The Bible is INCREDIBLY dry!The Bible doesn't spend a lot of time on character development. And why should it? It's original purpose was not to be a dramatic work, but a series of attempts to record pieces of history. Because, as we all know, the Bible is 100% unadulterated fact and everything that happened happened exactly as recorded in the Bible. [ACHOO!]
Seriously, though, the Bible spends all of its time recording events and virtually none of its time describing the people involved. It tells you just enough about these people to explain the events. It does not help you understand anything about these people's personalities. This would really not be such a bad thing. In fact, it could be a really wonderful thing and allow you to look at it from lots of different perspectives. Unfortunately, society as a whole has no imagination. Because of society's unimaginative nature when it comes to reading the Bible, we have lost the humanity of not only Christ, but of virtually all the characters involved in the Bible.
When I say we've lost the humanity of Biblical characters, I don't mean we believe they're something other than human. I don't mean we have deified them or anything like that. What I do mean is that they have lost their complexity. The good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad. End of story. The good guys have no ulterior motives than the will of God, and the bad guys want nothing more than to destroy God's people. I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you that real people don't work like that.
With this revelation in mind, I have come to the conclusion that my original focus for "Rehumanizing the Christ" was too narrow. Before I can get you to accept a human Christ, I believe I'm going to have to get you to accept the humanity of other people in the Bible. Therefore, my next entries in this little "series" will be focused on rehumanizing some of the other figures in the Bible. My hope is not for you to accept what I'm telling you in these to be the only way you look at these characters. My hope is that you will get a taste of what these characters could have been like and to explore the possibilities that this opens up.
In the Bible study that led to my revelation, we were discussing the story of Jacob and Esau. For those of you who don't remember the story, the part I'm going to be talking about comes from Genesis 25 and 27:
"Isaac married Rebekah. At some point after that, Rebekah got pregnant. She was extremely uncomfortable with the pregnancy and was very worried about it. God told her that she would have twins and that they were already fighting and that the older would serve the younger. Esau was born and was quickly followed by Jacob. The two grew up, and Esau became an outdoorsy person and Isaac's favorite while Jacob became a more . . . domestic person and Rebekah's favorite (a mama's boy). At some point, Jacob managed to get Esau to trade him his birthright for some soup. Later on, with a TON of guidance and assistance from Rebekah, Jacob managed also to steal the blessing of the firstborn as well." Genesis 25, 27 (MXPB)What really got the post-study discussion going was the fact that as we were talking about the story during Bible study, everyone's motives were so pure. I mean, love and obedience to God's will are obviously the driving forces in this story, right? [ACHOO!] The story of Jacob and Esau is a story of plotting, betrayal, and revenge. I do not believe for a second that the only driving forces in the story were love and obedience.
What really drove me nuts about the Bible study was everyone's portrayal of Rebekah. And that, dear readers, is why today's focus is:
REHUMANIZING REBEKAHDuring Bible study, everyone kept coming back to Rebekah as a kind and loving motherly figure and a sort of prophetess. All she wanted was to protect her child and fulfill God's plan in the lives of her sons. [ACHOO! My allergies are really bothering me today!]
Let's look at humans around you first.
Think about the people in your life. Think about people on the news. Think about humanity as a whole. Generally speaking, we are self-serving creatures. We lie, cheat, and steal to get to the top. Many people will, and have, stab their own family and friends in the back in order to move up in the world. This, dear children, is part of being human. All of our motives are not nice. Think about the things you did throughout today. Were there times when you were self-serving? Were there times when you did something you knew would cause problems for someone else? Were there more times that you did self-serving things or things that would improve the lives of others?
There is a definite dark side to being human.
With that in mind, let's add some negative traits to Rebekah. Let's really develop her side of the story and turn her into a character that you can believe. That's the goal here, right?
Rebekah was power hungry.
Women in biblical times had virtually no power on their own. Their only real chance of getting power was to make connections with powerful men. This meant that they had to marry well, but it also meant that they had to raise their sons well. Not only did they have to raise their sons in such a way that they would be powerful men, but since this powerful man would be in charge of their fate some day, they had to make sure that their sons cared enough to take care of them.
Rebekah was forewarned by God that she would have two sons and that the younger would be more powerful. Do you think she's going to have information like that and not act on it? No! As the two boys grew up, Isaac, knowing full well that as the firstborn, Esau would be in charge of the family, took Esau under his wing and taught him what he believed it would take to run the family. Rebekah, knowing full well that because of God's prophecy, Jacob would be more powerful, took Jacob under her wing. By doing this, she ensured that when Jacob became powerful, she would be better taken care of because it was she that loved him when he was nothing.
Rebekah was impatient.
As the two boys grew up, Rebekah didn't see the results of God's words to her as quickly as she hoped. She thought that it would be obvious early on that Jacob was more powerful, but that was not the case. So she decided that she would hurry things along. She did this by teaching Jacob what he would need.
She taught Jacob what it would take to claim the power in the family. She taught him (and probably almost brainwashed him) about birthrights and blessings. She taught him that not only were these things important and automatically the rights of the firstborn, but that they could be taken. She also taught him some domestic arts such as cooking which would come in handy later on. At the same time, she started planning, which leads me right into my next point.
Rebekah was manipulative.
I would like to take a moment to pause the story and look at the actual text for a moment. Most scholars will tell you that the reason Esau traded his birthright was because in Genesis 25:34, it says "Esau despised his birthright." I would like to point out that it does not say this until after the birthright was stolen and then, at least in the NIV, it says "SO Esau despised his birthright." To me, this says that he despised it because it had been stolen from him.
Coming back to the characters and story, Isaac took for granted that Esau would receive the birthright and blessing. Therefore, unlike Rebekah with Jacob, he did not see the point in teaching Esau what these things meant early in his life. Rebekah took advantage of this. She waited until Esau was at a weak point and then had Jacob implement her plan.
While they were still rather young, Esau came in from hunting. He knew that Jacob always made the best food, so he went straight to his tent. As he expected, Jacob had made a soup that smelled delicious. Esau insisted on having some. Jacob, per his mother's instructions, offered some soup in exchange for his birthright. Esau, not understanding the importance of his birthright, saw the soup as being worth much more and eagerly took the deal. Thus, the first part of Rebekah's plan succeeded.
The next part of the plot happened years later when Isaac was old, blind and about to die. This plan is much more elaborate and much better detailed in chapter 27. I highly recommend reading it, because I'm not going to go into it here. Rebekah's involvement in that deception are completely obvious. Long story short, Rebekah's plan succeeds and Jacob gets the blessing also.
Through this elegant and elaborate plot, Rebekah ensured that she was most loved by the more powerful son. You could easily argue that she took Jacob under wing out of love. You could easily argue that Jacob took the birthright of his own accord and that she helped him steal the blessing in order to fulfill the will of God. Rebekah can be seen as a loving, nurturing mother and servant of God. However, personally, I find it much easier to believe she was a lying manipulative power seeker.
I don't want you to leave here thinking that everything I wrote here is true. Most of what I have written here has little basis in scripture and a ton of basis in imagination. As I said earlier, my goal is not to convince you that this is how these people were. My goal is to get you to start looking at them as actual people. This includes looking at possible darker motives.
Not everyone's a good guy.
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