Copyright Ian Ellis-Jones 2006 - All Rights Reserved.

1. YOUR GLORIOUS DESTINY
THE STORY OF JACOB AND ESAU
by Ian Ellis-Jones
AN ABSTRACT OF AN ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE SYDNEY UNITARIAN CHURCH ON SUNDAY, 5 MARCH
2006
The struggle between Jacob and Esau began right from their conception and birth:
"And Isaac entreated The Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and The Lord was entreated
of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she
said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of The Lord. And The Lord said unto her,
Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and
the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. And
when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first
came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came
his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac
was threescore years old when she bare them." (Gen 25:21-26 [AV])
Although (fraternal) twins, Jacob and Esau were very different in appearance and personality.
Esau (meaning “red”, “hairy”, “rough”, “shaggy”) was a "hairy man" while Jacob was a
"smooth man" (Gen 27:11 [AV]). Jacob (meaning “one who takes by the heel”, “one who
leaves behind”, “supplanter”), who God later renamed as Israel (meaning “one who
struggles with God”), was the second-born of the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah (Gen
25:24-26), and the grandson of Abraham and Sarah. Jacob, who was a quiet and peaceful
man, a "thinker," a Shepherd, in stark contrast to his slightly older brother Esau, was born
quickly after Esau, who was often irresponsible and foolhardy. We are told that his hand
clutched his brother’s foot, meaning that the mind is meant to control the body, to exercise
dominion over the physical (Esau).
Allegorically, and metaphysically, Jacob and Esau are the “twins” struggling within each one
of us. Jacob [Heb Yakub, name derived from the root “Yak” or “One”, cf Oneness of God,
Life] represents our higher nature, our intellect, book knowledge, whereas Esau represents our
physical nature, material power, materialistic thinking. When Esau is dominant in our life,
the body prevails over the mind. However, when Jacob is dominant in our life, the mind is
dominant over the body, but there is still a long way to go. The mental or intellectual (Jacob)
must still become the spiritual (Israel). That is why Jacob must depart on his (spiritual
journey) for Haran (which represents an exalted state of consciousness).
Esau foolishly sold his birthright to Jacob for a pottage of lentils (see Gen 25:29-34). What
does this mean allegorically, spiritually? The Esau part of us is only concerned with physical
things – the body, lust, material possessions, and so forth. The physical side of us is depicted
as a glutton, interested primarily in filling one’s stomach. Esau didn’t care about his
birthright; he said it made no difference anyway, as he was about to die of hunger anyway.
The symbolism is pretty clear. In addition, by means of a deceptive scheme set up by
Rebekah, Jacob next managed to get Esau's blessing from the nearly-blind Isaac, then

2. completing the transfer of the rights of the firstborn from Esau to Jacob (Gen 27:1-40). Esau's
response was a plan to kill Jacob, which was prevented when Rebekah heard of it and sent
Jacob away to live with her brother Laban. Allegorically and spiritually, the Esau
consciousness must be redeemed and overcome (supplanted) by the Jacob consciousness
(mental dominion) before the Israel consciousness (spiritual consciousness and spiritual
dominion) can emerge. Esau swore to kill the supplanter (Jacob); the Esau consciousness
knows only how to destroy that which threatens it. That’s why we have endless wars and
violence.
One of the most well-known stories of the Bible is Jacob's "stairway to heaven" dream (also
known as "Jacob's ladder"). It occurred while Jacob was fleeing the wrath of Esau, his
brother. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching
to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above the
ladder stood the Lord, who said, “I Am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of
Isaac.”
Jacob’s ladder symbolizes the Jacob mentality ascending step by step to an exalted spiritual
consciousness, in which there is a conscious awareness of the Omnipresence and Allness of
God. The Jacob mentality has not yet fully arrived at “Israel” (or awareness of his Divine
Sonship) but it has glimpsed this higher awareness and is well on its way. The great
Unitarian hymn, “Nearer, My God, to Thee”, by Sarah Flower Adams, was inspired by the
story of Jacob’s ladder. Whether we know it or not, we are all seeking some kind of ladder to
lead us to God, whatever we understand God to be. No matter what are circumstances may
be, no matter how many mistakes we’ve made, we can still ascend that golden ladder, with
man at one end and God, as we understand God, at the top. What is that ladder? It is the
thing we call prayer, and meditation.
Perhaps the most mysterious incident in the Bible’s account of Jacob's life is the night-long
battle described in the closing verses of the 32nd chapter of Genesis. Jacob is preparing for
his encounter with Esau the next day. We are told that "a man wrestled with him until dawn."
Jacob is injured in the struggle, but is undefeated. At daybreak, Jacob's combatant pleads
with him to let him go. Jacob says: "I will not let you until you bless me." The man accedes
and confers upon him the name Israel, "because you have struggled with the divine and with
men, and you have prevailed." (Israel, yisrael in the Hebrew, means "he who prevails over the
divine").
Who is this man with whom Jacob wrestled? According to the Jewish Sages, he is the "angel
of Esau", and their struggle, which "raised dust up to the Supernal Throne", is the cosmic
struggle between two opposing forces - the spirituality of Israel and the materiality of Edom
(Rome). The struggle is conducted on two planes -- "with the divine and with men."
Allegorically, until the mental becomes spiritual, it always caters to the physical side (worldly
possessions, worldly power, and so forth). Ultimately, when Jacob fully lets go and
surrenders to the will of God (ie accepts life on life’s terms), God takes over and Israel makes
peace between Esau and Jacob. Jacob becomes lame after his spiritual overcoming. He could
never walk in earthly things with the same step again. So it is with each of us when we grow
spiritually and move away from the earthly and material things of life.
It is a long and difficult struggle till dawn. But in the end we triumph over our lower selves.
For this is the essence of Israel (the enlightened soul). The physical body, materiality, is no

3. longer something to struggle against. Fear is gone, and there is peace, serenity and
acceptance. Jacob becomes Israel and it is through this name Israel that, through his 12 sons
and the 12 tribes, will come to describe the whole people of God.
The reconciliation between Jacob and Esau occurred 30 year later upon Jacob's return to the
land that God intended for Israel and his descendants (Gen 33 and 34). Materiality (Esau) is
no longer an enemy, but an instrument of good. The physical world is no longer something to
struggle against. We are in a state of at-one-ment, consciously aware of the Divine (that is,
the Livingness of all Life, the Oneness of All Life, and the Self-Givingness of all Life) – in
the Old Testament, the “God of Abraham [the masculine element/the physical (RA)], of Isaac
[the feminine element/the spiritual (IS)] and of Jacob (later, Israel) [Pure Being, Nameless
Principle (EL)]”. In such a state of exalted consciousness there is perfect balance. The
spiritual (IS) on its own results in superstition (eg New Age nonsense). The physical (RA) on
its own leads to hedonism and materialism (eg present day consumerism). Religiosity (EL)
by itself results in idolatry, religious legalism and religious fundamentalism. What is needed
is the Israel state of consciousness.