In our walk through the life of Isaac, we covered the birth of Jacob and his resulting lifetime struggle with his brother, Esau. We found him deceiving his brother, twice, first from his birthright and second from his blessing. Likewise, we found him reaping the consequences. When Esau vowed to kill him, Rebekah overheard and Isaac sent Jacob away. He fled to Paddan-Aram, to Betheul and Laban (Rebekah’s father and brother). It is here that we pick up his story…

In Genesis 28, a fleeing and most likely frightened Jacob set his weary head upon a stone and had a dream in which God spoke to him, affirming the covenant He made with Abraham and Isaac over his life. In the dream, he saw a ladder “set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven” and with “the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” I have heard before of Jacob’s ladder, but never have studied this passage. And, as I did, I was quickly reminded of something we learned not long before this. Remember the tower in Genesis 11, man’s effort to reach heaven that crumbled just before Abraham came on the scene? In stark contrast, here the ladder represents not man’s faulty effort but God’s perfect provision! Jacob’s dream a foreshadow, a portrait of Jesus Christ come to mediate a way for us to return to the Father! 1 Timothy 2:5 says “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Jesus Christ who gave Himself as a ransom.” Hebrews 12:24 refers to Christ as the “mediator of a new covenant.” And I, for one, am grateful He did! (I don’t relish heights and have not the mathematical sense to build a sturdy staircase. And, knowing me as well as I do, I would be sure to miss a rung or skip a step!) No, the effort was completely His, a gift I can’t explain nor one I can get over! After his dream, Jacob set the stone up to be a pillar, anointed it, called the place Bethel (the house of God), and made a vow with God. In this passage, Jacob saw a ladder and heard God speak over his life. Truly remarkable in itself, but furthermore, in the midst of that, I see Jesus and His cross shouting volumes to any who will listen!  And listen I shall for this life, this heart and mind, is desperate for the One who made a way for me. By the way of His cross shall I one be delivered unto glory! Jacob’s dream a ladder – God’s gift His son! Have you there met grace?

In chapter 29, we find Jacob, after continuing his journey from Bethel, outside a well in Haran inquiring of Laban (his uncle). Here we find testimony to the hand of God – Jacob’s journey led him to the well where Laban’s sheep watered! Shortly after, Rachel came to water. Upon seeing her, Jacob rolled aside the stone covering the well, watered her entire flock, kissed Rachel, and then wept! (The romantic in me can’t help but giggle at this part!) I can imagine, however, that after fleeing all he knew, a lonely Jacob must have been overcome to finally find familiarity. Laban agreed to allow Jacob to stay and work, shepherding, and soon offered him payment. As you probably know, Jacob asked for the hand of Rachel in marriage in exchange for seven years of labor. Faithfully, Jacob served. He would, at the end of those years, however, discover just what it felt like to be deceived! Rather than giving Rachel, Laban substituted his oldest daughter, Leah, on Jacob’s wedding night. Jacob agreed to work another seven years for his true love, Rachel. He married her the week following, beginning another seven years of labor for Laban.

Two sisters, one beautiful and the other unbecoming, Leah and Rachel both now wives of Jacob. We know Rachel was beautiful “of form and face” and, likewise, captured Jacob’s heart. In fact, look closely in the chapter and you will read that Rachel was loved while Leah was unloved (verses 30, 31). What must it have been like for Leah to exist in the shadow of another, to be second best and substitute? I wonder as I write if that pains your heart as it does mine…  Yes, Jacob chose Rachel, but as we will see, God chose Leah! He saw beauty within. And do you know what? I think she understood. Dig with me here for a moment. With the birth of her first son, Reuben, she said, “Because the Lord has seen my affliction surely now my husband will love me. With the birth of her second, Simeon, she said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” With the third, Levi, she said, “Now this time my husband will become attracted to me because I have born him three sons.”  Three sons and three comments, each bearing testimony of her unloveliness in Jacob’s eyes. But, remarkably, with her fourth child, Judah, she said, “This time I will praise the Lord!” This time she had eyes for God! She had much reason to for one day, her Deliverer, the Promised One, would come through her son Judah, through children of her children! Jacob may have looked on the outside, but God looked on the inside. And, most certainly, reader, we today, like Leah, can know, above all else, we are beautiful simply because His loving us makes us so!

Chapter 30 gives record of Jacob’s sons born to Rachel, Leah, and their maids – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher and Benjamin. Riddled with favoritism and resulting rivalry, Jacob’s family grew. After fourteen years, Jacob finished his debt; Laban began paying him wages for his work, but continued to cheat him! God was faithful to Jacob despite the circumstance, blessing him as his flocks multiplied (with a little creative effort on the part of Jacob). At the beginning of chapter 31, God told Jacob to return to the land of his father and his family and that He would be with him (verse 3). Rather than face Laban properly, we see Jacob flee, once again, this time taking with him wives, children, and all he had accumulated in flock and wealth. Unbeknownst to Jacob, Rachel, the wife he loved, had confiscated her father’s idols. When Laban realized all of this, he pursued. Although unable to find his idols (Rachel was sitting on them), Laban (at God’s request in a dream), along with Jacob, put aside anger and made an oath to keep apart from the other’s land. They entitled the place Galeed (heap of witnesses) and Mizpah, (the watchtower). With that, Laban kissed his daughters goodbye, returned to his home, and left our Jacob to continue on his way…

With that settled, Jacob focused on a new concern, meeting his brother, Esau (chapter 32). His concerns were valid for after all, they hadn’t parted on the best of terms! Jacob had twice deceived him, robbing him of both birthright and blessing, and then fled upon the threat to his life. With the passing of twenty years, Jacob’s actions confirmed his fear had not dwindled in the least. Nearing the country of Edom, Jacob sent his servants and an entourage of gifts ahead to Esau and, when they returned claiming Esau was on his way with company of four hundred men to meet him, Jacob was “greatly afraid and distressed.” He, in his fear, prayed to God, thanking Him for His kindness, claiming His promises, and seeking deliverance from Esau. Fears still unrelieved, however, Jacob sent ahead of himself waves of servants and possessions to meet Esau, including his own wives and children, in hopes that they would appease his brother, Esau. Jacob, between Laban and Esau, sent all he had across the Jabbok River and remained himself on the other side. I wonder as I write how exhausted Jacob must have been. Going from one struggle to the next, his life comprised of conflict, deceit, fear, and uncertainty, must have left him spent of his own emotion and strength. Exhausted, he had come to the end of himself, and, most dramatically, found himself vulnerable, seeking, and desperate for change. And it was that night that Jacob, once again, met God. And, in the process, God changed his name and blessed him, painting for us picture complete of a life emptied of self and full of Him!

Here the angel of the Lord came to Jacob and wrestled with him… all night long! Jacob refused to give in, desiring God to bless him. Finally, the angel of the Lord said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel.” He touched his hip, giving Jacob a permanent physical reminder of his struggle with God. Most importantly, in verse 29 of chapter 32, we read that God “blessed him there.” His name changed, his hip hurt, but, beautifully, God blessed him! Jacob found the end of himself and there began anew with so much more! I love this part of the story because it remains so relevant for my own life. Fear and failure? Discouragement and doubt?  Weakness and weariness? Aren’t we all well acquainted with such as these? No, sweet friend, this life does not promise to be perfect. Conflict comes, but gloriously, just as Jacob learned, there can be resolution found in Him! Devoid of his own strengths and capacities, defeated by his own fears and failures, Jacob finally faced them, and in turn, realized his need for God! And after that, only after that, God blessed him. The end of self and the beginning of Him! As I write, I wonder today about this heart. Does it pound, overcome with striving, or does it settle, a vessel willing and emptied? Struggle I will, lonely I’ll be, tired I’ll feel, question I may, falter I must but the simple truth remains: God is blessing and in Him is good! Jacob, with a limp, walked away that day, changed and blessed and rightly so, for he had been in God’s presence! Would he always get it from then on? No. He wouldn’t. And neither will we. But, thankfully, where we fail, His persisting grace abounds...  

In chapter 33, Esau and Jacob met without the drama Jacob envisioned. However, rather than continue on to Bethel where God wanted him to go (see Genesis 31:13), Jacob settled in Shechem (close but not quite, Jacob!) And, as so many of Jacob’s decisions prior, this one held consequences. There his daughter, Dinah, was raped and his sons killed every male in the city (chapter 34). Once again, Jacob found himself fleeing for his life! Finally, this time, he would get it right….

 God told him, again, in chapter 35 to return to Bethel, the same place God appeared to him in a dream years before as he fled from Esau (see Genesis 28). Gathering his family, Jacob returned to Bethel (the house of God), this time naming it El Bethel, recognizing not only the house of God but, most importantly, God Himself! Once again, God appeared to Jacob, confirmed his name change to Israel and reaffirmed the covenant He set with Jacob’s father, Isaac, and with his grandfather, Abraham (Genesis 35:9-11). Oh what lesson there lay within! Jacob was returning to God!

I marvel at the joy Jacob must have felt, the release of burden, but, at the same time, I can’t stop wondering whether he looked back through the wasted years of his life and wished he had done it God’s way from the beginning.  His birth name meant deceiver and he had, on many occasions, lived a life as such, suffering often the consequences in his life and in the lives of his family. However, above any other thing, I hope he saw just how God pursued him, never relented, and chose him to continue the covenant promise despite all his fear, his all out failures, his half-hearted faltering….

As we continue further in Genesis, chapters 36-45, we read the story of Jacob’s favored son (Rachel’s oldest child), Joseph. Again, the rivalry and deceit within his family reared its head, this time in the form of jealousy and full-blown hatred, as Jacob’s sons betrayed their own brother. Tearing off his robe, selling him for silver, to Egypt he would go. Seemingly hopeless, God’s plan would turn into good. Joseph forgave His brothers and welcomed them out of famine into the land of Egypt. Without question, Joseph painted a picture of another betrayed and sold for silver; and this One, His blood-drenched robe torn and settled for spoil, God also used for good!  Just as Joseph forgave his brothers and was reunited with his father, Jacob, God has freely forgiven and will one day perfect this work He authored in me! A rescue so grand for none so deserving… Terrible turned round for good. Whose good? Amazingly, ours!

In Genesis 48 and 49, we read of Jacob’s last days, his blessings upon his sons, and his death. At the age of 147, Jacob died (Genesis 47:29) and was buried with his father, Isaac, and grandfather, Abraham in the land of Canaan.  We have followed his story, winding through deceit and dream, love and angst, struggle and blessing, obedience and sorrow, but Jacob himself provided for us a summary upon his arrival in Egypt. In chapter 47 verse 9, Jacob reflected to Pharaoh, saying, “Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life.” Yes, Jacob got ahead of God’s plan, making choices of his own accord and, as a result, spent years running from circumstance and people. He must have held regrets, but certainly he realized how God had turned much around to good! In chapter 45 and 46, Jacob’s spirit revived upon learning Joseph was alive. Joy restored, he eagerly moved his entire family, one last time, to Egypt. Stopping at Beersheba on the way, Jacob offered sacrifice to God and, once again, heard God’s voice over his life, promising protection and provision. At the end of his life, regrets he certainly had, but I, as I read his story, see on the flipside something precious: despite mistake, heartache and failure, there remains a beautiful reminder that God, regardless, remained faithful and did accomplish all that concerned him!

Sweet friend, today, a subject tender. Take heart from Jacob’s story. Know that when He delivers, when He redeems, when He forgives, when He makes whole and clean, we might not understand. We will likely feel unworthy. But above all else, we’ll know Him for who He is and see ourselves in light of just that. On the banks of the Jabbok River, Jacob came to the end of himself, realized effort vain and striving empty. In that weary state, He met there with God and God blessed him. Ironically, when we come to the end of ourselves, there we find Him, ready, willing and fully able to accomplish all that concerns us!

Jacob’s mistakes and consequences coupled with God’s constant pursuit a precious reminder of God’s redeeming power and His ways above ours! God chose him. He has a way of choosing whom we least expect, doesn’t He? We learned a few weeks ago that while the Jews awaited a coming King, a ruler to conquer, God’s choice for a King meant a babe, a teacher, and then a cross! His ways are not ours, and we would do best to relinquish self all to Him! May we be a vessel willing…

A VESSEL WILLING!