The Pulpit Speaks: December 7, 1957

An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.

Continuing our general theme, “Ordeals That Make Men Grow,” we find ourselves dealing this week with the lives of Jacob and Esau.

To those of us who are familiar with Biblical history, we know that Jacob goes down in history as one of the greatest rascals ever to live. Some historians have described him as the “heel-snatcher.” Tradition has that the first time he showed up, he was trying to grab the heel of Esau that he might pull him back into his mother’s womb so that Jacob could be the first born. On through his life, Jacob was up to every trick in the books.

All of these people dealing with him or coming into contact with him had to ever be on the alert that they would not end up being tricked. His life was filled with those maneuvers that would serve to make him materially rich. He would stop short of nothing to gain his point. One day, we find him out in the pasture, coloring his father-in-law’s flocks that when the day of dividing came, he might get the better cattle.

Finally we find him having to take flight that he might escape the punishment for some of his deeds. All of his young life, and a part of his mature life, Esau had to put up with such a person as his brother. In some instances he lost materially, but over a period of years, these tricks served to make Esau a tool in the hand of God that enabled him to make Jacob one of the patriarchs of our Bible. Esau could look at the later life of Jacob and sign in relief that he had been a contributing factor in the life of Jacob.

If you look closely enough, you will find someone close to you who has done nothing but hold designs on making life miserable for you. This person will rob you of your first place in life, of your good name, of your material wealth. He will make life almost unbearable for you on every hand.

No doubt when the old hymn writer cried out, “My soul be on thy guard!” he was making reference to some hidden Jacob in his life that threatened to take from him all of the joys of this life. But as we take a second look, it is not necessary that all of us have a Jacob? Each of us needs someone in our lives who is going to keep us in line.

I heard a man some time ago say that a third party in the national political area would serve no purpose but that of a whipping post to keep the other parties in line. To me, we all need a third party to keep us in line. I heard a preacher some time ago preach a sermon entitled “Thank God for Enemies:”

Thank God for those who will do nothing but serve to make life miserable for us. Thank God for those who would not go so far as to kill us but will always be somewhere lurking in the darkness, waiting for us to make a mistake so that they might be able to magnify it. Is not this an essential part of the Christian journey? What would you or I do if there were no enemies? … But as much as some of us think of our friends, we all have our share of enemies. We all have Jacobs in our lives. We have those who are parading as our friends but who will be the first to go our and tell the news time something happens. They come to us in sheep’s clothing but under those clothing, their very souls are filled with tricks, meanness, and hatred, just waiting for us to stumble.

They tell me that the hold hawk on the mountain side will perch on his limb and watch an old horse grow weaker and weaker and when he finally stumbles, the hawk flies down and plucks out his eyes so that he will starve to death. Then the hawk will have a good meal and go off somewhere and crow. In all walks of life we have our Jacobs – those who are going along with us but only for selfish purposes.

And I want to tell you this time, many of us won’t have to go far to find a Jacob in our lives. But what did Jacob mean to Esau? Just this: when Jacob had run our of his tricks, when all the mess that he had concocted in that polluted mind of his had started to fail him instead of his enemy, Esau came to him in the spirit of God and told him, “Jacob, I forgive you.” When Jacob had used every means in the book to rob Esau, God held him in reserve that when the evening clouds began to come together about his head and the conscience that had so long been unheeded had now made itself felt, Esau comes back on the scene and says to his brother, “You have sought to make me small but through the mercies of God, I am now in a position to help you. Jacob, I forgive you.”

This very growth exhibited by Esau stood as a crutch for Jacob to rest upon as he went on to higher and nobler heights in the sight of God.

Yes, each of us needs a Jacob in our lives. But by the same token, we need to be Esau so that when the time comes, we will be in a position to render something that will enable us to become the kind of person God will have us to be.