Jacob VII: Day and Night

Gen. 32-33

Daybreak. Jacob stood looking out toward the horizon. The morning sun had risen from the east and was casting long shadows onto the field before him. This is the day, he thought. He was about to make his second confrontation of the day. This is the day I die.

The night before, he had sent his family past the river and went by himself to sleep at the foot of a poplar tree. He sat thinking about his life, his family, his actions. He sat there quietly by himself while tears slowly ran down his face. What have I done? I knew that I wouldn't get away with it. He's going to kill me. I deserve it. I deserve to die.

Day. I deserve to die, he thought as he gazed across the field. A wind came over it and the lentils danced in its tumult, frolicking without a care in the world. Jacob knelt down and grabbed a pinch of dirt between his fingers and brought it close to his nose. He smelled the earth and then let the wind take it all, returning it back to its place. Again, he turned his gaze to the horizon. He'll be here soon. My brother is coming to kill me.

Night. A snapping branch awoke him. Jacob jumped up from beneath the tree and slowly walked around to investigate. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around his neck from behind. "What is your name?" the man demanded. Jacob kicked the back of the man's ankle and was let loose from his grasp.
"Who are you?" Jacob asked, "Did Esau send you?"
"Your brother is not my business tonight. Tonight, you are what I come for. Now, tell me who you are."
Jacob bent down and ran at him at full speed, ramming his chest and taking him to the ground. The man rolled over onto Jacob, pinning him down. Jacob forced him upward with all his might and kicked him in the gut, causing the man to cry out and fall backward. Jacob tried to stand, but he grabbed his leg and brought him back to the ground again. As he fell, he shifted his weight so that his elbow came down on the man. Jacob lay on top of him, his arm pinning him down by the neck. He looked directly into his eyes.
"Tonight," he said, "You're going to tell me who I am."

Day. The sun was higher now. A messenger ran across the field and met Jacob. "Esau and his men are just beyond the mount, sir. He should be in sight any minute now."
"Thank you. Go and tend to my family." The man ran past him. He continued to stare at the horizon, willing his brother to appear. I sent him gifts, he thought. I gave him a peace offering, but that was not enough. I took his life, and now he will take mine.

Night. They wrestled for hours as the stars spun above them in their eternal symphony of light, rolling back and forth, exchanging power again and again. They rolled back toward the tree. Jacob's head hit a root and there was a flash of blackness before he came back into dizzying consciousness. "Ble.. m..," He whimpered, barely getting the words out.
"What was that?" the man said.
Jacob wrenched his arm from the man's grip and lunged at his throat, only to grab at the air as he repeated his demand, "Bless…me."
The man's fist came down on Jacob's temple, sending him back into blackness.

Day. A blurred line broke from the horizon and began to take form. Four hundred men marched toward Jacob, his brother at the head of the van. Jacob attempted to stand straight, but an overwhelming heaviness seemed to overtake him. He hunched while his stomach turned sour. It is almost time.

Night. Still recovering from the blackness Jacob spun his way out of the man’s grip. Jacob was free just long enough to stand and kick him in the ribs. The man cried out and suddenly sat up, pain covering his face. He climbed up his leg, touched his hip, and Jacob went down. White spots flashed in front of his eyes as pain slid up his side. He cried out in agony.
The man spoke, breathing laboriously, "Let me go, the dawn is breaking."
Jacob stared into the man's tired eyes. His grimace of pain turned into one of determination, "I will not let you go until you bless me," he said. The man sat there, staring into his eyes. "Bless me!" Jacob rasped.
"What is your name?"
"Bless me!"
"Tell me your name!"
Jacob fell back and lay down, staring up at the purple early morning sky and sighed a sigh of surrender. "Jacob," he said, "My name is Jacob."

Day. As Jacob stood there, watching his brother’s army approach, he thought back upon his life. I was always running, he thought. Just once, I wanted to rest. Just once, I wanted to relax. He had never been happy to simply be himself. He had always wanted more. Twenty years ago, he stole Esau's inheritance. Jacob took everything of his brother's and made it his own. Then he fled his brother's wrath and went into the service of another man that he could deceive over and over. That was who Jacob was: a deceiver. It was a title that was placed in his very name from birth. I just wanted to know who I was.
He walked forward, bowing down to the approaching men as he went. Jacob winced with every step on his right leg. His brother's men stopped marching, and a single figure ran toward him. He's coming for me. Esau will kill me himself.

Night. The man stood, clutching his side, breathing heavily. "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."
Jacob tried to stand, but his leg gave out on him and he stumbled to one knee.
"Please tell me your name," he said.
"Why is it that you ask my name?"
Jacob hung his head. He knew whom it was that he had wrestled with. The man gently touched Jacob's chin and lifted his face toward him. There, on the very ground of their struggle, He blessed him.

Day. Esau ran at Jacob. Faster. Faster. Jacob stood as tall as he could with all the weight of his guilt on his shoulders and faced his death. Esau ran to Jacob. Each step made Jacob's heart pound harder. They met. Esau wrapped his arms around his brother's neck and cried as he fell on him. Stunned, Jacob returned the embrace. Esau kissed his brother and then looked behind him. He stared into his eyes. "Who are these with you?"
Jacob coughed to remain composed as tears began to form in his eyes. "These are my family." Tears of joy streamed down Esau's face and he fell onto Jacob once more. Jacob began to cry as he held his brother in a tight embrace. He was forgiven. He had a future.

He was Israel.

Jacob VI: Masters of Deception at Odds

Gen. 30-31

God promised Jacob that He would bless him and take care of him wherever he went. In the years since he arrived in Paddan-aram, God certainly was good to His word and caused Jacob to prosper. Because he worked for his father-in-law, Laban prospered as well.

After he has worked for fourteen years in order to take Laban's daughters for his wives, and after he has started a family of his own, Jacob asks Laban to release him from his service in order to take his family somewhere else and start a life of his own. However, because God had blessed Laban because of Jacob, he doesn't want him to leave. He asks Jacob to stay and work for him, and even tells Jacob to name his own wages. Jacob says he will keep Laban's flock as long as he can take as his own any lamb that is striped or spotted. Laban agrees to this deal and quickly hides all his striped and spotted lambs from Jacob.

But Jacob is an experienced deceiver. It is in his very name. And so, Jacob tends to Laban's now exclusively white flock. Jacob put poplar and almond rods in their troughs and when the flocks came to drink and then mated, they began to give birth to spotted and striped lambs. This, of course, had more to do with God's blessing than it did with the rods. But nevertheless, God favored Jacob and helped him to increase his own flock in this manner. Jacob uses his rod trick when the stronger lambs are drinking, rather than have them give birth to week offspring. He does this for six years, and by that time, Jacob has a large flock of sheep that's even stronger than Laban's own flock. Needless to say, Laban doesn't like this turn of events and stops being friendly toward Jacob.

One day, twenty years after Jacob had first arrived in Paddan-aram, God speaks to him, and tells him to return home . He goes to his wives and tells them the situation: that Laban has become bitter with him and has changed Jacob's wages ten times in the last twenty years, but that God had watched out for him and blessed him. He tells them that they need to leave, and they quickly agree with him. So, in secret, Jacob takes his family and his flocks and leaves.

When Laban learns that Jacob has fled, he quickly pursues him and catches up with him in Gilead. But God came to Laban in a dream and told him to be careful not to "speak to Jacob either good or bad". So when Laban catches up with Jacob, he confronts him, asking why he fled in the night without letting him say goodbye to his daughters and grandsons. Jacob answers honestly, saying that he was afraid that Laban would have taken his wives away from him in anger. Jacob pleads to him, stating his case that Laban had mistreated him all those twenty years and would have left him empty handed had God not been faithful to him. Laban tells him that he feels powerless against Jacob to take his family and flocks away from him.

They make a covenant in a place called Mizpah that they would not pass that place in order to harm one another and that God would watch over them when they were apart. After twenty years of deception and aggravation from both sides, they came together and healed their relationship. The next day, Laban leaves to return to Paddan-aram, and Jacob turns toward home once again. He knows that he left on some bad circumstances and begins to worry about facing his brother, Esau again.

Jacob V: The Destiny of Love

Gen. 29

So Jacob continues his journey to Paddan-aram with the new hope and knowledge that God is with him has given His word to protect and prosper him. He reaches his destination and comes to a well where some shepherds are watering their sheep. They know his uncle Laban and informs Jacob that Laban's daughter will be arriving at the well shortly. Jacob had never met Rachel before she came to the well with her flock, but when she arrives, he serves her by opening the well and watering her sheep. Then he kisses her. He kisses her and he weeps.

It was customary for family members to kiss one another. When Laban came to meet Jacob, they kissed as well. To me, though, it seems that Rachel opened Jacob's eyes to something new and wonderful. He fell in love with her.

Jacob makes an agreement with Laban to work for him for seven years in order to marry Rachel. Seven years seems like a long time to wait for somebody, but the Bible tells us that it seemed like only a few days to Jacob because of the deep love that he had for her.

However, Laban has two daughters. Rachel was the beautiful younger daughter, and Leah was the older, blind one. When Jacob had completed his work for Rachel, he asked to consummate the relationship. Instead of giving him Rachel, he gave him Leah. Apparently Jacob was a little blind himself, because he didn't realize that he had been tricked until the next day. Jacob confronted Laban and got only excuses, but he was already bound to Leah. Laban agreed for Jacob to work another seven years to be with Rachel. He did his time, and was finally able to take Rachel as his wife.

Jacob found the destiny of love. He met Rachel and devoted the next fourteen years of his life to labor in order to be with her. Love is unexpected. It happens out of nowhere and hits like a ton of bricks. It is a time when life changes. When love hits, you begin to live for something other than yourself. You begin to care only about the needs and happiness of that special person, and everything else seems unimportant.

I believe that God is the source of all love. We love because he first loved us. God's love is one of complete sacrifice. He would do absolutely anything for us. He would, and did, die for us. God jumps for joy when he sees us happy, and it absolutely breaks His heart when he sees us cry.
God has shown us love over and over again, and most of the time we don't reciprocate that devotion. We pray to Him some days, go to Church on the weeks we feel like going, and read the Bible when we get around to it. We've crushed His heart over and over again. But when we return His love, when we acknowledge everything He's done for us; when we've gone our own way for so long and finally return to Him and tell Him that we love Him, that's when He knows that it was all worth it.

Jacob IV: Destinies Assigned

Gen. 28

From the parent's perspective, one good thing comes out of Jacob stealing his brother's blessing and birthright. Esau married a couple of women that Isaac and Rebecah did not approve of, while Jacob is as of yet still unmarried. They do not want him to marry a Canaanite woman like Esau did and cause even more headaches for the family, and now that Jacob carried God's covenant, it was possible for it to fall into more noble hands. So, at his parent's request, Jacob leaves his home and makes his way North to a place called Paddan-aram, where his uncle Laban lives, in order to find a wife.

When Esau hears about this, he marries the daughters of Ishmael. With his blessing taken, he settles in to his destiny and begins to take his place as the second son of Isaac and Rebecah.

On his way to Paddan-aram, Jacob also is prepared for his destiny. While sleeping one night, he has a dream of angels ascending and descending down a staircase from heaven.

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Gen. 28:13-15

With this dream, God officially places his Covenant with Abraham and Isaac on Jacob as well.

The next morning, Jacob took the stone he had used as a pillow and anointed it with oil and named that place Bethel.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to you." Gen 28:20-22

So Jacob makes God his conditional God. If the Lord helps him, keeps him fed and clothed, and returns him home safely, he will accept him as God. Jacob is testing God's word and his Covenant. If God keeps his word to Jacob, he will become His servant and will pay a tithe to Him.

Now Jacob is on his way to fulfilling the destiny that God gave him, and even more, fulfilling the destiny that God gave to Abraham.

Jacob III: In Sheep's Clothing

Gen 26 & 27

despite the exchange between Jacob and Esau, the birthright did not mean much without the blessing of the father. Since Esau was the firstborn and more favored by Isaac, the blessing would go to him. This blessing would make the heir of the covenant official and put to rest any deals made over red lentil soup.

All would have gone to plan, but Rebekah interfered.

There are two main reasons why Rebekah helped Jacob in securing the blessing. First off, God Himself told her that the younger son would serve the older. But also, there was the matter of Esau's marriages. Esau married two Hittite women. The Hittites were descendant's of Canaan, Noah's grandson. Noah cursed Canaan and his descendents, but that is another story. The point is, the Esau married a couple of women that were seen as ungodly. Genesis 26:35 says that they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah. For the birthright to pass to Esau, would mean for it to also pass to his wives. This would place God's covenant in the hands of a cursed people.

For these reasons, I assume, when Rebekah hears that Isaac is about to give Esau his blessing, she calls Jacob and concocts a plan for Jacob to steal it.

Now Isaac is on his deathbed and is blind. He identifies Esau by feeling his hairy arms and knows his smell. He tells Esau that he is about to bless him and asks that he prepare a meal for his father before the blessing. Esau obeys and leaves to hunt food for the meal. While he is gone, Jacob makes his move.

Rebekah prepares a meal for Jacob to give his father. She tells Jacob to put on some of Esau's clothes so that Isaac would smell his firstborn son. Also, because Esau is a hairy man and Jacob is as smooth as a baby's bottom, Jacob wears goat skins on his arms. When Isaac feels his hairy arms and smells Esau's clothes, he gives the blessing to Jacob.

"Now may God give you of the dew of heaven,
And of the fatness of the earth,
And an abundance of grain and new wine;
May peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you;
Be master of your brothers,
And may your mother's sons bow
down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
And blessed be those who bless you." Gen. 27:28-29

When Esau returns and Isaac discovers what has happened, it is too late to take the blessing away, no matter how angry Isaac is that his son decieved him. He gives Esau a blessing that is less than satisfactory.

..."Behold, away from the fertility of
the earth shall be your dwelling,
And away from the dew of heaven from above.
By your sword you shall live,
And your brother you shall serve;
But it shall come about when you
become restless,
That you will break his yoke from your neck." Gen. 27:39-40

Jacob lived up to his name as "supplanter" and Esau held a fantastic grudge against his brother, who stole everything from his inheritance. He decided that as soon as his father was dead, he would kill his brother.

Jacob II: Food For Thought

Gen. 25:27-34

As strange as the birth of these two brothers seems, and as odd this particular biblical account appears, it defines the rest of their lives. Whether they knew it or not, they were born into a certain destiny that they couldn't change. In fact, it appears as if Jacob embraces the prophesy from God.

Now I'm not sure if Rebekah had told her sons what God had said to her when they were wrestling in her womb. If she did, then I can imagine that it would have caused a lot of strife in the lives of the brothers, in that they would have been expecting a power struggle for their entire lives. If she did not tell them, then it was just destiny playing itself out. Either way, Jacob finds a moment of weakness in his brother Esau and exploits it.

The Bible says that Jacob and Esau chose different careers.

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. Gen. 25:27

What I find interesting about this verse is the use of the word peaceful. In the original writing, the word used here was tam.

it's primary meaning is complete, whole, entire, not lacking, first used in the Bible here. This statement by the Word of God emphasizes that Esau had worldly skills, and Jacob had God's whole, well rounded, righteous character. (Source: cathedraluniversity.com, page 45)

I find it interesting that the Bible describes Jacob as complete, yet he still takes advantage of his brother.

A day comes when Esau returns from hunting and is extremely hungry. Jacob just so happens to have prepared a nice hot stew when he returned. Jacob sees that his brother is desperate for food, and so he makes a deal with Esau: Sell me your birthright and you will get some stew. Now this sounds like a ridiculous situation, but it happened. Esau must have been close to death, because he agreed to this deal. Esau got some red stew, and Jacob became the new owner of the family birthright, which contained God's promise to Abraham.

The Bible says that Esau despised the birthright after that. Now, when Isaac died, Jacob would become the head of the household and Esau would have to serve him. This is a huge step in a very difficult family situation that develops between these two.

But I still wonder why, if Jacob was said to be complete, he needed Esau's birthright. Perhaps he didn't know that he was complete, perhaps he went beyond what he needed and went for what he wanted. I think we all go after things we want, whether we need them or not, and it may or may not be God's plan that we do so. We need to carefully analyze every decision we make and ask God what His will is concerning those decisions. This is important because, as we will see, every decision we make has its consequences in the future.

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.

Jacob and Esau

In the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be posting a series of blog entries on the story of Jacob and Esau. It was inspired by a message that I heard by Rob Bell called "What is it to you?" He used Jacob as one of his examples in his message and it got me thinking about the whole story of the two brothers. This particular story has always been one of my favorites, and I'd like to lay down some key elements that I feel hold a great message for all of us.