Jacob I: Born Into Destiny

Genesis 25:19-26

We all are trying to find out who we are. It is the human condition. This search for our own personal destiny is what eventually makes us who we are. And despite the change of the times - technology, religion, political powers - the search has not changed at all since the beginning of mankind.

Take the story of Jacob in Genesis. His story has always been one of my favorites in the Bible. It is a story of humanity, of one's search for destiny and purpose. It is a story of deception and redemption. It is a story of love and hate.

First, we must go back a couple generations to Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham that he would father a great nation, and that nation would be given a promised land. Isaac, Abraham's son, inherited this promise. For these two men, this covenant was their destiny. They lived in that promised land, and God blessed them with power and riches.

Isaac's wife, Rebekah, was barren until God interceded and allowed her to conceive twins. The two children wrestled inside of her. When she asked God why this was happening,

The Lord said to her,
"Two nations are in your womb;
And two peoples will be separated
from your body;
And one people shall be stronger than
the other;
And the older shall serve the younger." Gen. 25:23

She gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob. Their names are rather important to their destinies, especially Jacob's. Esau was born first. He was extremely hairy. In fact, he was so covered in thick, red hair when he was born that they called him Esau, which means hairy, or Edom, which means red. Kind of crappy names, if you ask me.

The name Jacob means something along the lines of "one who takes by the heel" or "supplants". He was named this because when he came out of the womb, he was actually clutching Esau's heel. It's important to note that back then, the firstborn was the heir to his father's land and rule. It was called a "birthright", and this particular birthright included God's covenant. So for Jacob to be clutching Esau's heel made it appear that the two brothers were in a power struggle from birth.

Are our destinies decided even before we are born? Is our future something that is mapped out for us to follow, or is it drawn out as we hack our way through the vines to see what is revealed ahead of us? At the risk of sounding a little bit like Forrest Gump, I think it's a little bit of both.