Jacob

Yesterday we looked at Isaac, so today we will look at his son - Jacob. 

Remember, Jacob's story can be found in Chapter 25 all the way to the end of the book of Genesis!  As mentioned yesterday, SO much more is covered with Jacob and Joseph than Isaac.

I'm not sure if it was frowned upon by God or not, but Jacob was a trickster from  the moment he was born.  He would rather use his mind than his muscles!  There are several accounts where he tricked people into giving him what he wanted!

In Genesis 25:19 - 34 we see two different stories.  The first is that Jacob and Esau were fighting in the womb - something that would continue throughout their early years!  God speaks to Rebekah and tells her in verse 23 that Esau would serve Jacob (older serving the younger).  This will come into play in Ch 27.

Later on in 25 we see the story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob.  We touched on why that was such a huge deal but I didn't have the time to really develop it.  Here's why it was such a big thing:

The firstborn would get the birthright.  We see in Deuteronomy 21:15-17 they get a double portion of the inheritance!  Money, land, livestock, this was a HUGE deal (especially when there was a lot of siblings!).  So rather than splitting the estate down the middle (in this case) Esau was in line to get 75% and Jacob 25%.

So why would you "trade" something so valuable for a bowl of soup?  The price was so steep, the reward was so small!  Esau lost focus on what was important!  He focused on the "right now" and couldn't see the bigger picture. This is the same for us.  We can lose sight of what's important both spiritually and physically.

Physically, we can look at something that we want to buy.  "I need it now!!!", we say and splurge on that item.  Rather than focusing on our long term financial strength, we buy what makes us happy now.  Then later on, and after thousands of dollars of interest, we are left unhappy.

The same thing happens to us spiritually.  We lose sight of what the bigger picture is so many times.  Rather than making an easy decision, we dwell on a sinful thought.  Or we "trade" our relationship with God in for something earthly.  Then when we are left all alone and hurting, we realize that we made a huge mistake.  Praise God that He doesn't leave us where we lie!  He restores us just like the Prodigal Son!  But it would be better by far if we kept the proper focus and didn't get into those situations!!!

Then we see in Chapter 27 the story of Jacob getting his brother's blessing!  I won't go into depth with this one, because we really looked at it on Monday night.  But we see that Rebekah was in on the discussion and she remembered what God told her about the older serving the younger.

Another view that we didn't look at on Monday was in the marriages.  Esau had taken wives who were Hittites (Gen 26:34-35) and they were "a source of grief" to Isaac and Rebekah.

We see that Isaac renews the importance of NOT marrying the wrong woman. Something that Esau didn't care about.  But now that Isaac knows that God is going to bless Jacob's line, he is really making sure that that line stays pure. In Gen. 28:1-4 Isaac has a conversation almost identical to the one Abraham had with his servant.  Making sure that Jacob didn't get involved with the wrong woman.

This is something that we can directly use in our lives TODAY young person!!! Getting involved with a non-Christian will only drag you away from your faith! Abraham knew it, Isaac knew it, and it hasn't changed one bit in over 3,000 years!!!  2 Corinthians 6:14 and 2 Timothy 3:1-9 talk about that!  In the words of Monty Python, "RUN AWAY!!!" from someone who doesn't share your Christian values.

As Jacob flees and heads to his Uncle's house, he falls in love with Rachel.  We see this story in Chapter 29.  We went into great detail on Monday to describe how Jacob was "tricked" by Laban!  I find it humorous to see him get a taste of his own medicine, so to speak!  You can read all about it in verses 9-30.

Here is a graph showing you the sons of Jacob:

So it is interesting that Jesus ultimately comes from the line of the "mistake" marriage!!!  We can learn a lot from that as well!!!  When things don't go according to plan, we can rest in the fact that God has a plan and that He will ultimately bring things to completion!

Well, that's all that I have time for today!  Here are some passages that I would like you to read that aren't normally talked about when it comes to Jacob.

Genesis 30:25-43   Jacob tricks Laban 

Genesis 32:1-21 & Chapter 33

Genesis 32:22-32   Jacob wrestles with God & gets a name change

Genesis 34   Dinah and Jacob's sons get back at the Shechemites!!! (ouch)

We will wrap things up tomorrow with Joseph!  I hope these have been a blessing to you.  I hope that you are reading them!!!  Please let me know if you are - it would be an encouragement to me!

God bless!