OUT OUR WAY:

Out our way, sometimes the end of the trail seems to never be found. I recall riding with Goliath along the nature trail in Beaver Creek. Shortly after the infamous culvert, the trail ends with a photo of Chief Rocky Boy and a fence. The fence marks the end of the park and the start of the Rocky Boy Reservation.

One day in early fall, Goliath and I rode up to the fence and discovered it was actually a gate. It was not the end of the trail as we had thought - the trail continued on for miles and miles through the Rocky Boy Reservation.

In this lengthy section of Genesis, we discover that the Covenant with Abraham and Sarah did not end with them, but continued on and on, and indeed, it is still stretching out far into the future. We saw the birth of Isaac (which means laughter), and from there Isaac and Rebecca marry and have two sons, Esau and Jacob. But the Covenant does not flow equally to both sons, for it turn out Esau, the eldest and supposed heir, sold his birthright to all that Isaac owned - including the Covenant promise - for some soup, because his god was his belly and not the Lord. And so the Covenant promise went to Jacob instead. 

Now recall that there is a great deal of humor in Genesis, so it is not surprising that the Hebrew writers had some fun with Esau. In later years, the descendants of Esau would become a nation called "Edom," located in Seir mountains. The Edomites would be bitter enemies of Israel for many generations. Now the joke is that the word "Edom" in Hebrew means "red," and the word "Seir" means "hairy." So the pun is made that this older brother, the father of Edom, was red and hairy from birth, like an orangutan! Recall that when Jacob fooled his blind father into thinking he was Esau and received the death blessing which passed the Covenant on to him, Jacob had wrapped his arms in coarse goat skin and put on Esau's clothes, so that when Isaac hugged him, he smelled Esau's somewhat powerful smell. He wasn't the cleanest of boys, our Esau, and the skunks tended to head for the hills when Esau came around.

Of course, Jacob's name also has meaning. It means "the grabber," or perhaps more honestly, "the thief." Neither son was exactly perfect, and without doubt, Esau believed he had been swindled by his brother. And just as Cain had murdered Abel, so Esau swore vengeance on his brother and wanted to kill him.

So Sarah sent Jacob to her brother, Laban's, place far away and hoped the whole thing would blow over. Well, it didn't, at least not for many, many years. Jacob went to Uncle Laban's and discovered his cousins, Leah and Rachel. Again, Hebrew humor. The scripture makes it clear that the younger sister, Rachel, was beautiful, and her name, Rachel, means "little female lamb." On the other hand, Leah was not exactly what one would call attractive. The name Leah means "wild ox" or "cow." Well, in this case, the name says it.

By the way, the wild ox is sometimes identified with the desert gazelle, so if you know someone named Leah, bear that in mind.

Now recall that the name Jacob means "the grabber," and although Jacob may have swindled his brother out of the birthright, he was an amateur compared with Uncle Laban. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, but in the ancient world, the groom had to offer a "bridal price," and Jacob had nothing. So he worked for room and board alone for seven years to earn the hand of his beloved. And on their wedding night, Laban delivered the bride, wrapped from head to toe with only her eyes showing, to the now very-drunk groom, and they were married. But in the morning, Jacob saw who was next to him in bed - it wasn't Rachel, but Leah! Laban had switched brides on him. Jacob had wanted only one wife, but in the Middle East it was common to have more than one, so Laban gave him a deal: Seven more years of free labor and he could have them both. I hate to break up a set. 

So the few months Jacob had intended to stay away from home ended up being 14 years and more. But during that time Jacob and his wives produced 12 sons, and on the way back home, God gave Jacob a new name. Now he was to be called "Israel." Israel means "He who strives with God," for on the journey home the mighty Jacob wrestled an angel of the Lord all night, and though defeated, was blessed for his courage, for he would need it.

Now Rachel's first born, and therefore perhaps the dearest of Jacob's sons, was Joseph. The older brothers were jealous of him and sought to get rid of him by selling him as a slave to some Arabs on their way to Egypt. For Joseph, things went from bad to worse. He was sold to the commander of Pharaoh's body guard. Later, in Egypt, he refused to be seduced by the man's wife, who then lied and accused him of attempted rape. He was incarcerated in the royal prison and forgotten for years. But yet he never forgot God, nor did God forget him. God helped Joseph prosper and eventually not only brought him out of prison, but set him up as the primary advisor to Pharaoh himself.

Now a terrible famine had hit the Middle East and people were starving, but in Egypt, the eternal Nile, whose waters flowed from the equatorial mountains in the south into the Nile Delta, and from there into the Mediterranean Sea, never went dry. And because of his status and position in the Egyptian hierarchy, second only to Pharaoh, Joseph was able to bring all his family into the rich pasture lands of Goshen where they prospered under both Joseph's and Pharaoh's protection.

The 12 sons were blessed and the Covenant passed on to them all. The 12 brothers began 12 families, which became 12 clans, and in time the 12 clans grew to become 12 tribes, and the 12 tribes became a nation. The promise of God to Abraham of many descendants who will become His special people became a reality.  

Thus we come to the end of Genesis, and the end of the beginning - which is what "Genesis" means, "the beginning". And the trail has just begun. Next week: "Phase 2."

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John Bruington and Goliath serve the folks at First Presbyterian in Havre, and their book "Out Our Way: Theology Under Saddle" is available at Amazon.com.