The Founding Family - For July 10
After a brief interlude, we turn from the traumatized Isaac, unable to contribute anything to the story except for the next generation, we meet Jacob, ready to tangle, on the make, a trader with a keen eye for the main chance. We will follow his story now for several weeks – a hinge on which the whole narrative shuts on Esau and opens on Jacob, on Joseph and his descendants, on bondage and then freedom, on Moses, Aaron and Miriam, then Joshua and the Judges, the Kings and the Prophets. Jacob comes out of the womb ready to rumble. At birth, he fights to be first, holding Esau by the heel and, presumably trying to pull in front of him. What fails at birth he eventually wins by exploitation and deception. Every classroom, every workplace, every soccer team, every extended family has one of these characters, ready to knock anybody off the ladder in order to get ahead. It will take Jacob years to learn what “ahead” looks like. On July 31, he will come ...