True Nature of "Sacrifice"

Last night I found a copy of the 1599 Geneva Bible available for download as an audio book. If you don't already know, begin to learn this fact about me: I love audiobooks. In fact, I already have an audio copy of the NIV on my ipod (along with more books than I've ever had time to listen to and archives and archives of Flood and Cornerstone messages that "I will get to someday.") I've been looking for another one though, because the reader of my current copy tries a little too hard, if you know what I mean. All that to say, finding this translation intrigued me. This is the original translation to make its way from Europe to the Americas with the Puritans. I'd never even heard of it before until coming across it last night, but the comments related it to the King James, so at first I was hesitant, knowing that the KJV and I have never been the best of reading companions, but I decided to give it a shot. First of all, I love it. Second of all, maybe its the difference between audio and text as opposed to a difference between this and the KJV, but the thees and thous and thither and whenceforths just don't seem to make a difference. It's just the word of God being spoken aloud like, I might mention, its authors originally thought it would be (since literacy was rather on the low end back in biblical days).

The point is, I've been listening to Genesis all evening as I made dinner, fed the cats, cleaned my room, baked banana bread, and worked on a photo book for my UG kids. [Sidenote: one of the things I love about an audio Bible is that it allows scripture to become an integral part of the logistical day-to-day things I have to do. Even if you're not a big spoken word audio listener, I'd suggest trying an audio Bible for a day, just for that reason. If you're interested, I can get you a copy; shoot me a comment or an email and we can work it out.]

Jacob's "Sacrifice" to Esau

One of the major Old Testament figures in Genesis is Jacob, second son of Isaac, swindler, stealer of his brother Esau's inheritance, husband of two sisters whose servants he "knew" at his wives' own behest, father of Joseph (of the techicolor dreamcoat) and the man who wrestled with God and was renamed Israel, after whom the entire nation of God became named. In the following passage, Jacob is returning to the land of his father Isaac, which he fled after stealing Isaac's blessing intended for his brother so that Esau would not kill him. He's been away at least 20 years living and working in the house of his mother's cousin, has married 2 women, has many children, and acquired vast flocks of livestock. Returning, he hears that Esau is coming their way along the road with many soldiers. The following is their final meeting.

Then [Esau] said, "What was the meaning of all the flocks which I met coming this way?" (Jacob had sent all his livestock ahead and had told each drover to tell Esau that they were gifts for him.) And Jacob replied, "I have sent them that I might find favor in the sight of my lord (Esau)."9 But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep that which you have."10 And Jacob said, "No, I pray you, as now I have found grace in your sight, then receive this present from my hand: for now that I have seen your face, it is as though I had seen the face of God. For you have accepted me and are pleased with me!11 Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God himself is dealing graciously with me; I have enough." And because Jacob urged him, Esau finally took it.

This section of Jacob's story has a lot of uumph to it, but it often gets overlooked, because what did Jacob do while he was waiting for Esau to arrive? Oh yeah, had a literal wrestling match with God and was renamed a name that means "for you have struggled with God and with men and have won." But seriously, this scripture has a younger brother who has done nothing but bad to his older brother being welcomed back into the fold with no animosity, accountability, or violence, only tears of joy and questions after the blessing of his new family around him. So we can hit on Jacob's humility as a great topic, or Esau's forgiveness, or God's ability to make all things right, or what it means to be a true peacemaker like Jesus. But I want to go to sacrifice, namely Jacob's gift of the flocks to his brother.

Prior to this evening, I'd always viewed the giving of the flocks as just another one of clever Jacob's schemes to preserve his own skin. In fact, Jacob himself (in Gen. 32:20) says he intends to pacify his brother with these gifts. And let's be honest, sending vast herds of tribute is a pretty dang good way to butter up your brother you completely betrayed before you run into him again. But that's the human in me (and in him!) speaking. Tonight, I got some Spirit.

After asking Jacob who this group of people with him were (his wife and children), Esau's immediate question is "What the heck? What was with all the cattle and sheep?" Now, if we were to believe Jacob's interpretation of the situation, and the one we all probably would have run into the meeting with, Esau is pissed, self-righteous, seeking vengeance, and deserving of being so, considering everything his baby brother put him through. But God has a different plan for this meeting than for human-jacob to meet human-esau and battle or bribe their way out of a bad situation.

"You have to keep them," Jacob says, "Because when I saw your face today, and saw that you were smiling and glad, it was like seeing God's own face." Jacob didn't insist that Esau keep the herds he had sent ahead as safeguards because he believed that this sacrifice was what would keep him in his brother's good graces. He refused to take them back because he was so excited that God had hooked it up and his brother actually wanted to see him. "God has given me enough," he says, "please take this gift." It's a tribute to their relationship. This blessing, originally intended to be manipulative and self-serving, got taken out of Jacob's hands and turned into a true expression of what sacrifice ought to be. Motive matters, guys.

Time and time again we see the Old Testament cast offering sacrifices to God, to kings, or to pagan gods, frequently without much of an explanation as to why. Sacrifice gets all tangled. It makes God seem very much like the human kings or capricious Baals, requiring sacrifices from their people just so that the people might live. But that's not what God's sacrifice is about. Our God doesn't require sacrifice of us that He might then look upon us with favor. Our God wants us to be like Jacob. That even when we know we have sinned and betrayed and fallen out of all possible understanding and hope for forgiveness, we come forward to him anyways. And, as we are human, he knows that we will bring him sacrifices to try to appease his wrath. We will look on the meeting of God and us after a time away with trepidation and fear, just as Jacob feared his meeting with Esau. But the depth and heart of the matter is this: when we finally look upon God's face we will know that all is forgiven as he sweeps us up in his arms, crying for the joy of being able to hold us again. And it is in that moment that our sacrifice undergoes a transformation, just like Jacob's did. We realize, I don't have to buy my way back in! He loves me anyway! So do we take it back when he offers? Of course not, because now we understand the true heart of sacrifice, now we understand the only reason God wants sacrifice from us at all: We are meant to sacrifice in celebration, giving up what we have been given because we are full of joy to be in the presence of God; not because He requires it, but out of our joy that He does not.

scripture from Genesis 33, a combination of the New Living Translation, the King James, the Geneva, and my own heart understanding.