Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Genesis Chapter 33
Metaphysically Interpreting Genesis 33:1-17
33:1And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. 33:2And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. 33:3And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
33:4And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. 33:5And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children whom God hath graciously given thy servant. 33:6Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. 33:7And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. 33:8And he said, What meanest thou by all this company which I met? And he said, To find favor in the sight of my lord. 33:9And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; let that which thou hast be thine. 33:10And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found favor in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. 33:11Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.
33:12And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. 33:13And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young: and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die. 33:14Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.
33:15And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find favor in the sight of my lord. 33:16So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. 33:17And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
August 12, 1917: Genesis 33:1-15
33:1And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. 33:2And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. -- Jacob (the mentality) prepares to make a union with Esau (the physical expression). Mind and body must be joined before the Divine Law can be fulfilled.
33:3And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. 33:4And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. -- The mind must be unified with the body in all seven faculties. When the union between mind and body takes place, a humility born of surrender of the self comes into expression.
33:5And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, The children whom God hath graciously given thy servant. 33:6Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. 33:7And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. -- The women and children here represent the accumulations of the mind.
33:8And he said, What meanest thou by all this company which I met? And he said, To find favor in the sight of my lord. 33:9And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; let that which thou hast be thine. -- The mind is willing to share its accumulations, but the body (Esau) cannot receive the gift until it has been uplifted.
33:10And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found favor in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. 33:11Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it. -- After mind and body are reconciled and adjusted, each share alike the gifts of Spirit.
33:12And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. -- Jacob (the mind) should go before and direct the body (Esau).
33:13And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young: and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die. -- The children and the young of the flocks and herds symbolize the new ideas being established in consciousness.
33:14Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord unto Seir. 33:15And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find favor in the sight of my lord. -- There is not necessarily enmity between the mind and body of man, only a different state of consciousness. The body becomes an obedient servant of the mind, when they are unified in Divine Mind.
June 6, 1926: Genesis 33:1-11
What relationship did Esau and Jacob bear to each other? Esau and Jacob were twin brothers. However, under the Hebrew law Esau had the rights of the eldest son, since he had been born first.
What do Esau and Jacob symbolize in individual consciousness? Esau symbolizes the physical man and Jacob symbolizes the mental man.
“And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men.” Why was Jacob so much concerned in regard to meeting his brother, whom he had not seen for several years? Jacob was termed “the supplanter.” He had tricked Esau out of his birthright; and also he had tricked him out of his father’s blessing; consequently he feared to meet him again.
What is the spiritual truth back of this seeming trickery? Under the natural law of evolution the physical man is brought forth first, then the mental man. However, mental is on a higher plane than the physical, and naturally draws to it the finer forces of being. As a consequence, Jacob naturally acquiesced precedence over Esau, the body consciousness.
What is the next step in man’s evolution? The next step in man's evolution is the union of soul and body. Man cannot unfold harmoniously unless the mental and physical forces are harmoniously balanced. The meeting of Jacob and Esau represents this union.
When Jacob went to meet Esau he passed over the brook Jabbok. Explain. The meaning of the word “Jabbok” is “pouring forth, effusion, dissipation, wrestling.” Jacob's passing over the brook “Jabbok” implies that he had passed through a struggle, had wrestled with the powers invisible, and was ready to make amends to Esau, was ready to pour out upon him the rich substance that he had mentally accumulated.
Why did Jacob have his wives and his children bow before Esau and offer him presents? When the soul has for a time been lifted above the body and bas ignored its natural needs, there is a subconscious sense of injustice and a fear of results. An awareness of having disregarded divine law makes man afraid, without his being able to recall the cause of his fear. People who let the ambitious intellect override the demands of the body eventually find themselves striving to make restitution to the body.
When Jacob, the mental man, wanted to make presents to Esau (the body), Esau protested and said, “I have enough.” Explain. The body has built up a state of completeness on the physical plane and is satisfied with what it has; but it needs more undemanding of the law of mind. So it is right that Jacob (the mental man) should make restitution by giving part of his goods to Esau and by making him an object of his adoration. “I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God.” Before the body can be restored to its right place in creation it must be seen in its divinity.
How is the body temple remolded into the divine image, so that we see the face of God in flesh? One can change the character of the body by following the advice of Paul: “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Do not judge by appearances; do not call your body temple corruptible flesh, nor the result of mortal mind; but see in the body, as Jacob saw in it, “the face of God,” even the temple of the living God.
July 13, 1930: Genesis 33:1-4
“And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men”. Why was Jacob so much concerned in regard to meeting his brother, whom he had not seen for many years? The intellect (Jacob), which is looked upon as “the supplanter,” realizes that amends must be made to the physical (Esau) ; that the mental power to lift the fleshly consciousness into the consciousness of the allness of mind must be restored to the body.
Explain: “And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.” This Scripture out-pictures the conscious union of the intellect with the flesh. Man is a threefold being, spirit, soul, and body, and in order to manifest health, the three planes of his nature must be maintained in equilibrium.
May 22, 1932: Genesis 33:1-11
What is represented by Esau coming and with him four hundred men? This typifies the body with its thought forces, all acting in perfect coordination.
In what way does the mind (represented by Jacob) adjust its thoughts? The order in which the thoughts are projected toward the body is expressed in the 2d and 3d verses of today's lesson. The handmaids and their children represent the physical thoughts; Leah and her children, the intellectual thoughts; Rachel and Joseph, the spiritual thoughts.
What mental attitude did Jacob assume in making the adjustment between mind and body? Jacob passed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his “brother,” which means that the I AM in its sevenfold nature humbles itself in the presence of materiality, until it establishes between them a certain kinship (brother).
How does the body respond to this attitude of the mind? As explained in the 4th verse: “And Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.” The body always obeys the behests, conscious or subconscious, of the mind.
Does the body expect to receive gifts from the mind? The body at first feels its own completeness and resists the rich ideas that the mind has developed in its unfoldment, but, as expressed in verse 11, “And he urged him, and he took it.”
What argument does the mind use to persuade the body to receive its higher ideals? The mind (Jacob) says, “Then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God.” As Job said, “Yet in my flesh shall I see God.” (Job 19:26 A.V.) The mind must idealize the body as God substance. The body will, in its innate divinity, be thus raised to the higher consciousness.
August 26, 1945: Genesis 33:1-11
What does Jacob’s fear of Esau signify? Esau represents the body, Jacob the intellect. The intellect, having cheated the body of its birthright, unity of soul and body in spiritual thought fearful of the consequences.
How does the mind of intellect dispose and protect its forces? It guards closely what it loves most, and puts forward in the most exposed position that which it esteems least. The handmaids and their children Jacob presented first, because they represent physical thoughts. Leah and her children, presented next, represent intellectual thoughts. Rachel and Joseph, her son, were presented last, because they represent the more spiritual thoughts.
How does the mind succeed in disarming the hostility of sense consciousness, as it is manifested by the body? By recognizing the rights of the body and conciliating it in prayer. Jacob spent a whole night in prayer before crossing over to meet his brother, and bowed himself to the ground seven times when they met. The intellect recognizes the body as its equal and its well-being as necessary to harmonious existence,
How do we overcome fear for our body? By understanding that the body is the obedient servant of the mind and by giving it our most constructive thought.
How is the body transformed into a faithful instrument of the mind? By being seen as divine. “I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God.” Since the body is the temple of the living God, it is logical to see the face of God in it.
What is the reaction of the body to the habit of seeing the divine in it? It becomes harmonious with the mind and the two co-ordinate perfectly. Esau agreed to all of Jacob's suggestions, cheerfully yielding his counter-suggestions.
Can we train the mind to see God in all things? We not only can do so, but if we have faith in God as the one power, we cannot consistently do otherwise.
Metaphysically Interpreting Genesis 33:18-20
33:18And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city. 33:19And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money. 33:20And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-israel.
August 26, 1945: Genesis 33:17-20
Why did Jacob not follow Esau on to Seir, as he had promised to do? (Seir refers to verse 16.) Seir represents sense consciousness, the abode of the natural body. The intellect (Jacob) has no permanent resting place in sense.
Where does the intellect rest naturally? In a state of peace and security. In Succoth (booths) Jacob built a house for himself and booths for his cattle. Since in Palestine cattle are aIlowed to remain in the open the year round, the building of booths for them indicates a permanent provision for the animal forces that give weight and power to the intellect. In Shechem also (“burden-bearing attitude of thought”) Jacob erected an altar, El-Elohe-lsrael, showing that the chief thought of the mind, the “burden” of the thoughts, is God.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 01-01-2014
