Genesis 25:11-36:43

Our focus for this section of Genesis is going to be on the person of Jacob; and to do that, we are going to move quickly past the person of Isaac. This is not to say that Isaac has a lesser significance, and therefore we can skip him; but it is to say that our focus in this portion of Genesis should be on the creation of the promised nation God gave to Abraham. And if this is where our focus is, then it is Jacob we need to center on because it is though him that a significant leap is made in the forming of this promised nation.

If we’re getting to Jacob from Isaac, we need to understand a few things that happened in the life of Isaac. We find that just like his father Abraham, Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, also had trouble conceiving children. For years they tried to have a son, but still Rebekah remained barren. In so much that Isaac felt like the plan of God was threatened, and so he came before the Lord in prayer to remind God of His promise (Genesis 25:21). 

Immediately after this, God caused Rebekah to conceive, and this is when the narrative really begins to get interesting. Rebekah feels that there is a little bit of a war going on inside of her, and so this time, she goes to the LORD in prayer and asked what was happening to her and God told her that she had two sons and that two separate nations would come from them. In other words, they bargained for… twins!. God also tells her that against tradition, the older son would serve the younger (Genesis 25:22-23).

As the story unfolds, we are eventually introduced to two little boys— one named Esau, and one named Jacob. Esau, we find was a red-haired, hairy mess, and Jacob was a heel-grabbing troublemaker; and oddly enough these are characteristics that would identify their personalities and personal relationship with each other well into their adulthood. However, perhaps it is not so odd when we realize that their parents did not help this situation much since each parent was brash enough to select a “favorite” child. Rebekah selected Jacob to love more, and Isaac selected Esau to love more. Any parent reading this should immediately note the danger that this can create in the life of their family and this becomes more and more obvious as this narrative continues (Genesis 25:24-28). 

From verse 28, we are taken directly to what appears to be the young adulthood of these two brothers. We can safely assume many things at this point: We can assume that these two men had learned about God. We can assume that these two men had learned about God’s promise to them about their future heritage. We can also assume that they knew each other very well (as brothers tend to do). And this is what causes this next scene in the narrative— a multilevel scheme for Jacob to inherit Esau’s birthright and inheritance. 

Jacob, as we can tell from this situation, cared about spiritual things. He cared about blessing. He cared about what God would do through his family. He cared about the promise that one day he would rule over Esau— which his mother no doubt had told him about. And this is what caused a couple of ambitious moves in his life. He wanted a blessing so bad he could taste it; and as far as he was concerned, Jacob thought knew exactly how to get it.

So let’s see what Jacob’s ambitions lead to and what we might learn from his life. 

When God Isn’t In It, You Can’t Change It— Genesis 25:29-27:46

This is where we learn that Jacob first has his eye on Esau’s birthright. He knew what kind of man his brother had grown to be. He knew that Esau didn’t really care for spiritual things. He knew that all his brother really cared about at this point was hunting and being outside; and so Jacob capitalizes on this brother’s hunger to see if he could secure a ‘birthright victory.’ 

Once again, Jacob knew exactly what the birthright meant. He thought that if he could pull this off that it would settle the question of who would carry on the promised seed. Jacob was trying to take on himself, the changing of the birthright from Esau’s hands to his instead of leaving this up to God. 

In verses 29-34 we see how Jacob planned on doing this. Jacob made some food and wouldn’t you know, he was done at just the time his brother came in from a day of being out in the wilderness. Obviously, once Esau came in and smelled the food, his stomach let him know and he asks Jacob for some. 

Everything was going according to plan for Jacob. Food… check. Hungry brother… check. Now comes the exchange. Once Esau asks for the food, Jacob tells him to sell his birthright first. Esau consents and the deed is done… Esau sells Jacob his birthright for a single meal. 

It is important to stop right here for a moment and think about what just happened. This story (like many that we’ve seen) moves so quickly that you can hardly see any significance here— but what we’re looking at is the ploy of one individual to change his path, be the master of his own destiny, and gain spiritual significance his own way. At the other end, we have another individual who could care less for spiritual things and sold his right to have any spiritual significance at all with a single meal. 

If we are not careful, this can definitely happen to us. We can certainly be like Jacob and attempt to follow God on our own terms and make up what we believe to be spiritual or not. Or, we can be like Esau and stop caring for spiritual things altogether, so much so, that we lose any type of credible testimony and lasting legacy. 

So here is Jacob; the new owner of a birthright. And here is Esau; the proud owner of a new kind of shame. But the story isn’t over yet. Jacob had one more objective to complete— the securing of his father’s primary blessing. 

Once we get into chapter 26 we find that God renews his covenant with Isaac and prospers him financially despite several disputes over some wells in the land. After this, we find ourselves in chapter 27 and the clock has moved forward quite a bit and Isaac is now old and ready to give his sons his final blessing. As the oldest son, Esau was entitled to a double portion and the greatest honor of the blessing. And this is something that Jacob and his mother could not stomach.

Now, if deceiving your own brother is bad, then deceiving your own partially senile, hard of hearing, and mostly blind father is multiple times worse. But this is exactly what happens when Isaac wants to bless Esau. 

Rebekah overheard this conversation and actually came up with a plan to steal Esau’s blessing and they are successful. Rebekah wanted to secure the Messianic line for her favorite son, and does exactly this; however it did not come without its cost. Once Esau discovers what had happened, he immediately wanted to kill Jacob. Rebekah then comes to the rescue again convinces Isaac to send Jacob away to find a wife in Paddan-aram, but really this is an attempt to get Jacob to ‘lie low’ for a while so his brother can cool down a little bit. 

Before God Uses You, He First Changes You— Genesis 28:10-32:21

All of the pushing, all of the pulling, all of the deceit, all of successful trickery to get everything he ever wanted, and suddenly he’s on the run for his life. Someone once said, “You can get what you want, but you might lose what you had.” is true in Jacob’s case. He got what he wanted, but the cost was substantial. He would have to live with the fact that the very last act toward his father, on his death bed, was a lie he told instead of the words “I love you, dad.” He would have to live with the fact that when he was sent away, that this was the last time he would actually see his mother. He would have to live with the fact that he had absolutely wounded his brother, in so much that Esau literally wanted to kill him. Good job Jacob. Little did he know also that this little move was going to cost him years of his life when met his dear old, uncle Laban. 

Did God make a promise to Jacob? Yes. Did that give Jacob the right to make sure that promise was kept? No. Jacob had to learn the hard way that if God isn’t in what you are doing, then there is nothing that is going to make it happen. God would bless Jacob, but it was going to be on His terms, not Jacob’s.

As we approach God actually working in Jacob’s life, we are going to see God doing a lot of ground work in order to prepare him. Jacob thought he could just be what God wanted him to be on His own. God, however, works on His own terms. And before anyone is used of God, there is a change that must take place. And that is what this section of Jacob’s life is all about. 

This section starts out with Jacob on the run, and while he is resting for the evening, Jacob as a special dream. Here, for the first time, God confronts Jacob directly. At this point I believe it is important to notice what God didn’t say. God never rebukes Jacob for his actions. God never tells Jacob what he must change in himself. God simply lays out line by line His promise to Jacob (Genesis 28:10-15).

This is the beginning of the change in Jacob’s life. However, the rest of the journey to get to where God wanted him to be was not going to be easy. In fact, Jacob was going to face some of the hardest years of his life. Jacob would spend 20 years of his life in service to a man that Jacob discovers was just as deceitful and manipulative as he was. God often gives us a taste of our own medicine when He’s looking to change our lives. He let’s us see who we really are. 

If we fast forward through the narrative we find that Jacob ends up with two wives (Leah and Rachel— both daughters of Uncle Laban), he had multiple children, and had accumulated a tremendous amount of wealth (most of which he cheated his father-in-law out of) before God finally gave instruction to leave that area and go back to his homeland. 

When God Changes You, You know It— Genesis 32:22-32

Jacob obeys God, and this is where the pivot of change begins. Suddenly, we find Jacob in prayer to God before reuniting with his brother Esau after 20 years. You would think that this was a sufficient time to get over a wrong done to you, but Jacob isn’t convinced and this causes him to pray. This is the first prayer we see from Jacob and it is an absolutely beautiful one. It is a prayer of protection before he meets Esau: 

“And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.” Genesis 32:9-12

It’s amazing what a little faith and a little trouble can do for our prayer life. It can put us exactly where we need to be— directly in the hands of God. 

That very night, in the black stillness, God comes to Jacob once more. Remember, the last time Jacob met the Lord was 20 years before while he was running away from the promised land, and now God comes to him again as he is moving toward the promised land. 

However, this time, it’s a little different meeting. You see, God didn’t come in a peaceful dream, this time, God, in the form of a man starts a wrestling match with Jacob; and it lasts from the middle of the night until just before dawn. This was the fight of Jacob’s life. You see, Jacob was used to always coming out the winner of all of his encounters. He had beaten his brother. He had beaten his father. He had eventually beaten his uncle Laban. But in this match, Jacob was severely outmatched. God put Jacob’s thigh out of socket and he literally couldn’t fight anymore. Now, all that he had left to do, was to cling on to his “Heavenly Assailant.” After this event Jacob had no question as to who should be the Master of his life— God was to be his New and only Master. 

We also see from Jacob that along with his changing life, Jacob was beginning to have a new hunger despite his pain. He refused to let God go. If we can rewind a bite, his first attempted to obtain God’s blessing on his life was through deceit. Now, he wants God blessing by struggling, asking, and refusing to let go. This was something in his life that he realized that only God could do.

But here comes the question in verse 27, “And he said unto him, What is thy name” And he said, Jacob.” 

What this means is that Jacob’s old nature was going to be a problem— and so God makes some undeniable changes in his life: 

1. God gives Jacob a New Name— Verse 28 “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel (God Prevails): for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”
2. God gives Jacob a New Story— Verse 29-30 “And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that you dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the plan Peniel (Facing God): for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” 
3. God gives Jacob a fresh start— Verse 31a “And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him…” 
4. God gives Jacob a New Reminder— Verse 31b “… and he halted upon his thigh.” 

Jacob had no question in his mind if God met with him and if he had been changed. And just like Jacob, we know when God has changed us. There is a real, literal difference in us that we are fully aware of. But we should not be the only ones. Because as we look a little closer in the life of Jacob, we find one final major truth. 

When God Changes You, Others Should See It— Genesis 33:1-36:40

In this section we see Jacob finally meeting Esau. Part of Jacob’s reconciliation with God was to also reconcile with his brother, and this is exactly what happens. And notice how it happens: we see that Jacob has a new found courage. The first part of Genesis 33:3 says, “And he passed over before them…” There was no hiding, shifting, or avoiding. Jacob came directly to his brother. We also see that Jacob came with a new humility. In the second part of verse 3 we read “…and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.” As we continue reading you find that Jacob gave his brother generous gifts, Esau then warmly embraces his brother and accepts him, and the hate-filled brother of chapter 27 is now a reconciled one in chapter 33. 

Though the rest of this sections covers a scandalous rape of his only daughter, his sons (Simeon and Levi) murdering all involved, a false god dilemma because of Rachel, and ending with Esau’s genealogy account in chapter 36. In all of these narratives where Jacob is mention, we can tell that there is an extreme regard for righteousness and everyone around him can see it.