Jacob is the twin son of Isaac and Rebekah. He was born second,
holding onto his brother Esau’s heel. His mom could feel them struggling in her
womb and asked the Lord about it. He responded, “Two nations are in your womb;
And two peoples will be separated from your body, And one people shall be stronger
than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.” Gen 25:23. The nations
referenced are Edom (Esau) and Isreal (Jacob). The name Jacob according to
Strongs means “heel-catcher, ie supplanter”. It is from the root word aqab,
meaning to swell out or up, to seize by the heel or restrain.
Jacob and Esau were very different from each other. Esau was an
outdoorsman, a hunter, headstrong, hairy and rugged. He was favored by his
father, Isaac. Jacob was favored by his mother, Rebekah, and was a peaceful man
preferring the indoors. When they were older, Jacob cooked some stew and Esau
came in from the field hungry. He asked for a bite of that red stew, for he was
famished, therefore he was called Edom (red). Gen 25:30. Jacob responded by
telling Esau to first swear to him his birthright. Esau gave it to him, showing
he did not value it. This attitude of carelessness toward his own birthright is
condemned in Heb 12:16 which states, “that there be no immoral or godless
person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.”
When Isaac was old, he called to Esau and told him to go hunt game
and prepare a savory dish for him so that he may eat it and then bless him
before he died. Rebekah overheard, and since she favored Jacob she told him to
go into their flock and get two choice young goats that she might prepare for
Isaac so that Jacob could bring it into him pretending to be Esau and take the
blessing from Esau. Jacob was afraid Isaac would know, for Esau was hairy and
he was sure his father would tell the difference and see him as a deceiver and
curse him. Rebekah assures him she will take the curse if so, and she prepares
the meal and disguises Jacob in Esau’s clothes and goatskins, for Esau was
hairy and Jacob was not.
So Jacob takes the meal Rebekah had prepared into Isaac and
requests his blessing as Esau. Isaac questions, he can tell it is Jacob’s
voice, but when he feels the goatskins on Jacob’s arms and neck and smells
Esau’s scent on his clothes, he believes Jacob is Esau and so blesses him with
the blessing intended for Esau. The blessing is as follows, found in Gen
27:27-29 – “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the
Lord has blessed; Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness
of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine; May peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, and may your mother’s
sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who
bless you.”
Then, Esau came in from hunting, prepared Issac a meal and went in
to receive his blessing. Isaac asks who he is and when he realizes what has
happened he trembles. When Isaac tells Esau he gave his blessing to Jacob in
error, Esau cries for him to bless him too and says Jacob is rightly named, for
he supplanted him twice – taking away his birthright and his blessing. Isaac
says there is nothing he can do and gives him his secondary blessing: “Behold,
away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the
dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, and your brother you
shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, that you will
break his yoke from your neck” Gen 27:39-40.
So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob and vowed to kill him once
Isaac passed away. Rebekah knew Esau was going to try to kill Jacob and wanted
to get Jacob out of Esau’s reach, so she deceives Isaac again by portraying she
is most worried about Jacob choosing a Canaanite wife and so Isaac sends Jacob
to Paddanaram to chose a wife from the daughters of Laban, Rebekah’s uncle.
So Jacob goes on his way and comes to Haran where he goes to sleep
and dreams of angels going up and down a ladder that extends from earth to
heaven with the Lord standing over it. He tells Jacob He is the God of his
father Isaac and Abraham and that He will give him the land in which he lays,
that he will have many descendants, and that He will be with him everywhere he
goes and will bless him. Jacob wakes up knowing the Lord was surely there and he
was afraid. He made a vow that if the Lord remains with him until he returns
safely to his father’s home the Lord will be his God and he set up a pillar in
that spot and promises to give God a tenth of everything he is blessed with.
Gen 28
Jacob continues on his journey and comes to Laban’s home. He meets
Rachael and is falls in love with her. He tells Laban he will serve him for
seven years to have Rachael and Laban agrees. But after seven years, Laban
tricks Jacob and gives him Leah. When Jacob wakes the next morning to discover
Leah instead of Rachel he is disappointed and confronts Laban, who says he
could not marry the younger before the older. So Laban gives Rachel to Jacob
also after the week of celebration of the marriage to Leah and requires Jacob to
serve him another seven years.
Jacob loves Rachel and not Leah. The Lord sees Leah is unloved and
He blesses her with a fruitful womb while Rachel remains barren. Leah conceives
four sons before Rachel has any children: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. Rachel
burns with jealously and blames Jacob, who becomes angry and says he is not God
and cannot himself make her conceive. So she gives him her maid Bilhah that
through her she may have children. Bilhah conceives twice, both sons, Dan &
Naphtali.
Leah had not conceived since the birth of Judah and sees the
success of Bilhah, so she too gives Jacob her maid Zilpah, who bears a son
Asher. A fierce childbearing competition continues. Leah bears two more sons,
Issachar and Zebulun and a daughter, Dinah. God blessed Rachel to finally be
able to children and she concieves a son, Joseph.
After Joseph was born, Jacob requests to leave Laban. Laban tries
to get him to stay by offering him more wages, etc but Jacob wants to provide
for his own household. Jacob agrees to stay a little longer, but asks that he
be given the speckled and spotted animals from the flock as his wages so he
could start building his own flocks. Laban agrees and separates the animals and
puts three days difference between the flocks. Jacob watches over the mating
process and greatly increases his flocks. The Lord blesses Jacob and he becomes
prosperous with large flocks, servants, camels and donkeys.
Laban’s sons grumble about this and encite Laban and he was no
longer friendly toward Jacob. Jacob tells his wives and family they are going
to flee and that he will no longer stay with Laban, who has continually taken
advantage of him and who is now hostile toward him. So he gathered all of his
things and family and they secretly flee to Gilead. As they are leaving, Rachel
steals the household idols of Laban and takes them with her.
Laban pursues him and catches up to him. He tells him he could
harm him if he wanted to, but God had told him not to. He asks why he left
without letting him tell his family goodbye and questions why he stole the
idols. Jacob knew nothing of this so they search Leah and Rachel’s tents for
the idols but find nothing. Rachel deceives them by sitting on the idols (they
were in her saddle bag as she sat on her camel and said she could not rise because
she was menstruating). Jacob is angry Laban is accusing him. He reminds Laban
of all he has done for him, how he took nothing from him and how if it were
Laban’s wish he would have nothing.
Laban disagrees and says everything he has is his, but they make a
covenant and set up a pillar and agree not pursue each other across the pillar.
Laban stays the night and kisses and blesses his sons and daughters in the
morning and returns to his place.
The Lord had spoke to Jacob when he was leaving Laban to return to
his family, so Jacob went on his way but was concerned about Esau. He sent
messengers to him to try to win his favor. They return and tell him Esau and
four hundred men are coming to meet him. Jacob prays to the Lord, he knows the
Lord sent him back to his family and promised to prosper him but he is
terrified of Esau.
He sends a present of livestock to Esau by way of his servants and
sends his servants on ahead of him. He tells them when they see Esau to tell
him that he is following behind them and perhaps after he receives the presents
he will gain Esau’s favor. That night he took his two wives, two maids, and
eleven children and when they came to the stream of Jabbock he sent them across
and was left alone.
When Jacob was left alone, he wrestled with a man, who was really
an angel of the Lord until daybreak. The angel realized that he was not
prevailing, so touched Jacob’s thigh so the socket was dislocated. The angel
asked to be let go, but Jacob said not unless you bless me. The angel changed
Jacob’s name to Israel, which means wrestles with God. Jacob asked the angel’s
name, but he would not tell it. He named the place Penuel and left limping due
to his thigh. This is why Jews during that time would not eat the sinew of the
hip.
Jacob meets Esau and bowed to the ground seven times in front of
him. Esau greeted him with joy and offered help, but Jacob asked to just pass
through and they parted ways. Jacob came to Shechem in Canaan and bought a
piece of land and there he made it know that he worshiped the Lord.
Dinah, Leah’s daughter, goes out and is raped by the son of a
Hivite prince named Shechem. He wanted
to marry Dinah, but to get revenge Jacob’s sons deceive him and the town by
first convincing Shechem and his father, Hamor, to be circumsized. Shechem and
Hamor then encouraged the entire town to be circumcised and once they had done
this, Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi killed Shechem, his father Hamor, and all the
men of the city to avenge Dinah. Jacob scolded them, for now the Canaanites
would be against them and so God instructs him to leave for Bethel to live
there.
So Jacob tells his family to spiritually prepare – put away
foreign gods, purify themselves, and change clothes and they left for Bethel.
As they traveled the cities were afraid of them and did not pursue him. So he
came to Luz (Bethel) safely and built an altar there.
The Lord appeared to Jacob again and blessed him and called him by
the name of Israel. He told him he would give him the land of his father
Abraham and that a nation and a company of nations and kings would come from
him. So he set up a pillar in that place and poured out a drink offering and an
oil offering and carried on with their journey, now going toward Bethlehem.
As they were traveling, Rachel went into labor and struggled. She
had a son Benjamin, but she did not survive the birth and was buried. Israel,
mourning, set up a gravesite and then went on. When he was close to Bethlehem
he set up his tent and dwelled there. While they were living here, Reuben his
son lay with Bilhah, Israel’s concubine and he found out about it.
He then went to see his father Isaac, who was 180 years old. Isaac
died and Esau and Jacob buried him. Jacob and Esau had both become very wealthy
and the land of Isaac could not support them, their livestock and servants
both. Esau moved to the hill country of Seir. Jacob stayed in Canaan with his
family and belongings. This is where his favored son Joseph was sold to the
Egyptians. They would have killed him instead of selling him, but Reuben talked
them into selling him. Then they dipped Joseph’s tunic in blood and told their
father he had been devoured by a wild beast. Jacob tore his clothes and could
not be comforted he so mourned the death of Joseph.
But, despite this Joseph becomes a great man of God and has great
success in Egypt, trusted by Pharaoh and being made a ruler there. He was also
wise and discerning, and when he was put as a ruler over Egypt he realized
there would be seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. So, in
preparation he went through all of Egypt and for seven years stored up a great
abundance of grain and food. When a severe famine came upon earth, Joseph
opened the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. Then people from all nations
came to buy grain from Joseph.
During this time, Jacob and his family are also suffering from the
famine and he sends his sons to Egypt to buy grain (still unaware Joseph is
alive). Joseph recognizes his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Joseph
takes care of his brothers but does not let them know who he immediately.
Through a series of meetings and requirements of them, including them going
back to their home and bringing their brother Benjamin back, he sees all of his
brothers. He then makes it known to them that he is Joseph their brother. He
deals kindly with them and Pharaoh instructs them to bring Jacob to Egypt where
he will give them choice land. So they go back and tell Jacob about Joseph and
Pharaoh and they move to Egypt. Jacob/Israel is overjoyed to see Joseph.
On their way to Egypt, God comes to Israel in a dream telling him
He will be with him in Egypt and build him into a great nation there and that
Joseph will be with him when he dies. So Israel is reunited with Joseph and
lives in Egypt in the land of Goshen for seventeen years. He asks Joseph to not
bury him in Egypt but to carry his bones back to where his fathers were buried
and Joseph promised him he would.
When Israel becomes sick in Egypt, Joseph takes his two sons,
Manasseh and Ephraim to him to be blessed. Israel tells him of the promises God
had made to him, to multiply his descendants, and he tells him he will bless
his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as his own. He places his hands on the two boys
and Joseph bows to the ground. Israel blesses them, blessing the younger,
Ephraim, as the older. When Joseph sees this he is upset, but Israel tells him
they will both be great, but the younger will be greater than the older.
Israel was about to die and went to bless his sons. He told Joseph
he had originally thought he would never see him again and he was overjoyed
because not only get to see him, but his sons also. He gave Joseph one portion
more than his brothers as a blessing.
These are the children of Israel and his blessing upon each of
them:
Rueben (1st born) – his birthright was taken because he
slept with Bilah. He would be “uncontrolled as water and not have preeminence”;
unstable; (mother – Leah)
Simeon & Levi – because of their anger & cruelty will be
scattered (see above Dinah). Simeon was stripped of Moses blessing. However,
the Levites were shown grace by God & were loyal to God. Became priestly tribe
but did not possess land. (mother Leah)
Judah – prominence & prosperity. As a young and old lion.
Abundance. In the Messianic line. “Lion of Judah” On the march through the
wilderness, Judah went first and had the largest population in Moses census. (Mother
– Leah)
Zebulun – will dwell on the seashore; haven for ships – (mother – Leah)
Issachar – strong & industrious –(mother – Leah)
Dan – “Judge”; eventually abandons his land allotment; omitted in
the list of tribes in Revelation; In the way, Falls backwards. (mother – Bilah)
Gad – valiant fighters. (Mother – Zilpah)
Asher – Rich in food & royal dainties. (mother – Zilpah)
Naphtali – beautiful words, military as graceful as a doe. (mother
– Bilah)
Joseph - most
distinguished, most directly linked to the Lord for help and blessings, strong
even in conflict – “bitterly attacked but remained firm” (mother – Rachel)
Benjamin – ravenous wolf; Both Saul’s are from this tribe – the first
King of Israel & Paul. (mother – Rachel)
Israel dies at 147 after these blessings and is embalmed in Egypt
and carried to the land of Canaan to be buried by his sons with his fathers as
he had requested.