So . . . as we watch the story of Jacob unfold we recognize that his whole life was about the blessing of God. We see a person who wants to use God to obtain his blessings and watch him be transformed into a person who is willing to do whatever it takes to know God personally and intimately in Jesus Christ.
God made it clear that Jacob, the younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, would be the son of promise instead of Esau - just as Isaac, the younger son of Abraham and Sarah, was the son of promise instead of the older Ishmael. But as we watch the story unfold . . . we see trickery, deceit, lies, and many trying to help God do His job. We see throughout the story that Jacob wanted the right things but there was no sign that he wanted God - he didn't reach out for God, but only grabbed at God's blessings.
Jacob first manipulated Esau's birthright away from him for a bowl of stew and then we see Rebekah trick her husband's firstborn blessing onto Jacob instead of Esau through a meal and a goatskin overcoat. We see that this entire family is a "hot mess" - everyone sought the blessing of God without bending their knee to God. Does this ever happen to us? Have you ever thought that maybe God has a plan for your life but that you have ruined it by resistance, crafty manipulation, cunning deceitfulness or casual indifference?
Esau comforts himself by planning to kill Jacob - Rebekah intervenes and sends Jacob away to her family home in Haran - alone and afraid. He stops in Luz, lays his head on a rock for a pillow and goes to sleep. And . . . just like us - when we are thinking we are all alone - God was him. He dreams of a ladder that reached from earth to heaven - angels were ascending and descending. This was not a tower like Babel, but a ladder built by God. God would come down (in the pre-incarnate form of the Lord) to this lonely, fearful man - Jacob.
FINALLY, Jacob recognizes and says, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it . . . this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." (Genesis 18:16-17).
Jacob winds up in Haran - lives there for 7 years to obtain his bride (not the one he wants, but the one his father-in-law tricked him into marrying, Leah), then another 7 years to marry the one he loves, Rachel, along with their two maid servants who also become his wives. The Lord blesses him with eleven children (remember that "nation" the Lord promised - this is where it begins). He works another six years before the Lord calls him, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you." (Genesis 31:3).
Jacob realizes that he has to settle up with his brother, Esau - he has to apologize to him for all his trickery. But . . . he also knows Esau threatened to kill him so he's not surprised when he finds out his brother is coming to meet him . . . along with 400 of his men. So Jacob plans protection for his own family (wives, children, servants) and prays to God to deliver him from any harm from Esau. Jacob's prayer (Genesis 32:9-12) can be summed up to say, God, you have given me so much grace . . . give me more. Isn't it a beautiful thing that no matter how much God has already given us - we can ask him for more?
After Jacob sent everyone away, he is all alone - or so he thinks. A "man" wrestles with him all night long - until the sun began to rise. Who was this "man" that did not defeat Jacob throughout the night? Perhaps, it was the pre-incarnate Christ. We know that Jacob tells him, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." (Genesis 32:26) Jacob knows that no one can see God's face . . . and live. But, at this point - he did not care - he wanted God's blessing even if it meant giving up his life to get it. God gives Jacob (the grabber, trickster, deceiver) a new name - Israel (God fights, God strives) AND a new identity. But to have Jacob's heart, God is prepared to dislocate Jacob's hip - not a temporary "bone out of joint" but a crippling injury for the rest of his life.
Jacob meets with and deals with Esau; he enters the Promised Land and for the very first time he builds an altar to God at Shechem just as his grandfather Abraham had done (Genesis 12:7). He names the altar "El-Elohe Israel" (33:20) - "God, the God of Israel". Jacob finally stops struggling against God and now is able to receive from God.
Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel, dies in child birth with his twelfth son, Benjamin, "the son of my right hand". Jacob puts all his faith and hope in the God who will give the Son of his right hand to become the Son of his sorrow. This Son, Jesus, will one day stand in Samaria by what was called "Jacob's well" talking to a woman who will ask, "Are you greater than our father Jacob?" The answer will be a loud resounding YES!!!
- while Jacob was full of greed and deceit, Jesus was full of grace and truth.
- while Jacob began grasping for the blessings of God, even from the day of his birth, Jesus's birth evidenced his refusal to grasp the blessings of God. (read Philippians 2:6-7) Jesus let go of the riches of heaven so that he might make us co-heirs with him of all he stands to inherit.
- while Jacob was given a vision of a ladder on which angels ascended and descended, Jesus made it clear that he is the ladder, the link between heaven and earth, saying, "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
- while Jacob wrestled alone on a dark night to gain a blessing for himself, Jesus wrestled alone on a dark night in the garden of Gethsemane to gain a blessing for you and me . Jesus knew He was not merely going to walk with a limp for the rest of His life but was about to offer up his life.
- while Jacob could not look into the face of his adversary and live, God has given to us "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6)
We have been given the greatest blessing God could ever give us - He has given us Christ. We have everything we will ever need. "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) We don't have to grasp or grab - we only need to open our arms and receive.