The 'Usurper' (Genesis 25:1 - 28:9)
Jacob was the grandson of Abraham. His father Isaac had been the son promised by God to Abraham and Sarah and he had inherited the promises of the covenant that God had made with Abraham. According to the culture of the day, this inheritance was normally passed on via the firstborn son. But Jacob was a twin. His brother, Esau, was actually the firstborn, but God had known them at their very conception and throughout the time they were in their mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13-16)
God knew their characters because He made them and He knew how different in temperament they were. When Rebekah asked God why she was having such a troublesome pregnancy, He was able to tell her that: ‘The sons in your womb shall become two rival nations. One will be stronger than the other; and the older shall be a servant of the younger.’ (Genesis 25:23)
The boys were indeed very different. Esau took after his father; he loved the outdoor life, hunting and roaming the country round and about. Jacob was quiet and preferred life at home, learning to be a chef and spending time with his mother. Inevitably, Rebekah favoured Jacob but Isaac favoured Esau.
Esau was the firstborn and, therefore, the one who would naturally inherit the birthright of God's promises to Abraham under the covenant. He would be 'blessed' and he would be a 'blessing'. (The word ‘bless’ means ‘empowered to prosper’.) Esau's first recorded decision is to trade his birthright for a decent meal. He looked down on his brother's way of life and light-heartedly surrendered his privilege as the eldest to satisfy his urgent need for some immediate sustenance: bread and lentil stew.
Lessons for today
God has made us all unique and, for parents, it can be difficult to tread a careful path between treating our children equitably but also as individuals. We may need to guard against favouring one child above another and try to follow God's example in valuing each one of us for who we are, encouraging us in our strengths and supporting us in our weaknesses.
As individuals, too, we have some basic decisions to make. Are we going to accept our 'birthright': the gift of eternal life that God wants to bestow on us? Then, having decided to follow Jesus, are we going to live life to the full as He did? Are we willing to give up our old ways and follow His example in how we live ourselves? Or are we, like Esau, going to despise it and throw it away for the next fad or 'fix' that comes along? We each get to choose how we are going to live our lives. 'As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord'. (Joshua 24:14-15)
A family at war
Abraham had insisted on finding a wife from among his own people for Isaac and I have little doubt that this guidance would have been passed down to his sons, together with the reason for it: that God was going to give him and his descendants the land they were living in. Esau gave little thought to any responsibility that he had as a leader of his tribe to set a good example. He chose to marry outside his own people and his Hittite wives were later a source of grief to Isaac & Rebekah.
When Isaac was getting old and it was time to bestow his formal blessing, he planned to do the natural thing and to give it to the eldest son, However, God had said to Rebekah that 'the older would serve the younger' and she had seen how that prophecy was working out in their lives. So she intervened and, together, she and Jacob duped Isaac into blessing Jacob instead of Esau. (Genesis 27:28b-29)
Isaac realised all too late that he had been deceived, yet God had foreseen this from the very beginning. Esau was desperate for his father to bless him as well and Isaac duly gave a blessing, but he could only reinforce what he knew of Esau's character and how his life would be: one of struggle and strife and discord within the family. Like Cain with Abel before him, Esau held a grudge against his brother and plotted what he would do to Jacob after their father’s death.
Sometimes, when we have done something of which we are not proud, we can succumb to similar resentments. But that is not God's way. Instead of wasting our time, we need to repent and get back to where we should be with God; to put our anger and bitterness in His hands and get back to walking with Him.
Esau, despite realising the mistake he had made in marrying his Hittite wives, promptly made matters worse by marrying a daughter of Ishmael. He spent his entire life, fully aware of God's presence and the promises He had made to the 'children of Abraham', yet doing things his own way and eventually losing out altogether on the blessing. Don’t make the same mistake in your life.
A stairway to heaven (Genesis 28:10 - 30:43)
Jacob fled for his life, with his mother’s connivance and his father’s blessing and instruction on where to find a wife. He set out for Paddan Aram, where Rebekah’s brother, Laban, lived and his first stop was at Bethel. It is here that Jacob had his first personal encounter with God - in a dream. It was a momentous event for him. God confirmed the promise that, so far, Jacob had only heard through his father, Isaac, and (possibly) through his grand-father, Abraham. Now God confirms it in a spectacular way. (Genesis 28:13-15)
God wants to have a personal relationship with each one of us, just as He did with Jacob. He wants us to recognise Him for who He is; He wants to share with us the plans that He has for our lives. We have seen this in earlier studies, where God took each person and met with that individual on a one-to-one basis. When Jacob awoke he certainly knew the One he had been speaking with: God Himself. To remind him of the location and the event, he built a pillar of stones in that place.
When God speaks to us, it is so important that we make a note of it, review it and talk to God about it again and again. We may just want to say how much we have appreciated His words and His encouragement, or we may want to ask Him how He is going to do what He promised. Let's not be afraid. We can just talk to God in prayer as our Father in heaven.
Jacob made a vow. It included the promise that he would return to God a tenth of everything that God would give to him. I don’t doubt that he had been taught the principles of 'tithing' (giving a tenth) by his father, Isaac, but this is the point where it went from his head to his heart and, from then on, he fulfilled his vow. Isaac had understood the principle of sowing and reaping, then acknowledging God's part in making possible the harvest with a substantial increase in his wealth. (Genesis 26:12-14) Remember, this was not a legal obligation, because God's laws only came later through Moses. Jacob was simply following a tried and tested principle from those who had gone before him.
Shepherds and their flocks (Genesis 29 and 30; Ezekiel 34:1-31)
Jacob prospered in all that he did for the rest of his life and it all started through his encounter with the living God. He went on his way to Paddan Aram and immediately met his future wife there. Rachel was a shepherdess; she tended the sheep, fed and watered them and protected them. God’s people are spoken of in the Old and New Testaments as a 'flock' and those who minister to them as 'shepherds'.
In Ezekiel's time, the shepherds who were in charge of God’s flock were lining their own pockets, feeding themselves but not caring for the flock. They were not 'strengthening the weak, healing the sick or binding up the injured'. They didn’t search for the strays or bring back the lost. They ruled their flocks brutally and harshly, so people tried to escape to other places and became prey for those who lived there. I believe that, in great part, 21st century churches are not so different with leaders forming an elite group that has little or no connection with ordinary believers in churches up and down the land. God says that He will judge such 'shepherds'; that He will remove them and come Himself to be the shepherd of the flock. God calls ‘wise and faithful’ those whom He will find managing His household and feeding His children when He returns. (Matthew 24:43-51)
What about us, are we wise? Do we feed God's 'sheep' or rule over them with a rod of iron, making our own decisions and building our own empires? Be sure that God will make us accountable for all that we have done and will do. We need to ask ourselves the question: how can we care for God's people? How can we feed God’s children, spiritually - as well as physically - day by day? Let's open our eyes and ask God to show us those who need to be cared for, just as Rachel cared for her sheep.
Contrasting attitudes
Laban was Isaac's brother-in-law but he came from a different tribe altogether. He would have known little of God’s provision, or of God’s promises. So when Laban asked Jacob what he wanted as payment for working for him, Jacob asked that Rachel be given to him as his wife. Laban agreed and a term of seven years' work was agreed as a fair exchange. The Bible says that it seemed like only a few days to Jacob! (Genesis 29:20)
When the seven years were up, a date was set, invitations sent out and a feast prepared. The big wedding went ahead but Laban deceived Jacob and substituted Leah, Rachel’s elder sister, as the bride, pleading that this was the custom amongst his people. But Jacob challenged Laban and demanded that he should keep to the contract that had been made and give Jacob his daughter, Rachel, in marriage. Laban agreed to let Jacob marry Rachel, but insisted that Jacob should first accept Leah as 'Wife Number One', after which he could also have Rachel - provided that he worked another seven years for her!
Thus, Jacob, who had deceived his own brother and cheated him of his birthright, was deceived and cheated himself over Rachel. Nonetheless, he really loved Rachel and submitted to her father's scheming. The stage was set for Jacob to start a family that would form the basis of the 'Tribes of Israel'. Those twelve tribes would eventually occupy the land that had been promised to Abraham and his descendants for ever.
Laban may have had no experience of a loving father who provided for His family or of a loving God who provideed for His people. Laban was determined to look after 'Number One', regardless of any family ties. Jacob proved to be a skilled shepherd, but Laban retained all the profits that Jacob made for him. When Jacob eventually approached Laban and suggested that it was time for him to go back home to Canaan, Laban begged him to stay. He was superstitious and believed that Jacob's success was due to his relationship with his God. Laban was reluctant to lose a ready source of profit and wealth and attempted to cheat Jacob again. He devised a plan to prevent Jacob earning sufficient to fund his return to Canaan. (Genesis 30:27-28)
Once again, a deal was struck. It was agreed that Jacob would stay and, for his wages, keep every spotted or speckled animal in the flock now and in the future. Laban iImmediately removed every spotted or speckled animal from the flock, put them in the care of his sons and sent them away to keep a distance of some three days’ journey from Jacob and his flock. There wouldn't be much chance of any speckled progeny coming from the remaining flock! But God intervened and showed Jacob how to produce spotted and speckled animals in great abundance. Jacob prospered whilst Laban’s flocks began to decline. Jacob became very wealthy, with 'many servants, camels and donkeys’. (Genesis 30:43)
Breaking with the past
It soon became obvious to Laban’s sons that Jacob was taking everything that their father owned and that the plan to reduce him to poverty had back-fired. Of course, it was really God who had given Jacob the power to get wealth. (Deuteronomy 8:18) God then appeared once more to Jacob in a dream and told him that it was time to leave. Jacob could see that the situation was getting fraught so he held a family discussion with his wives and they decided to return to Canaan in secret, without telling Laban.They waited until Laban was busy with sheep-shearing and made a run for it, but Rachel also decided to steal her father's household gods.
Three days into their journey, Laban set off after them and caught up with them after seven days. However, God warned Laban not to say anything to Jacob - good or bad - so Laban played the surprised and disappointed grand-father who was devastated so suddenly to lose his daughters, grand-children and household gods as well! Why had Rachel stolen those 'gods'? Jacob was doing the right thing in leaving but was then compromised by Rachel's theft. It is a salutary lesson on how easily the superstitions and false notions that we may have grown up with can influence us, even after we get to know God for ourselves and start to follow Him. The seed of His word in our lives can so easily be choked by the things of this world. We need to be careful of our actions and of those amongst whom we live and work, that they do not become a stumbling block to us later in life.
Both Jacob and Laban had been at fault in their dealings with one another, but they settled their differences there, made a covenant together and erected a pillar of stones as a 'watchtower' to mark a boundary between them and to symbolise God keeping watch over them, wherever they might be, to ensure that each kept to the terms of their agreement. They had one last family meal together then parted company amicably the following day.
As Christians, we need to put right the things in our lives that are out of kilter, regarding other people. None of us knows when we will be called home to meet Jesus and to have to give an account of our lives, so we need to put things right now while we have the chance and not let them become a stumbling block to friends, relatives or others in our lives.
Home-coming (Genesis 32)
There was now just one barrier between Jacob and a happy home-coming. This was his relationship with Esau, who had threatened to kill Jacob before he fled to Paddan Aram fourteen years earlier. Perhaps there are things in our lives that are preventing a happy return to good relationships? In Jacob’s case he was definitely worried about the problem. He sent messengers to Esau and was troubled when they returned saying that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men. Firstly, he prayed, pouring out his heart and fears to God, then he did what he thought would pacify Esau: he sent him a stream of presents. In fact, Jacob sent everyone else ahead of himself in small groups of people and flocks with instructions to tell Esau that these were presents from Jacob.
Last of all, Jacob sent off his wives and children, leaving him to spend the night alone. God met with Jacob that night in the form of a 'man' with whom Jacob wrestled. The fight continued all night but Jacob refused to give up. At daybreak, Jacob's opponent called a halt by 'touching the socket of Jacob's hip' in such a way that his hip was 'wrenched'. Jacob still refused to let go until God had blessed him. So God gave him a new name: 'Israel' - meaning 'he struggles with God'. Ever after, Jacob walked with a limp.
When Jacob finally came face to face with Esau, it was as friends not enemies. The four hundred men-at-arms were a welcoming party not an army! God has ways of turning our fears into triumphs if we are prepared to face them with Him. Will you be honest with God today and tell Him of your fears? If you do, you won’t be telling Him something He doesn’t already know. After all, He created us and planned every detail of our lives! His plans for us are ones of blessing in every area of our lives: finance, health, relationships and, of course, eternity. Jacob went on his way to Succoth and Shechem, where he built an altar to the Lord, naming it: ‘Mighty is the God of Israel’, while Esau, who lived in Edom, returned to his own home.
Jacob’s stay at Shechem was far from happy but it was there that Jacob cleansed his household of all foreign gods, burying the idols under the oak at Shechem. From that time, God appeared in strength to Jacob and his entourage, who moved from there to return to Bethel. The 'fear of God' fell on all the towns surrounding them and no-one pursued them. God appeared again to him at Bethel and renewed the promises that He had made to Abraham, thus making them valid for Jacob’s descendants as well. Bethel was the place where God had made His first appearance to Jacob fourteen years earlier. Jacob’s son, Benjamin (meaning 'son of my right hand'), was born to him while he was moving from Bethel to Ephrath (Bethlehem) but Rachel died whilst giving birth to him. Jacob erected a pillar of stone to mark the spot.
Epilogue (Genesis 46 and 47)
Jacob had one final, unique rôle to play in his life. Joseph, Jacob’s eleventh son, was sold as a slave by his own brothers to some travelling Midianites and was bought in Egypt by Potiphar, the captain of the pharaoh’s bodyguard. Joseph was wrongly accused of a crime and imprisoned, forgotten about by everyone except God! One day, through a miraculous set of circumstances, he was elevated to become the governor of Egypt – second only to the pharaoh himself. Some time later, famine struck much of the world, including the land of Canaan. But there was still food in Egypt so Jacob sent his sons there to buy food and Joseph recognised them. Despite their previous treachery, he welcomed them and they were reconciled, culminating in Jacob arriving with the rest of the family and all their possessions and being given a place to stay in Egypt by Joseph - now the governor! They lived there for the next four hundred years and continued their lives as shepherds, until things changed again and a future pharoah decided to enslave the whole nation.
Before his death, Jacob blessed each of his sons. These blessings, the Bible records, were all appropriate to them. Jacob died in Egypt but, as part of his dying wish, his body was taken and buried in his own tomb on the threshing floor of Atad near the Jordan River. This burial was carried out with full Egyptian military honours on the instruction of the pharaoh himself, because of Joseph’s favour in the land.
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