359 Through the kitchen. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:02.720 Okay, love. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:03.680 All right. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:08.640 In fact, the structure of the section underscores this point. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:15.839 Several scholars point out that Genesis 25 through 27 forms a chiastic structure. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:16.319 Okay. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:20.960 And that food scenes mark the key turning points. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:24.559 Food and appetite anchor the structure of the narrative. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:29.839 Remember that a chiasm is a common literary pattern found in the Bible. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:30.240 Right? 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:37.119 You'll have A, point A, point B, point C, then you'll repeat point B and then point A. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:39.039 So it's A, B, C, B, A. 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:44.400 So A and A1 are parallel, B and B1 are parallel, C is the hinge point. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:50.720 So here is a proposed chiastic structure of Genesis 25 through 27. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:52.000 Okay, A. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:55.759 Isaac's appetite creates favoritism. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:57.759 This is Genesis 25, 28. 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:01.920 Isaac loves Esau because he eats his game. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:04.559 Rebecca favors Jacob. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:08.240 So food introduces the family division. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:08.799 Okay. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:12.720 B, the birthright is exchanged for stew. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:15.920 It's in Genesis 25, 29 through 34. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:17.519 Jacob cooks stew. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:19.680 Esau sells his birthright. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:25.200 So food becomes the mechanism for transferring inheritance. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:26.559 Here's the hinge point. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:28.799 C, the hinge point of the chiasm. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:33.440 Isaac requests venison before he will give the blessing. 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:36.480 And that's Genesis 27, 1 through 4. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:42.720 Isaac asks Esau to hunt and prepare a meal so he can bless him. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:47.039 Food becomes the condition for the covenantal blessing. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:48.720 Okay, now we're going to turn. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:49.599 B1. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:53.680 Rebekah and Jacob prepare deceptive food. 00:23:53.839

--> 00:23:56.160 Genesis 27, 5 through 29. 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:00.000 Jacob serves goat meat disguised as venison. 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:06.400 So the food exchange repeats, but now it transfers the blessing instead of the birthright. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:14.000 And finally, A1, the next A, Esau returns with real game. 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:16.160 Genesis 27, 30 through 40. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:20.240 Esau brings the venison Isaac requested, but he's too late. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:25.519 Food again exposes the broken family relationship. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:33.759 So the center, C, highlights the moment when food becomes the gateway to the covenantal blessing. 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:39.440 You know, I often say you can trace everything back to Genesis 1, 2, and 3. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:40.319 Yes. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:42.319 Well, you're going to be happy to know. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:42.799 Okay. 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:44.640 This story is no exception. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:45.440 Let's do it. 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:46.240 All right. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:51.759 The Jacob and Esau story echoes the Adam and Eve story. 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:57.759 Food is the trigger for the loss of inheritance in both stories. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:00.799 This is one of the strongest literary parallels. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.880 Eating results in losing privileged status. 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:10.880 In both narratives, food decision leads to irreversible loss. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:17.039 The action happens quickly, but it has long-term covenantal consequences. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:24.079 Esau trading his birthright for lentil stew points to immediate appetite versus long-term inheritance. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:27.920 Well, this is a theme that is also present in the Adam and Eve narrative. 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:32.720 Another repeated element is deception tied to food. 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:42.480 In Genesis 3, Eve tells God that the serpent beguiled me, the serpent deceived me and persuaded Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:50.799 In Genesis 27, Jacob beguiles Isaac with a meal disguised as venison. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:53.599 And I should say Jacob and Rebecca. 00:25:53.680 --> 00:26:02.720 So in both cases, you have Adam and Eve, and Jacob and Rebecca are going to fall, have part in the deception and the fall, the fall because of deception. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:09.440 So both scenes include sensory deception, mistaken judgment, and irreversible consequences. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:16.160 You can see how the Jacob narrative is replaying the Eden pattern in a family setting, but with a twist, right? 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:21.759 Because in this case, it's not the outsider, the serpent, who is performing the deception. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:24.400 It's the insiders, Jacob and Rebecca. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:29.279 There's wordplay that connects these two, and wordplay is probably one of my favorite things. 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:29.599 Yes. 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:38.240 So as I noted earlier, Hebrew is an especially good language for wordplay because all the words are built on roots made up of three consonants generally. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:45.839 Well, scholars have noticed that in this story, there is a linguistic cluster around the word red. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:46.640 Okay. 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:49.039 In Hebrew, a dome. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:50.160 A dome. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:51.279 Like Adam. 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:52.559 Yes, we're gonna play it. 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:53.599 It's a lot like Adam. 00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:54.960 Yes, a dome. 00:26:55.200 --> 00:26:59.599 At birth, Esau is described as red and hairy. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:05.119 Esau asks when he's asking for the stew for the red, red, the red, red stuff. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:06.960 We just kind of add that in there. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:10.480 Esau, it says, becomes associated with Edom. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:13.359 And the verse, the scripture verse is 2530. 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:19.920 It says, and Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I beg you, with that same red pottage, for I'm famished. 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:23.599 Therefore was his name called Edom. 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:24.319 All right. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:32.480 Both red and Edom are spelled with the Hebrew letters alef, dalit, and mem. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:34.400 Same exact letters. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:39.279 The only difference is in their vowel points. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:47.680 Edom typically starts with a Shiva under the Aleph, and it makes the E sound. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:48.160 Right? 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:49.519 The E is really what it means. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:50.799 Yeah. 00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:51.759 All right. 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:59.279 And the Shava looks like two little on the far right, there are one dot over another. 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:04.400 And right next to that, you have two dots on the top and another dot on the bottom. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:05.359 That's called Shiva. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:13.279 And then for red, the difference is that it is marked underneath, it's aleph. 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:14.799 It is marked with a camets. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:16.880 And it kind of looks like a T. 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:17.519 Okay. 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:20.880 And so you've got Edom and Adom. 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:22.559 Ed dom adom. 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:25.359 Okay, now, like you notice, here's the fun thing. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:29.839 Adam is also linguistically related to the same root. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:31.599 Aleph, dolet, mem. 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:37.519 Again, in the Masoretic text, the only difference is in the vowel points. 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:41.599 And there is a comments, the little T under both the Aleph and the Dalit. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:44.559 So in that respect, it's ah, ah, Adam. 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:50.000 Adam,

Adam, Adam, A Dom. 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:51.359 That's the only difference. 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:54.640 It's the ah and o sound in that middle one. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:29:00.960 So when you see this in Hebrew, this is deliberate for on the part of the Hebrew authors, right? 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:12.079 It's creating this literary link between Adam, meaning humanity, or to mean the name of a person, and Adom, Esau. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:14.720 Okay, it gets even more interesting. 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:17.440 The word for ground, Adama. 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:18.559 Yes. 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:21.680 Adam was taken from the red ground. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:29.359 And through their roots, these Hebrew words share this common connection to red, earthly, or ruddy. 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:30.640 Those are the concepts. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:36.799 Adam is linked to the red ground, while Edom is linked to the red color itself. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:38.799 And it gets even more fun. 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:40.079 Get even better. 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:40.640 Love. 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:42.640 Guess what the word for blood is? 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:43.599 Dom. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:48.160 So it just has no olive, just the dalit and the mem. 00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:52.319 Esau is a hunter, and that involves a lot of killing and blood. 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:55.279 And of course, Dom is red, right? 00:29:56.240 --> 00:30:07.200 Well, to further cement this make no mistake consistency rule that is common in any biblical narrative, look at the bloody fate of Esau as described in Isaac's blessing. 00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:10.000 This is what it says, Genesis 27, 40. 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:14.720 And by your sword shall you live and serve your brother. 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:25.759 And this is interesting because in Numbers 20, when the children of Israel are in the wilderness, Moses sends a message to the king of Edom saying, Thus says your brother Israel, right? 00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:31.279 Moses reminds the king of their relationship, and then he asks if they can pass the land. 00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:39.119 But Edom said to him, You will not pass through me, or I will come out against you with a sword. 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:45.440 So this is a deliberate connection upon the part of the Hebrew authors. 00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:56.960 So some literary scholars argue that the Jacob-Esau story is part of a larger Genesis repeating narrative motif where eating decisions shape destiny, right? 00:30:57.039 --> 00:30:59.279 There's this food temptation pattern. 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:05.039 And this is how the pattern goes: there's a desirable or significant food situation. 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:14.640 A choice or temptation is introduced, a character acts wisely or unwisely, and the result brings blessing, loss, or reversal. 00:31:14.799 --> 00:31:16.880 So let's look at how the motif plays out. 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:20.640 Again, it all starts with the

first story in the Bible: Adam and Eve. 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:27.039 The fruit is described as good and desirable and has the ability to make one wise. 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:36.559 The temptation, this is the forbidden fruit, is introduced by Satan, and Adam and Eve eat what is forbidden by God. 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:41.680 The result, loss of innocence and exile, and a ruptured relationship with God. 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:43.680 So that's going to set the template. 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:48.240 Food plus desire plus transgression leads to a consequence. 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:56.319 In the Jacob and Esau story, Esau is starving, and the desirable food situation, Jacob has to. 00:31:56.880 --> 00:31:58.480 The temptation is introduced. 00:31:58.640 --> 00:31:59.599 Sell me your birthright. 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:03.839 Esau acts unwisely and trades his birthright for food. 00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:06.720 The result is immediate satisfaction. 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:11.119 However, the ultimate consequence is a long-term loss of inheritance. 00:32:11.279 --> 00:32:15.920 So food here represents impulse, overpowering destiny. 00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:23.279 In Genesis 27, Isaac asks Esau to prepare a meal before he gives him a blessing. 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:25.440 Got the situations introduced. 00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:28.319 Jacob and Rebekah deceive him using food. 00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:31.599 The result is that Jacob receives the blessing. 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:37.680 In this situation, food becomes the vehicle of deception and blessing reversal. 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:46.480 So how people handle basic appetites becomes a test of wisdom, trust, and moral responsibility. 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:50.480 So look for this pattern as you read the Old Testament this year. 00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:57.359 What this pattern shows across these stories is that food is a basic human desire. 00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:01.440 Eating decisions reveal a character. 00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:08.400 The outcomes often involve reversal, gain to loss or loss to gain. 00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:18.640 Now, another similarity with the Garden of Eden story and the Jacob-Esau stories is that both stories emphasize sensory misjudgment. 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:21.920 Their senses are going to deceive them. 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:26.400 In the Garden, it is Eve's sense of sight. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:29.519 She sees that the fruit is good for food. 00:33:29.759 --> 00:33:32.240 It is pleasant to the eyes. 00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:34.880 It is desirable for wisdom. 00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:40.559 In Genesis 27, it is Isaac's sense of taste, right? 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:47.279 The ma'a, the meal, or his desire for savory food, for savory wild game. 00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:49.359 His sense of touch, right? 00:33:49.519 --> 00:33:50.640 The hairy skins. 00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:56.400 He gets deceived by the goat skins that Rebecca put on Jacob's arm and neck. 00:33:56.559 --> 00:33:57.839 And the smell. 00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:01.279 Jacob is wearing Esau's garment. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:07.440 And so he says the voice is Jacob's, the smell is Esau's. 00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:14.320 So his senses are manipulated, and the result is misdirected blessing. 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:24.639 Scholars often note that Genesis deliberately stresses the senses failing when food is involved. 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:26.159 So watch for that. 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:34.719 Finally, another thing that scholars notice about the Jacob-Esau cycle is that it domesticates the Eden pattern. 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:46.400 In the Eden story, you have a cosmic fall in which humanity loses paradise because of the serpent's deceit. 00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:57.599 In the Jacob-Esau story, you have family conflict in which Esau loses his inheritance because of Jacob's deceit. 00:34:57.840 --> 00:35:06.400 Now, I want to make clear that the Genesis 25 through 27 story is not directly modeled on Genesis 3. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:22.719 It's not a mirror, but the author is using repeated motifs like food, appetite, deception, and the loss of status that echo earlier Genesis 1, 2, and 3. 00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:25.760 And that's a really common thing that biblical authors do. 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:31.199 They echo and repurpose earlier biblical narratives to make their point. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:39.920 So the food scenes in the book of Genesis set up a pattern that occurs throughout the rest of the Bible. 00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:47.039 Meals become moments where God's purposes, human character, and relationship are revealed. 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:58.159 If you think through what you've been reading about in Genesis, you will notice that there is a literary pattern in which key turning points revolve around food. 00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:12.960 These scenes appear at strategic moments and often mirror each other, showing how human choices about food affect their relationships with God, with family, and with the wider world. 00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:22.320 So when I went to Calvin Theological Seminary, one of my very dear friends was very interested in the theology of food. 00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:22.880 Okay. 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:25.039 And I'd never heard of that. 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:32.800 But what it is is that it is the study of how food relates to God, faith, and spiritual meaning. 00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:45.920 It explores how religious traditions understand food not just as nourishment, but as something more, something connected to creation, community, gratitude, morality, and worship. 00:36:46.239 --> 00:36:50.800 Usually scholars are studying concepts such as food as a gift from God. 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:58.960 And most religious traditions see food as part of God's provision and in his creation. 00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:13.519 Food and spiritual practices, such as rituals like fasting or sacred meals, for example, the bread and the water in the sacrament, they

connect eating with worship. 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:24.320 And what is called the ethics of eating explores questions about justice and caring for the poor or stewardship of the earth and how food is produced. 00:37:24.880 --> 00:37:29.039 Shared meals often symbolize fellowship and unity. 00:37:29.360 --> 00:37:34.880 Prayers over meals acknowledge reliance on God and gratitude for his blessing of food. 00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:47.280 So a theology of food asks what eating, sharing, and producing food reveal about God, humans, and how we should live. 00:37:47.519 --> 00:37:51.199 My friend, she pointed me to a really interesting book. 00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:53.039 It's by Norman Weirsba. 00:37:53.280 --> 00:37:57.039 It's called Food and Faith, a Theology of Eating. 00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:01.199 And he's one of the most influential scholars on the theology of food today. 00:38:01.360 --> 00:38:07.519 And his work connects biblical theology, agriculture, ecology, and ethics. 00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:14.800 He argues that eating is a deeply theological act tied to creation, gratitude, and community. 00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:26.000 Weirsbutt talks a lot about themes like hospitality, the Eucharist, which means the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and care for the land and responsible food systems. 00:38:26.159 --> 00:38:32.159 So I just wanted to finish up this week's podcast by reading a passage from his book. 00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:32.800 Okay. 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:33.360 Okay. 00:38:33.679 --> 00:38:34.960 But let's chat real quick. 00:38:35.119 --> 00:38:39.679 Because what Cindy loves to do, and I'm sure you guys are all realizing this, is she likes to provide a lot of information. 00:38:39.920 --> 00:38:40.480 I do. 00:38:40.719 --> 00:38:44.239 And then, but we also need to talk about Jacob and Esau a little bit. 00:38:44.480 --> 00:38:44.800 Okay. 00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:47.199 Before we jump into the book. 00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:50.159 Because I want if I'm sure that will just we'll close on that. 00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:55.360 So I grew up thinking, oh, Esau's kind of like maybe not as smart as Jacob. 00:38:55.920 --> 00:38:59.440 Maybe just kind of the dumber brother or whatever. 00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:05.519 I don't think that's right, but I don't know how I feel now, is where I'm at. 00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:05.840 Yeah. 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:11.360 Which I'm not trying to get you to tell me how to feel, but I do want to just talk through how we should feel about Esau. 00:39:11.599 --> 00:39:12.800 Well, and I have some questions. 00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:15.679 Why did Isaac not reverse a blessing? 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:17.360 The Bible does not tell us. 00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:18.559 The Bible doesn't tell us. 00:39:18.639 --> 00:39:19.840 And I think that's important. 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:22.480 I've heard people make a lot of reasons. 00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:23.039 Okay. 00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:26.079 Well, he recognized that it was Jacob. 00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:26.800 Sure. 00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:29.840 Or he could have reversed it, but he chose not to. 00:39:30.079 --> 00:39:31.920 That is not what the text tells us. 00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:32.320 No. 00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:39.920 Like I said before, the text, the Torah trusts us to be able to hold really uncomfortable things. 00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:40.320 Yeah. 00:39:40.559 --> 00:39:45.199 Things that we might cringe at and live with that uncertainty. 00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:46.639 We don't know. 00:39:47.039 --> 00:39:56.320 I think with Esau, this is one of the really unusual places, like I said, where it does tell us about Esau's character. 00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:57.920 And it's very specific. 00:39:58.079 --> 00:40:01.440 And it says Esau despised his birthright. 00:40:01.519 --> 00:40:01.840 Yeah. 00:40:02.159 --> 00:40:09.599 So that is specifically telling us something about the character of Esau, which is he did not value the birthright blessing. 00:40:09.679 --> 00:40:20.320 So what the birthright blessing was was that when the father died, the inheritance would be divided equally among the sons, except a double portion would be given to the oldest son. 00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:29.840 And the reason was that he would be able to use that to care for his widowed mother and unmarried sisters. 00:40:30.079 --> 00:40:32.400 That was the reason for the double portion. 00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:39.119 And that is part of what the commandment to honor your father and your mother is about, right? 00:40:39.599 --> 00:40:42.320 It's also about this idea of caring for them. 00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:53.199 And in the New Testament, Jesus will specifically criticize some of the scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites about the fact that they are not doing this. 00:40:53.360 --> 00:40:56.559 They are not using their money to care for their parents. 00:40:56.800 --> 00:40:57.440 Got it. 00:40:57.760 --> 00:41:01.519 So we are specifically told that he despised his birthright. 00:41:01.599 --> 00:41:03.440 So he didn't value it. 00:41:03.760 --> 00:41:10.719 And this also could have something to do with, and then this part, scholars will maybe make a little bit of a leap. 00:41:10.880 --> 00:41:13.599 It's much more spelled out once you hit Moses. 00:41:13.920 --> 00:41:14.159 Yeah. 00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:32.239 So when we get to Exodus and it's talking about why the Levites are the priestly tribe, it says that God had required the firstborn of every family to serve as a priest, but that instead of doing that, now he's going to set it aside in this tribe. 00:41:32.559 --> 00:41:38.320 So we can also conclude that there were probably priestly duties connected with this birthright. 00:41:38.559 --> 00:41:45.519 And so the idea also is that Esau was despising the priestly duties connected with the birthright. 00:41:45.679 --> 00:41:50.719 So not just physically caring for his mother and sister, but the priestly duties that went along with it.

00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:51.280 Right. 00:41:51.920 --> 00:41:53.840 It sounded like he resented it just a little. 00:41:54.079 --> 00:41:55.599 Yeah, or just didn't prize it. 00:41:55.679 --> 00:41:56.880 It was not a big deal to him. 00:41:57.039 --> 00:42:02.480 And you know, I mean, we can see that in our religious tradition too, in our church. 00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:07.119 Every deacon age boy is given the priesthood. 00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:12.400 And so some will hold that priesthood and understand the significance of it more than others. 00:42:12.559 --> 00:42:15.280 And obviously, when you're a young boy, you're not going to really understand that. 00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:20.079 But then they move on, right, into teacher and priest, and they're growing in their priesthood understanding. 00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:27.119 But then everybody who receives the Melchizedek priesthood when they turn what is 18, I think it is. 00:42:27.440 --> 00:42:27.840 Right. 00:42:28.079 --> 00:42:33.119 And so if every male has the priesthood, a lot of them really understand what they've got. 00:42:33.199 --> 00:42:36.880 They respect it, but it's also not respected, too. 00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:37.199 Yeah. 00:42:37.360 --> 00:42:37.679 Right. 00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:40.000 And I think you can say that same thing for women. 00:42:40.079 --> 00:42:45.039 Like biologically, unless there's a problem, every woman can conceive. 00:42:45.519 --> 00:42:53.679 And so children, which God says are his greatest blessing to us, are often not treasured as a blessing, right? 00:42:53.760 --> 00:42:55.679 Because it's kind of this thing we all do. 00:42:55.840 --> 00:42:56.880 So it's the same thing. 00:42:56.960 --> 00:43:00.960 If something is common, many times we do despise it. 00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:01.840 We don't sure. 00:43:01.920 --> 00:43:08.159 Or sometimes there's responsibility that comes with, I know in my own life, I think I've talked about this here before. 00:43:08.480 --> 00:43:11.199 I fell away from the church when I was younger. 00:43:11.519 --> 00:43:22.800 And I can remember thinking, I despised and resented the fact that I was born a member because I wanted to satisfy these appetites that I had. 00:43:22.960 --> 00:43:23.199 Right. 00:43:23.360 --> 00:43:30.320 And so I think that in that sense, we can understand where Esau is coming from sometimes because there's a lot of responsibility. 00:43:30.639 --> 00:43:36.079 And sometimes it feels like, well, I didn't choose to be the firstborn or I didn't choose this or whatever. 00:43:36.239 --> 00:43:37.760 And so I think there's some of that there. 00:43:37.920 --> 00:43:38.159 Okay. 00:43:38.320 --> 00:43:40.079 And then what about Rebecca? 00:43:40.480 --> 00:43:46.079 Again, the Bible doesn't say and as a mother, you can be like, Yeah, I get it. 00:43:46.239 --> 00:43:48.719 She was trying to do what's right, whatever it says. 00:43:48.960 --> 00:43:55.760 It says the reason that Isaac loved Esau was because he prepared him food. 00:43:55.840 --> 00:43:56.159 Okay. 00:43:56.320 --> 00:43:58.480 And then it says, and Rebecca loved Jacob. 00:43:58.559 --> 00:43:59.519 Like there's no cave out there. 00:43:59.599 --> 00:44:02.320 It's Just she just loves him, right? 00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:04.960 There's no condition on her love. 00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:08.880 There is a condition on Isaac's love for Esau. 00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:11.679 So there the Bible is making a statement. 00:44:12.239 --> 00:44:16.559 He is allowing his appetite to influence his favoritism, right? 00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:21.199 Well, does he know about Rebecca's experience? 00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:24.719 Does he know that Esau sold the blessing? 00:44:25.039 --> 00:44:25.519 We don't know. 00:44:25.599 --> 00:44:25.760 Yeah. 00:44:26.000 --> 00:44:31.039 Does he know that God told Rebecca that two nations fight in your womb and the younger is gonna rule over the older? 00:44:31.440 --> 00:44:31.840 We don't know. 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:32.800 We don't know. 00:44:33.039 --> 00:44:38.079 Does he know that it was Rebecca who prepared the food and told Jacob to deceive? 00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:39.039 We don't know. 00:44:39.199 --> 00:44:41.039 Yeah, we do not know. 00:44:41.280 --> 00:44:43.440 The Bible is silent on that part. 00:44:43.679 --> 00:44:46.000 Rebecca never tells us, as Isaac never tells us. 00:44:46.239 --> 00:44:53.199 And we shouldn't necessarily attach meaning to that, except for the fact that the Bible doesn't tell us. 00:44:53.679 --> 00:44:57.840 And it is trusting us to just hold that. 00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:00.880 And even though it makes us cringe, yeah. 00:45:00.960 --> 00:45:04.639 Well, I'm just holding these things up because these are the uncomfortable things that we're not. 00:45:05.599 --> 00:45:08.320 We want definitive answers to because we're modern. 00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:08.719 Yes. 00:45:08.880 --> 00:45:13.119 And I think what I like to do is just sit in it and just be curious. 00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:15.199 Just be curious about them all. 00:45:15.679 --> 00:45:21.360 And again, at some point in your life, it'll mean one thing, and at another point it'll mean something else. 00:45:21.519 --> 00:45:22.719 And so just sitting with it. 00:45:22.960 --> 00:45:26.639 What's really funny is that obviously the Jews have wrestled with this for centuries. 00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:26.960 Yeah. 00:45:27.199 --> 00:45:29.599 And you'll have these midrash that'll talk about it. 00:45:29.679 --> 00:45:33.280 And they're kind of like stories that embroider on it. 00:45:33.360 --> 00:45:40.159 And all these stories are attached to the Torah, you know, and these scholars will read them and know them. 00:45:40.639 --> 00:45:43.199 We're not as comfortable doing that. 00:45:43.280 --> 00:45:43.840 Yeah. 00:45:44.079 --> 00:45:48.880 And we're not as comfortable telling stories about the text. 00:45:49.039 --> 00:45:49.360 Yeah. 00:45:49.679 --> 00:45:51.840 And I

think there's good and there's bad. 00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:56.159 I mean, the good is that this is what the text says. 00:45:56.880 --> 00:45:58.239 We don't know. 00:45:58.639 --> 00:46:01.679 The bad is that sometimes we don't want to tell a story about it. 00:46:01.920 --> 00:46:08.320 And sometimes a story is a fun thing to do and helpful, but always keeping in mind it may or may not be the truth. 00:46:08.400 --> 00:46:10.400 And right now we just don't know. 00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:16.639 And we have to sit with the fact that we don't know and that the Torah is okay with that. 00:46:16.800 --> 00:46:18.079 That's our problem. 00:46:18.320 --> 00:46:20.239 We're the ones who want to know. 00:46:20.400 --> 00:46:22.000 It's not the Torah problem. 00:46:22.079 --> 00:46:24.960 It's not the problem of the Bible, it's a problem with us. 00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:25.440 Yeah. 00:46:25.760 --> 00:46:28.079 And there's a lot of uncomfortable stuff. 00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:30.079 And I will just end with this. 00:46:30.320 --> 00:46:37.280 It is our responsibility, though, to look at the fruits of both of all the decisions here and then make our decision. 00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:37.599 Yeah. 00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:41.440 Or help that have that help us help influence what we think. 00:46:41.599 --> 00:46:42.480 But absolutely. 00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:59.840 And I will say sometimes the purpose of the story will also be to identify and talk about the descendants of the story, because those are the nations that are surrounding Israel and that have interaction. 00:47:00.159 --> 00:47:07.360 So, like I read in Numbers about the king of Edom who would not let the children of Israel pass through his land. 00:47:07.440 --> 00:47:07.599 Yeah. 00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:12.000 And he pretty much verbatim quotes the blessing that was given to him by Isaac, right? 00:47:12.320 --> 00:47:16.159 So it's telling about these people and why they are. 00:47:16.480 --> 00:47:19.360 A lot of times that is the purpose of the story. 00:47:20.400 --> 00:47:23.119 I don't want to say that that's the only purpose. 00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:26.000 Scholars will say that's the only purpose. 00:47:26.239 --> 00:47:27.280 I do not think so. 00:47:27.440 --> 00:47:29.280 Those stories are telling us important things. 00:47:29.360 --> 00:47:40.079 And I would say in the Jacob and Esau story, and we're going to talk about this more in the next podcast, but we'll talk about this whole word motif of deceit. 00:47:40.320 --> 00:47:44.559 You'll see that play out through Jacob, the whole of Jacob's life. 00:47:44.880 --> 00:47:56.000 That's definitely a part of his character, but you also see his character arc as he goes from the low point of his deceit to a high point, you know? 00:47:56.320 --> 00:48:00.239 So you're going to see a character arc for Jacob. 00:48:00.400 --> 00:48:05.920 And you'll see him as just a superhuman character who's very fleshed out. 00:48:06.159 --> 00:48:08.079 Much more fleshed out than Isaac is. 00:48:08.239 --> 00:48:12.079 Of the three patriarchs, Isaac is the least fleshed out. 00:48:12.320 --> 00:48:12.719 Yeah. 00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:13.280 Yeah. 00:48:13.519 --> 00:48:13.840 Okay. 00:48:14.559 --> 00:48:15.119 All right. 00:48:15.280 --> 00:48:21.039 We're going to end with this really just an interesting statement about the theology of food. 00:48:21.119 --> 00:48:29.840 And I just want us to think about it in terms of just the fact that food plays such a big part in all of our lives, right? 00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:41.360 And I think one of the tragic things about our culture is that often our Western culture that you and I are in, is that often food has become the enemy. 00:48:41.519 --> 00:48:42.079 Yeah. 00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:46.159 We don't look at it as the great gift that God gave to us. 00:48:46.639 --> 00:48:50.960 But if you look in the Bible, so much of life revolves around food. 00:48:51.039 --> 00:48:56.239 And that food is used in these amazing celebrations of remembering the good of God. 00:48:56.800 --> 00:49:02.719 So Norman Weirsba, the book is called Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating. 00:49:02.960 --> 00:49:08.320 And I also want to talk about a couple other authors who are fun to read that you might want to look at. 00:49:08.400 --> 00:49:16.559 And that would be Wendell Barry, writes a lot of essays on agriculture, food, responsibility with the earth. 00:49:16.880 --> 00:49:22.800 And also, so does David Sleet, who I've talked about when he talks about trees. 00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:25.360 And I talked about him in a past episode. 00:49:26.000 --> 00:49:28.880 So this is what Norman Weirsba says. 00:49:29.199 --> 00:49:35.599 He says this Why did God create a world in which every living creature must eat? 00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:45.519 This is a humbling, even terrifying question, particularly for people who are intimately involved in the finding, growing, and harvesting of food. 00:49:45.920 --> 00:49:48.960 Eating is no idle or trifling activity. 00:49:49.360 --> 00:49:52.639 It is the means of life itself, but also death. 00:49:52.960 --> 00:50:00.239 For any creature to live, countless seen and unseen others must die, often by being eaten themselves. 00:50:00.800 --> 00:50:11.920 Life as we know it depends on death, needs death, which means that death is not simply the cessation of life, but its precondition. 00:50:12.559 --> 00:50:15.760 Death is eating's steadfast accomplice. 00:50:16.320 --> 00:50:19.199 It is also each creature's biological end. 00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:28.000 For no matter how much or how well we eat, for the sake of life's preservation, we cannot erase our mortal condition. 00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:35.599 Why eat if eating, even vegetarian eating, implicates us in so much death? 00:50:35.840 --> 00:50:40.960 Why eat if eating is the daily reminder of our own need and mortality? 00:50:41.360 --> 00:50:52.000 We could try to imagine all creatures as

self-subsisting, non-eating entities that never take a bite, and thus presumably avoid the realities of eating death. 00:50:52.239 --> 00:51:04.559 But then we would also have to envision a tasteless and lonely world without belonging and fellowship, a world without the very delights that accompany the procuring, preparing, and sharing of food. 00:51:04.880 --> 00:51:14.480 Eating joins people to each other, to other creatures and the world, and to God through forms of natural communion too complex to fathom. 00:51:14.800 --> 00:51:27.760 It introduces us to a graced world of hospitality, a creation that from the beginning and constantly through its soil absorbs death and makes room for newness of life. 00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:38.880 Eating involves us in a daily life and death drama in which, beyond all comprehension, some life is sacrificed so that other life can thrive. 00:51:39.119 --> 00:51:49.760 It establishes a membership that confirms all creatures as profoundly in need of each other and God to provide life's nutrition and vitality. 00:51:50.079 --> 00:51:53.599 Food is a holy and humbling mystery. 00:51:54.000 --> 00:52:13.039 Every time a creature eats, it participates in God's life-giving yet costly ways, ways that simultaneously affirm creation as a delectable gift and as a divinely ordered membership of interdependent need and suffering and help. 00:52:13.280 --> 00:52:23.599 Whenever people come to the table, they demonstrate with the unmistakable evidence of their stomachs that they are not self-subsisting gods. 00:52:23.760 --> 00:52:40.159 They are finite and mortal creatures dependent on God's many good gifts, sunlight, photosynthesis, decomposition, soil fertility, water, bees and butterflies, chickens, sheep, cows, gardeners, farmers, cooks, strangers and friends. 00:52:40.400 --> 00:52:42.000 The list goes on and on. 00:52:42.239 --> 00:52:52.960 Eating reminds us that we participate in a grace, saturated world, a blessed creation, worthy of attention, care, and celebration. 00:52:53.280 --> 00:53:00.639 Despite what food marketers may say, there really is no such thing as cheap or convenient food. 00:53:00.960 --> 00:53:14.639 Real food, the food that is the source of creaturely health and delight, is precious because it is a fundamental means through which God's nurture and love of the whole creation are exposed. 00:53:14.880 --> 00:53:15.360 Oh wow. 00:53:15.599 --> 00:53:16.159 Isn't that beautiful? 00:53:16.559 --> 00:53:17.679 So beautiful. 00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:20.800 And so, yeah, we close this episode out. 00:53:20.880 --> 00:53:27.039 I mean, having remembered like the first instance of eating, which drove us out of God's presence, right? 00:53:27.519 --> 00:53:29.840 Launched us on the hero's journey. 00:53:29.920 --> 00:53:36.159 And in Revelation, we are told that there will be a final banquet. 00:53:36.480 --> 00:53:46.559 And we will all be invited to the table of the bridegroom and the lamb and restored to God's presence through food. 00:53:46.880 --> 00:53:47.679 I love it. 00:53:47.920 --> 00:53:48.320 All right. 00:53:48.480 --> 00:53:51.599 Thank you for listening, and we will see you next time. 00:53:54.719 --> 00:53:59.039 Thank you for listening to the Scripture Study Podcast, your midweek Bible boost. 00:53:59.199 --> 00:54:05.119 Everything we mentioned on this podcast, if we said there would be a link to it, it is in the show notes wherever you find your podcast. 00:54:05.280 --> 00:54:09.920 Cindy Madsen currently does not believe in or participate in social media. 00:54:10.079 --> 00:54:16.159 However, if you would like to follow along with Susan Peterson, she can be found on Instagram at susan.m.peterson. 00:54:16.480 --> 00:54:17.920 Have a good week.