Introduction of the People of the Bible: Jacob

Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, the grandson of Abraham and the younger twin brother of Esau. The story of Jacob is one of Godly wisdom, and of promise and blessing for faithfulness to God’s promise. What importance does this story have for us today?

The Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23)

Rebekah was an ageing woman who had remained childless, but through the righteous prayer of her husband, Isaac, God enabled Rebekah to conceive. During her pregnancy, she asked God why she felt so much discomfort. God responded, drawing a clear distinction between her two offspring in the passage above. Such distinction was reinforced by the names given to her two children at birth. The first boy was hairy and named Esau, and the second, who was clasping at the heels of his twin brother as he emerged from her womb, was named Jacob, meaning ‘he grasps the heel’ and a Hebrew idiom for ‘he deceives’. Jacob was destined to take something that Esau possessed. What further differed between these two brothers was their personality. Although raised in the same environment, Esau was a voracious young man who loved hunting game, whilst Jacob favoured the homely indoors.

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:29-34)

Despite having the privilege of being the firstborn tasked with carrying on the covenant God established with his father (Isaac) and grandfather (Abraham), Esau had no value for his birthright. Indeed, he was willing to exchange it to satisfy his hunger and quench his thirst. To his parents’ grief, Esau had also married non-believing (gentile) women who could easily turn their children’s hearts away from worshipping the God of Abraham and Isaac (Gen 26:35). Even though God had promised to bless Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5, 18-21), how would He have felt about Esau’s attitude and possibly not being able to fulfil His will?

Jacob seized the opportunity to demonstrate his love for the covenant God established with his forefathers. Sometime later, when Isaac was old and his vision failing him, he instructed Esau (whom he loved more) to hunt fine wild game in exchange for a final blessing. Having overheard their conversation, Rebekah urged Jacob to quickly go out and bring two young goats to her. She cooked them and Jacob presented them to his father with goatskin on his hands and neck in order to maintain his brother’s likeness. Unbeknown to Isaac, he blessed his younger son abundantly and God’s covenant would now pass through Jacob:

“May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.” (Genesis 27:29)

Although Jacob’s actions may appear deceitful and immoral from man’s perspective, they were considered righteous from God’s perspective because it showed how much he valued God’s promise to bless all people. He did not whimper in his faith in God’s promise. As we will see, Jacob would receive a tremendous blessing.

After being blessed, Jacob heard that Esau plotted to kill him, so, at the urging of his parents, Jacob fled to Haran to stay with Laban, Rebekah’s brother. Along the journey, God came to Jacob and directly reaffirmed His promise to him in a dream:

There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.  I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:13-15).

God’s promise must surely be fulfilled. Jacob arrived in Haran, where he was warmly received by his uncle, and married his two daughters - Leah and Rachel. God gave Jacob 12 sons through them - six through Leah (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun) and two through Rachel (Joseph and Benjamin), with four more through their two female servants (Gad, Asher, Dan and Naphtali). After having faithfully served his uncle on the land for 20 years, Jacob returned to his parents’ homeland of Canaan with his family and flock. What happened along the way was of pivotal importance to the fulfilment of God’s promise - Jacob wrestled with an angel of God.

That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” (Genesis 32:22-30)

Because Jacob had overcome man, he was re-named ‘Israel’, which means ‘he struggles’ or ‘one who overcomes’. Through having overcome, God established his 12 sons as the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel. Similarly, Jesus also overcame at the first coming (John 16:33) and so God was able to establish Christianity through the 12 disciples. In our times today, which is the time of the second coming, there is one who has overcome and through whom God has established the 12 tribes of ‘New Spiritual Israel’. It is only through these 12 tribes that God’s final work is taking place; a place where all humanity can attain its ultimate hope of heaven. Please come and see🙏