First part.
How Isaac resolves to bless Esau, but Rebekah endeavors to bring the blessing from Esau to Zakob.
V.1-4. And it came to pass, when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim to see, that he called Esau his elder son, and said unto him, My son. And he answered and said unto him, Here am I. And he said, Behold, I am grown old, and know not when I shall die. Now therefore take thy stuff, thy quiver, and thy bow,
And I will go into the field, and prepare me a venison, and make me a meal, as I like, and bring it in to me to eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die.
In this chapter we will learn how the blessing of the firstborn was so miraculously transferred from Esau to Jacob, and the judgment and sentence of God is described here, which has been hidden until now, but will finally be revealed. Above all, however, one should notice and pay attention to the chronology, so that we know in which year this history took place. For Esau and Jacob were seven and a half years old at that time.
seventy years old. For Jacob went to Mesopotamia when he was seven and seventy years old. There is no doubt about it, the chronology proves it clearly. If we add the previous sixty years of Isaac's age, before his sons were born, to the seven and seventy years, we get a hundred and seven and thirty years. Esau took two wives when Isaac was a hundred years old; and after these hundred years he lived six or seven and thirty years; therefore this that now follows came to pass in the hundred and seven and thirtieth years of Isaac's age.
002 And Jacob having served in Mesopotamia seven years, he became a bridegroom only in the four and eightieth year of his age. Esau had taken his two wives before him for four and forty years, and had already fathered many children, and would undoubtedly have had children by them, for he had been a husband for seven and thirty years, during which time many children could be fathered, especially by two wives. Therefore he has a large household and his own cottage with his wife and children, as we will see later. He is the prince and lord of Isaac's house, has two wives who are women in the house, has many children and children's children, and hopes to take his father's place without any hindrance and be the sole heir. Jacob, however, is miserable and despised, has no particular hope, and is only waiting for a gift: when he receives it, he will be sent away from his father's house and leave everything else to his brother Esau. So they both waited, and it lasted seven and thirty years.
(3) And at last Isaac thought, Behold, thou art an hundred years old, and seven, and thirty years old; now must thou also think of thy departure out of this life, and how thou shalt order and arrange it with thy children and thy seed. For after the Flood the fathers did not reach two hundred years. And at that time they were almost all dead, except for Eber, who died two years later. All the majesty and glory of the patriarchs were buried, so
that Isaac and Eber were still left, which Eber died two years later. Therefore Isaac alone with his sons is the patriarch and pope in the whole world. Therefore he thought, "The other fathers did not live two hundred years, except for one or two; so I will not hope for a longer life. "And it came to pass," says Moses, "when Isaac was old," that is, in the hundred and seven and thirtieth year, "that his eyes grew dim," perhaps not so much from old age as from any other accident.
(4) Otherwise, in old age, not only the face, but also the sense of taste and touch, as well as all the senses and limbs, tend to decline, for old age is a prelude to death. Just as little children who are not children are as if they were dead, seeing and yet not seeing, tasting and yet not tasting: so the old also become children again and become childish from old age; their eyes become dark, their hearing also diminishes, so that they hear with difficulty. Therefore, as soon as a man is born, his senses begin to diminish, and when death comes, all the powers and senses of man become dull and weak. When Isaac's eyes became dim, either from old age or from some accidental disease, so that he could no longer see, he called Esau, his older son, to bless him before he died.
(5) But here a grave and high question arises, namely, why Isaac, after the divine answer given to Rebekah above (Gen 25:23), still continues and wants to bless the greater son. For it is certain that he has heard that it was said to Rebekah by a divine answer: "The greater shall serve the lesser. Item: "Two kinds of people will be separated from your body; and one people will be superior to the other." And therefore Rebekah always holds on to the lesser, namely, to Jacob; but Isaac holds on to Esau.
(6) The Jews here bring forth useless babblings, saying, Isaac knew nothing of the divine answer; for Re-.
bekka had hidden such things from him. But this does not rhyme, and is contrary to the manner and usage of spouses, who are wont to say such things to each other. And Rebekah could not hide the pain she felt and experienced when the children in her womb bumped into each other. No doubt she complained that she was in danger of her life and limb and went to Eber or Shem at her husband's command, so that she might hear his advice or opinion. Then the same patriarch gave her the answer, "Thou shalt not die; but two nations are in thy womb," and thou shalt become a mother of two twins, yea, of two nations; neither shall the children die in their infancy, but they shall grow and become great, and have the promise of life, that they may know that they shall become patriarchs of very great nations. And when she heard this, she came again to her husband and told him the answer with joy, will have said: Shem has told me to give birth to twins who will live and beget two nations.
Now what does Isaac think after the divine answer that the greater should become the lesser? It is indeed a difficult question and this whole chapter is almost strange. The interpretation of the others, who have explained this first book of Moses, is quite cold and vain. I will therefore think that there was a friendly quarrel between these spouses and that they talked amicably with each other about the meaning of the divine answer. Rebekah may have said to her father, "It is indeed to be expected that Jacob will be the firstborn. Isaac, on the other hand, would have said: Thou understandest not the answer aright; methinks this prophecy or prophecy is already fulfilled, that Esau hath overcome Jacob, who was the greater in his mother's womb, because he wished to oppress the lesser; but Esau hath become the greater, and now shall he also remain the greater. Rebekah held the opposite view and remained firm in her opinion until what happened afterwards, that the blessing was miraculously turned to Jacob.
008 And in the meantime there was a friendly strife between the husband and wife. Isaac will have tried to make Rebekah change her mind, will have said: My dear Rebekah, you are lacking, you do not understand the answer well. But Rebekah will have answered him: Esau will not be the firstborn. And she had a very important argument and a good reason. For Esau was a hunter, made an alliance with the Hittites, and led two very wicked wives into his father's house; he did not teach his children how to obey their parents: from this she concluded that Esau would be rejected. And this was given her by the Holy Spirit, who reminded her that Esau, who was born first, was the greater and the other the lesser.
9 Thus both parents call each his son, whom he loves, the greater and the lesser. Such friendly or sweet errors can occur between spouses on a daily basis. The same thing happened here about a not insignificant matter, and this dispute between them lasted until it was reversed here. Rebekah considered Esau to be the greater, and concluded that because of this he could not become the firstborn according to the divine answer; then he had also despised and sold the firstborn. She diligently remembered and kept all this, as women also have their thoughts.
(10) Isaac, however, has formed an opinion that is contrary to this, and has for himself the rule or law, namely, Esau is the firstborn, and therefore the right of the firstborn belongs to him. Just as if one says in grammar: The nouns that end in the letter a are of the feminine gender; however, some are excluded. So Rebekka also makes an exception; the father sticks straight to the rule without any exception. And this is added to the fact that Esau is in possession: he rules the house and is lord of the house; but Jacob always remains a servant, lives without a wife and is a servant in the house as usual, has no rule at all these seven and thirty years.
11. this description of the persons and if one holds them thus against each other, helps
much and also explains the history. Esau not only leads the house and world regiment, but also paints the church regiment with religion and worship everywhere; in the absence of his father he preached, prayed, sacrificed, slaughtered cattle for sacrifice; he is king and pope in the same church and community. His wives are proud, hopeful mistresses and queens, who will no doubt have boasted that they are in possession and that Esau, their husband, holds the priesthood and regiment. Jacob, on the other hand, has been rejected, is as it were dead and buried, is like a rotten log and "a root of dry ground," as Isaiah chap. 53:2 says of Christ. But this is a work of God, who can make a fine green tree out of a dry block.
012 But because the matter was thus established, and every man had his own opinion, Esau was reckoned the chosen, and Jacob the rejected, according to the rule and judgment of all that were in the house, and also according to the reputation and power of Isaac the father. But Rebekah, the mother, is against it, who will have had these seven and thirty years of patience, and has had to suffer much, which the son and his wives have done and caused unreasonably and with great pride. She saw Esau sitting in the possession, that he had the rule, preached and administered the priestly office, and that Jacob was taken for a poor servant, who had to carry water and fire for the sacrifice, and had to do other domestic work, as servants are wont to do.
(13) This can be seen that it does not rhyme badly that it is said in this place. For in this life there is often such a dispute about things that are uncertain and about which one doubts. Just as Augustine and his mother Monica had a quarrel almost like this one: the mother prayed day and night for her son that he might be saved from the sect and heresy of the Manichaeans, to which sect he had belonged and been attached for nine years, and had been caught up in it so that no one could save him or resist him.
The mother called in many people to talk to him about it and to bring him out of this error, but no one was able to either overcome him or bring him out of it, so that his mother became terribly frightened about it and no longer had any comfort. Then it happened that in the night she had a dream in which a young man appeared to her, standing in a circle and speaking kindly to her: "Dear woman, why are you crying? She said, "I am grieved that my son should be lost. Then the youth answered her, "Where you are, there he is also. Then the mother awakes from sleep, is joyful, and tells her son the dream, saying, "Dear son, I have at last found comfort, and have the promise that thou shalt be converted to my rule or faith;" and told him the words of the youth. Then Augustine reverses the saying and says to his mother: "Dear mother, you have not heard correctly, but the young man has said: Where I am (and has drawn the little word "I" to himself and his teaching), there you will also be. The mother did not allow herself to be challenged, but remained steadfast in her understanding, and Augustine confesses that such steadfastness of his mother moved him very much, so that he all the more easily agreed with the mind and opinion of his mother.
14 Such friendly quarrels are common between husbands and wives, and also between good friends, as between Pomponius and Cicero, and here between Isaac and Rebecca. And they have not only disputed about the meaning of the answer, but also held both Esau's and Jacob's ways and customs diligently against each other. My dear Rebekah," Isaac will have said, "you see that Jacob is a simple, simple-minded man, and that he does not ask anything about the regiment or the priesthood; but Esau wields a bow, arrow and sword, and he will be quicker and more skillful for the regiment. As we are wont to do good to those in whom we see that they are a little more ready and skillful than others to conduct their business.
15. after that, isaac hangs on the outer-
The Holy Matron Rebekah, however, is not a woman of the Holy Spirit, but a woman of the Holy Spirit, who has been wounded by the bitterness of Esau's wives and the great hope of her son, says to Jacob by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, when the holy matron Rebekah was hurt and grieved by the bitterness of Esau's wives and the great hope of her son, by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit she holds up Jacob and says to her husband: Esau will by no means become the lord, his manners and his life are not at all pleasing to me, whether he is regarded as being sent to rule; Jacob humbles himself, is obedient, and is even trampled underfoot by his brother; therefore the promise is not yet fulfilled; for the humble are exalted, and the hopeful are humbled and overthrown. For this is a certain rule in Scripture, which is not wanting, as St. Peter says 1 Epist. 5:5: "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."
16 Because the government of our Lord God is in accordance with this, Rebecca insists on this rule. Because Esau realizes that he is held in high esteem and preferred by his father, and because of the favor he has had among the servants and the common people, he is proud and puffed up; therefore he will be humbled. And God also sets the opposite afterwards, so that the other, namely Jacob, who is now rejected and lies in the dust, will be exalted.
These are the judgments of God. And I say this so that it may be understood all the more easily why Isaac was deceived in such a wonderful way, so that it is almost as if this story were a lie or a fiction. For it must be taken for certain that he knew the divine answer well, and that he held very hard above reason that Esau was the greater, who had been trodden underfoot and overcome by Jacob before in his mother's womb, and who would now again trod underfoot and overcome Jacob, his greater. Because otherwise, if one does not understand it thus, one will not be able to balance the text, that it may rhyme with each other.
(18) The father was attached to the letter, as was Abraham, who also took Ishmael for the firstborn; but Rebekah had stronger arguments and better causes of her understanding. Therefore she tolerates Esau's hope and violence, and yet in her heart she takes care of every opportunity, so that she may turn the firstborn from Esau to Jacob. And she did not deal with this advice only in that year or day, but for a long time she pondered it in her heart in many ways and thought about it this way: I will see how I may regain the blessing for my son.
(19) And it is well to be believed that she did not invent this of herself or of her own understanding, but that the Holy Spirit reminded her of it through the patriarch Eber, that is, that she remembered the exception to the common rule: who will have admonished and reminded her that the blessing by divine command, as with a special exception to the common rule, belongs to Jacob and not to Esau. Although Esau relied on the letter of the law and the rule to protect himself. But, as St. Paul says Gal. 3, 18, the children of the law are not the right heirs, but the children of the promises, who are exempt from the law. Therefore Rebekah does not deviate from her opinion and relies on Jacob to be the heir and lord. Isaac, on the other hand, will not deviate from the rule and the law until the time when the mother and the son begin to deceive and deceive the father with lies.
020 And Isaac called unto Esau his greater son, and desired him to make him a supper, knowing that his father would be pleased. From this it can be clearly assumed that he certainly thought in his heart that Esau was the greater. For he speaks this freely with full confidence; as pious holy men are wont to do, they are not double-minded, neither have they a double heart, but where they are inclined, there they are inclined with all their heart: they are either nothing or even find it. On the other hand, the be-
The people who are deceptive are not at one with themselves, they are unstable and have two tongues in their mouths. But here the heart of Isaac, the father, is undivided; he is firmly convinced that Esau is to be the firstborn; that is why he is so confused and bitterly angry afterwards, when he realizes that he has been deceived in such simplicity and certain confidence. This comes from the simplicity that does not divide the heart in various opinions. Just as he who believes in one God cannot have two gods, for God wants the heart, since He says in Deut. 6:5: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. Therefore, the fact that he is deceived is due to the fact that he relied too much on the opinion he had formed.
21 Now Esau is described here as being very obedient and pious; therefore Isaac also puts all his trust in him, that he will be the heir who will follow him; and he speaks to him no differently than to one who will possess the inheritance in his place. As if to say, "My dear son, it is almost time for the promise to be fulfilled. You are the greater and the firstborn, so let us see to it that you may succeed me most closely in the regiment and priesthood, for I am concerned that a quarrel may arise between you and your brother, of which I have seen the beginnings for more than thirty years. Therefore, so that such a disagreement between you brothers may be prevented, I have resolved and decided with myself that I want to leave a certain heir behind me and decree that he should preside over both the regiment and the church. For this purpose he now chooses Esau, because he is very obedient to him. And Isaac is still of the opinion that Rebekah, the mother, is wrong, who loved Jacob and hoped that he should become the firstborn. Therefore, these words of Isaac come from such a heart that stood firm and wanted to be sure that Esau would have to be declared the right heir. "Go," he says, "to the field," take your quiver and bow, 2c., "sow me a venison, and make me a meal," 2c., "that I may be the firstborn.
my soul bless thee before I die." There is no suspicion at all that it could go differently; and will nevertheless be deceived.
22 Now it seems from this speech of Isaac's that Esau knew how to ingratiate himself with his father. The scripture does not say that he honored his father, but that he pretended and flattered him. Flattery is part of the trade. He was able, I say, to ingratiate himself and to make himself look good where he saw that his father was inclined; then he was able to make himself look as if he cared for his father more than his brother. That is why Isaac despairs of Jacob, who is always around his mother and is also very modest and quiet. It is as if he were born to be a servant. But Esau is the master of the house, who is used to hunt and to bring his father good food from the hunt: not common food, such as a hen, milk or cheese, as Rebekah and Jacob used to give him, but game. And so he shows much greater care and zeal for his father than Jacob or his mother. And with such service and diligence he makes that the father has become more and more favorable to him, who was otherwise very favorable to him without that. Yes, so we must deal with those whom we want to deceive and cheat.
23) And his wives also helped him diligently, who were able to smear the old man finely with their flattering words, and by the way greatly grieved and embittered the poor mother, because they knew that she was not satisfied that Esau should have the honor, and that Jacob should thus be despised. But Rebekah thought, O Esau, you honor your father not for his sake, as if you were so pious, but for your own benefit: non propter te, sed propter tuum te, as is commonly said in Latin. You do not mean your father, but yourself. For he does not go about honoring his father out of a pure heart, but seeks thereby for himself, his wives and children, the rule and
priesthood. Rebekah noticed that.
24. For thus are all hypocrites minded. They are wolves in sheep's clothing, so that they deceive their parents, masters and brothers 2c. Isaac did not pay attention to this, but Rebekah was able to see it and will disgrace this deceitfulness by a whimsical counsel. Therefore Esau was an obedient son, but God did not know anything about it. On the other hand, Jacob can be seen as having honored his father with nothing at all, but according to God's judgment he honors his father alone. For God sees into the heart. Esau brings rabbits and venison and flatters his old father with it, therefore he is loved all the more; but it is all hypocrisy. Therefore Isaac is strengthened more and more in his delusion, because he lets himself be deceived with such hypocrisy.
(25) This is a bad example, and the godly should learn to be hostile to such hypocrisy and to fear the Lord. For God does not care if one does great things or much; as Esau fulfills the fourth commandment to the highest degree, as it appears outwardly, but in truth he does nothing less; for his heart is not righteous and pure, which God wants above all things. Therefore Esau does not respect his father, but is concerned about his firstborn, which will be seen more afterward, since he has lost the blessing. For if he had loved his father rightly and dearly, he would have been able to bear the curse with patience, saying, "Dear father, though it seemed otherwise to you and to me, yet I will obey my mother, and will bear with it and be content that the blessing has been so turned away from me. But his heart is much different, for he says, "The time will soon come for my father to suffer, for I will slay my brother Jacob." But shall one honor one's parents? Therefore God has seen the devilish and murderous heart, as the one who tests hearts. Esau was able to hide it for a while, so that his father would not notice it, but after that he came out with force.
026 Now this is the honor which children owe to their parents, that if they decree anything contrary to thy will, thou shalt nevertheless be and remain obedient unto them. This is why Moses describes Esau as a great hypocrite who earned his father's favor with special services and yet shamefully deceived him with such hypocrisy.
(27) Although Isaac, who is blind and old, was betrayed by the son who, according to outward appearances, was the most obedient, God judges rightly and turns the blessing from the wicked hypocrite Esau to the pious and simple Jacob. And this is held up to us as a lesson and example, so that we may learn to fear God, whom we cannot deceive with our hypocrisy, but whom He sees into the heart. Therefore, the best thing is to do what one has to do with simplicity and to live with a sincere heart. And one should not joke with God, neither in religion, nor in worldly rule, nor in domestic rule, so that such joking and hypocrisy will never go unpunished.
028 Now that the hypocrite hath joined himself to his two wives and children, and agreed that they would deceive their father of old, and that he, Esau, should be made heir, there follows the counsel of Rebekah, which is utterly contrary to that design. For Rebekah was very bold, and turned back and prevented all the plots that Isaac her husband and Esau her son had made.
V. 5-10: And Rebekah heard these words, which Isaac spake unto Esau his son. And Esau went out into the field to hunt game, and to bring it home. Then said Rebekah unto Jacob her son, Behold, I have heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me a venison, and make me a meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD, before I die. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, which I command thee. Go to the herd, and get me two good cattle, that I may make a meal of them for thy father.
Do as he pleases. You shall carry this in to your father to eat, that he may bless you before his death.
29 Here belongs the description of the way the fathers used when they blessed others or received the blessing. But Moses only tells according to history what the firstborn had to do, how he had to be dressed to receive the fiefs of the blessing. He does not add anything more about that, although they had to use some certain and special ceremonies for that. As at present the princes, when they receive the fiefs from the emperor, are not dressed as they usually wear their usual clothes; but put on royal robes with fine helmets, shields and weapons. These are outward ceremonies, and the world uses them to make known and adorn that which is intended. Thus Moses laid his hands on Joshua, Numbers 27:20, 23, and the Scripture says: Pones super eum laudes tuas, that is, You shall praise him before the people with a short speech, that they may know, when he is thus praised by you, that he is worthy of it, that they should hear him and follow him. As we also do when the students come together and the doctors or masters are publicly announced. The same thing happens with weddings: the young married couple go to church, have adorned themselves with new clothes, the neighbors are invited to go along and help with such wedding pomp and customary ceremonies; a meal is prepared in honor of the bridegroom and the bride, so that the people who are invited eat and drink with each other and be merry.
(30) In the same way, they used some special ceremonies when they received the blessing of the firstborn. First, they had to prepare a meal for the father. The same was not done without sacrifice: they both made a sacrifice to God and thus began it with the sacrifice. Just as we, when we come together in public, are accustomed to begin with prayer or thanksgiving. And as we
We pray when we lay hands on those who are ordained and confirmed to the church or preaching ministry: so Esau also initially offered a sacrifice, after which he also presented something of it to his father to eat.
The other ceremony was this: the one who was to receive the blessing had to put on a priestly garment, which rhymed with the priestly garb and with the blessing of the firstborn. And there Moses indicates that Rebekah was in possession of the priestly garments. Jacob did not take care of it and almost lost it with the firstborn, he despaired of it for his own sake, but she kept the clothes with great care. At that time both Esau and Jacob were seven and seventy years old, and yet these clothes still remained in the custody of their father and mother, from whom they had to be claimed if they were to be used. And I think that Rebekka had a special intention, that she would have the clothes in her power, as the crown, the scepter, the royal robe, and what else belonged to the honor and glory of the firstborn. This we can take from Moses and conclude from the same ceremonies.
(32) Now there is a very hard question, and such a knot as is not easy to untie: whether it was fitting that Rebekah and Jacob her son should lie, and deceive the holy patriarch, when he was blind and old, in such a great and important matter, and so deprive Esau his brother of the blessing and the firstborn? For, first, they sin against the law and the common rule; then, against the divine answer, which Isaac understood differently from what Rebekah wanted to understand; third, against the will and authority of the Father. And Rebekah takes the royal and priestly garments to herself to adorn Jacob and thus bring him to the father, whom the father had never thought to make his heir.
33. this is indeed a great sacrilege and bold-
heit, in addition a very large fraud and heavy damage. For this is no joke or service lie, but is very harmful. For the firstborn is such a thing, of which one is wont to argue in religious and church matters, and which has eternal life attached to it at the same time as temporal life. Therefore it is a great sin that one should not think that any man should commit it, even if he should be the most godless, let alone such holy men as Rebekah and Jacob. And it can be seen that no greater sin could be conceived or said of any greater wickedness, even according to the judgment of the world. It is a very wicked deception in such important matters, contrary to the answer and divine law. After that Esau has the possession and the rule both in the house and also in worldly and church affairs; and nevertheless against all this and against the will of the father he is pushed away by his brother Jacob.
I know of nothing in the writings of the Fathers, Augustine and others, that would help me to interpret this question. For they all pass by this text and say nothing about this piece. Therefore, we will have to guess. And it is truly a marvelous thing that this woman is so bold that she was allowed to do such a great thing and to present her son with such great danger in the absence of his brother, and in addition against the will of his father, who also almost notices the deception and is frightened when he hears Jacob's voice and attacks his hands. For he says in v. 22, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau's hands"; item v. 20, "How did you find so soon?" Jacob himself is frightened when he hears his mother's voice, and says to his mother in v. 12, "I fear that I will bring a curse upon myself, and not a blessing." But Rebekah follows the spirit that has led and driven her: and therefore she has put all these dangers and aversions out of her sight with great spirit and strong courage.
35 And it can be seen that they did not decide this matter from their own counsel.
It was not a question of a blessing, but rather that she had long ago conceived it in her heart through the memory of other people. But she could not persuade her husband to turn the blessing against the rule to Jacob. Therefore, she often came to Eber and complained that Isaac did not want to depart from the rule and bless Jacob. Then she heard from Eber that he said to her: Do whatever you can to deceive Isaac and take away the right of the firstborn: try everything you can. For faith is not without words. Therefore, she will undoubtedly have heard the verbal word and considered it in her heart, otherwise she would not have been allowed to begin this.
For the Holy Spirit does not come without a word, but he wants to come through the harp, that is, through the word, where one talks about it and contemplates it, or through the verbal voice of the father, the mother or others. Otherwise, the devil comes. But as David, Isaiah and all the Scriptures testify, the Holy Spirit comes with the Word and through the Word, according to the saying in the first Psalm, v. 2: "Blessed is he that delightth in the law of the Lord, and speaketh of his law day and night" 2c.
37 After this, God sometimes transgresses the rule, so that those who are children according to the rule and according to the law also tend to abuse their rule. And in this respect the law is of no use to them. For where you begin to abuse it, God abrogates it so that it no longer applies. Esau was proud and hopeful against the divine answer, and thought of himself thus: Jacob is rejected, has died and is buried; and has thus oppressed his poor brother. In addition, he tolerated the bitterness and bitterness of his wives against his parents.
38 Therefore, when hope comes, the rule ceases. For God has not instituted kingdoms and dominions, nor does He give other gifts to men to make them proud and proud, and to rage and rage against the poor and miserable; but all that He gives to men, whether it be riches, or
Strength, or beauty, that he gives for his glory and for the benefit of his neighbor.
39 Therefore, the ultimate purpose of God's gifts is not that those who have the gifts should use them for pleasure, tyranny, or willfulness; rather, the proper use of the gifts should be directed to God's glory, benefit, and the welfare of the neighbor. But men receive the blessings of God, kingdoms, priesthood, strength, power, wisdom, and have the gifts from God, but ask nothing about the purpose for which they should use the gifts. But why are you a king? Why are you a prince, priest, father or mother? For this reason, you will say, that I should have it good in this life, that I should have my pleasure, that I should live in pleasure, that I should fulfill all my desires: for this reason I am learned and rich, that I may thereby obtain a great name and great honor among men. Yes, there the rule of which you boast so highly is even abolished and no longer has to apply.
40 For God does not want His blessings to be poured out and given for any other end than His glory, for the praise of Him from whom the gifts come, and for the welfare and betterment of the church. Therefore, the authorities have their honor, so that they may be useful to the community and the subjects. Husband and wife are joined in matrimony to beget children and raise them for the benefit of the household and the commonwealth. But the world cuts off the final purpose in all the gifts of God.
41 Rebekah noticed this and looked at the divine answer a little more diligently than Isaac, her husband, who only stuck to the rule, namely: Esau was born first and Jacob last; therefore Esau is also the firstborn. But Rebekah, on the other hand, has kept the promise: she has not both the thing and the purpose of the thing for herself. For the life and customs of Esau do not rhyme with the answer. Therefore she thought, "My son Esau is keeping himself so that I can see that he will not be the firstborn. Then he also sold his firstborn, and did not fulfill the purpose of the firstborn, for which it was intended.
He despised the rule, which was judged, and said: I will only accept the red judgment now; that is so much to say: If I may only be the lord and prince and priest, then I do not ask anything about the final purpose, which concerns the benefit of the church; I only think that I may live according to my own desire and have great honor. So now Isaac holds above the rule, but Rebekah insists on the exception. For Esau thus holds himself that he is not and cannot be the firstborn. Accordingly, the answer agrees with what God gave her against the rule.
(42) This is what the whole dispute is about: Rebekah and Jacob always continue and insist on the exception and the spirit, because Esau had sold the firstborn, and because of the abuse of the firstborn he is not considered worthy to have it. Therefore, the question can be answered as follows, namely for Rebecca and Jacob: "What has been given to me by God, and I know that it belongs to me, I may appropriate it to myself and take possession of it, no matter by what trickery or deceit this may be done; for I am guilty of a mortal sin of thinking, writing, pretending, or even concealing my intentions, as much as I can and may, so that what is commanded to me by God may be done.
Lyra says that Jacob and Rebekah are by no means excusable. And we cannot absolve them of sin, for they were people who had carnal movements, just as we do. But it is not necessary to accuse them of lying, or to impute any deceit to them. For since God says, "I will have Jacob to be the firstborn," there the law is abolished: "But where the law is not, there is no transgression," Rom. 4:15.
44 Because Jacob and Rebekah were sure that the firstborn belonged to Jacob, that is, from the divine answer, and because they saw in Esau such wicked fruits and customs, they should have despised the law and the rule, and the law and the rule should not have been changed.
God turned the firstborn from Esau to Jacob. Therefore Rebekah thought how she would deceive Isaac, her husband, and Esau, her son, and all who were in the house. For now she obeyed not the rule or the law, but God, who so used the firstborn, and so dispensed against the rule: therefore she sinned not.
(45) And this, I hold, is a plain and right answer to the question of the deceit, falsehood, and harm that befell Esau, and all that followed him, that is, the whole church of the house of Isaac. For they were all obedient to him, and took him for the firstborn, because he had held the same right and dominion more than seven and thirty years. Therefore they did not doubt that he would remain the firstborn. But now that the blessing of the firstborn was to be confirmed, it was all suddenly and unawares reversed against the whole church and the patriarch Isaac's counsel and will. For Rebekah follows closely that God turned the firstborn away from Esau, because he was rejected according to the divine answer and because of the contempt of the firstborn, moreover because of the fruit and the life, which was not worthy of this glory. And here the cause and the effect agree with each other, and the confirmation of the Holy Spirit is also added: "But Isaac is deceived. This in itself is a grave and grievous sin against the man, against his father and neighbor, even against his brother and against the rule. But as it pleased the Lord, so it was done.
(46) For the obedience of parents, brotherhood and love are subject to the first table: the other table must give way and counts for nothing if it clashes with the first. Where one loves the brother or father with contempt of GOD, that is enmity against GOD. "If anyone comes to me," says Christ Luc. 14, 26, "and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Then God abolishes the law, so that I am not guilty of
To be obedient to the same in the other table. But in case the first and the other table are not against each other, the law and the obedience remain.
(47) If the authorities can tolerate me teaching the word of God, I honor them and hold such authorities in high esteem as my ruler. But if it says to me, "You shall deny God and abandon the word," then I no longer recognize it as my authority. In the same way, one should also obey one's parents. But if they would say: I will have thee become a monk or a ruler according to papist idolatry, they shall not be obeyed. For thus says Deut. 5, 33, 9: "He that saith to his father and to his mother, I see him not; and to his brother, I know him not; and to his son, I know not; they keep thy speech, and keep thy covenant." God wants us to deny ourselves and our lives in the other table, where it is against the first. But if they can stand together, then the honor of honoring the parents is God's honor: but if they are against each other, then it is necessary to make an exception.
(48) Yes, you say, it is right to say that, and it is also necessary to teach that one should be obedient to the authorities, to parents and to all proper authority. That is rightly said, I admit the rule. But why do you not keep the rule, you say, when either the parents or the authorities command that you should follow their religion? Answer: There is one exception: the first table should be preferred to the other. As if the parents order or command something that is against God, then the fourth commandment, which before was certain and strong, is annulled. For in the first commandment it is said that one should love and honor GOD above all things; and in the stories of the apostles in 5 Cap. V. 29. St. Peter thus speaks, "One must obey GOD more than men."
49 In this way we also conclude and recognize in the cause of the gospel against the rule or authority of the emperor and pope, yes, against the whole godless nature of the pope without any preceding right. We
did not accuse the pope, nor could we do so; for there was no judge: we honored the pope, our parents, and the emperor. But because Christ says John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice, but they do not follow a stranger, but flee from him," 2c. we did not have to wait until it was known in a human way whether we would do well or badly if we separated ourselves from the pope. For when one has recognized God's will, one should not argue long about right, or about custom, usage, or other such things; but one should obey the commandment and command of God without any hesitation. For neither pope, nor parents, nor even the emperor use this title: "I am the Lord, your God" 2c., 2 Mos. 20, 2.
(50) So it is easy to answer this question, which is difficult enough, from what Rebekah and Jacob did. The law and the rule determined that Esau should be the firstborn. But because God, in His first tablet, has averted this, even changed this law, and thus concluded and commanded: I did not want Esau, but I wanted Jacob; therefore Rebekah and Jacob did not sin, but acted holy and godly, and by all rights deprived Esau and took from him the fief of the firstborn.
(51) They could not have obtained it by force, for it could not have been done without rebellion. For as far as the promise and the government were concerned, the church and the temporal government, as well as the whole house of Isaac, would have stood against Jacob. For Esau had preceded him in authority and righteousness. Jacob was much inferior, even despised and oppressed; therefore Rebekah attacked the matter artfully and nimbly, and with a very subtle deception; and this according to God's will, who also in such an important matter, which was full of great danger, gave a blessed outcome, so that everything turned out well.
The Hebrew word mathamim means to taste, and rhymes with the way of speaking that Lucas describes in the Acts of the Apostles, Cap. 10, v. 10. V. 10.
He says of Petro: "And when he was hungry, he wanted to bite" (voluit gustare cibum), that is, he wanted to eat lunch. This indicates the moderation they kept in eating and drinking, that it was more a bite than that they should have eaten and drunk, so that the body would be nourished and preserved and not weighed down or burdened. But it was a very fine way to receive the fief and the blessing of the firstborn, namely, that the one who was to be blessed had to bring a good meal to the father who was to give the blessing.
The mother therefore gave the command, "Hear, my son, my voice," for the son's comfort and to give him courage to carry out this difficult and important matter. She has the divine answer before her, so she continues in faith. Moses especially used the word that the mother had commanded the son to do this, so that he might indicate that the mother had tried to persuade the son to do it. For he refuses to do it, and disputes with the mother about the command.
Second part.
How Jacob initially refuses to consent to Rebekah's counsel, but how Rebekah finally gets him to follow her.
(v.11-14) And Jacob said unto Rebekah his mother, Behold, my brother Esau is smoky, and I am smooth: so peradventure my father would understand me, and be thought of before him, as if I would deceive him, and bring upon me a curse, and not a blessing. Then his mother said to him, "The curse is on me, my son; only obey my voice, go and fetch me. So he went and fetched, and brought to his mother. Then his mother made a meal, as his father liked.
54. The Hebrew word chalak means smooth in German, which has no hair. But this is an important excuse for him to try to overturn his mother's commandment. He
reminded her how the matter she was dealing with was so great and difficult in itself. As if he wanted to say: See to it, dear mother, that you do not bring me into great distress and danger, that I may bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing. He is truly a good dialectician; he holds up to his mother an argument strong enough for him to try to turn her heart away from her presumption. How? if my father were to say: You have made me err with the blessing, I will have the blessing revoked; then I will bring upon myself the curse. You and my father will easily find an excuse, but I will be in great trouble and danger because of my obedience and because I have obeyed you.
55 Here comes another question from this pious holy woman, who is indeed driven by the Holy Spirit and always continues in her faith, but nevertheless does many things that seem somewhat sacrilegious, and puts herself and her son in many dangers. It is a very fine advice that she so cunningly preempts the greater son: she cooks the little goats, deceives the father with a great deception, which is almost beyond the understanding of a woman; she covers the hands of the son, covers his smooth skin with the goat skins. But this is especially a foolish thought, that she does not realize that the father should be able to recognize his son in another way than with the eyes that were now dark to him. She does not see the great window, namely the voice, which most of all makes a man recognizable, although the other senses cannot judge from it. And it cannot be concealed or changed in any way. Even more, the judgment of the voice is even more certain than when you look at the face itself.
(56) Therefore, Rebekah would have brought her son into the greatest distress and danger, if God had not miraculously governed all this. For hear what the father answers. When Jacob says, "I am Esau, your firstborn son," he immediately recognizes Jacob's voice and says, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau's hands." Then he is frightened without a doubt
and thought that he had not considered and pondered it all properly. I would have run away soon, if I had heard the answer of the father: "The voice is Jacob's voice" 2c.; because this trade was full of danger.
57 Now all these things belong to the consolation of the saints or believers, whose counsel and nobles must be blessed, because they begin by faith. For he that believeth all things must be for his good, Romans 8:28. Faith resteth not, and all things are possible unto it, even to afflict a holy man, and to some extent even the Holy Ghost. So Rebekah goes on and on, not thinking how she might put herself and her son Jacob in great danger. For Isaac might have said, Why wilt thou deceive thy father, and rob thy brother? Do you think that I do not hear and recognize the voice? There it stood truly in the balance. Jacob might have been frightened by such words and thought, "O mother, what have you done? The father is attentive to the voice, although it did not occur to us to think of it and beware of the sign.
058 So Jacob was in the greatest fear: but yet he learned, and obeyed his mother, who had said unto him, "Let the curse be upon me, my son. Therefore, it was a great faith that she had laid herself against Jacob, because he refused and complained to do what she had commanded him. Dear son, she says, do not dispute long; I command and command you to do what I have said. If anything evil comes out of it, I will let it pass over me; whether it be a curse or a blessing, only always continue in my name, at my command and order. Where you will be cursed, I will bear the curse.
59 No one can speak like this unless he is full of faith and the Holy Spirit. For one to let his son go and be in certain danger of being cursed, and yet to believe that he would bear all the harm and let the curse come upon him, if it were evil, is not something that anyone can do soon, but is a work of faith.
of a very fervent faith. After that she will also have prayed: O my dear heavenly Father, grant that my Son may accomplish all things blissfully and well!
60 But she did not think that the father would know the voice. Therefore, whoever wants to lie must be careful, must have a very good memory, must be clever and cunning. I would not be able to do anything in such a matter, I would soon ruin and overthrow everything. And Rebekah was not careful enough either: she should have prevented the most, but she thought of it the least, so that the matter almost got to the point that it looked as if it was spoiled and as if they would have to despair.
(61) But faith always retains the victory, and overcomes all errors and dangers that the saints encounter. As Rebekah believed and prayed, and as Jacob obeyed, so at last the answer was: so the matter also came to an end. For faith makes the hearing deaf and the seeing blind, and again also the deaf to hear and the blind to see. In short, it misses and corrupts nothing, or if it sometimes falls short or fails out of foolishness or imprudence, God sees this beforehand and corrects it, so that the errors may be covered up and finally gain a blessedly good outcome.
I know that I have often done many foolish and almost careless things, even to the point of thinking: Why has God called me to the office of preaching, since there is not so much art in me, so much counsel and understanding or wisdom, as belongs to the great office? For although I have done everything out of a good and simple heart, and also with diligence and good zeal, nevertheless many inconsistent things and some mistakes have often occurred and been made, so that it seemed as if heaven and the whole world were about to fall in. Then I had to fall on my knees and seek help and counsel from God, who is mighty and can make even a hard, terrible offense or accident have a happy outcome.
nen when we are asleep. As he created Eve while Adam slept. For there he takes Adam in the sleep of his ribs one and closes the place with flesh, and builds a woman from the rib, Gen. 2, 21. 22. There someone would like to say that God has silken fingers, since he can do such a great work so easily and without effort.
63 In the same way he governs his saints. Even though they have hardly erred or failed, and have carelessly committed a great folly, from which innumerable misfortunes might come, he can nevertheless put a happy and blissful end to all of them. That is how powerful faith and prayer are; indeed, faith is all-powerful.
64 Therefore Isaac is deceived, as it were, knowingly, cautiously and gradually; for he himself says, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau's hands," and yet he allows himself to be deceived. As seen in the books of the Gentiles, that the masters are deceived by the servants; as He says in the comedy, If I were not so utterly unintelligent or coarse as a stone or block, I could perceive the deceit. So, I say, God deals with His saints or believers that they cannot even notice or understand where any foolish or careless deed has happened.
(65) Therefore let us diligently remember this example, that we may be exhorted, that faith may have such great power as to blind and deafen them that can most clearly see and hear, that they may be deceived hearing and seeing.
66 And so it may be answered to the question, that Rebekah did act imprudently; but divine prudence governed her because of her excellent great faith, so that though Isaac the father heard Jacob's voice, yet because he had so great confidence and was so very sure, he was deceived.
67. an unbelieving man is not easily deceived, but he who easily trusts anyone is also easily deceived; as Solomon says in his Proverbs Cap. 14, 15: "A foolish man believes everything, but a witty man watches his walk." Therefore
Those whom we wish to deceive must not be attacked at the time when we know that they are watching and minding their own business; but we must first turn away all distrust from them, and seek to make them trust us. We must always keep their hearts with hope, and persuade them that they have nothing evil to do to us: as the servants of Davus or Syrus in the comedies know how to deceive their masters so cunningly that they close their eyes, sleep and trust them. For Isaac does not doubt the faithfulness of his wife Rebekah and his son Jacob, and does not betray them: he thinks they are so pious and faithful that they cannot act cunningly or deceitfully against him. Therefore, when he was reminded of Jacob's voice, he could not have had any evil suspicion of him, but thought that Esau had changed his voice by some joke, so as not to deceive his father.
68 And this is the common way of all life, not only in the saints, but also in the common life of all men, as the examples in the comedies testify. He that believeth easily is deceived; but again, he that believeth not easily, it is vain for thee to attempt to deceive him. Therefore, many things happen in the lives of the saints, so that we may see how God governs His saints and can make the greatest wisdom out of their foolishness and audacity; in addition, He gives happiness to their counsel and plans, which at first seem very foolish, so that they must win a beautiful outcome. It often happens that saintly people act carelessly enough, as Rebekah does here, but she still breaks through because she is faithful.
69. Therefore, this should be diligently noted in the beginning of this chapter, namely, first, that the first table should be preferred to the other; then, that God forgives His saints their foolishness and audacity, yes, He also allows them to be well advised and gives them good fortune. Therefore, if you do something that is not good in itself, do not do it.
Therefore, do not despair, but recognize your error or mistake with all humility, and think: God is almighty, who was able to lead and save Rebekah and Jacob from such great distress and danger, therefore I will not despair, but will trust in Him, He will also deliver me from this accident. Rebekah's advice and counsel was almost audacious, but it was well advised; for God nullifies the counsel of the wicked, but He honors and helps His saints.
70 Therefore, beware of both, lest you become hopeful and proud because of your wisdom and prudent counsel, and then, if any counsel or advice does not turn out well, do not despair. For God excuses and favors the errors of the pious. I have often committed the greatest follies and audacities, but I have done so out of a good heart, not that I would have harmed anyone with it; I have also not done it knowingly, but unknowingly and out of foolishness. To faithfully advise and help others. I have truly had to pray that God would cover up and correct my error and mistake. And in great actions, which are somewhat confused, it cannot be otherwise. For it often happens that great and very pious men do great harm in the common regiment with their foolish and audacious counsel and suggestions. And if God did not have mercy on them, the lowest would be turned upward and the highest downward, and everything would fall in a heap.
71 Thus it is with our life, which is truly a miserable life. Since we presume to be very wise and want to advise and help things very well, we often do the greatest harm, so that such our mistakes would not be corrected by divine grace and providence. Everything would be thoroughly spoiled. For the same thing happens to us that happened to that farmer who could hardly move his wagon forward because (as he made himself believe) the wheels on the wagon were a little too wide: the same farmer, in order to make the
In order to make it easier for the horses to pull the wagon, he sharpened the tires of the wheels; but with this stop he did so little that the wagon with the wheels only sank deeper into the muck and could not be moved at all.
So it is with our wisdom, of which we presume, according to which we make ourselves believe that there is no easier thing on earth than to administer the common rule. As that fool in the comedy says: Me regem esse oportuit: I ought to be a king, and as the poets have finely depicted such presumption of men in the fable of Phaethon; for you hear many such people nowadays, who can cry out: If I were in D. Martin's or Philip's place, I would give them better counsel; yes, indeed, you would be right 2c. So we see that often great princes start and fail, and that the very best and most pious bishops are often the most foolish.
How now? Should one do nothing at all and completely flee from all regiments? Answer: Not at all; rather, each one should carry out his office diligently and faithfully, which is commanded him by God; but he should be careful not to rely on his strength or wisdom, and not to think that he is such a great man, by whose counsel everything should be governed. For such sacrilege and presumption cannot be helped, and it is damned if I ascribe to myself that I am such a man and such an excellent man that I can wisely, rightly and well administer the common government everywhere, and also well govern a house and the church. But if you are a judge, a bishop, or a prince, do not be ashamed to fall on your knees and say: Dear Lord God, you have made me a prince, judge, father of a house, pastor, or church servant, therefore govern and teach me, give me counsel, wisdom, strength, and power, that I may carry out my commanded office diligently and well.
74 So also Solomon, when he had heard of the Lord in a dream at night, said to him, 1 Kings 3:5, "Ask what you want.
I shall give thee." So he prays v. 7 ff.: "O Lord, my God, you have given me a great and mighty people; now give me wisdom also, that your servant may judge your people, and understand what is good and what is evil." And the Scriptures indicate that such a prayer was very pleasing to the Lord, for it is a very beautiful confession. He was a very wise and godly king, and yet he calls himself a little boy; for he thus says v. 7: "I am a little boy, knowing neither my going out nor my coming in." Therefore the text adds vv. 10, 11, 12: "It pleased the Lord that Solomon asked for such a thing. And God said unto him, Because thou askest these things, and askest not for long life, nor for riches, nor for the soul of thine enemies, but for understanding to hear judgment; behold, I have done according to thy words. Behold, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart, such as was not before thee, neither shall it arise after thee" 2c.
For this reason, everyone should learn in particular to recognize his weakness and inability with all humility and to ask God for wisdom and counsel. For people are not called to the government to administer it, so that they may presume to have perfect knowledge of all things, but so that they may be instructed and learn what God is, what He accomplishes through the authorities and rulers, which are the instruments of God's works, through which God governs people. Then they become quite understanding and have happiness in their government; but where they follow their own counsel and thoughts, they can no longer accomplish anything, but confuse and mix everything up among themselves.
For this reason, I say, one should flee to prayer, and in it present to God how great and difficult the office is that is commanded to us, and should say: "Our Father, who art in heaven" 2c., "give me the wisdom that is always around your throne" 2c., as is written in the Book of Wisdom Cap. 9, 4. Primarily, however, every pastor or church servant should pray thus: O Lord God, you have made me a bishop and pastor in the church;
You see how I am so clumsy to carry out such a great and difficult office properly, and if it had been without your advice, I would have ruined everything together long ago. That is why I call upon you. I will gladly lend and incline my mouth and my heart to it; I will teach the people; I will also always learn myself, and handle and diligently ponder your word; use me as your instrument. Dear Lord, do not forsake me, for where I shall be alone, I shall easily destroy all things together.
77 But the sects and the spirits of the sects do quite the opposite. For they ascribe to themselves great wisdom and that they can rule and teach very well; therefore they boldly break into the church. They do not pray, nor do they believe that it is a gift of God to administer the church or world government; but they push themselves in as great and excellent masters and rulers. That is why they end up confusing and hindering everything that is useful and well-built by others.
The same thing happens in the world's regiment to those who rely on their own counsel and wisdom, and then take up the regiment. Therefore, where you are in the regiment, remember and beware that you do not rely on your wisdom; beware, I say, of yourself, and with fallen hands pray secretly thus: You, my dear heavenly Father, stand by me, help me, govern and guide me. As Moses puts the whole matter of leading the people out of Egypt on God, and refuses to carry out the divine command unless God Himself will be there to lead and govern them. For he says thus, Ex. 33, 15: "Where your face does not go, do not lead us up from there" 2c. If you have prayed in this way, then continue in your ministry, have a strong and undaunted courage, and do not doubt that your cause will go well, that everything will turn out well and have a happy outcome.
79 So I have also often, as the German saying goes, thrown the keys before the feet of the Lord, that is, I have
I placed my commanded office on him, therefore it turned out much differently than I myself had seen or thought before. And where I had made a mistake, he corrected it according to his goodness and wisdom.
(80) In the same way, father and mother are tools in the house government, by which the house and the household are governed. But they should also realize that with their strength and through their diligence or work, they can never manage the children properly and well. Therefore, they should cry out to God and pray thus: O Lord God, Heavenly Father, help us that the children may prosper! Grant that the woman may live in discipline and respectability and that she may persevere in the knowledge and fear of God.
You will find many of them, however, who do not recognize this supreme power and wisdom in the government, but where there are some obstacles, they think that they will best direct and correct it if they are all the more serious about punishment, so that the subjects are forced by fear of punishment and also driven to obedience against their will. Now it is true that discipline, and indeed strict discipline, is very necessary in these times; but it is quite certain that without prayer you will never accomplish anything. For the government is a divine power, and that is why God calls all authorities gods, not for the sake of creation, but for the sake of the government, which belongs to God alone. Therefore, whoever is in authority is, as it were, a god in the flesh.
82. But where people, out of sacrilege and, as it were, with unwashed hands, as they say, that is, fall clumsily and unprepared into government, whether in the church or in the world, or even in housekeeping, and exclude God, do not pray and do not ask God for counsel, but want to rule and direct everything by their own counsel and powers: Then it will finally come about in the household that an honorable and chaste woman will become the worst whore, that the children will turn out badly and come into the hands of the executioner. In the world reign the church will be confused by riots, war, murder and many other things.
innumerable danger. But in the church heresies arise, there becomes an epicuric contempt of the word; item, that the holy sacraments are blasphemed and shamefully abused 2c. Dear one, why? Answer: Because such a householder, prince, or pastor does not want to recognize that God alone is the one from whom comes counsel and rule; but with his presumption and that he thinks so much of himself, he corrupts himself and others over whom he presides.
83. This, I thought, I had to say in this text as an example and a lesson, namely, first, that we know that the first table should govern the other according to the saying in the first commandment: "I am the LORD your God"; after that, that we learn to recognize God's grace and mercy, who leads His saints wonderfully even in their temerity and foolishness, so that we may trust God with all our heart, and learn that faith swallows up everything, not only sin, but also the temerity and foolishness of the saints, and where they have done something carelessly. This is the matter with which this chapter is concerned. Now let us read the text one after the other and watch this wonderful history.
Third part.
How Rebekah prepares Jacob, and Jacob thus goes to Isaac to receive the blessing, and is not recognized by him.
V. 15 And Rebekah took the precious garments of Esau her great son, which she had in her house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
84. Moses now adds the other ceremony, namely the one with the beautiful and delicious clothing. For so much is the Hebrew word chamudoth, in Latin desiderabilis, pretiosus, which is delicious, and this word is often used in the Scriptures. As when the angel says to Daniel: Es vir chamudoth, in Latin, vir desideriorum, that is, a dear and precious man, Dan. 9, 23. And in the Gospel of Luke Cap. 7, 4. it is said
says of the centurion of Capernaum: Erat ei servus chamudoth, in Latin: carus et pretiosus, that is: He had a servant whom he held dear and valuable. So Rebekka also brought forth the dear, beautiful, glorious garments, the priestly garments, which without doubt were very beautiful, as they are described in Moses. For they used special garments for sacrifice and worship, as we do in our churches, which we call the vestments; and Rebekah has the same garments with her in the house.
85 From this it is clear that Esau has not yet been confirmed, although he has had the possession and ruled the church or community: he has been a licentiate to the priesthood and has cultivated the priesthood, but has not been confirmed or confirmed, and has not yet received the fiefs. Therefore he does not have the clothes in his power; which no doubt Rebekah prevented by special advice and preceded him. For she took the clothes and kept them, even though it was Isaac's father's right to have them. For she waited for the opportunity to give the clothes to the one who would receive the inheritance from his father and be confirmed as the heir.
V.16-18. But she put the skins of the goats on his hands, and on his neck where it was smooth. And she gave the meal with the bread, as she had made it, into Jacob her son's hand. And he went in unto his father, and said, My father. And he answered, Here am I. Who art thou, my son?
It is a miracle that the mother covers Jacob only at the neck with the skins and not also over the whole face. She only thought that he would have to reach out his hands to his father, and if he had to give his father a kiss, then his father would take him around the neck and embrace him. That is why she wanted to have these two parts covered in particular. But she thinks that one could not easily notice the smooth face, because Isaac had a beard and took the kiss on the beard.
87. Perhaps she also may have reminded him of this, while she adorned him with the garment, that he should imitate, as well as he could, the voice of Esau, that the father might make no distinction between the voice of Esau and that of Jacob; as he soon asks him, "Who art thou, my son?" Art thou Esau, whom I sent out to hunt? Methinks I hear the voice of Jacob 2c.
V. 19, 20 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau, your firstborn son; I have done as you told me; get up, sit down, and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son, Son, how hast thou found so soon? He answered, "The LORD your God gave it to me.
(88) Jacob makes a long speech to answer his father, and the father hears it diligently, and will finally conclude what follows, saying, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau's hands. But this is an obvious lie, that Jacob says that he is the firstborn. After that he has also hastened a little carelessly; for the mother did not foresee or consider that such hastening would be suspicious with the father. For he says, "How did you find so soon?" This is an offense that is very hard, and he is reminded by it of the deceit with which they have gone about. How did you come so soon from the hunt, he says, did you hunt so soon and catch game? If you had come back toward evening or morning, you would have come back soon enough. Jacob answered, "GOD provided it for me." It is true, God must take it upon Himself. He lies enormously: he says that he caught a wild goat, when he had taken two little goats in the stable. But Isaac denies it and acts as if he knew nothing about it, for he is sure and full of confidence, namely, that he cannot be deceived by his son or by his mother.
Then Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, my son, that I may know thee, whether thou be my son Esau, or not. So came
Jacob to Isaac his father; and when he had understood him, he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau's hands.
This is another and much harder offense; it wants to become evil. The father tells him to come here, so that he may understand him. He will have sweated hotly and silently punished the mother's advice and suggestion. O my dear mother, he will have said secretly, what have you done? What have you brought me to? Now that he has come, he hears the father say, "The voice is Jacob's voice." Oh the voice, the voice! I would have dropped the bowl and run as if my head had been on fire. For Isaac is on the right track to realize the deception, since he distinguishes the voice of Esau and Jacob, and it should have woken him up.
90 But he fell asleep again, thinking that Esau was imitating his brother's voice. Jacob confidently comes forward and hears his father speak the words. Because of this, Rebekah's and Jacob's counsel ceases, indeed, it begins. But God makes Isaac eager for his ministry, that he should bless him, and that he lets go of this offense from his heart.
(91) Now all these things must be applied to our doctrine, that we may be taught and instructed how powerful faith is, and that all things are possible to the believer. For faith makes things that are nothing to be; and out of things that are impossible it makes all things possible. You have seen the foolishness and boldness of Rebekah, how she adorned and prepared her son Jacob to deceive his father: she put the skins of little goats around his hands and around his neck, so that his father would think he was really quite rough.
This is a dangerous thing; Jacob also trembles and is frightened by it, does not want to follow his mother's advice at first, and says: Perhaps my father would understand me and notice the deception, then I would bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing. But the faith of this very
The love of a pious woman is so great that it breaks through all this. Jacob went to his father in the form of his son Esau, and he has rough hands, which were thus prepared with cunning and with special deceit, but he nevertheless cannot deceive the father in all things, for he nevertheless knows the voice of Jacob. Now you see that God turns this audacity to the best through the faith of the woman, for whose sake the counsel and plot, which is almost foolish, must go very well and happily.
The Scriptures describe the histories of the saints in such a way that they praise and extol the great power of faith. Therefore, whoever has the word of God should consider himself blessed, and should turn his eyes away from these present and temporal things and direct them to the future invisible goods. For the word of God, and especially the promise, speaks not of things present, but of things to come, which no one has experienced. Faith clings tightly to the thing that is still nothing and waits for it to become everything. It is an art and wisdom of darkness and nothingness, that is, of things that have not been experienced, that are not seen, and that are almost impossible. And whoever wants to be a Christian must consider this in his heart and hold fast to it. For the other arts are all taught from conclusions, from proven reasons, and from experience: but they have not their ground or beginning in that which is nothing, and especially that which is not seen, which is impossible, incongruous, and foolish. But the faith that grasps the promise and clings to it, clings with the heart to that which is even inconsistent and impossible, and is satisfied with the word and the divine promise.
94 For so does Jacob. His mother tells him to receive the blessing from his father, and he is hindered by what is nothing, because the blessing belongs to Esau and not to Jacob. I say, it was in his way that things were impossible. For he thought, How can I be blessed? It is due to the
Bless my brother. About that, my brother is rough, but I am smooth: there is the danger that I would bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing. Therefore it is impossible, as far as the matter itself is concerned; for the blessing is not mine. The father intends to bless Esau, but in that case he does not care about me at all. Then it is possible that the curse will come upon me and remain upon me, who am smooth and soft in the skin, if the father would recognize and notice the deceit. Therefore, my dear mother, we will certainly start.
95. But against all this the mother saith thus, Where a curse shall come, it shall hurt me, and rest upon me. This is a woman, and not a bad woman. She is a person of female spirit, but there is such great zeal in her that she overcomes even the strongest of men. For she thinks she can break through, that the blessing is bestowed and given to him to whom it is not due according to the law and the rule. She believes what is simply impossible and what is inconsistent, foolish and dangerous. She did not doubt that Jacob would be blessed, even though everything was against it and was very much opposed to it.
So faith and its power is a thought of the heart or (that I call it so) such an opinion, so that it hangs on and holds on to that which is nothing, which is impossible and even inconsistent. He has only the divine word that says: "The greater will serve the lesser." But she, as the mother, understood which of the two would be the greater. And has the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit also come to this, that she has rightly understood the same word. Isaac, on the other hand, still stands firm like an immovable rock, clinging only to the law and the rule that Esau is the firstborn, but the mother does not allow herself to be challenged.
(97) In this way we should also learn to be wise in the matter. When we have the word, then we should let go of all disputation against the word and reject it, and this should not concern us at all.
We must not allow ourselves to be fooled or misled, for it is either foolish or impossible, or even contrary to the law of nature and Moses, but we must follow what God has said. But where reason comes in and disputes the word, it is lost. And this is where the battle comes from, of which St. Paul says in Gal. 5:17 that the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. For there Paul speaks of those high affections, such as that you should believe what you do not understand and which is impossible according to reason.
So it is necessary to do in profession and finally also in death: If God sets me as Lord against the infernal gates, against the raging and fierce anger of the whole world, against the weakness of my flesh, that I should break through, how should we be afraid? For who am I that should fight, first against so many hosts of all devils and men; then also against the weakness of my flesh? Answer: One must look to God's command and order.
99. The LORD says, Go, you shall prevail and be victorious; I will be with you. As he called Moses to attack the Egyptian king and lead the people of Israel out of the tyranny and the iron furnace. But is it not a foolish and impossible thing to bring so great a people out of Egypt, and to bring them out so that not a claw shall remain behind? as Moses saith unto Pharaoh, Ex. 10:26: But I would have said according to reason, Thou shalt not bring out a claw, neither shalt thou bring out so great a people: for the king is mighty, and an abominable tyrant. But Moses does not speak differently to Pharaoh than if he had already led out the great people; although it seems to be a fable on the outside, a foolish thought and even an impossible thing, if one looks at reason. For everything that faith declares and the word promises must surely come to pass; for God is the Word and the Word is God: he who has the Word has divine power, Rom. 1:16.
100. although it seems outwardly nothing other than a human voice, and a
Thority of the man who speaks; as St. Peter says to Cornelius in the stories of the apostles in chapter 10, v. 26: "I am also a man", as you are 2c. Peter has the word and in the ears of Cornelius sounds the voice of a man, but it does all kinds of great miracles.
(101) Therefore we must be courageous and comforted against all dangers that may come from the Turk and other enemies, even against death itself. For where we are absolved by the mouth of any brother or minister, let us not look upon the man that speaketh, neither let us fix our eyes upon danger or death; let us not look upon the grave, or upon decay, or upon worms and rottenness, which are laid before us; for reason without faith thinketh thus: Is it possible that a dead body should live, buried, eaten by worms, or burned and reduced to ashes? But to this it simply says no, and says, It is not true. But the spirit that opposes says, "It is true; I who am now condemned to death, let me surely think that I live, and shall rise again gloriously from the grave with a glorified body.
For this reason, I say, faith is an almighty battle, which, against the strife of the flesh, clings to the word and the promise in one and the same face; for we are not speaking here of historical faith, which is mere knowledge, as when I know that David overcame Goliath and the Philistines, 1 Sam. 17:49. Although this is an example of faith, it is only a history to me. If I were to slay Goliath and strike him down and tear the lion to pieces, the story would serve me nothing but as a reminder that would awaken me to equal strength. But if I were to think that David and Samson won beautiful, glorious victories, then I would also have to think that I could do such a thing; that would be impossible for me. For David also did not do such glorious deeds without a great struggle, for he was also in the flesh as we are, he had such flesh that he was not able to
always contradicted him, fought against him, and even held him captive, just as we do; he felt much more unbelief than faith. For faith seems to be weak, because the flesh not only contradicts, but also takes captive, as St. Paul says Rom. 7, 14.
(103) I did not know anything else before, because Paul did not think about the fight against the flesh, but he himself says in 2 Cor. 12:7: "I have been given a stake in the flesh, that is, Satan's angel, who strikes me with his fists. Yes, he teaches me what faith is. I see the great glorious victories of the martyrs and the saints, but my faith cannot accomplish such things; and they also have let it become sour of blood, and have not overcome death without a great struggle. So we also have the same baptism, the same God who comforts us, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who holds out to us much rich consolation in the Word. And I love to hear the story of the struggle and victory of the saints, but I cannot do and accomplish what they did. Therefore one must always take hold of the word and keep to it; as Ps. 27:14 says: "Harvest thou the Lord, be of good courage, and fear not, and wait for the Lord."
God does not reject even the weak in faith; indeed, the apostles themselves and the prophets were not strong in faith, especially when they were to do great things by faith. Moses trembled and cried out at the Red Sea; for the flesh not only fought against him, but also took him captive. For you see, his flesh will have told him that there are mountains on both sides; over there is Egypt, and in front of us is the sea, through which we will not be able to go with our children and poor women, nor with our cattle. So he almost despaired. For the law in his flesh and in his limbs has given him this, so that he will have thought: Behold, we are without all help; what have I done that I have brought forth the people? We will all have to die. Then the inexpressible groaning begins,
This cry cannot be described nor told in words, for this word, the groaning of the heart, is very great, filling the heavens and penetrating through the clouds and reaching the ears of the divine majesty, so that God must finally answer, "Why are you crying? Ex. 14, 15. He did not cry out, but was terrified, so that his hair stood on end and he could not speak a word. But he who examines the heart understands what the spirit that sighs wants.
This is why I repeat it to you and impress it upon you so diligently, because before reason, faith seems like a small thing and a vain delusion that anyone could grasp in his heart. People think it is only a historical thing that is quite easy. But when one comes before the Red Sea, yes, when death comes, and the overcoming of sin, death and hell, which is to take place through us, then the power of God is combined with human weakness, and omnipotence is combined with nothingness and extreme weakness, and finally brings the weak to do things that are impossible and unbelievable; as Christ says John 14:12: "He who believes in me will do greater works than these" 2c. For thus the church also does all things, though she be weak: she prays, she bears and swallows up all violence and fierce wrath of the devil and of men; she also draws and takes away weakness, sin and death 2c.
Rebekah proves this strength and power of faith with the most dangerous deed, which was an eternal curse or an eternal blessing. For the blessing is eternal life, the curse is death. They argued about it with words: Whether Jacob, the son of Isaac, should be eternally cursed or not, and with him also even the mother? In such a great and hard dispute Rebekah holds up to herself how the kingdom of heaven is open, and sets herself as a mother of blessing.
(107) Dear, where does it get that from? Answer: From the word. For no one can
Do something good and blessed or believe right without the word. The text Gen. 25:23: "The greater will serve the lesser" gave her courage; from it she concluded that the blessing was due to the lesser and not to the greater. Isaac did not understand it, but the mother considered it diligently and the Holy Spirit also cooperated; who gives no one faith by mere speculation or thought, but only by the Word. For the flesh always contends against the Spirit, and nothing follows from the thoughts or speculation of the flesh. For since none of those things are seen which are due to the Holy Spirit, it may also be seen that all things are vile and dead things. But when the heart takes hold of the word, there follows the enlightenment of the spirit, and power and authority to do wonderful things.
V. 23 And he knew him not, for his hands were warm with smoke, as Esau's brother's hands.
(108) This may have been natural and common, that Isaac did not know his son, though he hears his voice, because he was so very diligent and eager to give the blessing. For a man who is devoted to only one thing and has given himself completely to it does not pay attention to other things, even if he already sees them and understands them with all his senses. And this not only happens spiritually, but also tends to happen physically. As can be seen in melancholic people, even if other people talk, drink, go in or out, they hear or see nothing, because the thoughts of the heart are completely withdrawn from the senses. Therefore, where the heart of a melancholic person has thoughts of other things, it pays no attention at all to the things that come publicly before his senses. Such a man may be with other people who talk to each other, tell stories and fables, and yet he hears none of them; for the heart is as if it were not at home, but even in foreign lands. It often happens that a melancholic person eats and drinks, and yet does not know what he is eating or drinking.
whether it is beer or wine. It is said of Bernard that he drank oil for wine, because he was sitting in deep thought.
109 And this happens much more when a spiritual overshadowing is added and when a spiritual heart is completely intent on spiritual things. So we are to think that the same thing happened to Isaac, who hears and knows the voice of Jacob, and does not conceal it, for he says, "The voice is Jacob's voice," and yet allows himself to be led elsewhere. For this thought is in his mind, how he would bless his firstborn son, and at the same time he considers how great a thing this blessing is, and has summed up all the promises made to Abraham.
Therefore, Isaac was not only troubled with natural thoughts, as the brooders and melancholics are wont to do, but also with spiritual thoughts. Rebekah also noticed such melancholy in him before; for she often served her husband food, so that he was not aware of it. Finally Isaac is quite sure that his mother could not and would not deceive him with her son; therefore he says, "The voice is Jacob's voice," and yet he forgets this sensual impression and is swallowed up in spiritual thoughts. The Jews have no right thought or opinion in this place that Isaac knew and noticed the deception, yet he is said to have pretended and acted as if he had not noticed it; for they do not know the power of the spirit, which is stronger than melancholy thoughts. When a man's heart is distressed by this, they make it stiffen and rapture it.
And blessed him.
The blessing does not begin here, because it follows soon after in the text that he says to him: "Are you my son Esau? But this is what Moses means by these words: "When Isaac touched Jacob's hands and understood them, he was completely enraptured and stiffened, almost went out of his mind, and in
confirmed this blessing in his heart and decided that it should be constant and certain. As if to say, The blessing is already done, and is sure; as he will afterwards say to Esau, "He also shall remain blessed." For it is the Holy Spirit who gives the blessing through Isaac; therefore it is not fitting to want to revoke or change anything in it. This was a special impulse and movement of the Holy Spirit, by which he decided for himself, when he understood Jacob's hands and neck, that he wanted to bless his son; and he did not change this, but remained straight with the opinion, although many weighty reasons were opposed to him.
112 This is what Moses means by this preface: "And blessed him. As if he wanted to say: The blessing so assigned to Jacob is already certain and confirmed; whoever will seek or desire the same afterward will lack it. For the Holy Spirit does not revoke its imposition; as Malachi Cap. 3 V. 6. it says: "I am the Lord who does not lie"; and
Genesis 23:19: "God is not a man to lie, nor a child of man to repent. When God has made a judgment, He does not change or revoke it, as men are wont to do. So in this place the Holy Spirit touched Isaac's heart and said in his heart: Now I bless this one. Now God's gifts and calling cannot be changed, as St. Paul says Rom. 11, 29. Therefore Moses says: "And blessed him", that is: It was done.
Fourth Part.
How Isaac blesses Jacob.
V. 24-27. And he said unto him, Art thou my son Esau? And he answered, Yea, I Hins. Then said he, Bring me hither, my son, to eat of thy venison, that my soul may bless thee. So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine also, and he drank. And Isaac his father said unto him, Come hither, and kiss me, my son. And he came near, and kissed him. Then he smelled the odor of his
clothes, and blessed him, saying, Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of the field which the LORD hath blessed.
The soul is the spirit or the life of men in the outward senses: the soul sees, hears, speaks, weeps and laughs. This is what Isaac wants to say: "It is decided in my heart that I will bless you, now my soul will bless you, that is, I will bless you with the outer senses: you are already blessed inwardly according to the spirit in the heart, now I will bless you with the soul as well.
For this reason ceremonies are also added, for even spiritual things, which are external, cannot be administered without external ceremonies. The five senses and the whole body have their own manner, under which the body must live as if under some outward larvae; therefore he has blessed it not only in the heart, but also with the senses and outward ceremonies. The sons who were to be blessed had to present their father with a nice meal and wine, after which they came up and kissed their father. These are proper secular ceremonies, and are still held today among kings and princes, where fiefdoms are given. And we also hold them in the schools when we make doctors of theology.
115) Now that the ceremonies are done, Moses says again, "And blessed him," that is, outwardly, when he had smelled the odor of his garments. For there is always an outward sense that moves the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit also stirs and moves the hearts by outward things, as by the word, by ceremonies, and by such objects as by any outward sense move the heart. After such stimulation and movement of the Holy Spirit, Isaac is moved with courage and, as if he were enraptured, he is certain that this is the firstborn son, because the smell of the clothes strengthens his opinion.
(116) Now these were the priestly garments of Abraham and Isaac, which they kept with great diligence, Casiah and others.
put fragrant things with them, that they should not be eaten by moths; as we now put nard, or other such fragrant herbs, with the garments. Therefore he thought, This is Esau, my firstborn son; for he hath put on the priestly garments. So he is inwardly deceived in the spirit and is now deceived with the outward sense also.
(117) He also uses a fine simile, saying, "The smell of my Son is like the smell of the field which the Lord has blessed. But what and how sweet the smell of the field is, when the time of harvest will soon come, the husbandmen know very well; likewise also the smell of the vineyards, when the harvest is near: that is an exceedingly sweet and even a life-giving smell. Therefore Isaac rejoices in himself and gladdens his soul, because he should bless his son. Now I have an heir, he thinks, and one who will rule in my stead; I am so well satisfied with this and take such pleasure in it, as if I were walking in the field or in a fragrant vineyard, whose smell would refresh my body and soul. Now I will die gladly and with good peace; for I now leave behind me a lord and teacher in my house, a father of future descendants and a priest.
So Moses describes Isaac that he was joyful and as it were drunk with good happy thoughts about the son who should be his heir. He drinks wine and is joyful; but he was more drunk with the Holy Spirit and spiritual thoughts (so that I may say). For this is his sole and chief consolation, that he knows that he now has an heir of the blessing, for whom he was then to wait, that he might come through Christ. And no doubt he will have added to this, that the promise made to Abraham is now coming to pass, and will come to the third heir.
This is a much different and higher blessing than the holy water, of which the papists invent many lies. These have been blessings from eternal life against the eternal life.
Death, have been priestly and royal blessings that extend into the life to come; however, these cannot be administered or given without this life, and it is necessary that we also have bodily blessings. For we cannot enjoy the eternal blessing without this temporal blessing; God must bless the field, give bread, meat and all that is necessary for nourishment: but man does not live on bread alone, and the blessing of such bodily goods is given for the sake of the eternal blessing. Therefore, the spiritual promises always include the temporal ones.
120 Christ says to his disciples Luc. 10, 7, when he sends them out to preach the gospel: "But stay in the same house, eat and drink what they have"; item v. 8: "Eat what is set before you. For the Lord gives the bodily blessing of bread and wine, since this life cannot do without the blessing of bodily goods. The gospel is the chief blessing, but all the rest are for those who seek the kingdom of God. The first blessing belongs to eternal life; the other is bodily, of which Christ says Matth. 6, 31. 32. "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? what shall we drink? wherewith shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things." Therefore we shall see here how Isaac put the outward blessing to the blessing of eternal life, which eternal blessing cannot be had without the bodily.
V. 28. 29. May God give you the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and the abundance of grain and wine. Nations must serve thee, and people must fall at thy feet. Be a lord over thy brethren, and thy mother's children shall fall at thy feet. Cursed be he who curses you; blessed be he who blesses you.
This is the form and manner of blessing, and the first part of this blessing belongs to bodily nourishment, because we cannot live without it, even in the kingdom of God, as far as this life is concerned; for the body must be nourished if they are to teach and govern the church. The-
Now the first part belongs to the housekeeping, and to the goods that one must have in the house, so that wife and child and also the servants may have what is necessary to them daily for this life, which in the Lord's Prayer is called the daily bread, that is, everything that is required for the maintenance of the body in the house. "God grant you," he says, "of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness, of the earth, and corn and wine the abundance." These are the temporal goods.
Here on earth we need dew from heaven, that is, for God to give rain from heaven, and we also need the fatness of the earth, that is, for God to give a fertile soil. For it is a vain thing to sow on a rock, in the water, or in a forest; one must sow on a good fertile land. After that, you also need a good rain. And this part of the blessing he makes very rich and glorious; for he says, "He shall have corn and wine in abundance." He shall not live by water alone, so that it would be hard and difficult for him; but he shall have an abundance and fullness. You will have so much, he says, that you will be able to maintain your body; not that your body's nourishment will be limited, but you will have fat enough and an abundance of all things; as Moses says of the people of Israel Deut. 32:15: "He has become fat and thick and strong" 2c. So Jacob is sure for himself and his descendants that he shall have food for his house, and the same shall not be lean and small, but rich and dainty. And the same may be seen in the books of the kings, how this promise was fulfilled.
Therefore let the godly know that they have the bodily goods through God's gift and blessing; and let them not dream, as the heathen and unbelievers do, that in this life both good and evil happen to us by chance; but let them know that such great gifts come from God, so that they may also be grateful to God for such benefits, as the apostles preach in the stories of the apostles Cap. 14, 17: "God has done us many good things, and has sent down from heaven rain and fruitful seasons.
given to us, filling our hearts with food and joy."
Before that time, the monks and other unlearned men taught that temporal goods, vineyards and fields should be despised, and yet they themselves sought them most of all, and ate and drank the very best and most delicious things. Against such dreams of the monks we should learn that also the bodily benefits and gifts are blessings from God.
The other part of the blessing is temporal and belongs to the reign. For he shall be set over nations and over many people, and his descendants shall be princes and kings, and not merely heads of households. For the nations will serve him when they are subject to him not as fathers of the house but as princes and kings. And not only one nation, but many nations and many people will serve him. All these things were fulfilled in the days of the judges and kings, when the children of Israel took possession of the land of Canaan, not only subduing the Idumeans, but also destroying all the peoples and kings of that land.
The third part of the blessing is spiritual and belongs to the priesthood. "Your brothers and your mother's children must fall at your feet," who may have the same honor and glory in the world and in the home that you have. The priestly honor you alone shall have. And this is the noblest part of the blessing. Earlier he said, "Nations must serve you, and people must fall at your feet." The falling under foot belongs to the worldly regiment; this is another and goes to the brothers and his mother's children. Although it may be referred to the worldly regiment, it is better that it be understood of the third part of the blessing, since he has previously thought of the regiment.
These, then, are the three holy regiments or estates of which we often speak and which we inculcate in the people, namely, the domestic regiment, the secular regiment, and the priesthood, or the house, the city, and the church. The house has daily bread and is like a daily kingdom. The
Police or world regiment also has temporal goods and is more than a daily regiment; for it lasts the whole time for and for, eternity excepted. But the priesthood is over the house and city, belongs to the church, is heavenly and eternal. In this way Jacob, Isaac's son, is well provided for; for he is made heir, that with his descendants he may have his house, the government, and the church; and it is a rich and glorious blessing that he has been confirmed to the future inheritance, for which he may surely wait and hope without all contradiction.
This blessing is not an empty sound of words or a congratulation, so that one may wish something good for another. As when I say, God give thee fine and obedient children; these are only such words, that one may wish one well, that I may give nothing to another, but only wish something; and is such a blessing, which is uncertain and still depends on success. But this blessing of the patriarch Isaac also shows a present good and is certain forever. It is not a wish, but he gives him the good with it, and says to him with it thus: Behold, receive the gifts which I promise you with words. For it is another thing when I say, I would wish thee to have a strong and sound body, that thou mightest have a good understanding; for the word "have" does not follow. But it is another thing when I offer thee a sack of money, and say, Behold, take, thou hast a thousand florins, and I will give them thee; or when Christ saith unto the sick of the palsy, Matt. 9:6, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go home 2c. After a common blessing, so that one might wish the other well, he would have said, "Oh, God would that you might be healthy and strong; but this would not abolish the illness, and it would not be followed by the sick person regaining his strength. Therefore, this is only a word blessing.
But in the Holy Scriptures there are real blessings: not only blessings, but real blessings, which really give and bring with them what the words say. Just as in the New Testament we also find such
We are blessed by the priesthood of Christ, which is our blessing, when I say: Receive the absolution of your sin. But if I said, "Would to God that your sins were forgiven you; oh, that you were pious and in the grace of God;" or, "I wish you grace and mercy from God, the eternal kingdom and salvation from your sins," this would be called a blessing of love. But the blessing of promise and faith and present gifts is thus: I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that is: I reconcile your soul to GOD, take away from you the wrath and disfavor of GOD and place you in GOD's grace, I give you the inheritance of eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven.
(130) All these things have power and authority to be given to you presently and truly, if you believe. For they are not our works, but are God's works through our ministry and service. For this reason, they are not blessings that only desire something, but also communicate it. If I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, it is just as much as if I said, "I snatch you out of the devil's hands and bring you to God," and this truly and with deed.
In the same way the patriarchs had power and authority to bless in their hands, that is, that they could give a certain promise to those whom they blessed, that the descendants would have food, rule and priesthood. Not differently, as if Isaac said: I give you grain, I give you the kingdom and priesthood. The Jews treat these blessings too coldly, for they understand them only in a human way, and that only good is desired thereby, and not that those who are blessed are certainly granted the goods and are presently given them. The blessing, however, is such a final sentence or judgment, which certainly determines and concludes that the goods promised in the blessing must also follow with the deed. And such a power is truly a great thing, for it truly brings and gives physical goods.
for the house, temporal goods for the regiment, eternal goods for the priesthood. For such power and authority they praised God, who gave them to the people, through whom he blessed, and gave and showed all kinds of gifts and benefits.
But it is a great and pitiful pity that we see how the holy patriarchs give these goods to others with such certain faith and also receive them ourselves, but that we treat our blessings in the New Testament so coldly and sleepily and pay so little attention to them. I am truly ashamed of myself, and am displeased with myself as often as I compare myself with them. For, beloved, look at this woman, Rebekah, who also lives in the flesh and blood, as we do, and likewise Isaac and Jacob, how they have such a certain, living and strong faith in the future goods that they pay no attention to the flesh that is present with them. Indeed, it is as if they were asleep in this temporal life and, as it were, snoring in view of the future goods that are promised to them.
We have a much richer gift, or at least we have it in no small measure; but we do not have such faith, we are almost sleepy, we are half dead, our eyes are dim, our ears are hard of hearing, our hearts also waver and are very unsteady. They have great gifts, and yet they do not take into account what they have. For to absolve one, to administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, to proclaim forgiveness of sins from the gospel, is a much greater thing than Isaac blessing Jacob. For it is as much as if I said, I give thee the kingdom of heaven, and the power over the devil; and though thou must die, yet will I save thee, and keep thee, that thou shalt not perish. We do not do this out of our own strength, but because of God and by divine command, who has given men this power, so that one may bring the other to eternal life with the priesthood of Christ.
134 So, I say, though we have much richer promises than they have had, yet we are more sleepy and despise these
Treasure of the riches and goodness of God. Unfortunately, we are not grateful to God, we are not happy because of this blessedness, we do not rejoice in it with all our heart. We have the gifts in great abundance; but we do not respect them, indeed, we despise them altogether, since they are all as certain as these blessings of the patriarchs were; indeed, the more abundant we have it, the more the world rages against it and persecutes such treasure.
135 Therefore let this awaken our hearts and make us lively, let us drive away the pestilence of sleep, that we may see that the dear fathers were so diligent and valiant, who received the promise and blessing with greater spirit and faith than we do. After that we should make our gifts great, which are equal to their gifts, or even a little greater, even though they were also very great and excellent. We do not have the fathers to speak to us, but we have the Son of God himself, who now speaks to us, as it says in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Cap. 1, 2. We hear him say: "I absolve you, I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, the power to baptize, to save, to trample under foot devils and hell; this divine power I give you, that you may do the same works that I do, and do greater works than these.
But we yawn and sleep, and thus think: Christ is true God and man, therefore it is no wonder that he gives such gifts to men. But that men, one to another, should give gifts of this life and of the life to come, that is especially inconsistent. But the holy fathers were not of this mind, but held the divine blessings in high esteem, were happy about them and thanked God for them. Therefore, compared to them, we should be ashamed of ourselves and learn to punish our sluggishness and our sleepiness and improve ourselves.
Now follows in the last part the dear holy cross, but at the same time also the victory through the cross and in the cross.
For so Isaac says, "Cursed be he who curses you." These words are taken from Cap. 12, 3. and 22, 17. above, where the Lord says to Abraham: "You will be cursed, but I will turn the curse into a blessing. This is a great power, that Isaac may speak such a sentence and judgment, before which hell with all its devils and the whole world with all its power and authority must be terrified and tremble. For he will say this much: I know that the devil, the world and the flesh will be hostile to this blessing; this I know that it will surely come to pass. Dear Jacob, I am indeed showering you with great gifts, I am exalting and honoring you; for you will be a father without poverty, a king without hindrance, a priest and savior of souls even against the gates of hell. But you must remember that all this is in the promise, and that it is not yet fulfilled with full victory, for which one must still wait in hope.
For this reason you will have your possessions in such a way that it will nevertheless be seen with you as if you had nothing at all. For you will be challenged in your household, in the government of the world and in the church: because of all this, the wicked will envy you and you will be cursed by them, so that the curse is already prepared with the blessing. Though I bless thee abundantly, yet the devil and the world shall come, thy brethren shall come, and curse thee, and persecute thee, and seek to confound and overthrow thy blessing.
And at last it came to pass, as this prophecy saith. For how much did Jacob suffer from the beginning of this blessing! His brother Esau threatened him that he would strangle him, and immediately the cross was laid upon him in the household regiment. He is a father of the offspring that shall be born of him; but he must stand day and night in danger of life and limb, must expect that his own brother will strangle him, and is taken away secretly by his parents with great sorrow and trouble, that he may beware of such danger. He must be in Syria almost to twenty years in misery. Ei, what a beautiful
This is a blessing to me! He might have thought, "Dear Father, how does what you said about the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth rhyme with such a great burden? For he has not even a crumb of bread, since he is going to Syria. He is wretched and poor, he must serve fourteen years, and in that service he has suffered much injustice and wrong: therefore the Father reminds him that it will come to pass that he will feel the curse instead of the blessing.
(140) But after this, when the trouble shall come in the land of Canaan, he also shall be in great distress and peril with all his company, even unto the peril of his life and limb. And finally, how horribly and badly the children of Israel were treated in Egypt! Where then is the blessing? Answer: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes through the mouth of God", Matth. 4, 4. 5 Mos. 8, 3. With the word man is raised up and is also sustained by it. Even though he does not have bread for his household, he does not die and is not abandoned; but faith in God's word feeds him in the midst of poverty, both in body and soul, and finally changes his hunger into abundance, so that he must have enough. "For those who seek the Lord," as it says in the 34th Psalm, v. 10, 11, "have no lack of any good." On the other hand, the same Psalm says of the rich: "The rich, however, must starve and hunger." Item in the 37th Psalm, v. 2: "Like the green herb, they will wither away.
But one must understand this in faith and wait for it, as Jacob also in faith thought it certain that he would never lack anything in his house. And the outcome corresponded to this very well. For since the blessing follows, he has become richer than Laban, his father-in-law. But this was not without temptation; for he was tempted, but not forsaken. For the blessing is indeed challenged, but not overthrown; it is attacked, but not overthrown; as it is written in the 118th Psalm v. 13. 14.
The Lord helps me. The LORD is my power, and my psalm, and is my salvation."
The Lord gives such a blessing, mixed with patience and adorned with the sanctuary of the holy cross, that we may be instructed in temptation and learn that our life is not in bread alone, but in every word of God. Finally, the Lord certainly gives the bread and does not fail to do so when we are tested and tempted in faith, whether we also want to believe God in His promises. For he certainly gives the promise, but he nevertheless tries us and withdraws the blessing from us, as if we were not allowed to wait for any blessing. But just then he thinks and thinks of the blessing when we feel the curse. Therefore, I say, the blessing can be challenged, but it cannot be suppressed and overthrown; as is also said of the truth.
143. and this was the curse or the cross in the house, which plagued the patriarch Jacob hard enough. But look now also at the worldly rule of his descendants. Look at David, who was the first king after the blessing. Rather, how often has his kingdom and regiment been challenged and put in danger, than should it now fall away! First in the days of King Saul; then by his own son Absalom and Ahithophel, the mischievous unfaithful counselor; and still in the days of Absalom the evil conscience was added. However, he still stood up and maintained himself with the divine promise; as in the 21st Psalm v. 2: "Lord, the king rejoices in your strength"; item, in the 63rd Psalm v. 12: "The king rejoices in God. He who swears by him will be glorified." And 2 Sam. 15, 25. 26. he says: "If I find favor in the sight of the LORD, he will take me again; but he says thus: I have no desire for you; behold, here I am, and he will do with me as he pleases." For the kingdom was promised and confirmed to him, but not without very great trouble and temptation, which he suffered over it.
In the same way, the church is seen to be more of a curse than a blessing. For the same teaches us also the experience, which we have
are in the same office, to whom baptism, the power of the keys and the sacrament of the altar have been given. But how many are there, even of very pious people, whom Satan so severely attacks and interrogates, when he takes away the heavenly blessing from before their eyes, that it is as if they retained nothing at all of this blessing; indeed, they rather feel and sense the curse and fear of hell than divine and heavenly blessing? The others fall into obvious sin and vice, and get to the point where they obviously despise and even reject the blessing. But those who still keep it and love it are so weak that they need to be admonished much and always and the blessing repeated, so that they may be awakened and the word of God may be sharpened in them, as Moses says Deut. 6, 7.
145 Nevertheless, the blessing does not go away, but remains constant, strong and very rich, and greater than we can understand. St. Paul also complains about this, that he was given a stake in the flesh, 2 Cor. 12, 7, and that we must go through much tribulation into the kingdom of God, Acts 14, 22. 14, 22. Therefore there will be no lack of cursing. But you must oppose it, only be strong, and cling to the blessing, if it can already be seen that everything is full of curses. For thus shall we conclude, It is certain that I am baptized; I have heard the word from the mouth of the minister; I have used the sacrament of the altar: this is the divine truth, which cannot be changed. Though I am weak, yet the same truth is certain and constant; the goods are very mighty and rich, but the heart is almost slippery and staggers when it should take hold of and accept the goods.
146. But we alone shall beware of this, lest we deny; and though we cannot confess with a great shout, yet we murmur softly to God. If we cannot sing when we praise God, let us at least sigh that we may persevere in the blessing in which the Son of God has placed us, which can be obtained without great struggle and many challenges.
cannot keep the promise. For so the fathers also had the promise assuredly and strongly, but not without temptation. And it is for this reason that Christ so diligently exhorts us to persevere and persevere. "Take hold of your souls with patience", he says Luc. 21, 19. You are children of the kingdom, your sins are forgiven, the devil is overcome and put under your feet, sin and death will not harm you, but you are now innocent; therefore also suffer with a patient heart the disgusting curse that will come upon you.
(147) Now that he has put the curse, that is, the cross and the temptation, which follow the blessing, so excellent and rich, he adds something more and says: "Blessed is he who blesses you. As if he wanted to say: They will not all curse or challenge you, but many will come to bless you and also want to share your blessing; this will be the fruit of the challenges, if you persevere in faith. As Christ says John 12:24: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
One Christian who has been tempted and challenged is more useful than a hundred who have not been tempted. For in temptation the blessing increases, so that he can teach and comfort many people and help them with good counsel in physical and spiritual matters. So Christ says, if you are cursed in the world, you are also filled with heavenly blessings.
Now let us also look at the interpretation of some words according to grammar. Adorare means to bow one's body and pay homage to another. The same word is also used in a broader sense; for one bows down before kings, brothers, and one's neighbor. Above (Gen. 23:7) Abraham bowed down before the children of Heth. After this it is also drawn to spiritual bowing, which is where one bows or stoops before the Creator. For one bows differently before the Creator and again differently before the creature.
(150) Why does he say, "Be lord over your brothers," when he has only one brother, Esau? Answer: This is a peculiar way of speaking in the Scriptures, since all children's children are called "children", and brothers' children are called "brothers"; those born of Rebecca and her daughters were called his children. So Esau is a father to his children and also to his children's children. But "brothers" are called in the holy scripture not only those born of one mother, but also the descendants and children's children.
Fifth part.
How Esau demands Isaac's blessing; how Isaac refuses, and Esau complains about Jacob, constantly stopping at Isaac to get the
Blessing and finally receives a piece of the blessing.
V. 30, 31: Now when Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from Isaac his father, Esau his brother came from his hunting, and made also a cubit, and trespassed in unto his father, and said unto him, Arise, my father, and eat of thy son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.
151 Since the blessing was completed, it is followed by a lamentation and the opposite blessing of Esau. And this is the other part of this history. But the words of Esau's speech should be carefully considered. For Jacob did not speak in the third person: Surgat pater: My father wants to get up; but he said: Surge quaeso: Dear father, get up. But this hypocrite needs a special rhetoric. As such saints are wont to do, namely, that they need such words, which serve only for adornment, and are directed so that they have a great appearance. Jacob presented his request in a subtle and simple manner, as dialecticians are wont to do; but this one makes his speech grand in the manner of rhetoric, which Jacob could never have thought of.
can. "My father," he says, "wanted to get up and eat from his son's hunt."
With such hopefulness he knows how to adorn his speech, as if he were an only begotten son and Jacob were not a son. For this is what hypocrites are wont to do: they call themselves the church and also have a greater outward appearance, and such an adornment, which has a more exquisite appearance than those who are truly godly. But in the godly there is not so much boldness, nor such a great appearance; as Jacob dare not address his father with such pride. Moses does not even think of the clothes, which he undoubtedly also used. Rebekah may have secretly put them back in their place, not worrying anymore about how she would keep them; she may have thought: He may always go, dress and adorn himself as beautifully as he wants, my son has already obtained the blessing.
V. 32. 33. Then Isaac his father answered him, Who art thou? He said: I am Esau, thy firstborn son. Then Isaac was exceedingly amazed, and said, Who? where is he that brought me the hunter, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? He will also remain blessed.
Here he begins to lie bravely, and uses splendid words that have a great appearance: "I am," he says, "your firstborn son," makes his speech splendid and great; as befits such a speaker. Jacob is only a simple dialectician, he is despised in the eyes of Esau, he counts for nothing in his eyes, yes, he is even cursed, he is not worthy to be called Isaac's son, much less the firstborn of Isaac. But the Holy Spirit has already decided the opposite. For Jacob has now lost the blessing, and you Esau are by no means the firstborn.
Have you forgotten what you did the other day when you said, Gen 25:32, "Behold, I must die; what then shall the firstborn be to me?" Give me the lentil dish? So Esau sold the firstborn, and when he had eaten and drunk, he stood there.
he arose and departed, thus despising his firstborn. The Holy Spirit has not yet forgotten all this, as you have dreamed. If thou hast sold thy brother's firstborn, thou art justly condemned to be deprived of the firstborn. Therefore it is a lie that thou sayest thou art my firstborn son; for thou hast spoiled the firstborn with the lentil dish, and hast rejected it in great contempt. God wants to be honored for his good deeds, and whoever honors him, he also honors him in turn; but whoever despises him will be spurned, as 1 Sam. 2:30 says. This is a horrible example of this saying.
Isaac, however, was terrified and appalled at the extent to which he heard Esau's words and worried that perhaps, through God's decree, some stranger would have taken away the blessing and that his descendants would be deprived of it. This was not a minor fear; for he was worried that this honor and glory of the blessing, the regiment and the priesthood would be stolen from his house by God's counsel. Just as the same danger occurred when Esau threatened to kill his brother Jacob: there was the danger that Jacob would perish, that the blessing would be given to strangers.
156. However, he does not allow himself to be challenged that he should have been moved by this to change the blessing that he had once given; rather, he says, whoever he is, if he has accepted the blessing, he shall be blessed and remain blessed. For the gifts of God cannot be revoked. But afterward, when he remembered the matter more exactly, he thought, Behold, I have heard the voice of Jacob, he hath deceived me, having covered his hands and neck with goatskins; yea, he it is whom I have blessed.
(v. 34, 35) When Esau heard his father's words, he cried with a loud voice, and was exceedingly grieved: and he said unto his father, Bless me also, my father. And he said, Thy brother is come with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing.
310 L. vn, 63-os. Interpretation of 1 Mpse 27, 34. 35. w. ii. 4üL-"s. 311
157 Here it is asked: Why Isaac did not revoke the blessing, because Jacob took it away with cunning? Lyra tells what the Jews think, namely, that Isaac, when he heard Esau's complaint, wanted to revoke the blessing; but there, according to God's will, he saw hell open and that it was prepared for him, where he would revoke the blessing. Therefore he is said to have been appalled, and did not revoke the blessing, but rather confirmed it. This is what Lyra indicates according to the understanding of the Jews; but they do not interpret the words of Scripture, but rather obscure them. Therefore, it should not be considered that Isaac, even though he was greatly appalled at the measure, should have thought to revoke the blessing; for he knew well that this blessing is a work and gift of God that must remain completely immovable and unchanged. As when I give baptism to anyone, my heart and will are quite certain that I truly want to baptize him; but if the one who is baptized uses cunning, I have nevertheless given him the right baptism, which is not mine, but is truly a divine work.
In this way Isaac also said: "I have blessed him, he will also remain blessed. And the same thing he had decided earnestly with himself beforehand, and he did not delay with it without special counsel and misgivings until the end of his life: therefore he was sure, when he blessed Jacob, that he had thereby pronounced a final sentence or judgment, which was spoken and confirmed by divine command. And this was the same blessing that he had received hereditarily from the fathers Adam, Noah, Abraham and the others. Such sayings cannot and should not be changed; for God does not change His gifts. He does not revoke baptism, nor absolution, nor other gifts that he communicates to us through his word: if he forgives my sins, they are truly forgiven.
159 They also dispute here about cunning: whether the holy fathers also acted cunningly, and whether they also sinned when they thus dealt with cunning? For we have often heard that they lied bravely,
not only out of necessity, in appearance, but also in reality. But in this deed there is no sin. In the work, and in the sight of men, it is indeed deceit and trickery; for Jacob deceived his father by covering his hands and neck with skins; but in the sight of God it is no deceit. For the firstborn and the blessing were due to him, both of which he bought from his brother, and had them before, that they were assigned to him by God according to the divine answer, "The greater shall serve the lesser."
160 Therefore, if you secretly pursue one, and by stealth take from another that which God has given you, it is not a sin. Just as the robbery that the Israelites took from the Egyptians is a true robbery according to the judgment of men, but the Israelites did not sin by robbing the Egyptians. For God commanded them in Exodus 11:2 to say to the Egyptians, "Lend me silver utensils and garments to adorn the feast of the Lord, since they intended to flee from it. They had a public express commandment of God, that he said, I will have it so, that thou shalt so defraud and rob the Egyptians. For the Egyptians owed the Israelites their wages for their service and heavy tyranny, which they had had to suffer from them; although it was a bad and small recompense for the fact that they had oppressed and burdened the people of Israel so long, and had killed their children.
This is how this trickery of Jacob's should be judged. For where the saints use any cunning and are commanded to do so by God, it may be a deception or cunning in the eyes of men, but it is a holy, cheap and spiritual cunning. Therefore, it is not necessary to argue about it and ask a lot of questions about how or whether Jacob sinned, but rather to see that he was previously allowed by God's command to do what he tricked his brother into doing. Thus the saints in war have often deceived and deceived the enemies; but these are such lies that one can
may well use in the divine office against the devil and the enemies of God.
162 Thus the fisherman also deceives the fish with such trickery when he ties food to the rod; which likeness the fathers did not draw evil upon Christ. For he came into the world and clothed himself in our flesh, and was cast into the water like a fishing rod: but when the devil bit him, he was immediately pulled out of the water again by God, and was cast on dry land and crushed, that is, Christ held up to the devil his weak humanity, which covered the eternal and invincible majesty. Then the devil ran up against the rod of the Godhead and pushed himself against it, by which Godhead all his power, and also the power of death and hell, was overcome; as St. Paul Col. 2:15 says: "He hath stripped off principalities and powers, and hath made a public display of them, and hath made a triumph of them by himself." But the devil could not have complained unreasonably that he had also been deceived and deceived in an unreasonable way, because he would have thought that he was strangling a man, and now he himself had been strangled by him with cunning. But by God's miraculous counsel, the same thing happened that is commonly said: Ars ut artem falleret: That one cunning may deceive another.
V.36. Then said he (Esau), His name is Jacob; for now he hath twice trampled me under foot. My firstborn he hath taken away; and, behold, he taketh away my blessing also. And said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
Here the enmity rises against his brother: "His name is probably Jacob," he says, "because he has now trampled on me twice. But both are lies. You Esau lie; do you not know what you did before? You yourself willingly sold the firstborn when you said Gen 25:32, "I must die, then what good is the firstborn to me?"; you despised the blessing, which is strong even after death. Then you also disregarded the command of God, which says: "The greater shall be given to the greater.
Serve the lesser": therefore you are no longer the firstborn, but the buyer is the firstborn, and has the blessing by all right, which may not be reclaimed from him, because it is a gift of God that is not changed: but you lie and falsely accuse your brother of having taken or stolen both, namely, the firstborn and the blessing.
164 And from this we can see how the text in the epistle to the Hebrews in Cap. 12 is to be understood. V. 16, 17, which reads: "Lest anyone be a fornicator, or an ungodly man, like Esau, who sold his firstborn for the sake of food. But know that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no room for repentance, though he sought it with tears." For the reason that he could not do anything with his repentance or tears is this: because it was not a true repentance. This is true and certain, that God, who cannot fail or lie, has held out His grace and mercy to all men who truly repent, and where one truly repents of sin, such repentance always takes place with God. One should hold fast to this and defend it; as God has testified to this with many examples and in the books of the Holy Scriptures.
But there is another repentance, which is not true, but false and fictitious, which the Germans call a gallows repentance, namely, when I thus repent, that I am not ashamed that I have angered God, but that I have done myself harm. Such repentance is very mean, and I myself have often repented in this way, and have been sorry that I had done something foolishly, unwise, and with harm. I was more ashamed of foolishness and harm than of sin and guilt, and that I had angered God. But where one is sorry only for the harm he has done, this is a repentance of which God knows nothing; indeed, our own hearts know nothing of it either, as can well be seen in Esau. For he does not say, "Now I understand that I have sinned, why have I angered God, since I am the firstborn?
I will gladly renounce the blessing now, only that God may forgive me the sin. That would have been a real true repentance, through which he would have grieved how he would be reconciled with God because of the sin he had committed.
For true repentance looks upon the wrath of God for the sake of sin, with which it would gladly be reconciled, flees from the wrath of God: it does not give birth to pain for the sake of harm alone, nor does it give birth to anger and hatred against the brother or neighbor; but says thus: If only God would be merciful to me, I would gladly suffer all kinds of harm and misfortune and make do with it.
(167) You will not hear any of these from Esau. He has repented of the punishment and not of the sin he committed, therefore he has not found repentance of the punishment; for he does not seek repentance of sins, but is still stiff-necked in sin. As Saul did in 1 Sam. 15:3 ff. when he transgressed the command of God, so that God had commanded him to slay Amalek with man and woman, and with all the cattle, great and small; but he spared the king and the great cattle, and when he was punished by Samuel, he answered him thus: "The people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, because of the sacrifice of the LORD thy God." This did not mean to recognize the sin correctly, but to excuse and defend it under the appearance of holiness. Therefore the prophet became very angry and pronounced a very sad judgment on him, saying: "Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you, that you should not be king" 2c., 1 Sam. 15, 23.
So Adam also took the responsibility to excuse his sin and put the blame not only on the woman, but also on God: "The woman," he says Gen. 3:12, "which you gave me, gave me of the tree, and I ate" 2c. So Eve also apologizes and blames the serpent, who would have deceived her. This should by no means be called repentance. For where there is true repentance, man feels that he is thus minded in his heart, and complains to himself:
Ah, why have I angered God? Why did I arouse His anger and severe judgment against me? He may punish me as an example to others, as he wills, only that he forgive and pardon my sin. As the children of Israel ask in the Book of Judges, 10th Cap. V. 15: "We have sinned; do thou only with us as thou wilt; only save us at this time. Such a prayer is proper for those who truly and earnestly repent, saying, "The Lord may do with me as he pleases, but that he may be gracious to me. And then God is also quite willing to show mercy and forgive sin, and immediately offers such penitent sinners that he will forgive their sin.
But how far Esau is from such true humility and recognition of sins is shown by his words, in which he still lies quite brazenly that he is the firstborn, when he is not, and says that the firstborn is his, whom he had previously rejected of his own free will. Finally, much more seriously, he blames and condemns his innocent brother, excuses and praises himself, since he was guilty: "His name," he says, "is Jacob, for he has trampled me underfoot." But neither does he commemorate his sin with a word. He does not say, "I have sinned, I have not felt or understood until now that I have sinned; now I learn it by the punishment and judgment of God; now it is time that I recognize my sin; for I feel that God is grievously angry because I sold the firstborn and despised it; but I will not begrudge it to my brother, but will gladly grant it to him from my heart, and I rejoice that he has obtained the blessing. I have sinned and am heartily sorry, not so much because I have lost the blessing, 'as because of the wrath of God which I have incurred against me.
(170) Yes, he says or thinks nothing less than this; yes, he still boasts of his wickedness. I am righteous; my brother is wicked, he has taken what is mine with cunning and owns other people's property. That it may go badly with him! So he condemns the righteous
He still defends the sin of another and his own sin. At last, he has a terrible hatred for his brother, does not grant him the grace that God gave him and that he rightly lost through his own fault; because of this, he threatens to strangle him. Well, that is a fine penance for me.
For this reason it is nothing else than that he suffers because he has lost the good and has received damage. So also thieves and malefactors grieve over their sin, not that they should repent in earnest or be hostile to sin, but because they are tormented by fear and the sense of punishment. Just as we in the papacy have repented of sin, since we have been forced to confession every year. For at that time people would have preferred to hang on to their sins when they could have done so; and soon after Easter they did so again, as was their way, and rejoiced that they were only free from the torture they had with confession.
Therefore, I say, to repent is to feel the wrath of God for sin; so that the sinner may be afraid in his heart, and be troubled, and have a desire for the help and grace of God. But let such a penitent sinner be lifted up and comforted by anyone who can, so that he may not despair and be lost, as Judas despaired. For such a heart is of no other mind than that it would gladly suffer harm to all its good, only that it might find comfort, that it might have help even from the very smallest child, who proclaims to it the promise of salvation. For he thinks: If I only want to be delivered from the wrath of God, so that I am miserably martyred, then I do not want to worry at all about how I will get back the goods that I have lost. If I have acted foolishly, I may take my reward or suffer punishment for my foolishness, but only God may have mercy on me.
Now Esau thinks, "If I had my firstborn, I would not be very concerned about whether God would be gracious or ungracious to me. For this reason, the
This is how the text in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 12, v. 17, is to be understood: "He found no room for repentance"; because it was not a true repentance, but he was only sorry for the damage he had received and his foolishness, by which he had lost the firstborn and his glory. Therefore he fell into abominable hatred against his brother and God, who blessed Jacob through his father Isaac.
174 And this is a true image and example of such a man who falsely repents. This should be noted so that we learn to distinguish true repentance from the false imaginary repentance, which we call a gallows repentance. For a thief, when he sees that he is to be punished with the gallows, also bears sorrow for the sin and would gladly live longer: but when God gives him grace and such light that he truly recognizes his sin and the wrath of God, he no longer worries about this life; only that he may be helped, so that he does not come into danger of his soul's salvation. And then he should be taught and raised up with God's grace and mercy, which He has shown us in Christ, and should not be comforted with auricular confession or papist pardon, for otherwise he would be lost.
V. 37 Isaac answered and said unto him, I have made him lord over thee, and all his brethren have I made servants unto him; with corn and wine have I provided him: what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
The blessing of Jacob comprehends the three holy estates, namely, the house regiment, the world regiment and the priesthood. These three states or offices to administer, he gives him also the goods of this world. In the police he has the kingdom and regiment over the people. In the church he has the office of proclaiming and dispensing the forgiveness of sins and eternal life; therefore Jacob is a bishop, he has the prophecy, he has the word, the forgiveness of sins and the service of God. After that he adds: "I have made all his brothers" in the world regime "servants to him", and he will also make the nations subject to himself.
Make. This was done under David, who first fulfilled the blessing by bringing the Syrians, Philistines, Arabs and Edomites under him. But what shall I do now, says Isaac, what shall I give thee above these three blessings? He has taken away everything. And this was undoubtedly done by the special counsel and will of God, whose blessing it was, so I cannot change it. Esau, however, does not stop yet, yes, he still persists with the father with pleading and begging that he would also bless him.
V. 38. Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me also, my father; and he lifted up his voice, and wept.
176 Hence it is said in the epistle to the Hebrews Cap. 12, 17: "Though he sought them with tears. For this is the anxious and hot pleading with tears, so that he seeks many times and with great fear; but he has persevered too long and it is all in vain. For where God has once departed, and where the Word and the grace of God have once been taken away, they cannot easily be found again. In Rome there used to be a very beautiful church and congregation of God; there were more devout Christians and martyrs who confessed the truth there than anywhere else in the whole world: but since that church and congregation has departed, help God, what terrible darkness and abominations have followed! And even if they were to cry or howl themselves to death, or even die with Esau, they would do nothing to regain the former light and grace of God.
Before this time, we cried out in the ministry for eternal salvation and the kingdom of God; we almost suffered, yes, we almost tortured our bodies to death, not with the sword or other external weapons, but with fasting and mortification of the body: we sought, we knocked day and night. And I myself, if I had not been saved by the consolation of the gospel of Christ, would have been saved by the consolation of the gospel of Christ.
I would not have been able to live two years; so I toiled and fled from the wrath of God, and did not lack tears and sighs: but we did nothing with them. For this reason, St. Paul exhorts so diligently in 2 Cor. 6:1, 2, not without reason, when he says: "Lest you receive the grace of God in vain. Behold, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation." Therefore let us make use of the grace that is given to us, while we are able; let us open our mouths and our hearts, that the blessing may be poured out; for where it should be taken away, it is quite lost with us.
The Germans use a curse in a proverb that is not evil, namely, when they say: God gives the gland (bump, plague bump) to lazy hands. For they admonish us not to be lazy, but to make good use of the opportunity that presents itself. So, when the gospel is taught, we should hear and learn it with a thankful heart. As Christ says John 12:35, 36: "The light is yet a little while with you. Walk while you have the light, so that the darknesses do not overtake you. While the light is yet a little while with you, believe in the light while ye have it, that ye may be the children of light."
And the example of the Jews certainly testifies sufficiently how terrible darkness has overtaken them, after they have not believed in him who performed such great signs before them. For they only gloriously fulfill this figure or example of Esau, crying out day and night, mortifying the body with fasting and praying now into the thousand and a half years, praying quite fervently and saying: Lord God, send the Messiah for your name's sake, for your word's sake, for your kingdom's sake. By which prayers and lamentations even stones and hard rocks might be moved; but they find no room for repentance. Not that repentance can find no room or place, but because they want to enter heaven in a wrong way and obtain blessing with their service, which is impossible. They do not recognize their sin, but justify themselves,
make themselves pious, as Esau also did. We, they say, are the right Israel; as Esau says, I am your firstborn son. O dear God, the heathen have taken away the firstborn and the blessing by force 2c. Though they well feel the wrath of GOD, they will not acknowledge the sin.
180. But where one feels sin and the wrath of God for sin's sake, this is a very great grace, and blessedness is near to such sinners that they can easily be brought to repentance. But if one defends and excuses sin, that is judging God, that is, condemning in His words, as it says in the 51st Psalm v. 6. Therefore Esau is an example of all Jews.
181 And because we were monks, we did not do anything with our mortification. For we did not want to recognize our sin and ungodly nature; indeed, we knew nothing of original sin and did not understand that unbelief was sin. Yes, we also held and taught that one must doubt God's grace and mercy. Therefore, the more I ran and desired to come to Christ, the farther he went away from me. After confession and when I had said mass, I could never be satisfied in my heart; for the conscience cannot have a right certain consolation from works.
Therefore let us make use of the blessing that is now present, and of the grace that has been given to us, now that the light of the gospel has come to light again, and let us not be indolent or ungrateful. For once the blessing has been taken away, it is not up to us to bring it back again, but it is up to God's gift and grace alone, and also so that He will not be moved by any man's weeping, crying, toil or work.
At first I understood that the free grace of God was absolutely necessary in order to attain light and eternal life, and I worked diligently and anxiously to understand the saying of Paul, Rom. 1:17, where he says: "The righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel. I searched for a long time and always knocked on the door, because the word "justitia" means "righteousness.
Dei, "the righteousness of God," was in my way, which was commonly interpreted as follows: The righteousness of God is such a virtue that He is righteous in Himself and condemns sinners. Thus all the doctors had interpreted this saying, Augustine excepted, that they said: The righteousness of God, that is, the wrath of God. But as often as I read the saying, I always wished that God would never have revealed the gospel, for who could love the God who is angry, judges and condemns? until finally, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, I considered the saying of the prophet Habakkuk a little more diligently, since he says in 2 Cap. V. 4: "The righteous lives by his faith". From this I deduced that life must come from faith, and thus I changed the abstractum into the concretum, as it is called in the schools, that is, I changed the word "righteousness" to the word "just," namely, that man would be justified before God through faith 2c. Then all the holy scriptures and heaven itself were opened to me.
But now, at this time, we see this great light quite clearly, and we may use it abundantly. But, alas, we despise this precious stone and such a heavenly treasure and grow weary of it. But if one day this treasure is taken from us again, then we will cry out and knock again, as Christ says in the parable of the foolish virgins, Matth. 25, 11. But all this will be in vain and for nothing. Therefore, let us fear God and be thankful. But you should especially be moved by my and others' examples, who lived in death and hell and did not have the blessings as abundantly as you now have. Therefore see that you diligently practice the doctrine of blessing and give it proper thought, so that you may keep it for yourselves and also spread it to other people. We have done what we should have done.
V.39. 40. Then Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thou shalt have a fat habitation upon the earth, and of the dew of the
Heaven from above. You will feed on your sword and serve your brother. And it shall come to pass that thou shalt also be a lord, and shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
He gives him a share in the blessings of the home, for everything concerning the government of the world and the church belongs to his brother Jacob. But this is not a blessing. For he only says, "You will have a fat dwelling," that is, you will have your food and clothing; so that the carnal people of the Jews may also have something, that they may not say they have nothing at all, so he gives him the bodily promises. Then he adds: "You will feed on your sword", that is, you will have to protect and defend yourself with your sword; but you will not win or have the reign. This is all to be understood without blessing. God will not make you lord over other nations, much less over your brother, whom He has previously exempted, and has made Jacob lord over his brothers. You will have to be content with your dwelling in the fat land, and you will have to feed on your sword, so that you will be safe from the enemy, but so that you will be subservient to your brother and serve him.
Now hold these two against each other: Jacob is the doctor in the church and is also the lord in the world regiment over his brother Esau, and his blessing is rightly called a blessing. But the blessing of this Esau is not called a blessing; for the text does not say, This shall be thy blessing, but thus says, "Thou shalt have a fat habitation on the earth." And is in Hebrew the very same word, so also in the 1st Psalm v. 1. stands: In sede derisorum: "Where the scoffers sit." The holy Scriptures have diligently prevented this, that Esau should not have been called blessed; for the blessing extends to the breadth, to the length, to the fat and to all goods; nor is it said in the text, The LORD GOD will give it thee. For where the word "LORD" is added, it becomes a blessing. Therefore Isaac means this much: God will not bless you by virtue of this blessing; but you will happen to have something that God will give you, as he gave to those in Arabia and the
Egyptern also there who happened to have their food and shelter, but have recognized it for no divine blessing. This should be noted diligently. These two words "God" and "blessing" are not put in the text; therefore it is not a blessing.
But he adds still more, saying, "And it shall come to pass, that thou also shalt be a lord, and shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. 2c. This is also a special piece. For Isaac would gladly give him more, and he also diligently seeks what he would like to give him more. But this belongs to Herod and his family. The Jews interpret it from the time of King Joram, 2 Kings 8:20, under the prophet Elisha, from whom the Idumeans fell away, because the king was ungodly. And is not an evil mind: for Edom hath broken the yoke, and hath loosed himself from the dominion of Israel. However, I think that it would be better to understand Herod, who was the son of Antipater, the Idumean, who had great prestige and honor under Julius Caesar, and who plagued the kingdom of Israel. Because of this, he threw off the yoke from his neck and also ruled.
188) From this a question arises, How the prophecy or promise was fulfilled, that Jacob would be blessed, and the greater would serve the lesser, and the lesser would reign: and afterward it shall follow, that Jacob shall bow down himself before Esau, both he and his household, and his children and his wives. There he will appoint four bands, all of whom will fall at Esau's feet and bow down before him. After that the Idumeans rule in Israel for a long time, and Herod and his descendants rule over Israel until the destruction of Jerusalem; and Jacob took the blessing from this text, which will follow in chapter 49, v. 10, 11. How can these two things be balanced so that they do not contradict each other?
Answer: Where one rules only for an hour or a day, that is not rightly called a dominion or a regiment. So when the people of Israel were taken captive to Babylon
had been led, one might also have said that they had lost the reign: but in truth they have not lost it. For they were only chastised. Therefore, the regiment was not lost, but was delayed and postponed. In this way Jacob also bows before Esau. He wrestles with the angel, so that he might almost have despaired of the regiment and the blessing; for he felt nothing else in the battle than that he would have to be subject to his brother and that his brother would kill his servants and his wife: but after the battle he is called Israel by the angel, and at that very moment in the battle he is made king and regent most of all, because he loses. For "you have fought," says the angel Gen. 32:28, "with God and with men, and have prevailed."
190. This does not mean losing the blessing or the regiment, if someone is challenged in faith about the regiment and blessing. As Abraham was tempted one hour to slay his son, when God said to him Gen 22:2, "Sacrifice your son to me." But because of this he did not lose his son, but received him again abundantly and with fruit and benefit; as, moreover, the angel confirms Jacob's blessing at his request, saying, "I will not leave you, for you bless me." Therefore the blessing did not fall away or cease, but was tried and contested with it, that the blessing might be the stronger and more sure.
191 But what shall we say of Herod, who truly ruled over Jerusalem and Judah with great pride and cruelty? Answer: There the prophecy or prophecy of Jacob was fulfilled: "The scepter of Judah shall not be taken away" 2c. For Mary, the mother of Christ, was already born then, and also the parents of John the Baptist already lived, when Herod had had the regency six or at the highest ten years; although it was not confirmed before the birth of Christ. As Philo writes that he is said to have ruled six years properly and one and thirty years tyrannically, which is by no means worthy to be called a regiment;
But his father, Antipater, was before him only a chief or captain in the Jewish country. After that he did not have a quiet or calm regiment, because the Jews always resisted him because of the promise, about which they held very hard, and it was considered unreasonable that they, the Jews, should serve their servant Herod, when it was said to Esau: "You shall serve your brother Jacob. Therefore Herod ruled over the Jews, but not with a proper regime.
192) Finally, it can be answered thus: That he had obtained the reign, not by divine command, by which the kings had previously been installed and appointed in Israel and Judah; but by the violence and tyranny of the Romans, out of God's wrath, that he should also tear apart the same kingdom, with which it was already almost at an end, and which was without a doubt generally divided and destroyed. Therefore his reign or rule is not contrary to the promise, for the same time was the end of the kingdom in which Christ was to be born.
193 And these are the two opposite promises of the two brothers. Jacob has obtained the blessing in the house, and also in the world and church government. Esau has none of these, but has only had such a promise as the other nations; as the Syrians, whose rule the Jews have had to endure and tolerate from time to time, but the kingdom or rule they have not lost, because only when it was at the end, so that the prophecy of Jacob would be fulfilled, in which he had said before, Gen. 49, v. 10: When the Shiloh or hero would come, the kingdom with the priesthood and law would have its end.
Sixth part.
How Esau becomes angry with Zacob for the sake of the blessing and resolves to kill him.
V.41. And Esau was grieved with Jacob for the blessing, that his father had blessed him; and said in his heart, IT shall be the
he does not say: You shall obey your parents, shall hear them, but: You shall honor them. He wants the name of the parents to be kept glorious and honest. For God knows well in us the wickedness of original sin, which is so exceedingly powerful that it drives men to kill their parents and to practice atrocious tyranny over their own blood. David has been severely afflicted with this misfortune, and has learned what great pain and fear parents have from the wickedness of their children. For he felt and experienced that his son Absalom was his enemy, who was after his life and limb, as well as eternal prosperity and bliss. But he fell into a terrible curse because he died such a death as he caused with his evil deed.
(206) Therefore I exhort and entreat all the young men to beware of this sin and to be enemies of it, and to accustom their hearts to honor their parents, and to call upon God daily and diligently in their prayers for help. Has this happened in Adam's house and in Abraham's house, between Ishmael and Isaac, in Isaac's house between Jacob and Esau (I will not speak now of many examples of the Gentiles): what do we parents not have to expect and what do you children not have to worry about? For you see that the devil is in our midst. You also see the most grievous examples of the punishments at all times, which go upon the disobedient wilful children, who revile their parents, and torment and afflict them with their disobedience. How miserably and suddenly did Esau fall before he became aware of such an afflictive accident or thought of it beforehand! And how could he think of it, since he alone in his father's house had both the world and church rule, yes, since he alone is the lord and prince in the house?
For this is the image of the house and servants of Isaac. The old father has given up all the responsibilities of the head of the household and all the rule of the house, as well as the secular and ecclesiastical government. For he is now blind, and the same,
In my opinion, not because of old age, but because of some other accident or temptation, so that this would also come to his tribulation and cross. For he was a holy man whom God loved, and for this reason he was also tested and tempted with so many temptations. Because he could no longer see, he had to refrain from all rule, unless there was something to be admonished or commanded by words. Rebekah is the matron of the house, but has no power or authority in the house; likewise Jacob was also spurned and despised. Esau alone is the master, who has two wives and many children. For Jacob is not blessed until the thirty-seventh year after Esau's marriage, which he kept in the fortieth year of his age, and they are both now seventy-seven years old; but in the mean time Esau hath begotten many children.
Although Rebekah also ruled in part as a housemother, she did so with great difficulty and with great hardship. For the two wives of her son Esau were heathen and godless, who despised their mother-in-law as an old childish woman: and otherwise it is customary that all sons' wives cannot well suffer their mothers-in-law to rule over them. Now these two wives were not strangers, but were at home there in the land, who had taken a strange man in marriage, that is, Esau, who was poor and despised; therefore they set themselves against Rebekah with hope and great contempt.
Thus Rebekah had to live in great fear and highest contempt. As it is said above in 26 Cap. V. 35: "They made both Isaac and Rebekah vain of heart," they grieved and afflicted the good and pious woman. For they were the queens of the house; Esau was a squire, related to those of nobility and other great lords of the land by affinity: Jacob was miserable and like a stranger, expecting every day that he would be cast out and driven away. For Esau intended to make his children his heirs, and to this end his brothers-in-law and his sons would undoubtedly make him their heir.
two wives have also incited. That is why he is quite sure of the regiment and priesthood. For he rules the house instead of the father, as the father's deputy. But the holy mother Rebekah walks in the mud of great waters, and suffers much unrighteousness from her son's wives; for the father was old and bereft of countenance, that he gave up the whole reign.
Dear God, how much did Rebekah suffer in the meantime! How much violence and shame did she endure and eat into herself! That is why she did not keep Jacob without a cause, and also protected him, so that he should obtain the blessing, since Esau ruled in the house with such pride and courtliness, and that the brothers-in-law also rejoiced with such great pride and praised themselves highly, that they, the Hittites, themselves also wanted to rule through this prince Esau. Then, without a doubt, Rebekah anxiously and fervently made her prayer with tears before God, seeing that the honor and glory of the promise was to come to the Gentiles, namely the Hittites. O dear God! she will have cried out that you would prevent and prevent her from taking action.
211 Since the reign was in such a state, and Esau was such a promising prince, but Jacob with his pious holy mother was despised and rejected, Esau did not know and think otherwise than that he would be king according to all divine and human right. And in addition to this, there is the diligence, the favor and the good deed of his father Isaac, which is a confirmation and a sure argument on which he relies, and no longer worries about the fact that he had sold and rejected the firstborn, he is completely sure of everything, just as if he had his seat in heaven and paradise.
But behold, how very soon and unawares the wrath and judgment of God comes upon him. For his father tells him to go out hunting and to bring him a nice meal, since he is to be blessed. Esau will no doubt have had his brothers-in-law and other good friends as companions, who will go with him on the hunt.
Hunting are drawn, and so go out with hounds, and with the hunters who rejoiced with him and wished him happiness, and the servants in the house will also have praised: Tomorrow Isaac will bless our prince and priest Esau. All is joy and gladness.
But what happens? Esau comes home again with great pomp, with great waiting and hope, and brings his father the food he had prepared and prepared for him. Soon the whole thing and all hope, and all joy, fall away, and he himself falls down suddenly, as if thunder and lightning had struck him from heaven. Therefore he had great cause to be angry. For should such great joy be changed so soon and suddenly? Help God, how did he curse his brother so horribly and blaspheme him? How will there have been weeping, terror and lamentation? How distraught will all the servants, his wives and brothers-in-law have become? For he who at six o'clock in the morning was a lord, king and priest, became a servant in the evening. So all of a sudden this great hope fell away from them, which they had never hoped and thought for.
In such a case the flesh cannot be patient. What shall I do now? Esau thought; the shame and disgrace is so great that I can neither tolerate it nor suffer it, because such great dishonor has happened to me, who am king and priest in my father's house; and my brother, who until now has been despised and rejected, is now to be my lord? Then Esau cursed horribly at such an accident; he will have said: Well, the devil strikes in hell and the infernal fire. For the fact that he was suddenly thrown off such a great hope, and that it fell away from him so completely, must have enraged him very much by reason of necessity.
Now you see how this is such a great and horrible misfortune, where one surely sins and does not repent. For the same has given cause to this accident of Esau, who was deprived of all heavenly blessings by the wrath of God: as
he does not say: You shall obey your parents, shall hear them, but: You shall honor them. He wants the name of the parents to be kept glorious and honest. For God knows well in us the wickedness of original sin, which is so exceedingly powerful that it drives men to kill their parents and to practice atrocious tyranny over their own blood. David has been severely afflicted with this misfortune, and has learned what great pain and fear parents have from the wickedness of their children. For he felt and experienced that his son Absalom was his enemy, who was after his life and limb, as well as eternal prosperity and bliss. But he fell into a terrible curse because he died such a death as he caused with his evil deed.
(206) Therefore I exhort and entreat all the young men to beware of this sin and to be enemies of it, and to accustom their hearts to honor their parents, and to call upon God daily and diligently in their prayers for help. Has this happened in Adam's house and in Abraham's house, between Ishmael and Isaac, in Isaac's house between Jacob and Esau (I will not speak now of many examples of the Gentiles): what do we parents not have to expect and what do you children not have to worry about? For you see that the devil is in our midst. You also see the most grievous examples of the punishments at all times, which go upon the disobedient wilful children, who revile their parents, and torment and afflict them with their disobedience. How miserably and suddenly did Esau fall before he became aware of such an afflictive accident or thought of it beforehand! And how could he think of it, because he alone in his father's house had both the world's and the church's rule, yes, because he alone is the lord and prince in the house?
For this is the image of the house and servants of Isaac. The old father has given up all the duties of the head of the household and all the rule of the house, as well as the secular and ecclesiastical government. For he is now blind, and the same.
In my opinion, not because of old age, but because of some other accident or temptation, so that this would also come to his tribulation and cross. For he was a holy man whom God loved, and because of this he was also tested and tempted with so many temptations. Because he could no longer see, he had to refrain from all rule, unless there was something to be admonished or commanded by words. Rebekah is the matron of the house, but has no power or authority in the house; likewise Jacob was also spurned and despised. Esau alone is the master, who has two wives and many children. For Jacob is not blessed until the thirty-seventh year after Esau's marriage, which he kept in the fortieth year of his age, and they are both now seventy-seven years old; but in the mean time Esau hath begotten many children.
Although Rebekah also ruled in part as a housemother, she did so with great difficulty and with great hardship. For the two wives of her son Esau were heathen and godless, who despised their mother-in-law as an old childish woman: and otherwise it is customary that all sons' wives cannot well suffer their mothers-in-law to rule over them. Now these two wives were not strangers, but were at home there in the land, who had taken a strange man in marriage, that is, Esau, who was poor and despised; therefore they set themselves against Rebekah with hope and great contempt.
Thus Rebekah had to live in great fear and highest contempt. As it is said above in 26 Cap. V. 35, "They made both Isaac and Rebekah vain of heart," they afflicted and afflicted for and for the good pious woman. For they were the queens of the house; Esau was a squire, related to those of nobility and other great lords of the land by affinity: Jacob was miserable and like a stranger, expecting every day that he would be cast out and driven away. For Esau intended to make his children his heirs, and to this end his brothers-in-law and his sons would undoubtedly make him heir.
two wives have also incited. That is why he is quite sure of the regiment and priesthood. For he rules the house instead of the father, as the father's deputy. But the holy mother Rebekah walks in the mud of great waters, and suffers much unrighteousness from her son's wives; for the father was old and bereft of countenance, so that he has given up the whole reign.
Dear God, how much did Rebekah suffer! How much violence and shame did she endure and eat into herself! That is why she did not keep Jacob without a cause, and also protected him, so that he should obtain the blessing, since Esau ruled in the house with such pride and courtliness, and that the brothers-in-law also rejoiced with such great pride and praised themselves highly, that they, the Hittites, themselves also wanted to rule through this prince Esau. Then, without a doubt, Rebekah anxiously and fervently made her prayer with tears before God, seeing that the honor and glory of the promise was to come to the Gentiles, namely the Hittites. O dear God! she will have cried out that you would prevent and prevent her from taking action.
211 Since the regency was in such a state, and Esau was such a promising prince, but Jacob with his pious holy mother was despised and rejected, Esau did not know and think otherwise than that he would be king according to all divine and human right. And in addition to this, there is the diligence, the favor and the good deed of his father Isaac, which is a confirmation and a sure argument on which he relies, and no longer worries about the fact that he had sold and rejected the firstborn, he is completely sure of everything, just as if he had his seat in heaven and paradise.
But behold, how very soon and unawares the wrath and judgment of God comes upon him. For his father tells him to go out hunting and to bring him a nice meal, since he is to be blessed. Esau will no doubt have had his brothers-in-law and other good friends as companions, who will go with him on the hunt.
Hunting are drawn, and so go out with hounds, and with the hunters who rejoiced with him and wished him happiness, and the servants in the house will also have praised: Tomorrow Isaac will bless our prince and priest Esau. All is joy and gladness.
But what happens? Esau comes home again with great pomp, with great waiting and hope, and brings his father the food he had prepared and prepared for him. Soon the whole thing and all hope, and also all joy, falls away, and he himself suddenly falls down, as if thunder and lightning had struck him from heaven. Therefore he had great cause to be angry. For should such great joy be changed so soon and suddenly? Help God, how did he curse his brother so horribly and blaspheme him? How will there have been weeping, terror and lamentation? How distraught will all the servants, his wives and brothers-in-law have become? For he who at six o'clock in the morning was a lord, king and priest, became a servant in the evening. So all of a sudden this great hope fell away from them, which they had never hoped and thought for.
In such a case the flesh cannot be patient. What shall I do now? Esau thought; the shame and disgrace is so great that I can neither tolerate it nor suffer it, because such great dishonor has happened to me, who am king and priest in my father's house; and my brother, who until now has been despised and rejected, is now to be my lord? Then Esau cursed horribly at such an accident; he will have said: Well, the devil strikes in hell and the infernal fire. For the fact that he was suddenly thrown off such a great hope, and that it fell away from him so completely, must have enraged him very much by reason of necessity.
Now you see how this is such a great and horrible misfortune, where one thus surely sins and does not repent properly. For the same has given cause to this accident of Esau, who was deprived of all heavenly blessings by the wrath of God: as
Lucifer fell from heaven before he had thought about it. For Esau, having lost the blessing as he was then, has also lost his father and mother, as well as his entire inheritance, including the regency and priesthood. That is why he becomes so completely senseless, angry, raging and furious, saying, "The time will soon come when my father will have to suffer. For this is what he said to his brothers-in-law, with whom he had quarreled, and to the servants in the house, who saw that he was quite angry and furious.
In addition, his children have wept and cried out, seeing that they are now deprived of the great hope of which they were all so proud. These have provoked him to such fierce anger, will have said: Will you suffer this, that so many great glorious goods should be taken from you so suddenly? Then he said, "I will certainly not suffer this, but I will destroy their joy. He will no doubt have boasted of these words to his brothers-in-law and two wives, who hurt Rebekah in their eyes because she did not want to see them, which made Esau, who was already mad with great anger, even more heated and provoked him to anger.
217 And so it was in the house of Isaac the holy patriarch at that time; this house was completely confused by the counsel of the Holy Spirit, which Rebekah carried out, namely, that the blessing should be turned from the greater son to the lesser. For a great confusion and noise had to ensue, since the great hope and all the plan that Esau had fallen in a heap and was destroyed; for he already had the priesthood and the dominion in his possession, and did not need to fear that he would be cast out of it.
218 But this is an excellent example of the divine punishment, by which the great prince and regent, who was so extremely hopeful, fell, so that he almost had to despair in a moment, who had promised himself shortly before that he would reign forever.
would. We should diligently imagine the same. For so wicked and evil is the way of all men: while we sin, we are quite safe; but when we feel the wrath and punishment of God, we are poor, miserable and vexed people, as there was great weeping and crying in the house of Esau. There the wives, the children and all the servants wept and cried miserably, but he became despondent and foolish, for the wrath of God is a great and terrible thing, so that he was so heated by it that he would gladly kill his parents and destroy the church.
Seventh Part.
How Rebekah learns about Esau's Norfatz and tries to prevent it, and therefore sends Jacob from his home to Mesopotamia for their friendship.
V.42. Then these words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah; and she sent and told Jacob, her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau doth threaten thee, that he will slay thee.
219 Esau did not keep this threat secretly, but because his children and wives were weeping and his brothers in law were mad with great anger and wrath, he said publicly, "Let us only watch a little; the joy of Jacob and my parents will not last long: I will make them also mourn and suffer with us. When one of the servants, who was a little more pious and faithful than the others, heard these words, he soon ran to Rebekah and told her.
220 And she herself could not think otherwise, but that he would be greatly angered, and that he would also have very good cause to be angry, since he had lived all seventy-seven years in certain hope that he would possess the blessing, and because the father had also assigned and granted it to him with great diligence and special favor; which he has now lost everything. About this it also occurred to Rebekah that she thought that she would have to think about all the-
his misfortune and the dreadful noise in her house was her fault and came from her; although in truth she was not to blame for it, but Esau caused it with his sin, and it all came primarily from the divine answer, in which it was said: "The greater will serve the lesser. Therefore Esau brought this misfortune on himself through his own fault, because he was angry with God and despised Him, and also because he disregarded the glory and honor of the firstborn and sold it for a small amount, namely, for a lentil dish.
(221) Now behold, how much calamity came from this one sin; for according to the divine answer, the sin of Esau is a cause of all this noise. And with these two pieces Rebekah also comforted herself: First, with the divine answer, and then, with the sin of Esau; who, having also come to the knowledge that he had felt the wrath of God, began to be senseless, but not to repent.
If one sins and feels the punishment, and yet does not want to recognize that the punishment comes from God's just judgment, but only wants to be impatient and angry because of the good that one has lost, this does not mean repenting, but raging against God and being angry with Him. As we are doing at present, when we are punished with the Turkish war, with pestilence, with the devil's fury, or otherwise plagued by the devil, we all complain about the great misery and misfortune. But you will not hear anyone who says, "We have sinned, we have done evil, Lord God, have mercy on us, remember your mercy, which endures forever. We do not turn to God, who punishes us; as the prophet Isaiah complains about this in the 9th Cap. V. 13: "The people turn not to him that smiteth them; neither ask they anything of the LORD of hosts."
For this reason, we all cry out and lament the punishment, the cruelty and tyranny of the barbarian enemy, and other misfortunes, so that we are attacked; but we do not let ourselves be sorry for the sin. Therefore our repentance is just one
such repentance as Esau had. Finally we will also have to hear that it is written in the Proverbs of Solomon Cap. 1, 24-28: "Because I call and you refuse; I stretch out my hand, and no one heeds it; and you forsake all my counsel, and do not want my punishment: I will also laugh at your calamity, and mock you when it comes, like a storm that you fear, and your calamity as a weather, when fear and distress come upon you. Then they will call to me, but I will not answer" 2c.
For what is more unjust than that we ask and desire help and salvation from God, and also blessings in bodily and spiritual things, and that we nevertheless still practice idolatry, kill our brothers and parents, and in addition let all kinds of evil lusts take hold and indulge in them? This will certainly not happen without certain and terrible punishment. For such a threat is also written in the prophet Isaiah, Cap. 65, v. 12, 13: "Therefore I called, and ye answered not; but ye did that which was evil in my sight, and ye chose that which was not in my sight. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall hunger; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall thirst. "2c.
But even the godly and innocent people have their tribulations, misfortunes and miseries, and often fall into the common misfortune. For there must always remain some godly ones among so many thousands of people or in such a large crowd. But when they pray, they are not rejected or abandoned, as happens to the wicked, but this happens to them, as St. Peter says in 1 Epist. 4, 17, that judgment begins at the house of God. For it is a certain sign when those who pray and serve God with all their heart suffer, that the destruction of the godless and secure is imminent: and the godly taste only a little of the cup of wrath; but what end will it come to those who do not believe the gospel?
226: Just as in our times, we are also in the
The congregation are those who have deserved punishment and destruction, and are now experiencing the judgment of the house of God. For I also bear the common miseries with other men, which are grievous enough; as Daniel, and the rest of the godly, who were in the misery at Babylon, also bore the common punishments: but to tyrants and enemies a far greater and more abominable punishment is pronounced; as God's word in the prophet Jeremiah, in the 49th chapter, v. 12. v. 12. testifies against the Amorites, Judeans and others: "For thus says the Lord: Behold, those who were not guilty of drinking the cup must drink, and you shall go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you also must drink" 2c.
227 But in such affliction and misfortune we must be patient in heart, that we may well receive the judgment and punishment of God; for nothing will harm us who repent, and do not partake of the sins of the wicked, and pray earnestly. But woe to those who have to drink the yeast, for they become more and more angry because of the punishment they have to bear, and they do not recognize the sin they have committed: they cry out and are angry because of the misfortune they suffer, but they are not sorry for the sin. If you cried out because of your sin, God would hear you; but because you hide the sin, excuse it and defend it, I, says the Lord, will not hear your cry when you complain about the punishment. Let this be remembered of the cause of Esau's very sorrowful and sudden fall, that we may understand the causes of punishment, and learn to beware of them; and that in common distress and danger we may always keep hope, and call upon God, that we may not be despondent because of punishment and calamity, and fall unto the wicked.
228Then Rebekah, having received word that Esau was exceedingly wroth, and that he was snuffing out murders against his brother, addressed her son Jacob, saying, "Thy brother doth threaten thee to slay thee," seeking how he may avenge himself on thee; which indeed is a very evil consolation.
Therefore arise and flee to my brother, so that we may not tempt the Lord; retreat for a time from the fierce Esau, so that he may not be given room to pour out his anger. So she mediates between them, and does not yet despair that Esau may again be reconciled; as love is wont to believe and hope all things.
229 After that she also asked that his heart might be satisfied, and will no doubt also have pleaded with the brothers-in-law and wives with kind words and gifts, and sought that they would again reconcile and satisfy Esau, who was so exceedingly angry. In addition, Esau's heart was also approached with kind words and tried to soften, so that he would not rage so much; will have said: Dear son, be content with what your father has given you; you have enough of it, God will give you something else and greater. She used such suggestions and kind words to settle this din; for she was a very cunning and understanding woman, but nevertheless everything was done with godliness and the fear of God.
V.43-45. And now, my son, hear my voice: Arise, and flee to Laban my brother in Haran, and tarry with him a while, until thy brother's anger turn, and until his wrath against thee turn from thee, and forget what thou hast done to him; and I will send for thee, and fetch thee from thence. Why should I be deprived of both of you for one day?
The Hebrew word chemah means a fierce anger, which is like a great heat, Jacham means to heat, to heat up; as the poets use to describe anger: Ignescunt irae, et duris dolor ossibus ardet etc., that is: the anger burns like a fire and the pain burns even in the hard bones. So Esau also became hot from anger. Therefore Rebekah thinks that her son Jacob must flee from him, so that she would not be seen as wanting to put him in danger so lightly, when she would have kept him with her.
231. for a heart that is so full of wrath
When a man is heated, he is bold to start and commit all kinds of evil deeds; as it is customary to say: Ira furor brevis est etc.: Anger is like a nonsense that occurs and can be committed in a hui. Therefore, one must avoid such nonsense, so that he does not rage against you in anger and cause such damage that could never be healed afterwards. Rebekah has wisely considered and spoken this. We will not tempt God, she says, and say: He who has blessed you will also keep you well; God does what He has planned, but He does it by means. So Rebekah also believes that the church and the blessing will be protected, but she uses the means God has allowed to prevent the danger.
This example should be diligently remembered for the sake of those who want to draw everything to the providence, and thus annul all the works and means that God has ordained. For they say: If this is to happen, it will necessarily have to happen even without my help. Or even if they put themselves in unnecessary danger, they promise themselves protection and protection in such danger; for God will have to protect and preserve them from necessity according to His promise. These are evil and ungodly thoughts. For God wants you to use the means that you can use. He wants you to accept the opportunity that presents itself and use it, because he wants to accomplish through you what he has decreed. For so he would have it that thy father should beget thee, and thy mother nourish thee, when he might well have made thee and nourished thee without parents. So in this common life you should do the necessary work: you should sow, you should plant, you should look for food 2c., after that God will also do what he wants. But if you say: I will not give the child milk to suck; for where it is to live, it will live well without it 2c., then you will be deceived by this and will hardly sin by it. For this is why God gave the breasts to the mother, that she should suckle the child with them. He could indeed feed the child without milk
but he does not want to do so. Therefore, one should use the means prescribed by him.
233 Thus Rebekah has certainly concluded and could take it for that: My son Jacob will not be strangled, nor will the blessing be revoked; yet she does not fail to do what is her duty, but says to Jacob: "Flee to my brother Laban, until the wrath of your brother turns. God could protect you and defend you from him, but you must not give the devil the opportunity or space, but you must cut off his opportunity. You see how now your brother walks about in the house like a senseless man, and if he seized you, he would undoubtedly strangle you; or even if the father would soften his heart, you must not worry less about such danger from his brothers-in-law, wives and children, whom you will not be able to reconcile so easily; and even if Esau would be satisfied, they will still try to harm you, because they know that they are doing a pleasant service to their father Esau. Now that you can flee to my brother and avoid this danger, use this opportunity and this advice; in the meantime we will see to it that we reconcile and satisfy both the brothers-in-law and our son's wives. We want to teach them the divine will and report that God has thus provided and decreed. Go away for a little while. I will do all possible diligence so that their hearts may be softened. I will go to them, talk to them and ask God for mercy.
This is a great wisdom in the very pious holy woman, by which she was able to advise and help herself and her son so finely in the great noise she had caused, and in such great distress and danger; for both the house and the church of Isaac were very violently afflicted and confused, and the hearts, which had been embittered by legitimate pain, could not be softened and reconciled so soon. Rebekah sees this well, and yet does not tempt God, nor does she despair. For
One must do both, namely, not to tempt God in adversity and danger, nor to forsake His help.
This belongs to and serves the teaching and comfort of the church, whose image is held up to us here. For she is always in great danger, and must always expect such misfortune, from which she cannot come according to human reason. And this is her common word and right title, that she says: "Lord, help us, we are perishing", Matth. 6, 25. But she does not perish. She is always driven to and fro by the waves and the impetuousness of the sea, so that before her eyes she sees nothing else but vain destruction, and so that we cry out, "We are perishing," and yet she still has help from God. How Rebekah and Jacob, in such great affliction, also cling to the promise of God and finally bring themselves out and retain the victory.
236 Then we should also learn from this example that we do not immediately fail the people who have sinned, but that we always remember the words of Christ Jn 11:6, 9, so that he would answer his disciples when they wanted to contradict him, that he should not go back to Judea, because shortly before the Jews had wanted to stone him: "Are not the day twelve hours?"That is, the Gentiles can always be pacified and softened by time, so that they drop their wickedness and send themselves to correction: by and by the great wrath and fiery anger pass away.
237 And it is indeed credible that Esau became much lighter in the twelve or more years while Jacob remained in Mesopotamia. And it also happened that he had good luck in time, so that nothing broke off for him; indeed, his ungodly presumption was always increased, that he would no less keep the blessing, since even the opposite happened of that which Jacob's blessing brought. For he was set up to inherit the regiment and the priesthood, but he has little luck in it, for he is driven into misery, and his happiness and his whole life can be seen to be more like a curse than a blessing. Esau, however, remains in possession of the
because Isaac, being deprived of his face, had given himself up the regiment over the servants in the house and over the church. Therefore, Esau remains the master of the house in the absence of his brother Jacob, and still does his usual work, as he has done until now.
238 When the two daughters-in-law and brothers-in-law saw this, they were easily satisfied and thought, "Let the blessed one always go; we will stay in the house, but he must become a fugitive. And this confidence has been greatly increased since Jacob has been absent for so many years. Perhaps, they will have said, the old Isaac has become childish, that he did not know what he had done, will have been deceived by the fool, the Rebekka, thus with trickery. This blessing will not have pleased God. And it is a great sign that he must not be blessed, because he must wander about in misery. We are the wives of the prince and the priest, Isaac's son's wives, to whom the promise was made; therefore we ask nothing of him who has run away. So no doubt they will all have thought what Esau's family was. For where there is good fortune and a false delusion of blessing, people immediately say, "God is gracious to me;" but good fortune and an ungodly delusion make people hopeful and secure. So it may well have happened that Esau, even with his wives and children, was somewhat softened and soothed, since he thought, indeed was quite sure in himself, that Jacob's blessing would be in vain; for Jacob was not protected by a special miracle of God, but God forsook him, had him cast out of the house even by his own mother and father. Therefore, I say, Esau could not have concluded otherwise than that God had cancelled and nullified this blessing.
But we should not think that this happened without severe challenge and very great pain of the parents. Indeed, Rebekah's faith was once again challenged. For it grieved her greatly that Esau in the absence of her son Jacob
The fact is that the former rule has remained in place, although the actions or movements of such devout parents in their hearts cannot be sufficiently interpreted or considered. My faith would truly not be able to bear so much. Rebekah is now a mother of seven and seventy years; for so many years have passed that the divine answer was opened when she still had the twins in her womb: "The greater shall serve the lesser." For these years she waited with great sorrow for the blessing, and Jacob with her, who therefore lived in celibacy without wife and child, as one who was utterly rejected and outcast. Esau also took two wives in the fortieth year of his age, and now has children and children's children; he is lord and prince, and priest in the house. Rebekah has had to suffer and watch all this every day for such a long time, and yet she remains constant, since the two daughters-in-law have also had the reign, both of whom have made her bitter and have plagued the old Isaac and the right housemother. For Rebekah had to hand over to them the keys and the whole regiment. Therefore, see if this is not a good faith and hope of Rebecca, who waited for the blessing with such long-suffering.
240 But how is Isaac? In addition to other trials and plagues, such a misery and cross was imposed on him that was almost unbearable, namely, that he was deprived of his face in old age. At such a ripe old age, the old man has not been able to see the sun and other things, both of which would have been necessary and fun for him to look at. He sometimes hears complaints from Rebekah, his wife, from Jacob, his son, or from the other servants about the hopeful rule and power of the Esauites: he may grieve and complain about it, but he cannot improve it. And from the foregoing may be inferred what must follow hereafter, namely, that Esau his son had become naughty altogether, and that he had more desire for the religion and life of the heathen than for the godliness and doctrine of his father, and that the daughters-in-law, because they were heathen, were also averse to the right doctrine.
and in addition have been very proud and impudent of because of the rule of her husband.
Because of this, the faith of these pious holy parents has been so challenged and exercised that our hearts can neither comprehend it nor reach it with our thoughts; and this has lasted not ten or twenty, but more than a hundred years. Dear God, how great a pity it is that such a great man, whom God so loved that He blessed him and promised him the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven and eternal life, should sit in darkness for so many years, bearing sorrow and suffering all kinds of afflictions: that, I say, God should allow this man to be deprived of his face, and that he should also be martyred and afflicted with so many and great troubles. Why then do we want to grumble and be impatient? Why do we want to be angry with God when some misfortune, harm or accident befalls us?
242 The suffering of the patriarchs is nothing if we compare it to the suffering of Christ, but it moves our hearts more than the suffering of Christ does. For we do not fully recognize and understand the suffering of Christ; nor can we believe that he was such a poor, miserable and despised man, as he was in truth. According to this, everyone thinks that because Christ is true God, he could easily have suffered and overcome everything. But there is no man who could compare himself with Isaac and who could have such patience and constancy in adversity and adversity. Truly the faith of these parents has been well tested and proven, and has been found more precious and pure than gold; and in such faith and hope they have finally obtained what they desired.
243. which in the Latin text is: Diebus paucis, and we have translated: "a while" 2c., that reads according to the Hebrew, as if one wanted to say in Latin: diebus unis, in German: one or two days. At the end, Rebekah also adds the reason why she called him away, saying: "Why should I be deprived of both of you?
in one day?" For because she was a very wise woman, she saw that if Esau slew his brother, he would be punished in the flesh according to the law, which was given in general from the beginning, as a slayer: that he would be put to death like Cain, or else be put to death by a man, that is, by the authorities.
In this place it can be seen that Rebecca doubted the truth and promise of the divine blessing, because she sends her son away out of fear of his angry brother. For why does she not keep him with her, knowing that he must surely expect God to preserve him?
I answer this as above: Rebekah might well have said: You shall stay with me, you shall not be afraid of your angry brother Esau; for the LORD will take care of you, he will keep you, as the blessing says. But this she does not do. For she wants to teach us with her example that one should believe and hope in God in everything; but one should not tempt God. Faith is very sure and firm because of the word and promise it has, and she could have concluded thus: My son has the blessing away, it may now happen what shall happen; he will not be able to perish, I will let him stay at home. As was said before about the godless and pagan people, who want to put all things on a necessary order and sending of God. But the pious, godly and understanding woman uses the means and help that are available and that God has ordained.
246 As one should not say: I will not eat, I will not drink; if I live, I shall live: but if I do not live, it will not help me, though I eat and drink. Item: I am a man, therefore I will also have to become a father, if I do not take a wife. Who is so minded, who would not think him a foolish man? For thou shalt use the gifts of God that are present, and shalt not put it upon the provision or promise. We shall
Do not argue without a word about how things will turn out or how they will end, but do not doubt the promise. Where there is no promise, one should not start anything, but follow the example of Rebekah, who kept this promise and relied on it: Jacob, my son, shall live; for he shall become a father of descendants. But she does not despise the means at hand; indeed, she uses them so that her son may escape the danger. Yes, this means to believe rightly and yet not to tempt God.
247. But where one does not believe the promise of God and tempts God, one thing is like another, and one sins against both with equal difficulty. For God wants us to use the creature that he has given us, and he has given it to us to use it. For this reason, one should not tempt God, as the Jews tempted God in the wilderness and were horribly punished for it; which example is also used by St. Paul in 1 Cor. 10:9. And one should condemn the nonsense of the enthusiasts, which is very harmful, but which is rampant today, as was said before. For such enthusiasts pervert and corrupt the whole of godliness, because they want to put all their eggs in one basket.
248 Rebekah sent Jacob not only to escape the fierce wrath of his brother, but also because she intended to provide the son with a pious wife, as will follow. For she does not think in this way, as the enthusiasts do: "He has the blessing away, whether he stays in the country or not is the same; whether he takes a wife or not, he will still be a father of the seed and will have descendants for and for. Or even if he takes a Canaanite woman as his wife, whom I do not consider worthy of this honor, the Lord will see to it that she becomes a mother worthy of the child. So, I say, she does not think, but she bypasses the Canaanites, whom she has always detested, and deals with them as much as she can and is able before Isaac,
that Jacob should take a wife from their lineage.
Therefore, this example of Rebekah should admonish us to do what is right for us in all our affairs and works, that is, to use the proper means in the promise, and then to command God the outcome and the provision. For you have God's word and commandment, and you should know that it is your duty to live according to it, so that you do not stumble. But those who go about outside the promise and create a special outcome for themselves out of the divine promise lose both the commandment and the promise of God. That is to despise God, who gives the commandment and the promise.
(250) So that Rebekah might avoid this great sin and beware of it (for she was a well-trained woman), even though she was already sure of the promise, she still used the means that should have been used, because she was concerned about the outcome. She goes to her husband and tells him where her son should get a wife. Isaac sent his son away, so that he would have the opportunity to beware of the Canaanites and take another wife born of his tribe. But the fact that she promises him that she will send for him and bring Jacob back from there, is not remembered by Moses afterwards, and it seems as if she died within the twenty years that Jacob served Laban; for here Rebekah is remembered for the last time in this entire history.
V.46. And Rebekah said unto Isaac, I am afraid to live before the daughters of Heth. Where Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, who are like the daughters of this land, what shall my life be?
Here you can see how clever and cunning this pious, godly woman has been, for she does not show the father the reason why she wants to send her son away; she does not show him how there is such great unhappiness and grief in the house, namely, that one brother has killed the other.
But with godly cunning she conceals this noise from her husband. But from this we are to take a lesson that outwardly serves the good life, which is truly very good and beautiful, namely, that we learn to be peaceful, and that we interpret what other people have said and done badly with subtlety, faithfulness and sincerity, glossing over it, covering it up, speaking the best of things, not making a thing that is also very bad worse, but excusing and alleviating it; as this thing is, since one brother is after the other's life and limb. Rebekah takes the matter upon herself alone, puts it on her neck, and helps it in such a way that both the attack and the ungodly conduct are prevented, and the good, pious, old Isaac is not distressed in his old age. For if Isaac had known this, he would have been consumed with sadness of heart and would have been killed; for it is plausible, as we have shown above from history, that in so many years he suffered great injustice from his son Esau, who ruled with such great pride. If this great misfortune had occurred, he would have been consumed by the grief and sorrow of his heart.
252 Therefore Rebekah showed him another reason why Jacob should go away, namely, because of the marriage, that she would like that he should not marry in the country with the daughters of Heth, but with another, who would be born of her family. For a godly and faithful man shall have a wholesome tongue, as it is written in the Proverbs of Solomon, 12 Cap. V. 18: "He who goes forth carelessly stabs like a sword, but the tongue of the wise is wholesome." Therefore we should get used to being good mediators in evil matters, following the example of Rebekah, and not do too much harm to the one who has sinned and is guilty, as Rebekah diligently spares her son Esau. She does not want to accuse him before the father, and she also spares her pious husband, who was old and blind, so that she does not mislead him. She would much rather bear this misfortune herself and eat it up.
If she had been a wicked woman, she would have blown into the fire and poured oil and pitch into it. For this is what people do who are so wicked in nature and so inclined to blaspheme and curse. But the tongue of the righteous is a tongue of life; for he speaks good of God, and uses his tongue to settle disputes and dissensions, to soothe and calm wrath, to lift up and strengthen sorrowful hearts. A beautiful example is given of Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. If there was a quarrel or quarrel among the women in the neighborhood, and she heard that many bad and bitter words were spoken on both sides, she did not spread them out, nor did she bring them from one part to the other, but she concealed them with diligence, and in the meantime invented them and let herself be heard, where she came to the same women of one who hated each other, as the other would have thought of her in honor and in all good. So the one became a little more gentle and meek, of which the other knew nothing at all, that she let all anger and hatred fall from her heart.
254 So also the tongues of godly people should be healing: they should be healing, soothing and merciful tongues, as the preacher says in Latin: Linguae curationis, mitigationis et misericordiae etc.. But a bitter and blasphemous tongue often awakens a great sea and a great fire from a drop and from a spark. Therefore let us flee this vice, and let us follow the example of Rebekah and Monica, that though we hear the worst, we may speak the best and interpret it for the best. Unless it should happen that one should be in danger of life and limb because of the enmity of another against him who does not want to be reconciled, he who is in danger should be warned to beware of the violence or secret cunning of his adversary. As he well did who told Esau to his mother Rebekah, because of this quarrel, that he had undertaken to kill his brother.
strangle: and has been just with it a salutary tongue, because he has drawn out of the way and given way to the hot one, whom danger was imminent.
255 For this reason one should not conceal where one is being secretly pursued so that one wants to strangle him, but one should reveal such a thing. This messenger, who told Rebekah that Jacob would have to go before his brother, should not have said: Esau is well pleased, has no evil in mind, loves his brother, etc.; but he should justly accuse and expose the devil, who at the other court incited and drove his prince to commit the murder. For if he had not reported it, he would have helped the murderer; but because he said it, he prevented and prevented the murder.
This is a doctrine for the outward life, which is usefully spoken of in this place, and which is well to be remembered. For we see both of these things in this example, namely, that the secret revenge and death intended for Jacob are prevented, and that all this is also covered up and kept secret by wonderful wisdom, so that it did not come before the old father that Esau threatened to strangle his brother. And this is indeed a very good reason that Rebekah gives. For Jacob was already set heir, the blessing was bestowed upon him, and the whole church was commanded him. Now it remains, she said to Isaac, to put a stick in his hand so that he can hold on to it, that is, so that he can have a wife around him who will be his helpmate. This is honest and well said, not only that it will be useful and honest for Jacob, but also that it will be necessary. For if he is to use the blessing, he must have a wife. He lived without a wife before, because he was rejected and not in the number, but now Esau is rejected; therefore a wife must be given to Jacob, who has obtained the blessing and will have the whole reign afterward.
With such rhetoric she persuades Isaac to let the son go. For it is an argument, so that she proves that it is necessary to
that her son must go away; which surpasses all other arguments, which are taken from utili et honesto, or from the useful and the decent. As Gellius Metellus very aptly said: Where we want to have citizens, we must also have wives 2c. For the sake of offspring, the married state must be preserved and not abandoned.
258 Yes, one would have said to Rebekah, why don't you trust him with one of the Canaanite virgins? To this she answers and says: I do not like them. And now she uses another rhetoric ab utili et honesto, namely, that she says: She must also pay attention to what is useful and proper for him. I will not have him take such a one as these are our daughters-in-law, the two wives of Esau. My dear Isaac, you have seen how much we have suffered these thirty years from the wives of Esau, how they have trampled me under their feet and despised you, and have kept themselves in the most hopeful, even tyrannical, manner. Therefore, if thou wilt keep me alive, forbid him to take a heathen wife of the daughters of this land, or of other Cananitish women: for they are hostile to us, because they hear that we have the promise of this land: they cannot bear it, and therefore desire to drive us out by force and all manner of wrong.
The Scripture does not mention Laban, her brother, by name, to whom she wanted to send her son Jacob, but Isaac may have asked: Where then shall we take a virgin for our son? Then she answered: Let him go to my brother Laban. Old Isaac followed the same advice, and made everything completely homely for her, so that she did it according to her will. For Rebekah now ruled the house, but with great difficulty and danger, since everything was so confused and bad.
260 Thus, according to this counsel, Jacob is driven into misery. He, who is already blessed and set up as heir, is pushed out of the house and flees from his angry brother. How this is such a beautiful blessing for me and how did the great
promises such a beautiful beginning! For Jacob may have thought: I am made heir, and yet am cast out; and he that is cast out abideth, and hath rule over all in the house: how doth this rhyme with the promise, and with such rich blessing?
Therefore, this is one of the wonderful examples of divine government, so that God may indicate that he demands and desires that one trust in his word and promise, when the opposite of what is understood in the promise occurs, so that we may become accustomed to trusting God in things that are not present and are still far hidden from our eyes. For thus Jacob has the promised blessing, but according to faith, which is a certain confidence of that which one hopes for, and not doubting of that which one does not see. So I believe God, who promises me that he loves me and respects me, that he cares for me and listens to me: and I have this at present, and it is all there, even though it is not seen. Therefore Jacob lives alone in faith, is miserably rejected, must be lonely and poor, and has nothing in his hand or power, but only a stick or staff and a piece of bread in his bag.
This is the beginning of blessing, because what is begun in faith is not yet obtained, but is hoped for. As God has promised us eternal life, He has given us absolution and baptism. I have this grace at present through Christ, but I am waiting for eternal life, which is promised to me in the Word. Those who live by the word are holy and blessed, but the wicked live only by bread and not by the word; therefore they do not believe in eternal life, nor do they wait or hope for it. Jacob has waited for seven and seventy years for the future blessing; now that he has obtained it, he must go into misery, and so he raises his regiment and priesthood with a very great cross, with the greatest misery and extreme poverty. He must leave his kind parents, and the poor parents must also leave their dearest son for such a long time and not have him with them.
When one only looks at and hears this, he thinks it is an easy and small thing; but in experience one learns how it is such a difficult thing and so full of temptation, where one must leave father and mother, blessing and inheritance, and flee into misery, where there is misery and poverty. For this is the wonderful government of God, which the flesh can by no means endure; for it consists in faith.
This is written for us as an example, that we learn to cling to the invisible God and to be content with the fact that we alone have the comprehensible word of this invisible and incomprehensible God, and that we arrange our lives in such a way that we have nothing from our invisible Creator except His word and the sacraments, as well as our parents and authorities, through whom this life is governed according to the word; and we should wait in hope and long-suffering for the promise. For God will not lie and will not deceive us. It is true that the flesh believes with difficulty, for it has become accustomed to the things that are present, and allows itself to be moved by such things as it feels and sees before its eyes. But the flesh must be crucified and put to death, and must be withdrawn from the things that are felt with the external senses, and must learn that it can live and lead its life according to the things that are not seen and that cannot be comprehended with the external senses. This is the true death of the flesh, which is always carnally minded, and simply wants to be completely and utterly secure, wants to hold only to things that are present and visible: therefore, where it feels the opposite, it is afraid and anxious.
Therefore let this example be set before the people, how Jacob is made king and priest, and how he is ordained to the regiment and priesthood; for this is, first of all, a wretched pomp and manner of anointing and inaugurating a king. No ceremonial robe is put on him, he is not adorned with a royal hat or crown, he is not given a scepter in his hand, but he is equipped with a bag and a staff and is thus driven into misery;
But the blessing remains with his brother Esau, to whom it was by no means due. Finally, however, since Jacob is thus killed by faith in the invisible God, the invisible good also follows and the seed of Jacob possesses the land, and Christ is born from the seed, the eternal king and priest, whose kingdom and priesthood are comprehended in this blessing.
Thus David was also anointed king over Israel, since Saul was deposed and rejected by God, 1 Sam. 16, 1. 13. ff. But contrary to all this, Saul still remains in power as before: he happily settles his affairs at home in peace and outside against the enemies; yes, he still persecutes David quite horribly as a rebel and who secretly seeks the kingdom with cunning, and David must go astray as one who is fugitive and even miserable in the land where he was set and declared king by God. As history testifies, he went astray for ten years, because Saul pursued him daily and secretly pursued him. Do you think this is a kingdom, where one must be a stranger and miserable in his own country for ten years? What could be more strange and unjust than that one should be declared and appointed king without a kingdom, without a scepter, without a certain dwelling place; yes, that he should be deprived not only of the land and kingdom, but also of his own house, wife and children?
But the example of Christ surpasses all this. Has he not become the most despised and unworthy? as the prophet Isaiah Cap. 53, 3 says. Since he wants to go to heaven and enter into his glory, since he wants to overcome death, sin and the devil, he is struck on the cross; he dies and is buried as the most despised of all men and devils. Does this mean going to glory, or overcoming death and triumphing over it? Yes, it means to go into glory. For these are the secret and hidden ways of our Lord God, which must be understood not according to the flesh and the understanding of man, but according to the Scriptures, and how they are written in Christ.
himself understands and interprets, as he says to his disciples Luc. 24, 26.: "Did not Christ have to suffer these things and enter into his glory?"
In the same way Jacob had to spend twenty years in misery and only then become a king and priest. David had to be driven to and fro for ten years, searching for various nooks and crannies where he could lie safely for a night or sometimes even just an hour: is this a king set up and confirmed by God as a kingdom? Yes, so you hear him singing and praising his kingdom in the 63rd Psalm, v. 12: "But the king rejoices in God. He who swears by him will be praised, for the mouths of falsehood will be stopped up," that is, those will rejoice who understand that he is set up and anointed as king by God. But where were they? For all the rule and authority was with Saul, since David did not have a foot of his own in the land.
So we also, who believe the word of God, are the church, have the most certain promise, to which we are called and baptized, by which we are nourished and preserved; we have the sacrament of the altar and the office of the keys; but we are not Christians, and therefore are not baptized to possess this earth, nor are we baptized and born again to this life, but to eternal life. But what also happens to us? Answer: It happens to us in this way, that when the church and congregation of God is to be raised to glory and to the eternal joy for which it waits in word and hope, then it is subjected to much innumerable persecution of tyrants and devils; it is plagued and blasphemed by the false brethren, and the same in many ways that are to be pitied. But does this mean to lead to eternal life? Yes, it really means to lead to eternal misery.
270 But the hearts must be established and strengthened against this way of the cross. For since we have the word and the promise, the glory promised to us will surely follow, and the church lives and is preserved under it.
by faith, which certainly believes that God cannot lie, and learns this wonderful wisdom, which is hidden from the flesh and reason, namely, that God leads His saints miraculously, Psalm 4:4, that He is miraculous in His sanctuary, as the 68th Psalm v. 36. says, and that His counsel is miraculous; therefore also our Lord and King Jesus Christ has the name that He is called "Wonderful", Isa. 9:6.
This belongs to and serves to teach us, if we want to live godly, that we should then live our lives in a different way than the world and the flesh are wont to do. For we must simply cling to the invisible God, and thank God with joy that we have God's word, in which He gives us His promise, of which St. Peter says 2 Epist. 1, 19: "We have a firm prophetic word, and you do well to heed it as a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." For the word is the light of our life, otherwise we have nothing of glory. I know that I have been baptized, I know that I have eaten the body of Christ and drunk his blood, that I have been absolved, called and taught the word of the gospel, otherwise I have nothing more of eternal life; I do not yet have a glorified body, which is clearer than the sun and stars, but I have such a heart, which at present is still very much burdened with many great accidents and terrors; I still carry around such a body, which is subject to many weaknesses and death. For this reason, both our bodies and souls see nothing less than eternal life; but we will not lack the promise. Therefore we should cling to faith and hope and remain steadfast, and be satisfied with the word in which we have the promise. After this we have this outward life and fellowship; we have our parents, authorities, preaching ministry, and other outward things necessary to this life, all of which are a preparation and preliminary to the life to come.
272 This is the doctrine, so actually and
belongs chiefly to the church which the Holy Spirit teaches, unknown to the world and to the flesh, wherein we are taught that we are lords and heirs of eternal life in no other way or form than as Jacob was an heir of the blessing, who, when he had obtained the blessing, went out of the land and out of the house of his father.
Father was sent into misery. For this is the trial which the divine majesty holds with its saints, and this is the faith of the saints, of which we have spoken so far. Now follow such teachings that serve the outward life or good morals and deal with the fruits of faith.