Psalm 37:5–7, 23–24
INTRODUCTION
The story of Jacob is one of the longer stories in the Bible. It is important because it shows God at work in human lives despite human failings. This story is one of blessing promised, blessing mishandled, and blessing received.
I. JACOB’S RESUME
Jacob, a descendant of Abraham, is the chosen one through whom the blessings promised to Abraham will flow to all people. The awareness of one’s place in the plan of God can easily be obscured by the details and duties of daily living. The temporal overshadows the timeless. Mundane matters can obscure mission.
You will recall the contours of Jacob’s life. He is one of a set of twins born in answer to fervent prayer. He and his brother Esau grew up in a rather dysfunctional family. The whole family disrespects the practice of inheriting family blessing. Esau, by bartering it for a bowl of lentils; Jacob, by resorting to trickery and deceit; Rebekah, by her scheme of deception; Isaac, by his plan of privately passing on the blessing in return for a good meal.
Esau’s enmity towards his brother results in Jacob being sent to find a wife among relatives far away. In the darkest and loneliest hour of his life Jacob receives a vision of a stairway to heaven and hears the voice of God addressing him from the top of the stairs and promising prosperity, posterity, and protection.
In his uncle Laban’s home, Jacob becomes the recipient of deceit and trickery. Laban substitutes Leah for Rachel at Jacob’s wedding. Jacob also marries Rachel but serves Laban to earn the privilege.
Though in service to the crafty Laban, Jacob is miraculously blessed. But he is not fulfilled and decides to return to his homeland. The biggest test of his life is to reconcile with his brother, Esau.
He wants to be alone on the last night before meeting with his brother. But in the middle of the night, he is confronted by a Stranger. Jacob fights for his life but cannot prevail. Finally, he surrenders and pleads for a blessing. He has been wrestling with a divine being who blesses him with a hip injury. Jacob will forever walk with a limp. Furthermore, his name is changed from Jacob (supplanter) to Israel (he struggles with God).
Despite his fears, Jacob’s reunion with Esau goes surprisingly well. He and his family are back in his homeland. Jacob renews his commitment to God at Bethel— the place where God appeared to Jacob when he was fleeing from Esau.
Jacob’s twelve sons become twelve tribes. While blessing his grandsons, Jacob recalls how God has watched over and guided his life.
II. INSIGHTS FROM JACOB’S LIFE
The saga of Jacob’s life, its setbacks and successes, offers profound lessons about one’s journey with God. Here are a few examples:
A. Personal encounters with God transform character.
Conduct is the fruit of character. There is a marked difference between Jacob’s life before and after the night of struggle. Jacob’s whole life changed when he realized the extent of his dependence upon God—a dependence memorialized by the limp.
B. God selects His servants, not on their merit but on His love.
Almost nothing we have seen so far about Jacob qualifies him to be one of the great people in the lineage of God’s blessings to humanity. His character is not desirable. But God makes audacious promises to a person who is undeserving of them (Gen 28:15). We see this same truth voiced by Moses concerning the people of Israel (Deut 7:7). God equips those He calls.
C. The life of God’s blessing might not be the life envisaged.
It is often claimed by some preachers that if one believes firmly in God, everything in life will turn out rosy. The gospel of prosperity attracts many followers. The idea that God will fulfill all your desires is a treacherous deception. Yes, God does satisfy our deepest hungers but often we do not realize what those hungers are. Instead, we live on transient wants and desires and think of these as the things that God ought to fulfill if we are faithful.
How many of God’s servants can you think of who had easy and prosperous pathways in life? Hebrews chapter 11 presents a listing of some giants of faith—none of whom had it easy in life (Heb 11:35–38).
“Let us remember that the life of God’s children in this world is a pilgrim life. We have not wisdom to plan our own lives. It is not for us to shape our future. . . . Too many, in planning for a brilliant future, make an utter failure. Let God plan for you . . . God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him.”1
D. God often uses difficulties to discipline His servants.
Laban was an unsavory character. But, in Laban, Jacob met his match—perhaps even his superior. Laban was made of the same stuff as Jacob—cruel, cunning, crafty, and self-serving.
It is difficult to find something good to say about Laban. He is not an admirable character or hero in this story. Yet it was because of Laban and all his tricks and all his meanness that Jacob finally began to develop humility.
God works in our lives through problems and problem people. Right now, there may be a Laban in your life or something that is a thorn in the flesh. Your prayers may be for God to remove that Laban. But perhaps before He does so, there is a discipline that God wants you to learn. The apostle Paul describes this kind of experience in 2 Corinthians 12:7–9.
E. God often disables before He enables.
God humbles us in order to build, not to crush. God often has to teach His servants to depend on Him rather than themselves. That is the lesson of Jacob’s limp—a constant reminder of his limitations.
Ellen G. White cautions: “Human strength is weakness, human wisdom is folly. Our success does not depend on our talents or learning, but on our living connection with God. The truth is shorn of its power when preached by men who are seeking to display their own learning and ability.”2
Perhaps God has also blessed you with a weakness so that you “lean not on your own understanding . . . In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Prov 3:5–6, NKJV).
F. God keeps His promises.
The story of Jacob is one of human failings and divine faithfulness. Late in life when Israel, formerly known as Jacob, is blessing Joseph and his sons, he declares, “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil” (Gen 48:15–16, NKJV).
CONCLUSION
God is faithful despite human faithlessness. In reviewing the story of Jacob, we will likely see reflections of our own lives—our weaknesses, compromises, moral, and ethical failures. But we must see more—the absolute faithfulness of God.
God does not give up on us! He does not call us one day and reject us the next. This is the blessedness of being God’s child. His acts of grace are not reversed. God will blot out our sins and imperfections, but He will not blot out our names. And He will bring us home safely. All glory be to Him.
1 Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1905), 478–479.
2 Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1882), 5:159.
Lowell C. Cooper is a retired general vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, MD, USA. Lowell and his wife, Rae Lee, live in Kennewick, WA, USA.
