“No, no, you don’t understand. She had peace about her going because she could see that everything was working out. It was almost as though she had to go for you to come home and work things out with your father and Esau.”
This surprised Jacob. He couldn’t even imagine what she meant. “My mother was at peace about her going?” he asked.
“I know it must be hard to believe but it’s true. While you have been gone, Esau has had time to discover that he does not find enough challenge and excitement in managing sheep and shepherds. He has often wished you would come home and free him from the burden of his father’s wells and herds.”
“What does he want to do?”
“Well, you remember just as you left he went off to marry one of Ishmael’s daughters. It was Ishmael who first gave him the idea of becoming a partner with him.”
“A partner?”
“Yes, you see Ishmael is not only a clever trader but also has bands of men and outposts manned by his sons to protect the pharaoh’s trade routes. He has wanted Esau to control Mount Seir and make the trade route safe in that whole area.”
“I understand. That is the shortest route north to Damascus and Carchemish. The King’s Highway, it’s been called.”
“Esau has been impatiently riding over to this area. He has driven out the Horites who had terrorized the caravans, and now he wants to move there with his family.”
Jacob could hardly believe what he was hearing. “Then you think he really wants me to come home?”
“He wants to move to a natural fortress in the mountain of Seir; Petra, it’s called. He would still keep some herds but only for his own use.”
“And my mother wanted you to come and tell me this?”
“Yes, and more than that, she wanted you to know that everything had worked out for the best. Esau never did want the burden of the birthright or the blessing.”
Jacob ran his hands through his hair, tugged at his short beard and smiled, then laughed. “Then I really can go home and find a welcome.”
Deborah smiled. “Esau will feel relieved. He can then leave his father and his father’s herds in your hands. At the same time, your father will feel greatly blessed to have so many strong young men to take care of his burdensome wealth.”
“It’ll take awhile to get everything ready to leave. As you saw, my wife, my dear and beloved Rachel, is great with child and not at all well.”
Once more Deborah reached out and touched his arm. “There are many hard things that must be endured, but that is the only way we become strong. Your own mother learned that. It was not easy losing you and dealing every day with Isaac’s blindness and the willful wives Esau married.”
“But she died without ever seeing me again or my children.”
“That was another heartache, but she had come to see that in some ways it was her own fault.”
“Her own fault?”
“She often told me that if she had trusted Isaac’s God to work things out and not tried to manage everything, you probably would never have had to leave.”
“She must have suffered terribly.”
“She felt guilty that you had to leave and that Esau harbored such hatred. She blamed herself for everything.”
“She shouldn’t have. Without Esau’s threat I probably would never have gone to Haran. I would never have married Rachel. How poor my life would have been without my children and my wives.”
“Perhaps she did have a hint of this. Just before she died, she called me to her side and said, ‘I have to trust that things have not gone too badly for my Jacob.’”
Deborah studied his face to see his response.
He smiled. “I wish I could have come in time to reassure her.”
“What would you have told her?” Deborah pressed on relentlessly.
“I would have told her,” Jacob said, “that from the very first night I spent alone, here in this very place, the God of my father and grandfather made Himself known to me and directed my path. I went out with only a walking stick and have come back with wives, children, and servants. My wealth exceeds that of either my father or my grandfather. But most important, Elohim Himself has given me a new name. A wonderful name.”
“And what is the new name?”
“Israel, he called me Israel.”
“Then you have found blessing even in the difficult way you were forced to take.”
“That is true.”
They sat silently watching a hawk dip and soar over the valley before them as they contemplated all that had happened to both of them. Finally Deborah spoke, “As you may have noticed, I am not well. I have prayed only that I might have strength to come and give you the message your dear mother entrusted to me. Now that I have done that, I can depart in peace.”