The sinking sun cast eerie shadows over the rocky plain when, exhausted, Jacob finally decided to rest. The spot was a secluded crevice protected by giant boulders. But towering boulders could not rescue Jacob from Esau, nor could they deliver him from poisonous serpents slithering over the rugged wasteland. Massive stones would not defend against nocturnal animals lurking in the shadows. God alone was his defense, but right then God seemed very far away.

Overhead in the darkened celestial dome, twinkling stars that should have comforted him heightened his sense of foreboding and guilt “Why had he lied?” “Why had he deceived his father?” Esau was very angry. He had been cheated of an inheritance, that until that day, he had thought of no more consequence than a bowl of stewed lentils, but now, disinherited, he wanted to kill to obtain it.

Selecting two stones for a pillow, Jacob lay his weary frame on the cold ground and curling his body to conserve heat, sought an elusive sleep. “What was the use of praying to God in a place like this?” God was at home around a warm hearth with people who didn’t lie, or cheat, or steal. He had left God and God had abandoned him. A tear slipped from his eye, and Jacob drifted into a fitful sleep.