Genesis 25:26 (NKJV) 26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
Jacob’s life was interesting.
From the day he was born, he was a deceiver. In fact, his name actually means “deceitful”.
Jacob spent his early life on a constant quest to steal his brother Esau’s blessings. And in the end, he was able to do so with the help of Rachel, his mother.
Later in life, God blessed Jacob tremendously.
In seeing this, you might wonder how someone who was a deceiver could be blessed by God. So, let’s take a closer look at his life overall.
After Jacob’s younger years, when he had stolen his brother’s firstborn rights, Jacob fled from home to escape being killed by his brother, and went to the land of his mother’s brother, Laban, where he planned on staying for a short time to allow his brother’s wrath to subside.
Once he arrived at Laban’s, he endeavored to stay and work for him for a short time. After a month, Laban asked Jacob what he required for wages. Jacob had fallen in love with Laban’s daughter, Rachel, and asked Laban to allow him to marry her.
Laban said he would allow Jacob to marry her if Jacob worked for him for 7 years, Jacob readily agreed to Laban’s terms.
After the 7 years, Laban made the arrangements for Jacob and Rachel to be married, but pulled a fast one at the last moment, deceiving Jacob into marrying his older daughter, Leah, instead.
After another 7 years of labor, Laban finally allowed Jacob to marry Rachel.
But the trickery continued for 20 years, with Jacob being repeatedly deceived by Laban.
In the end, Jacob had to steal away with his two wives, his children and all of their possessions, so Laban wouldn’t have the opportunity to hold them any longer.
It may have initially looked like Jacob’s early years of trickery and deceit had paid off when he stole his brother’s blessings. But the next 20 years of his life were spent with the shoe on the other foot, so to speak, being tricked by someone else.
Jacob had received the just reward for the things he had done to his brother and his father.
Now, as he left Laban after learning lessons at the hands of another deceiver, and he moved on to the next season of his life, God could begin to bless him and make his life fruitful.
So, even though Jacob’s early life was spent being a deceiver, he eventually reaped from the seeds he had sown.
We can learn many lessons from this. First, that God is just. And what we sow will bring fruit to our lives, even if it’s bad fruit.
Second, that God is merciful, and that even if we may not be a righteous man or woman initially, He can work with us if we allow Him to, teaching us valuable lessons from poor choices we may have made, and then using those lessons to help us teach others dealing with similar problems.
May we never think that anyone is beyond the reach of God’s hope, mercy and forgiveness.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808
401-315-0902
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