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1) Isaac (Gen 25: 1-26) Isaac married Rebecca when he was 40 years old. She was the sister of Laban. Isaac and Rebecca pleaded with the Lord to have children and twenty years later, Esau and Jacob were born. When Rebecca was pregnant with the twins the children struggled with each other inside her womb. Rebecca asked the Lord why this was happening. He answered her:
Genesis 25:23 NLT “And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”
2) The birthright (Gen 25:27-34) Esau, the hunter, was the firstborn son and this meant he would become head of the family when Isaac died and inherit a double portion of the estate. One day Esau came home from hunting, exhausted and hungry. Jacob, who liked to stay home, had made a lentil stew. He pleaded with Jacob for some of the stew, saying he was famished.
Genesis 25:31 NLT ““All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.””
Esau responded:
Genesis 25:32 NLT ““Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?””
Genesis 25:33 NLT “But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.”
Jacob gave Esau the stew. Esau ate and left, thus showing contempt for his rights as first born.
2) Isaac’s blessing (Gen 27) Jacob and Rebecca tricked Isaac, who was very old and turning blind so that Jacob would receive Esau’s blessing. Isaac thought he was blessing his eldest son but he blessed Jacob. The Lord intended the blessing to be Jacob’s but when Esau found out he wanted to kill Jacob. Isaac and Rebecca’s relationship was damaged by this and Jacob had to go into exile in fear of Esau. Rebecca never saw Jacob again.
Isaac blessed Jacob before he left and told him to find a wife at his uncle’s house in Haran (Paddan-aram), which was to the north of Canaan.
Genesis 28:3 NLT “May God Almighty bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations!...”
This blessing recognised Jacob as the true heir to God’s promise.
3) Dream at Bethel (about 88km from Beersheba) (Gen 28) Jacob left home in Beersheba alone and set off for his uncle’s house in Haran. That night, Jacob had a dream where the Lord clearly spoke to him.
Genesis 28:12-15 NLT “As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway. At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.””
In spite of Jacob’s deceipt the Lord graceously stood by his promises. This was an unforgettable encounter with the Lord and was not just the God of his father, but now his own God. He had a new found personal relationship with God. Jacob set up an alter to commemorate the place, which he called Bethel, meaning ‘House of God’, where heaven touched earth. It was the place of his profound spiritual experience with the Lord. Jacob was now fully committed to the Lord.
4) Jacob and Laban (Gen 29-31) Jacob spent 20 years in exile at Laban’s house. Jacob, who did not have a traditional marriage gift, worked 7 years for Laban to marry Rachel, but Laban tricked him into marrying his eldest daughter Leah and he had to work another 7 years for Rachel. Then he had to work another 6 years to obtain flocks of his own. Leah was unloved by Jacob and she continued to hope that after the birth of their sons, he would change his mind. Rachel on the other hand was loved by Jacob, but remained childless. Rachel was very unhappy as a result of this and she cried out to the Lord.
Genesis 30:22-24 NLT “Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said. And she named him Joseph, for she said, “May the Lord add yet another son to my family.””
Genesis 31:3 NLT “Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather (Canaan) and to your relatives there, and I will be with you.””
Jacob had accumulated much of his own livestock while working for Laban which Laban was loath to let him take with him. Jacob had to flee with his possessions and family, while Laban was occupied with sheep shearing. Laban was furious when he found out and went after Jacob. He wanted to keep his daughters and grandchildren but God spoke to him and told him to leave Jacob alone. They ended up making a covenant agreement to end the hostilities between them. Laban left in the morning and in spite of his previous outrage and resentment he left his blessing.
5) Jacob wrestles with God (Gen 32) Jacob sent gifts of livestock ahead for Esau, as he was worried about how he would be received, in fact he was terrified that Esau would still want to kill him.
Genesis 32:3 NLT “Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom.” He sent a message to Esau concerning the livestock sent: “They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my Lord Esau.”
He hoped this gift would placate Esau, but Jacob was still troubled.
Jacob knew he had to face his fears alone with God, so he sent his family on ahead, across the Jabbok river. That night he couldn’t sleep and found there was a strange man there with him. This man wrestled with Jacob until dawn.
“Alone and sleepless, Jacob’s lifetime struggle against God culminates in this strange wrestling-bout.”¹
Jacob lost the fight and had his hip injured but he refused to let go unless the man blessed him. Others had gone through a crisis in their lives, like Abraham, but Jacob was the first to fight with God and emerges a new man with a new faith. Jacob’s name was changed by God to Israel (God strives) after their wrestling encounter. Jacob asked the name of the person he wrestled with, but was not told. His own new name was sufficient evidence that he had wrestled with God, including the hip injury. The name of the place was Peniel.
Jacob and Esau finally met again and Esau welcomed Jacob.
Genesis 33:4 NLT “Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.”
Esau didn’t want to accept Jacob’s gift initially because he said he had plenty of livestock, but Jacob insisted and so he agreed. What a wonderful reconciliation between the two brothers.
6) God’s promise (Gen 35) God reaffirmed his promise to Jacob, reiterating the covenant made with Abraham and Isaac. Specifically, God promised Jacob land, descendants, and blessings. This reaffirmation marked Jacob’s spiritual renewal and his continued role as the patriarch of the nation of Israel.
Genesis 35:11-12 NLT “Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants! And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.”
While en route to Canaan, near Bethlehem, Rachel gave birth to another son called Benjamin, the last of Jacob’s 12 sons. Sadly, Rachel died giving birth to him.
Finally the Lord told Jacob to move to Bethel and settle there.
Genesis 35:1 NLT “Then God said to Jacob, “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.””
Bethel was significant to Jacob because he’d encountered the Lord for the first time there and had that special dream, we call Jacob’s ladder. It was a sacred place to him. Jacob’s household still had foreign gods in their possession and before they left for Bethel, Jacob asked them to surrender these gods and to purify themselves. Then they left for Bethel. Jacob did what God asked, as he was committed to him.
“There was no doubt in Jacob’s mind that commitment to the God of Bethel involved allegiance to him alone, for he was no mere territorial deity, but the God of all the families of the earth.(Gen 28:14)”²
7) Conclusion The underlying thread of Jacob’s narrative in Genesis is his journey of transformation and growth, both spiritually and personally. Jacob starts as a cunning and deceitful individual, but through various trials, encounters with God, and life experiences, he undergoes a process of change in character for the better and becomes the patriarch of the nation of Israel.
The purpose of God was at work, even through the deviousness of personal ambition. God takes us as we are and changes us, just as Jacob was changed by his encounters with the Lord.
Prayer: Lord thank you that in spite of all my weaknesses you meet with me, touch my life and transform me. Please continue your good work in me until it is complete. Your will be done in my life Jesus. Amen.
Footnotes:
¹’Genesis’ in The 5 Books by John Taylor in The Lion Handbook to the Bible, third edition, Pat and David Alexander, eds., Lion Publishing: Oxford, 2002, p142
²The Message of Genesis 12-50:1986, Joyce G. Baldwin, p148.
References
1) ‘Genesis’ in The 5 Books by John Taylor in The Lion Handbook to the Bible, third edition, Pat and David Alexander, eds., Lion Publishing: Oxford, 2002, p140-146)
2) Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
3) The Message of Genesis 12-50:1986, Joyce G. Baldwin, p118-119; p128; p133-134; p136-137)
Because He First Loved Us 