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tears in spiritual life - Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Athanasius

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Esau’s <strong>tears</strong> were <strong>of</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r type.<br />

✥ They were <strong>tears</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>ability <strong>and</strong> defeat. They were <strong>tears</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />

wrath <strong>and</strong> malice towards his bro<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>and</strong> <strong>tears</strong> <strong>of</strong> despair <strong>in</strong><br />

not receiv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> bless<strong>in</strong>g.<br />

“And Esau said to his fa<strong>the</strong>r, “Have you only one<br />

bless<strong>in</strong>g, my fa<strong>the</strong>r? Bless me, even me also, O my fa<strong>the</strong>r!”<br />

And Esau lifted up his voice <strong>and</strong> wept.” (Gen 27:38) It was<br />

said that when he heard <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bless<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Jacob, “he cried with<br />

an exceed<strong>in</strong>gly great <strong>and</strong> bitter cry” (Gen 27:34).<br />

The greater bless<strong>in</strong>g which Jacob atta<strong>in</strong>ed was that <strong>the</strong><br />

Lord Jesus Christ would come from his seed, <strong>and</strong> with his<br />

seed all <strong>the</strong> families <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> earth would be blessed (Gen<br />

28:14). It was not possible for Christ to come forth from<br />

Esau <strong>and</strong> Jacob toge<strong>the</strong>r.<br />

Hence, <strong>the</strong> phrase, “Have you only one bless<strong>in</strong>g, my<br />

fa<strong>the</strong>r?”, means with respect to this matter a complete<br />

ignorance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bless<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> its nature! His cry was a cry <strong>of</strong><br />

wrath <strong>and</strong> defeat, <strong>and</strong> his weep<strong>in</strong>g was a weep<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>ability<br />

<strong>and</strong> despair.<br />

✥✥✥<br />

Ano<strong>the</strong>r example also <strong>of</strong> this rejected weep<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> despair is:<br />

✥ The weep<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> those who will perish <strong>in</strong> eternity.<br />

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