THE JOURNEY OF JACOB

“Then Israel (Jacob) bowed in worship at the head of the bed.” (Genesis 47:31)

Jacob had a bright and promising beginning to life.  He was in a linage of faith by being Abraham’s grandson and Isaac’s son.   Born as a younger twin to his brother, Esau, God had revealed to Rebekah, Jacob’s mother, that “the older shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23) 

But did Jacob model this lifestyle of faith?  Not in his early days.  Just because you are in a family of faith does not mean that you possess that faith. We see a progression of Jacob’s spiritual life as his story unfolds in the chapters of Genesis.

NO FAITH OF HIS OWN:  Jacob’s name means “supplanter: one who wrongfully or illegally seizes and holds the place for another.”  And boy did he live up to his name!  First, Jacob convinced his brother, Esau, to sell him his birthright in exchange for a bowl of stew.  This had serious consequences because the first born son received a double portion of his father’s inheritance and became the patriarch of the family.  Then, secondly in an even more devious act, Jacob deceived his father, Isaac, by disguising himself as Esau to receive the blessing given from the father to the first born son.  To receive the blessing was irreversible and considered a legal act, not to be undone, even though deception was at the heart of receiving the blessing.  When Esau realized what had occurred, “he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, ‘Bless me even me also, O my father.” (Genesis 27:33)  Isaac’s response: “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing…Behold I have made him your master…” (Genesis 27: 35, 37)

Why did Jacob do this when God has promised that Jacob would rule over his brother while he was still in his mother’s womb?  Most likely because he did not have a faith of his own or a faith strong enough to believe the promises of God.  Jacob said a very interesting thing in the middle of his deception to Isaac. He says to his father, “The Lord your God caused it to happen to me.” (Genesis 27:20).  Note that Jacob is talking about Isaac’s God, not his own God.

WHAT HE CAN GET OUT OF GOD:  Because of Jacob’s deception, he ends up leaving his household, fearful that Esau will kill him, and travels to the home of his Uncle Laban.  The first night he has a dream of the angels of God ascending and descending on a ladder from heaven to earth and back again. In the dream God affirms the same covenant with Jacob that He did with Abraham and Isaac, that the Lord will give him the land and that all the families of the earth will be blessed through his descendants.  Jacob’s response: “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey 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.” (Genesis 28:20)  This is a conditional vow based on what  God can do for him.  Note that God’s covenant promise to him is unconditional.  God will see His promise through no matter what Jacob’s response.

JACOB WRESTLES WITH GOD:  Twenty years have passed since Jacob laid his head on a rock at Bethel and dreamed his dream.  Our God, who is a covenant keeping God, has proven himself to Jacob.  He has fed him, clothed him, and is returning him to his father’s house in safety.  The Lord had blessed him in his business ventures.  He was returning home with oxen, donkeys, goats, camels, sheep, cows, servants, and a very large family.  But along the way home he encounters his brother, Esau coming towards him with 400 men.

Jacob was exceedingly afraid, but he prays this prayer to God, “I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant.” (Genesis 32:10)  To protect his family, he sends everyone across the river for the night.  It is during this same evening that he wrestles with God until daybreak.  Jacob would not let go until the God blessed him.  Jacob was looking for the true blessing, not a stolen blessing, and the Lord blessed him with the best gift of all: He changed his name from Jacob, the supplanter, to “Israel”, which means “he fights or persists with God (in prevailing prayer)”.  The Lord changed his identity, the very nature of who he was.  Because of this, when he completes his journey, Israel builds an altar and calls it El-Elohe-Israel, which means “a Mighty God is the God of Israel.”  Note that Jacob, now known as Israel, is proclaiming that this mighty God is now his God, not just that of his families.

JACOB BECOMES A WORSHIPER OF GOD:  From here on out, everywhere Jacob went, he built alters and worshipped the Lord.   In Bethel, not only does he build an altar, but he also instructs his household to put away all foreign idols and to purify themselves. Jacob declares to his family and servants: “I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress and has been with me where I have gone.” (Genesis 35:2-3) In Paddan-aram, Jacob sets up a pillar of stone and pours a drink offering and oil on the stone, which was customary in that day to mean that Jacob was making a covenant with the Lord, not just God fulfilling His covenant with Jacob as it had been in the past. And then, years later, as Jacob is nearing death, it says in the faith chapter of Hebrews 11:21:  “By faith Jacob, as he was dying blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshipped leaning on the top of his staff.”

Was Jacob’s life perfect?  No, not by any means.  Deception ran throughout his life, and he reaped great suffering because of it.  But during his lifetime, did Jacob learn to trust, rely, and worship the Lord God Almighty?  Most definitely yes. Fourteen times in scripture the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob” is mentioned with their four names intertwined and linked together. The heritage of Jacob’s father and  grandfather became his own as Jacob embraced this personal, covenant keeping God.

There are two other ways among many that Jacob was blessed.  First, Jesus referenced the dream of Jacob of the angels ascending and descending on a ladder. In John 1:51, Jesus said that the Son of Man is the ladder and the link between heaven and earth.  “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which you must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)  Jacob was given a vision of the coming Messiah.  We have the privilege of accepting by faith that Jesus is the Messiah, that we believe He is  the Son of God and the Son of Man, and that salvation comes through Him and no one else.

Second, the nation of Israel would be known by Jacob’s new name.  And his 12 sons would become the twelve tribes of Israel, forever known as the Israelites.  Every time you watch a news event and hear the nation of Israel mentioned today, it is a reminder of Jacob and his faith in El-Elohe-Israel.

How about you?  Where are you on your faith journey?  Maybe those that surround you have an abiding faith, but you have not committed to trusting in Him yourself.  Ask the Lord to supply your faith and allow you to see Him for who He truly is.  Place your trust in God’s son, Jesus,  asking Him to come into your heart, knowing that He has a new identity to give to you. Maybe you are playing “Let’s Make a Deal” with God:  If You will do this for me, I will do this for you.  If so, ask the Lord to open your eyes to His daily provision of loving you and keeping His covenant with you and to trust Him more fully for who He is, not just what He can give you.  Hopefully  you are a true worshipper, worshipping in Spirit and in Truth.  Then keep at it, building your daily alters to Him and sacrificing your life for the eternal life He has blessed you with, not out of duty but out of relationship and love.  Be obedient to the call in Christ Jesus.  The same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the same God who glorified His Son, Jesus, and raised Him from the dead so you may have new life in Him forevermore.

“How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Psalm 146:5)