Adult Bible Study October 7, 2007

Lesson Text: Genesis 25:19-34
By Melanie Zuercher
E-mail: mz606@cox.net

The LORD said to [Rebekah], “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated” —Genesis 25:23a TNIV

Twins are a favorite motif in English literature and have been for centuries; they provide an intriguing way to examine deep truths about all human relationships.

One of my favorite movies is the 1996 version of Twelfth Night directed by Trevor Nunn, based on Shakespeare’s comedy of the same title. In this comedy, orphaned twins Sebastian and Viola are separated in a shipwreck on Twelfth Night (January 6). Much adventure, confusion, and romance ensues when Viola disguises herself as a young man and goes in search of her beloved brother.

A recent piece of literature centered on twins is Wally Lamb’s novel, I Know This Much Is True (HarperCollins, 1998), in which Dominick Birdsey tries to figure out his life in the shadow of an abusive stepfather, a failed marriage, and especially his gentle, loving, and schizophrenic twin brother, Thomas.

It’s obvious from this week’s Bible text that “twins literature” didn’t start with Shakespeare. Most of us know the rest of the tale of Jacob and Esau—when Esau recklessly sells Jacob his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew, the fireworks are only beginning. At the same time, we realize that, though the Bible doesn’t contain the text, there’s probably a novel about how Esau and Jacob’s relationship developed from their birth until this point in chapter 25. The simple statement in verse 28 (“Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”) is enough to tell us that.

The story of how the children of Israel—the spiritual ancestors of Christians as well as of Jews and Muslims—came to be reminds us continually that God chooses people, despite (perhaps because of?) the chosen one’s obvious flaws and sometimes egregious sins. And when God chooses, the results are profound and powerful despite human failings.

I enjoy reading good books and watching thought-provoking movies because they cause me to consider human relationships and the work of God in the world from different perspectives. The stories, like the one about Jacob and Esau, in this quarter’s Bible texts are more proof that God’s Word has long been doing the same.