“Hurry up Michael,” Gabriel shouted from inside a tent. “I can’t distract him much longer.”
“Almost ready,” Michael called back from inside another tent. Michael watched as a frantic young man quickly packed a few personal belongings, some gold, and a little food into a knapsack.
“Where’s my staff?” the young man questioned aloud surveying the room. Michael waved his hand over a walking stick in the corner of the tent, and at once the young man realized where it was. He grabbed his staff and rushed out of the tent only to run right into the very man he was trying to avoid. Michael looked at Gabriel who was standing behind the extremely large man. Gabriel shrugged.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the large man asked the much smaller man who was attempting to flee. You wouldn’t know it by their appearances, or the way the one treated the other, but these two men were twins.
“Nowhere,” the smaller man, Jacob, said hiding his staff and knapsack behind his back.
“Right,” the larger man, Esau, replied as he grabbed his little brother by the collar. Jacob braced himself, as Esau raised a fist, but was relieved to see their mother Rebekah approach.
“Esau, enough!” Rebekah rebuked her older son. “Jacob, your father wants to see you in his tent. Go now!”
“I’ll take him there, Mother!” Esau said as he dragged Jacob from his tent toward their father, Isaac’s tent, while the two angels followed behind.
“I thought you said you had him covered.” Michael chided Gabriel. “Your exact words were, and I quote, ‘Let me take the big guy this time. I’ve got this, boss!’”
“I know, I know,” Gabriel sighed. “I was throwing all sorts of distractions his way, but he zigged when by distraction zagged, and,” another sigh, “it was a whole big deal. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
“You’d better hope that Father lives a long, long time,” Esau threatened Jacob, unaware of the angelic conversation happening behind him, “because the day he dies, you do, too!”
“That man has anger issues,” Gabriel commented.
“You might too if your little brother extorted you for your birthright and then deceived your father for the blessing that belonged to you, and you were human, of course.” Michael replied.
“He did that? What a little punk!” Gabriel tapped Jacob’s foot causing him to stumble as his brother continued to drag him along.
“What was that you just said about anger issues?” Michael challenged.
“Sorry,” Gabriel regained his composure. “But seriously, why are we protecting this—young man—when he has done such horrible things.”
“Do you pay attention during your mission briefs?” Michael asked. Gabriel returned a sheepish smile. “This is all part of the Father’s Plan.”
“The Father planned for Jacob to earn his birthright and blessing dishonestly?”
“It was the Father’s plan that Jacob should receive those rights, but I believe free will played a hand in how it was brought about,” Michael answered, “however if the Law of the Harvest holds true, and it always does, what Jacob sowed with Esau, he will reap from someone else.”
“Good.”
“But not from us, understood?” Michael said firmly.
“Got it.”
Jacob and Esau reached Isaac’s tent. Esau shoved his brother into the entrance before storming back to his own tent.
“That could have gone better,” Gabriel commented as they walked through the tent to eavesdrop on Isaac and Jacob’s conversation.
~~~~~~
As Jacob left Isaac’s tent, Michael and Gabriel followed.
“It looks like there was a reason he packed his bag after all,” Gabriel said.
“Perhaps this was why we were sent here to protect Jacob—not from Esau, but on his journey to his kinsmen,” Michael reasoned. “The Father knew all along that we would escort him on his journey.”
Michael and Gabriel watched as Jacob said a tearful goodbye to his mother. She walked with him to the edge of their camp offering words of encouragement and as much advice as she could in the short amount of time they had left. She hugged her son and kissed him one more time before his journey began.
The three walked all day in silence; Jacob, because he had no one to talk to, and the angels because they were keeping watch for any threat that would endanger Jacob’s voyage. Throughout the day there were very few dangers—a scorpion here, a slippery slope there—but as night fell the threats became more severe.
Gabriel finally broke the silence. “This guy’s not really the outdoorsy type, is he?”
“What gave that away?”
“Just a few things. The pale skin, the soft hands, and the fact that we have to keep course correcting him on this journey.”
“His brother was the ‘outdoorsy’ one.” Michael said.
“I believe that!” Gabriel said.
“Perhaps we should help Jacob find a suitable camping spot.” Michael suggested. “A place where we will not need to work so hard at protecting him.”
“Good idea,” Gabriel pointed to a rocky outcropping. “How about under there. He would be protected from above and behind. All we’d need to cover are three sides.”
“That will work.” Michael and Gabriel highlighted the area for Jacob, and he set up camp there. After building a fire and eating a small meal from his knapsack, Jacob laid his head on a rock to sleep.
As night grew darker, Jacob’s escorts became more vigilant. Michael sat at Jacob’s head, and Gabriel, his feet. They both scanned the horizon on alert for anything that may harm their charge.
“So, this guy is a part of the Father’s plan?” Gabriel asked, as he flicked a stalking lion on the nose, sending it away yowling. “I thought his grandfather was.”
“They both are, in a manner of speaking,” Michael explained picking up a viper by the tail and flinging it a few hundred yards away. “Abraham, because of his faith was chosen by the Father to be the forefather of a chosen nation. But Abraham had a few offspring beside Isaac, one of which will also become a great nation. The Father wanted to make it clear who his chosen nation was, so he let a few generations pass.
“When the Father was knitting Jacob in his mother’s womb, He placed an anointing on him and called him to be the founder of this great nation. From Jacob will come many great people, and eventually the Righteous One.”
“This Plan is more elaborate than I thought it would be,” Gabriel said smacking a honey badger, sending it tumbling down a hill.
“There are many parts to the Father’s Plan,” Michael agreed staring down a pack of hyenas that were now second guessing their decision to invade the camp. Michael’s eyes lit up and the hyenas scurried away. “It may feel, even to we who see behind the veil, like a series of random happenings, but the Father, who knows all, will fit every piece of this puzzle together seamlessly.”
“What a day to behold, when He does,” Gabriel whispered.
“Indeed!” Michael replied.
The two sat for a moment longer reflecting on all the events that have happened so far and imagining all the possibilities that will unfold in the future.
Finally, Gabriel broke the silence. “You know how we led Jacob to this camp?”
“Yes,” Michael replied.
“Do you think, just maybe, someone was leading us to lead Jacob here?”
“How do you mean?” Michael asked. His question was answered when he turned to face Gabriel and noticed what he was looking at.
A celestial portal had opened, and a staircase extended from Heaven to Earth. Scores of angels were ascending and descending the staircase.
“Apparently this place is more than just a campsite,” Michael conceded. “It looks like our work is done here.”
“It is?” Gabriel asked.
“Clearly this young man has more than enough protection.”
Gabriel and Michael approached the staircase. Gabriel looked back at the sleeping Jacob and asked, “Do you think he could see this—you know—if he was awake?”
“Perhaps,” Michael smiled, “but the time will come when all mankind will be able to.”