by Rabbi Tony Eaton

In one of the classic literary works of all time William Shakespeare tells the story of a great Scottish general, Macbeth.  He learns from the "weird sisters" that destiny has chosen him to be king of Scotland.  But from that time on he tries desperately to manipulate events to make the "prophecy" come true.  But all his efforts lead only to great tragedy.

In the Torah portions of the last few weeks we learned that God had chosen Jacob to receive the blessings and covenants of his fathers Abraham and Isaac.  The fact that God had already chosen him and would bring about the necessary events to bring about Jacob's destiny, did not effect Jacob's and Rebbekah's need to try an manipulate events themselves, and try to ensure that God would keep His promises.  But by doing so, while securing for Jacob, Isaac's blessing, it resulted in Jacob having to leave home, the estrangement of Jacob from his brother, and father, and as far as we can tell from the biblical record, never seeing his mother again.  All in all a very sad tale.

While things end far better for Jacob, he like Macbeth got caught up in his own sense of destiny.  He too felt the need to make the words of the prophecy come true by controlling the events in his life, and in doing so caused great pain where there should have been blessing.

In this week's Torah portion, many years have come and gone.  And despite the failings of Jacob, God proves Himself faithful to His promises, and to Jacob.  Jacob and the family, and wealth that he has accumulated are preparing to return to his homeland, and family.  The portion begins with Jacob's acknowledgement of God's faithfulness.  Yet despite that acknowledgement, Jacob still feels the need to take out a bit of insurance.  His inclination to control events still prevails.  He will placate his brother with gifts, while at the same time splitting his company in two just in case his brother remains hostile.  Always looking to rely just a bit too much on himself, he has still not fully come to realize the true power of God in his life.  But things are about to change.

In preparing to meet his brother Jacob arranges to have his family sent ahead of him.  We are told "Then Jacob was left alone" (Gen.32:24).  Here alone in the wilderness is the place where we finally meet God.  Stripped of all pretense and protection, the masks that we wear must fall away.  Perhaps this is why the wilderness experience is so crucial in the lives of so many of the great ones of God's people, from Moses to Yeshua, God has used the wilderness to reveal Himself to His people.

But it remains a struggle for Jacob.  As he has done all of his life he wrestles with the "man", to claim for himself what he believes to be his.  But there is a flaw in his thinking.  God has already determined that the blessing belongs to him.  If only he could receive the gift, rather than trying to wrestle it away from the man, he would find the fullness of the blessing God wishes to bestow on him.

This is the very problem that all of us face in our dealings with one another, and even in our relationship with God.  Rather than being able to receive from the other what they might freely give to us, we all too often insist on taking it, even by force if necessary.

As a result of the struggle, Jacob we are told does "prevail" His desire for the blessing, and God's desire for him to have it overcome his need to control events.  But, I submit, there was no need for him to have struggled and suffered so much for the promises that were guaranteed to him by God.  There would have been a better way.  If only Jacob could have allowed himself to submit to God.  To believe in the destiny that God Himself had planned for him.  There would have been no need to manipulate his brother, or deceive his father.  Nor would he have had to separate from his mother, or to leave home penniless.  There would have been no need to live under the tyranny of his uncle Laban, or the fear and worry of returning to meet his brother Esau.  Instead, trusting in the provision and protection of God, Jacob could have lived his life in the fullness of God's blessing, waiting patiently for God's timing to bring about his destiny.

But perhaps there is no other way for us to really come to the place in our lives where finally we recognize that God must be in control of our lives.  Perhaps it is through the struggle that we come to know that without the mark of God on us, we will never truly know who we really are.