The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1894-03-09
THE TWIN BROTHERS.


Gen. 25:27-"And the boys grew: and
Esau was cunning hunter, a man OF
the field: and Jacob was a plain man,
dwelling in tents"
These words introduce Us to family
history that began under the most
loving smile OF heaven. story OF
wooing and wedding always interests
us. but the tale of the marriage OF
Isaac and Rebekah is told with all the
beauty of Il romance and all the ira
GRANGE of fiction. The story however.
is too real for fancy and too rich fOl
fiction. 1t is the simple record OF
heaven-planned lives and illustrates
the words of Byron, Truth is stranger
than fiction.
Into the home thus happily begun
two sons were born and it soon became
plain that even in this pious, God-ap
pointed family twin brothers could
develop very opposite tralts-the one
the pride of his father. the other the
pet of his mother There is both point
and pathOS i'm the story which relates
how one became EdOm. the ruddy, the
other Israel. the prince OF God. NC
matter what our sympathIeS may DE
the fact must stand that one is type
of weakness and the other Il tower OF
strength.
We look first at their natural traits
Of character. Esau was hunter, a
man of activity. d man OF nerve ana
endurance. There is an impetuOuSnesS
about his nature which we cannot but
admire, although like Peters it leads
him into endless difficulty. He was
atfectionate. amiable. promptin love
he had married three wives before
Jacob had married his tirSt-prompt to
forgive: he fell upon his brothers neck
and kissed him. Light-hearted and
generous, he had many OF the attrac-
lions OF Robin Hood and not few
OF his faults. Like Reuben he was
unstable as water and could not excel.
The blood of the sheik cOurSed through
his veins and the wandering instinct
of the Arab came out in full strength
in his life.
Jacob is less attractive when we
first meet him. There is none of that
frank. ODen. generous nature we see
in Esau. What any natural brother
would have given he proposes to sell.
Cunning and crafty with the GOODNESS
of ShylOck. he holds off his starving
brother till he is ready to pawn his
birthright and seal the bargain with
an oath. He had not even the courage
to carry out his own designs unaSSiSt-
ed Some praise his home life: but
the boy who stays at home tOplot
against gOOd-hearted, absent brother.
who is fond of his mother because she
is willing to aid him in deceiving a
piOuS blind old father is a dangerous
kind Of boy to have at home. Before
their birth it had been said. ''The
elder shall serve the younger" and
Jacob seems to think it his duty to
bring this about by any means. 1t is
wrongful right to see man seeking
divine things by purely the devils
methods.
But ''JacOb was plain man, that
is, he was steady, industrious and
business-lke in all his habits of life.
He loved the flock: the talent for ac-
emulation was strong in his nature:
he had genius for affairs. With his
uncle it was diamond cut diamond"
and the young Jew came out BEST
But we cannot stop with simply natu-
raj traits in the study of character
We must take into account the heart
purposes, the life aims what they
wanted to be.
ESau set his affections On the pleas
ureS of the moment. He never es-
teemed his birthright until it was lost
forever His free, daShing and pas
Sionate nature had no desire for a
leadership which required of him the
fruits of industry and sobriety. Jacob
looked out with resOlute zest upon
the supreme possibilities of the future.
He had not yet learned the absolute
safety and absolute success of high
and noble efforts, but he felt the pow
er of high life-purpoSe. The crisis
of Esau's life was at the time he lost
his blessing. He pleads and sheds
bitter tears when he realizes that it
has passed out of his hands forever:
but there is not struggle to prove
himself worthy of that lost inherit
ance. There is not thought of God
in it although the boon he sought was
the special promise of God to his
father.
The crises of Jacobs life were Beth.
ell and Pencil. Driven from his faith
er's home he seemed to have lost the
prize forever; but his distress drove
him to God to ask the meaning of
events. Bethel told him that though
the dearest earthly ties were broken,
the communication between earth and
heaven was still answered. At Peniel
he learned that the blessing of God
could not be obtained by stealth, but
must be had by struggle. These were
conflicts from within, struggling ur
and out of self in which Jacob the sup.
planter became Israel, the prince OF
God. Esau was spiritually Indifferent.
Jacob was spiritually persistent
Jacobs use of the birthright MAKES
him tower above his brother. The
intense religious spirit of the Jew may
be traced to him. The history OF
Esau eliminated in a Herod the Great.
The descendants of Jacob have given
the world Moses, Elijah, David Isaiah
Daniel, Paul MendelsOhn and Disra-
eli and the Son of Man himself.
A man may have all the beauty and
grace of an Absolem, all the advanta-
ges and distinguished abilities of an
Alcibiades; but if he has no high and
worthy aim his life will go out like a
candle. The story Of Esau tells us
that natural impulses are weak if
spiritual influences are wanting. The
story of Jacob shows that interest in
the higher things bring final success
and pre-eminence. A man should
live not only in his time but so as to