Two Brothers... and Bernard

Erica Clark hurries through the schoolyard, furious with her younger sister, Haley, and knocks over Bernard Walton’s bucket of soapy water. It is the second time she has done that in a week. Erica explains that Haley switched their lunches and took a piece of pie Erica had saved. The pie is only the latest offense in a long history of tricks, and Erica angrily says that she sometimes hates her sister. Bernard agrees that hatred is a terrible thing to express, but assures Erica that she is not the first person to feel it. He begins telling her about two brothers whose conflict started before they were born: Jacob and Esau.

Their parents, Isaac and Rebekah, have waited a long time for a child. During Rebekah’s pregnancy, the struggle inside her becomes so painful that she cries out to God. In a dream, God tells her that two nations are struggling within her, one will be stronger, and the older will serve the younger. Rebekah later gives birth to twins. The first, Esau, is red and covered with hair. Jacob is born gripping his brother’s heel. As the boys grow, Esau becomes a skillful hunter and his father’s favorite, while quiet, home-loving Jacob is especially dear to Rebekah.

One day Esau returns from an unsuccessful hunt exhausted and famished. Jacob has prepared a savory meat stew, but he refuses to share it freely. Instead, he demands Esau’s birthright - the older son’s double inheritance and future position as head of the family. Esau treats those distant privileges as worthless beside his immediate hunger. He swears before God that the birthright and everything belonging to it are Jacob’s, then eats the costly meal. Bernard explains that Esau has shown contempt for his family responsibilities, a disregard that also appears when he marries women his parents do not approve of.

Many years later, the elderly Isaac is nearly blind and believes death is close. He summons Esau and asks him to hunt venison and prepare a favorite dish. After eating, Isaac plans to bestow the blessing of the firstborn upon him. Rebekah secretly hears the request. Remembering God’s words about the older serving the younger, she orders Jacob to bring her two young goats so she can prepare the meal first.

Jacob fears the deception will fail because his voice differs from Esau’s and his skin is smooth. If Isaac discovers the trick, Jacob may receive a curse instead of a blessing. Rebekah accepts that risk herself and insists on proceeding. She dresses Jacob in Esau’s best clothes and covers his arms and neck with goatskins, making him smell and feel like his hairy brother.

Carrying the food into Isaac’s tent, Jacob repeatedly claims to be Esau. Isaac is suspicious when the meal arrives so quickly and observes that the voice sounds like Jacob’s, though the hands feel like Esau’s. Jacob even says that Isaac’s God has placed the animal in his path. The stolen clothes and goatskins complete the deception, and Isaac gives Jacob a powerful blessing: plentiful crops, authority over nations and relatives, and protection from those who curse him.

Jacob has scarcely left when Esau returns with the venison. Isaac realizes that someone else has already received the blessing and trembles at what has happened. A blessing cannot be taken back. Esau grieves and begs for anything his father can still give him. Isaac foretells a hard life lived by the sword, including a time of service to his brother followed by eventual freedom. Enraged that Jacob has now taken both his birthright and his blessing, Esau resolves to kill him after their father dies.

Rebekah learns of the threat and sends Jacob to stay with her brother Laban in Haran until Esau’s fury passes. She hopes to call Jacob home later, for if Esau kills him and must flee, she will lose both sons at once. Jacob begins the long journey alone. Near the village of Luz, he sleeps outdoors with a stone beneath his head and dreams of a staircase reaching heaven, with angels ascending and descending.

God identifies Himself as the God of Abraham and Isaac. He promises the land to Jacob and his descendants, says that they will become a great nation, and assures Jacob of His continuing presence and protection. Awaking in awe, Jacob sets his stone upright as a memorial, pours oil over it, and calls the place Bethel, the house of God. He vows that if God protects and provides for him and brings him safely home, the Lord will be his God and Jacob will return a tenth of all he receives.

The end of Bernard’s lunch break interrupts the account. Erica, now deeply concerned about how the brothers’ conflict will end - and what it might mean for her own relationship with Haley - persuades him to continue after school. When she asks for his pie, Bernard jokingly offers to trade it for her birthright. Erica refuses without hesitation, so he gives her the pie freely. She leaves for class, nearly knocking over his bucket once again.