Heroes of Faith Part 7 - Jacob

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Up till now the most colourful patriarch the Bible has yet to record is Jacob. With a story worthy of a Hollywood script, Jacob’s rise to prominence began with an act of shrewdness and deception. With trickery and help from his mother, Rebekah, Jacob stole his twin brother Esau’s birthright, right under the nose of a near-blind Isaac, his father.

Jacob went on to father twelve sons whom God used to become the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Amongst his sons, the most illustrious was Joseph who also figured in the Hebrews heroes of faith. Although it all looks very peachy, Jacob’s early beginnings underpinned a life of deceit, connivance and cunning. He was a manipulator of the first order, aided and abetted by his mother who timed his opportunities for him not just to steal his twin brother’s birthright but to help in his disguise and later on, his escape. But just as he thought he’d escaped it all, he was merely entering a life of hardship where he would struggle with God for almost his entirety.

Living away from home, Jacob toiled just to win the hand of his intended and even so, on the night of their consummation, he was duped in return by his father-in-law to marry his wife’s sister, resulting eventually in an even longer period of payback for now having two wives instead. There was much hardship to be endured working to pay his dues but in answering God’s calling, he was also due to return to his home.

The very thought of his twin brother whom he deceived, sent shivers through his spine as he slowly worked his way back home with an entourage of livestock, including his wives and children and along the way, the dread of meeting Esau drove him to despatch his servants ahead with a humble message and also livestock as an offering of peace to his brother. Having delivered to Esau, the servants returned with news that his brother would come and meet him with over four-hundred of his men.

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Such news merely brought Jacob to his knees in prayer to God. His is in fact the first prayer ever to be officially recorded in the Bible from which much could be learned in terms of how God is praiseworthy. From this point it was pretty much downhill. Jacob found himself involved in a dramatic tussle with God. Different translations put it as an angel rather than God Himself. Amidst the wrestling, the angel had simply wanted to cease and move on but Jacob would not relent. He wanted God’s blessing as if his life really depended on it. At that point, it was obvious that Jacob was desperate, which explained why he couldn’t let go.

And so it took the angel to simply touch Jacob’s hip for him to finally relent, albeit with a dislocated hip joint. Physically he was a broken man but spiritually he was renewed. And through it all, one must admire Jacob for turning things around. In the end God recognised his worthiness and renamed him Israel, to mean “he struggles with God.”

Jacob’s life subsequently would revolve around the twelve sons as he blessed them even as he laid old and dying in his diminishing years. Hebrews 11:21 records that time of his life, saying, “It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.”

This verse alone has significant meaning because two of the twelve sons were actually from Joseph who bequeathed them unto his own father, to make up the numbers. We also note from the verse the words, “as he leaned on his staff” because this is the physical indication of how he wore his injury for the rest of his life, resulting from tussling with the angel. And so throughout the remainder of his life, Jacob would be reminded every day of his encounter with God and how he finally ceded control to Him. It was that day that he gave up the reins and left his life unto God to helm. To “lean on his staff” would also describe Jacob’s learnedness in trust and dependence on God Almighty for in Him, there is no one higher or more powerful.

Jacob’s story is a lesson in submissiveness; that in our lives, our stubbornness will always be met by a loving God who just wants nothing but the best for us. Somehow we don’t see it, just like Jacob did not, but through life’s great struggles, trials and tribulations, we come to a point of surrender, knowing that in the end, God knows best.

Jacob’s life teaches us how imperfection in a person is not impediment for God to bless. This is not because of who Jacob is but because of who God is.

Achievements

It was Jacob who fathered 12 sons to eventually headed the 12 tribes of Israel, of which one of them, Joseph, would go on to etch his own name among the heroes of faith. Jacob would also be forever immortalised with God as in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob’s true and devoted love for Rachel (from whom he fathered Joseph) can also be seen from how diligent a worker he was in paying his dues.

Personal Strengths

No doubt his cleverness, Jacob’s intelligence, sensitivity and thoughtfulness were all assets until he began to use them in a negative way, which then backfired on him. But when he did use them constructively, his family prospered wealthily. 

Personal Weaknesses

Prone to making up his own rules as he went along, Jacob suffered from early selfish gains and because he failed to trust God then, the struggles mounted for him. Like Isaac favouring Esau, he too took a liking towards Joseph resulting in jealousy and strife.

Lessons in Life

Jacob could have benefited far more from God had he learned to trust Him earlier. Fighting with Him always produces the wrong outcome – it’s a battle we always lose. It’s worth remembering that if we don’t want to miss the will of God for our lives, we must then open the way for Him to work on our mistakes and bad decisions. That way, His plans will dovetail with ours and vice-versa.

Hometown

Canaan

Family Tree

Rachel (wife); Leah (wife); Isaac (father); Rebekah (mother); Abraham (grandfather); Sarah (grandmother); Dinah (daughter)

Sons include Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali

Occupation

Shepherd, prosperous livestock owner

Biblical References

Genesis 25-37, 42, 45-49

His name is mentioned through-out the Bible in connection with God, as in, ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’

Key Verses

Genesis 32:38 > “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.”

Genesis 28:12-15 > “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 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 28:20-22 > “Then Jacob made a vow saying, ‘If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house and of all that You give me, I will give You a tenth.”

Next Up 

Heroes of Faith Part 8 - Joseph; December 12 2014