The Life of Jacob: November 2009
Table of Contents
A Chronology of Jacob’s Life
Event Approximate Year B.C.
Abram born 1996
Terah dies (age 205; Abram 75) 1921
Isaac born (Abram 100) 1896
Isaac marries Rebekah (age 40) 1856
Jacob born (Isaac 60; 1836
Abram 160)
Abraham dies (age 175; 1821
Jacob 15)
Isaac blesses Jacob and Esau 1760
(age 76)
Jacob goes to Padan-aram 1760
(age 76)
Jacob marries Leah and Rachel 1753
Joseph born 1745
Jacob returns to Peniel 1739
Joseph sold into Egypt 1728
Isaac dies (age 180; Jacob 120) 1716
Joseph made ruler over Egypt 1715
Jacob goes down to Egypt 1706
Jacob dies (age 147) 1689
Joseph dies (age 110) 1635
Learning From Jacob
“By faith, Jacob . . . worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff” (Heb. 11:21).
He worshipped, leaning on his staff;
Behind him stretched a checkered
past;
A life of drifting chaff.
He might have crumpled, yet he
leaned,
And dying, still he worshipped Him
Who taught and pruned and
weaned.
Deceitful and deceived for years;
His children learned his scheming
ways
And bowed his head in tears.
Can we too feel with Jacob’s pain?
And can we own mistakes and
wrongs,
And turn it all to gain?
The Blesser still delights to bless;
A barren past bears fruit and flower,
If humbly, we confess.
C. P. H.
Passover, Red Sea and Jordan
The Life of Jacob
Jacob’s life is a fascinating study of God’s dealings with human nature in the lives of His own. We all can see something of ourselves in the lives of Jacob and his children, and we can and should learn valuable lessons from how God made all things work together for good for Jacob, in spite of his faults and failings. God was faithful to His promises to Jacob, while remaining faithful to His own holiness in His dealings with him.
Though Jacob was heir of the promises and valued God’s blessings, he did not seek them by faith, but tried in a sinful and deceitful way to obtain them: first in how he bought the birthright from his brother Jacob, and then in obtaining the blessing from his father by lying and deceit. As a consequence, Jacob became a wanderer for most of his life, but God was faithful to him, teaching Him, through many bitter personal and family lessons, to trust in God and not in himself.
At the close of his life, Jacob rose up to the height of God’s thoughts, and by faith he called all his sons before him and blessed them. Jacob, the supplanter, was, by God, renamed Israel, the prince with God. However, he and his descendents are frequently referred to by the old name instead of the new, as those walking in the character of the old instead of the new. Are we like Jacob? Do our lives show us as walking by our old nature or by our new one?
Jacob’s Four Pillars
In the lives of His own as recorded in Scripture, God sometimes shows us His ways by highlighting events with natural markers. We find this in the lives of some of the patriarchs, for we find that Abraham had four altars, Isaac had four wells, Jacob had four pillars, and Joseph had four garments. Of course, others had some of these same things, but in the lives of Abraham and his descendants, we find these four entities especially noted of God.
Since our issue concerns Jacob, let us look at the four pillars mentioned in his life. A pillar brings before us something that is lasting, and that serves as a permanent mark or documentation. It may be of some event or perhaps some record of distance covered, as in a “mile marker.” We find that Jacob set up four pillars during his life, each one indicative of a decision or position taken and the spiritual state associated with it.
Confidence in the Flesh
The first pillar that is mentioned was set up at Bethel, where Jacob spent his first night away from home, when he was compelled to run away to Padan-aram, to escape the anger of his brother Esau. God had graciously shown him the ladder reaching up to heaven, and He had made unconditional promises to him. Jacob had real faith and valued God’s promises, but he had a bad conscience, and this bad state of soul diluted his faith, making him uncomfortable in God’s presence. Because he valued God’s promises, he set up a pillar of stone, pouring oil on it — a type of the Spirit of God. But then he proceeded to attempt to make a bargain with the Lord, for his scheming nature had not yet been judged in God’s presence. He continued to count on his own cunning and his own strength, rather than completely trusting the Lord. I would call this pillar the pillar of confidence in the flesh.
No Confidence in the Flesh
The second pillar comes more than twenty years later, after Jacob had spent time working for Laban, had married his two daughters, and had become a wealthy man. Still he had not gotten right with God. As a result, he had spent twenty years in fleshly energy, he and Laban each seeking to outmaneuver and outwit the other. Now he had obeyed the word of the Lord and was returning to the land of his fathers. When the Lord told him to do this, He reminded Jacob that He was the same God who had met him in Bethel, where he had anointed the pillar and made the vow. What wondrous grace! When Laban pursued after and caught up with him, a heated exchange occurred, with each man accusing the other, while defending his own conduct. When Laban suggested making a covenant, it was Jacob that set up a stone for a pillar. Other stones were added to make a heap, which became a witness between Laban and Jacob.
This pillar testifies to the breakdown of natural relations, for neither Jacob nor Laban could trust the other. The flesh cannot be trusted, and thus Laban calls on God to be a witness and to watch over Jacob. He is saying, in so many words, that he cannot trust Jacob out of his sight. Likewise Jacob had learned not to trust Laban, for each man was scheming and plotting for himself. Let us call this the pillar of no confidence in the flesh.
Confidence in God
The third pillar comes several years later, after further trouble had come to Jacob’s family. During this time, Jacob had wrestled with the Lord and learned that he could not get the blessing by his own strength, but only by clinging to the Lord. He was slowly learning what it was to trust God for everything. But then he built a house in Succoth, and after moving on to Shalem, he bought property, both of which were not in keeping with the call of God and his pilgrim character. Along with these actions, his family came into contact with the world. His daughter became involved with Shechem, the son of Hamor, and the resultant fornication and subsequent bloodshed was a sad blot on Jacob’s testimony. It was only after all this that Jacob finally put away the idols from his household, and at the Lord’s command he went back to Bethel to build an altar there. For the second time the Lord tells Jacob that his name was no longer Jacob, but Israel. Again Jacob sets up a pillar in Bethel, but what a difference now! Through hard experience he has learned to trust only in the Lord, and with this pillar, he not only anoints it with oil, but he pours a drink offering on it.
The drink offering has a twofold meaning. It speaks of joy — the joy that God has in Christ in view of the work He did on the cross, but also the joy of the believer who is in communion with God as a result of that work. Coupled with this, the drink offering speaks of perfect submission to the will of God and a willingness to be “poured out” before Him. We see this same application in Philippians 2:17, where Paul is willing to be the drink offering, poured out on the sacrifice of the Philippian saints. This pillar is a “milestone” in Jacob’s life and marks real progress in his relationship with God. We may call this pillar the pillar of confidence in God, in contrast to the first pillar he set up in Bethel.
Giving up the Past for the Future
Finally, in the same chapter (Genesis 35), we have the pillar Jacob sets up on Rachel’s grave. Right from the first time that he had laid eyes on her, Jacob’s life had centered around his beloved Rachel. It was she whom he had first loved, for whom he had worked seven years, and whose children were closest to his heart. When he went to meet Esau, it was she and her son Joseph whom he put in the rear of his company, seeking to protect them above all the others. But now she dies in childbirth — the dearest object he had on earth. He was forced to let her go, yet his faith triumphed even in this severe trial.
First of all, he is able to change Rachel’s second son’s name from Benoni (son of my sorrow) to Benjamin (son of the right hand). This showed real faith and a heart that looked toward God Himself, who would bring blessing out of all this sorrow. Second, when Rachel is buried “in the way to Ephrath,” the comment is added, “which is Bethlehem.” Although Jacob doubtless did not know the details at the time, yet his faith looked on to future blessing in the One who would be born there. Micah 5:2 tells us concerning Bethlehem, “Out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting.” Benjamin is a type of Christ here, as the one who is first the “son of my sorrow,” but later triumphs as the “son of the right hand.” If Jacob must let go of that which was dearest to him on earth, God fills his heart, first with Himself, and then with a vision of future blessing, so that it is recorded in Hebrews 11:9 that he, along with Abraham and Isaac, were “heirs . . . of the same promise.” This last pillar, then, is the giving up of self and earthly desire. Rachel is replaced with Benjamin.
The Lord’s ways with Jacob have borne fruit, and from this point on he grows as a worshipper. He passes the last years of his life in peace, although having to own before Pharaoh that “few and evil have the days of the years of my life been.” But all this was in the past; the discipline of God had produced in his heart a fullness of joy and a vision of glory.
W. J. Prost
The God of Jacob
We may well wonder, as we read of the life of Jacob, why God is pleased to be called “the God of Jacob,” yet He is called “the God of Jacob” more often than that of any other Old Testament saint. Interestingly, Jacob himself first uses the term, “the mighty God of Jacob,” but only at the close of his life. In the failures of his life, Jacob learned to count on the promises of God. These promises were first conferred on Abraham, and then on Isaac.
An examination of the life of Jacob reveals to us his God. “The God of Jacob” is the God that Jacob came to know by experience. God spoke to him seven times during his life of wandering. These communications enlighten us as to what kind of a God He was to Jacob.
We may add that the Lord Jehovah was pleased to reveal Himself to Moses by the name — “the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6). The Book of Psalms has many references to “the God of Jacob.” And we read in Hebrews concerning the pilgrimages of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, “wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God” (Heb. 11:16). These three lived their whole lives as pilgrims. Their God, who never disappoints faith, has a special, heavenly city for them.
Jacob Seeking the Blessing
by Deceit
Much blessing was destined for the house of Isaac. Jacob was to be the recipient of it, but his father and mother taught him two things that were a snare to him. His father had self-gratification in view when blessing his two sons, and his mother added lying and deceit as the means to get it. Rebekah’s was the major sin, and thus she fades from view. But God could still deal in grace with Jacob. Jacob spent much of the rest of his life running from the problems these things caused.
God first spoke to him through a dream of a ladder to heaven. “Behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of” (Gen. 28:13-15). This sixfold unconditional promise begins with a statement of the true source of Jacob’s blessing: “I am the Lord God.” This stands in contrast to Isaac’s desire for savory meat. God blesses because of who He is. The subsequent experiences of Jacob teach him this. He was brought to lay hold of these six promises. The proof is seen at the end of his life in the way he blesses his sons, knowingly crossing his hands to bless the sons of Joseph.
Jacob in Padan-Aram
The second time the Lord spoke to Jacob was also by a dream, for he was not close to the Lord as Abraham. The relationship between Jacob and Laban had deteriorated, and Jacob must leave Padan-aram. As God had promised, He did not leave him. He reminds Jacob to return to Bethel to fulfill the promise Jacob had made. “The Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee” (Gen. 31:3). Jacob further tells his family what the Lord had said: “The angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred” (vss. 11-13). An important issue is whether Jacob had obtained all he had gained in Padan-aram through his own skill and cunning, or whether it was the Lord who had blessed him. If it was from the Lord, he must return to Bethel to acknowledge it as promised; if otherwise, Jacob could thank himself. Jacob was obliged to return back to the land of promise with his family and wealth, but he does not go straight to Bethel.
The Angel Wrestling With Jacob
When Jacob flees from Laban, the Lord defends him because of Laban’s injustice (not for Jacob’s integrity). Then after strong words are exchanged and a pillar is set up, they separate amicably. But Jacob must meet his brother Esau, who had said he would kill him. Could not Jacob trust the defense the Lord had already shown? The Angel of the Lord must wrestle with Jacob to bring him to trust in God. But Jacob would not cease striving until his thigh was out of joint; his faith then clings to God for the blessing. And the angel said, “Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after My name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Gen. 32:26-30). To appreciate properly God’s defense, it is necessary to know Him. Yes, Jacob gets the new name “Israel” for prevailing—he is beginning to know Him — but the Lord does not reveal His name to Jacob. The Lord had told him, “Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest.” But Jacob, in his experience, was not in the full appreciation of his God. He could only say, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Later he would be able to speak with intelligence of “the mighty God of Jacob.”
Jacob at Shechem
Jacob goes to Succoth and then turns aside to Shechem, for he is afraid to go to Bethel. But the hard experiences with his children and the men of Shechem make him move on. And God, who had protected him from Esau, reminds him the second time to “arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went” (Gen. 35:13). Jacob acknowledges that the Lord had delivered him in his distress, but there are idols and uncleanness in his house which must be put away. He hides them under the oak. These hindered him from meeting with God at His house — Bethel. The God of Jacob wants his company in holiness. Jacob understands this and responds. His holiness also causes fear to the cities around Shechem and keeps them from pursuing after Israel. It is not enough for Jacob to have the blessing without the Blesser. He must cleanse his house and go up to Bethel.
Jacob at Bethel
“God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon” (Gen. 35:9-14). Jacob had made the vow that if the Lord blessed him and brought him again to this place in peace, he would make the Lord his God and give Him a tenth. The God of Jacob has brought Israel to know Him, no longer as speaking from the top of the ladder in heaven, but in close proximity with Jacob at Bethel. Jacob gives Him an offering. The God of Jacob adds a seventh promise to those He had given at the beginning. He adds, “Kings shall come out of thy loins.”
Jacob at Beersheba
The ten sons of Jacob bring back Simeon from Egypt with the astounding news that Joseph is still alive. Joseph is now in the center of God’s dealings with Jacob. Jacob begins the journey down to Egypt. He pauses in Beersheba to offer a sacrifice to the God of his father Isaac. At that time, “God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes” (Gen. 46:24). God, speaking to him in a vision by night and calling Jacob’s name twice, emphasizes how far His ways were from Jacob’s. He had said, “All these things are against me.” The events concerning Joseph were blessing beyond Jacob’s thoughts. The God of Jacob had worked blessing through the worst sins of Jacob’s ten sons. The very son that Jacob thought was dead became “the preserver of life” for the whole family. The God of Jacob can take the worst things that His people do to prove the best of what He does (Rom. 8:28).
Jacob in Egypt
Jacob was nourished the last seventeen years of his life by Joseph. Under the care of his son, the God of Jacob made him a blesser and a worshipper. He blesses Pharaoh. He blesses the two sons of Joseph, claiming them as his own sons. “By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff” (Heb. 11:21). He blesses Joseph, repeating what God had spoken to him the first time, “God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.”
The life of Jacob is full of examples that demonstrate God’s provision and care. With good reason, God says, “Jacob have I loved.” May we each enjoy a sense of it as we go through the experiences of life, for Jacob’s God is our God.
D. C. Buchanan
The Hollow of Jacob’s Thigh
“Jacob was left alone” (Gen. 32:24). This was the occasion of his greatest blessing. The beginning of his spiritual history was at Bethel (ch. 28), but here he is thoroughly broken down and receives that wonderful name of Israel.
Notice how a crisis like this is often the moment of richest spiritual blessing. Jacob had just escaped from Laban, only apparently to fall into far worse hands — those of his offended brother Esau. Now even God seemed against him, for “there wrestled a man with him.” Later on in his history, this same Jacob uttered the cry, “All these things are against me” (Gen. 42:36). But in both cases the suffering was the precursor of blessing. The process of breaking us down is often long, but there cannot be real blessing to our souls apart from it. The experience of God’s children in all ages attests to this. Paul is let down in a basket before he is caught up to the third heaven. If God is dealing with us, however painful the process, the blessing is sure to follow, if we only get low enough before Him. It is not great or prominent gifts we need so much as to have the hollow of our thigh touched — to have no confidence in the flesh, for when we are weak, then are we strong. But we do not like to admit we are weak, and God has to wrestle with us as He did with Jacob, not to prove He is stronger than we are, but to make us conscious of our weakness and that we may lean upon Him for strength.
Wrestling or Clinging?
Jacob continued wrestling until the hollow of his thigh was touched and out of joint. He could then no longer wrestle, but he could cling, and he did. It is not now God wrestling with Jacob, but Jacob clinging to God, and this is what it ought to be with all of us. If we cling to another, it implies that we trust in his strength; if we wrestle, it shows that we have confidence in our own. Are we clinging or wrestling? Weakness clings; strength wrestles. Which is it with us? Have we learned how to cling to God? It is in doing so we find blessing. It is one thing for God to lay hold of us, and quite another for us to lay hold of Him. Only felt weakness knows how to do that. “To Him our weakness clings,” as we sometimes sing (Little Flock Hymnbook, #316).
“Let me go, for the day breaketh.” Ah, Jacob, you can let go now! The day has come. Is that Jacob’s thought? Far from it. “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me,” he says. Day must have been very welcome after such a night of travail, but to Jacob, God was better than all. And notice, it is from the very One who has caused Jacob’s thigh to be out of joint that he expects the blessing. And he was right. Have we learned to know God thus — that He only afflicts in order to bless — only weakens to make room for His strength? Perhaps you have had some affliction. Have you laid hold of God in it and cried, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me”? There is blessing behind the trial, as there was for Jacob. It was painful to have his thigh out of joint — perhaps more painful to confess what he was — but what a blessing follows! God does not afflict for affliction’s sake, but only to prepare the ground for the blessing in store. Are we ready to say to God, “Thou mayest take everything away from me; only give me Thyself; I will not let Thee go”?
A New Name
God said, “What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.” There must be the fullest confession if we want the blessing. If God is not to have any reserve towards us, we must keep nothing back from Him. Jacob confessed what he was — “I am the supplanter.” He learns two lessons here, which we also must learn — his weakness and his sinfulness. His weakness was demonstrated by his thigh being out of joint, and his sinfulness in that he was a supplanter. And now that these two lessons have been learned, God can come in and say to him, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel.” What a change! But so it is. “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people” (Psa. 113:7-8).
Why are we not more blessed? The simple answer is, We do not come to the end of ourselves. The poor and the needy, as our psalm tells us, and those who become weak, like Jacob, are those whom God can make princes. But there is a further question: How is this condition to be reached? By having to do with God, and by getting often into His presence. By seizing every opportunity of being alone with God, we learn that it must be Christ and not self.
And then God interprets the name for him. “As a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” It was his weakness that prevailed, not his strength. Yes, it is our weakness that has power with God, just as an infant’s cry has power with a mother more than the cry of a strong man. Why does a mother run so eagerly at the cry of her babe? It is the cry of helplessness, and until we learn our utter weakness, we shall never have power with God. It was not the strong Jacob of verse 24 but the weak Jacob of verse 25 that prevailed. This is brought out in Hosea 12:4, where we read concerning Jacob, “Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him.”
It was a wonderful name Jacob received. But he was not content — he wanted to know something else. He said, “Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name.” With Jacob now, the desire is to know God, for he is looking away from himself. He is in the presence of God, and all else is forgotten. “I will not let Thee go! Tell me Thy name.”
The Place of Weakness
“As he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh” (Gen. 32:31). We must ever keep in the place of weakness, for it is the place of power. Jacob here was like Paul afterwards who could say, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities.” Israel always had to return to Gilgal, and Paul had a thorn in the flesh. We have no resources in ourselves. Jacob halted upon his thigh; nevertheless, he had prevailed. He had to meet Esau now with a shrunken sinew, but it taught him not to trust in his own natural strength, but in the One who had weakened him and made him strong.
Leaning and Worshipping
Having looked at Jacob’s spiritual history, we would now conclude by touching upon the close of his life. We refer to Hebrews 11:21, where we read, “By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.” It is the only mention of him in this chapter, but he is seen as a worshipper, and his staff denotes his strangership. With his staff he passed over Jordan at the commencement of his wanderings, and now he is on the verge of the grave, and it is still the staff, but how different, how changed the man who leans upon it! It is the sequel to the hollow of the thigh being touched. The lesson has been learned — he leans. The one who can worship and bless others must himself be dependent. And can we ever afford to be anything else? To Jacob everything was now a wilderness, for he was outside the promised land. But what a moral grandeur invests this aged pilgrim! He blesses the sons of Joseph, and he worships God.
R. E., Christian Friend
Lessons From the Life of Jacob
The ways of God toward man, however they may vary in form in succeeding dispensations, remain the same in principle. As vividly presented in the Old Testament history, they lay hold of our hearts and command our attention, whereas the doctrines which embody them are often but little apprehended and, alas! are readily set aside as having but little application to our daily life and walk. Besides this, there is the danger of the mind being in exercise with doctrines rather than the heart and conscience. We need to preserve the character of the “little child” who learns at first not by doctrine, but by observation of persons and facts to which his attention is drawn. Hence the importance of the Old Testament, by which we discover how truth is coordinated and in what manner it should affect the heart.
Bethel, the Dreadful Place
Jacob affords an instance of the heart’s workings. He was not a “profane” man, like Esau. In his own way he wanted to be right, and he coveted earnestly the promised blessing, but instead of waiting God’s time, he tried to obtain it for himself, with the result that he had to leave his home and flee to Padan-aram. On his journey, God sent him a wonderful dream, speaking to him from the top of the ladder upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending, affording unmistakable evidence that God would continually minister to his needs. In the morning, on awakening, he called the place “Bethel,” the house of God. He was made conscious of God’s presence, but this was more than he could bear, and he promptly left what to him was a “dreadful” place because it was “the gate of heaven” and continued his journey alone (Gen. 28). In his subsequent history, it is noteworthy how he avoided Bethel. Desirous though he was of obtaining blessing as an heir of promise, he was unprepared to meet God and have to do with Him in a close, personal way. But God’s grace pursued him. Twenty years after he had seen the vision, while still in Padan-aram, God appeared to him, saying, “I am the God of Bethel. . . . Arise, get thee out from this land.”
The Strange Gods
Who would have thought that “strange gods” would be found in Jacob’s household? But so it was. We too have to learn that our hearts are not to be trusted. Unless we are walking with God, our hearts and consciences being brought into the light and judged there, we may find ourselves going on with all kinds of evil things, while at the same time there may be a great deal of outward earnestness, a show of piety, and a seeking after blessing.
We must not trust ourselves. Our only safety is to have everything tested by the light of God’s Word and to walk in nearness to the Lord, in humility and dependence upon Him, that we may learn His mind, know more of communion with Himself, and thus, as kept by Him, escape both the perils and the seductive influences of the scene around us. The Lord give us to take to heart the lessons we see exemplified in Jacob.
W. J. Lowe
Jacob’s Family Character
Nahor was part of the family of Terah, the father of Abram, but when Terah and Abram obeyed God’s call and left Ur, he and his wife continued in Mesopotamia. They evidently thrived there, children were born to them, and their goods and property increased. They pursued an easy and respectable journey across the world, but they did not grow in the knowledge of God and bore little or no testimony to His name. The character of Nahor’s family was thus formed. They were not in gross darkness like the people of Canaan. They had a measure of light derived from their connection with Terah and Abram, and as descendants of Shem, but all that was sadly dimmed by the cherished principles of the world from which they had refused to separate themselves. And a family character and standing were thus formed.
Bethuel
Bethuel, the son of Nahor, flourished in the world, and he, in turn, had a son named Laban, who evidently knew how to manage his affairs well and to advance himself in life. With the arrival of Abraham’s servant, however, a fresh energy of the Spirit visited this family. They were not in the total darkness of the heathen, and as the call of the God of glory had before disturbed the state of things in Terah’s house, so now the mission of Eliezer disturbed the state of things in Bethuel’s house. Eliezer, God’s servant as well as Abram’s, came to Bethuel’s house to draw Rebecca out of it and to lead her on that very journey which, two generations before, the call of the God of glory had led Abram. In this way, a fresh act of separation was produced in this family.
Rebecca
Rebecca, we know, came forth at this call. But her character had been already formed, as it is with us all, more or less, before we are converted. The moment of quickening arrives, and the separating call of the Lord is answered. But it finds us of a certain character, derived from nature, from education, or from family habits, that we take with us across the desert from Mesopotamia to the house of Abram. This is serious, and the story of Rebecca teaches these serious lessons to us. The well-known history sadly betrays what we may call the family character. Laban, her brother with whom she had grown up, was a subtle, knowing, worldly man, and later we find Rebecca exercising the same principles. In procuring the blessing for her son Jacob, we see this Laban-style leaven working mightily. She had a mind too little accustomed to repose in the sufficiency of God and too much addicted to leaning on its own inventions.
We have to watch against the peculiar tendency of our own mind —to rebuke nature sharply, that we may be sound in the faith (Titus 1:3) — not to excuse it because it is nature, but rather the more to mortify it for His sake, who has given us another nature.
Jacob
Jacob got his mind formed by the same earliest influence. All his days he was a shrewd, calculating man. His plan in getting the birthright first and then the blessing, his scheming while working for Laban, his confidence in his own arrangements rather than in the Lord’s promise when he met his brother Esau, and his lingering at Shechem and settling there instead of pursuing a pilgrim’s life through the land like his fathers—all this betrays nature and the working of the old family character. How much we need to watch the early seed sown in the heart and to watch the seed which we are helping to sow in the hearts of others!
We know full well the guile that Rebecca and Jacob practiced with Isaac, but the holiness of the Lord consumed every bit of it. Nothing came of this subtlety and fleshliness. Isaac lost his Esau, Rebecca never saw Jacob again, and the calculating Jacob found himself in the midst of toils, an alien from his father’s house for many years. No blessing came of all this; all was disappointment and rebuked by the holiness of the Lord.
The Work of Grace
But it remains for us to see grace assuming its high, triumphant place and attitude. Its holiness is established thus by the Lord with great decision, setting aside all advantages which sin had promised itself, and then grace reigns. Even the misery to which his sin had reduced Jacob only sets off the glory of the grace. Jacob had to lie down alone, friendless, uncared-for, unsheltered, the stones of the place his only pillow. But grace, which turns the shadow of death into the morning, was preparing a glorious rest for him; he listened to the voice of wondrous love, and he was shown worlds of light in this place of solitude and darkness. He dreamed, and saw the high heavens linked with that very dark and barren spot on which he then lay. He heard the Lord of heaven Himself speaking to him in words of promise. He saw himself, though so erring, so poor, and so vile, thus associated with an all-pervading glory. The holiness of grace still left him a wanderer, but the riches of grace told him of present consolation and of future glories.
The New Family Character
There is then such a thing as family character, and the recollection of this should make us watchful and jealous over all our peculiar habits and tendencies. When we are dealing with others, the memory should make us considerate and of an interceding spirit, disposing us to plead this fact that there is family character or force of early habit and education working more or less in all of us. Let us also remember that if we must lay aside a character and certain habits with which birth and upbringing have already connected us, so are we debtors to exhibit that character with which our birth and education in the heavenly family have since connected us. Let the old man go down in us and the new man rise and assert his place in us! Let the character which we have gathered from natural ties or natural habits be watched against, and the character of our heavenly birth be cherished and expressed to His praise, who has begotten us again as alive to and with Himself from the death in which we lay.
J. G. Bellett, adapted
Jacob and Judah
Jacob’s natural penchant for cheating and scheming in order to obtain God’s blessing caused him much sorrow and brought down the discipline of God. As usually happens, this way of life had a sad effect on his family, too. Yet Jacob eventually profited by God’s ways with him, and God’s grace worked in his family, too. In no one is this more evident than in Judah.
Not much is said of Jacob’s sons and their character until Genesis 34, when their anger at Shechem’s fornication with their sister Dinah caused them to act in a deceitful way with the men of that city. Eventually, they murdered all the men of the city and took their wives and children captive. Simeon and Levi took the lead in all this, and although Jacob was upset by what they had done, he must have recognized his own character coming out. Later, it is recorded that Reuben committed fornication with Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine, and again, although Jacob heard of it, he evidently said nothing. Finally, in Genesis 37-38, we find sin in Jacob’s family becoming worse. Simeon and Levi were violent men, but there is no record that they were immoral. Reuben committed an immoral act, but later he interceded for Joseph when his other brothers wanted to kill him. Judah, however, embodied both sins.
Judah
Judah was instrumental in suggesting that Joseph be sold into Egypt, knowing that to sell him as a slave in those days was tantamount to a death sentence. Not only did he want Joseph killed, but his avarice found a way to profit by it. Then, in chapter 38, the sad history of Judah’s family is recorded — his marriage to the daughter of a Canaanite, his son Onan’s sin and subsequent death, his immorality with own daughter-in-law, and his subsequent double standard in ordering her burnt for her adultery. By human standards, Judah was clearly the worst one of the family, for he was both violent and immoral, and in a worse way than his brothers. Simeon and Levi at least could claim some cause for their violence, but Judah’s hatred of Joseph had no basis. Reuben had committed an immoral act, but Judah was far worse in seeking out a woman whom he thought was a harlot and then condemning his daughter-in-law for allegedly doing the same thing.
We do not hear of Judah again until chapter 43, when Jacob asks his sons to go to Egypt the second time to buy food. Then it is Judah who protests to Jacob, solemnly quoting Joseph’s words and recognizing the futility of going down without Benjamin. It is Judah who offers to be a surety for Benjamin and to bring him home safely. Finally, on the return journey, when the silver cup is found in Benjamin’s sack, it is recorded that “Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house.” Evidently the grace of God had worked in Judah’s soul, for he not only takes responsibility for Benjamin, but he takes the leadership among the brothers, although he was not the eldest.
Confession and Intercession
When they meet Joseph and are charged with theft, it is Judah who is the spokesman and who admits their guilt. He well knew that Benjamin had not stolen the silver cup, but the grace of God had so worked in his soul that he recognizes the justice of what had happened. More than this, he recognizes God’s hand in it all and includes himself and all of his brothers in the sin, for he says, “God [not Joseph!] hath found out the iniquity of thy servants” (Gen. 44:16). When Joseph proposes that only the apparently guilty one (in this case, Benjamin) need suffer any penalty, it is Judah who so tenderly pleads for Benjamin, offering to take his place in being a slave.
Full repentance had taken place, the sin had been thoroughly judged, and now Joseph can reveal himself to his brethren. What a triumph of the grace of God! We may well ask what had made the difference. No doubt God had been working in Judah’s soul, bringing him to repentance. In Benjamin we see a type of Christ, for he was the only one of the brothers who had not been involved in plotting against Joseph. Yet it was in his sack that the silver cup was found —a type of Christ who bore sins that were not His own. It is this that broke Judah down, for he knew that if Benjamin became a slave, he would be suffering for their sins, not his own. His willingness to take that place showed that he had really owned his own sin before God.
The History Opened
Before Jacob
It seems that the Lord had been working in Jacob’s heart too, and we can well imagine the scene when Jacob’s sons returned home with the amazing news that Joseph was still alive and was governor over the whole land of Egypt. The Word of God draws the curtain of silence around the discussion that must have taken place, but what a revelation must it have been! The whole history must be told — the hatred of Joseph, the plotting against him, their selling him into Egypt, the stripping him of his coat of many colors and subsequent deception with the blood of the kid — all must be told. What tears there would be, what sorrowful owning of guilt! Yet in the midst of all this, it seems that a special bond was forged between Jacob and Judah. Although the Scripture does not give details, each must have owned his sin, Judah in wanting to sell his brother, and Jacob in having shown his sons a pattern of dishonesty and deceit. As a result, when Jacob goes down into Egypt, he sends Judah ahead to Joseph “to direct his face unto Goshen” (Gen. 46:28). There was a confidence and a bond between them because of common sin and common repentance.
The Order of Blessing
Finally, we see the blessed result of this work of God in the blessings of Jacob. The brethren are dealt with in order of birth, and thus Reuben comes first. There is no record that he ever repented of his immorality, and the sin is laid at his door: “Thou shalt not excel” (Gen. 49:4). Next Simeon and Levi are named, and they likewise had not repented of their violence and cruelty. Their actions are condemned, and they were to be divided and scattered in Israel.
Judah is next, and we might well wonder what Jacob will say of him, for surely his sin was worse than any of the previous three. But what a surprise! “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.” Not a word said about his failure, but only blessing pronounced on him. He became the royal tribe, and “unto him [that is, Christ] shall the gathering of the people be.” The result of true repentance and owning of the sin is that it is blotted out before God, and blessing follows, not only in the short term, but leading on to Christ, who would spring, in the natural line, from that same tribe of Judah.
With care and detail, God draws the characters of His people in Genesis. We see the dark picture, then the curtain drawn, and finally the wonderful sunshine of blessing! Blessing still follows repentance today!
W. J. Prost