Advanced Level, Block 3—Outcomes of Jacob and Joseph
Week 21
Jacob—Having to Flee
Point to Emphasize: Our maneuvering and manipulating of others shows that our hearts are only for ourselves.
Reference Reading: Genesis 25:21-22, 25-26 and footnote 261, 29-34; 27:1-45, Life-study of Genesis, msg. 67
Memory Verse: Doing nothing by way of selfish ambition nor by way of vainglory, but in lowliness of mind considering one another more excellent than yourselves; (Philippians 2:3)
Story Sample
Isaac and Rebekah had been married for twenty years and they still had no children. So, Isaac followed the pattern of his father Abraham and prayed to God for a child. God answered this prayer and gave them not only one child but two! They had twins, Esau and Jacob.
In those days three things were matters of great importance to the children in a family—being the firstborn, having the birthright, and receiving the blessing of the father. The firstborn held a special position with special privileges. One of these privileges was the birthright, which meant that the firstborn would receive the top inheritance. Then, when the father was becoming elderly and near death, he would give a blessing to one child—a special speaking regarding their future.
In the family of Isaac and Rebekah, there was a real struggling for these three things. The one who initiated the struggling for these things was Jacob, starting from the time he was in his mother’s womb. One of the meanings of his name is “heel holder,” because when they were about to be born, Jacob grabbed Esau’s heel to try to keep him from being the firstborn. Esau was a stronger baby, so Jacob did not succeed in being first. This shows that from the start, Jacob would always struggle to be first in order to have what he wanted.
Years later, Jacob also fought for the birthright. Another meaning of Jacob’s name is “supplanter”. A supplanter is one who manipulates others. To manipulate is to influence others in a clever, and many times even a tricky way to get them to do what you want. And this is what Jacob did—he manipulated Esau and tricked him out of his birthright. When Esau was very hungry, he sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. Esau was angry that he had been tricked in such a way, Jacob would do anything to get the things he wanted.
Jacob even took away the father’s blessing from Esau. When Isaac became very old and could no longer see well, Jacob disguised himself as Esau and tricked Isaac into thinking that he was Esau. So Isaac was also manipulated into blessing Jacob instead of Esau. Esau was furious! He wanted to kill his brother! So, Jacob was forced to flee and had to leave his loving mother and his father’s home. What a price Jacob had to pay for wanting his own way.
I think we all are like Jacob sometimes. We would trick or manipulate others into getting our own way. When I was a child, I would trick my sisters by talking them into doing what I wanted to do. Or I would be the “best” daughter by helping my mom around the house until she would let me have the new toy I wanted. Once I got what I wanted, I would return back to my ways of being sloppy and careless. I was bothered by that look of disappointment on my mom’s face when she realized what I had done. And I would have to leave the room to avoid that look. We all know of things to do in order to get our own way. We are just like Jacob in many ways.
Sometimes, we care only for ourselves and what we want, don’t we? You may have watched a neighbor boy trick his little sister out of a toy he wanted by convincing her that the toy was not good enough for her. Actually, it may have been more fit for her than it was for him, but the neighbor boy may have just wanted it for himself.
Jacob was always struggling to get what his brother had—being the firstborn, having the birthright, and receiving the blessing from his father. He used trickery and deception to gain it. He did not care that he robbed his own brother and deceived his own father. Jacob only cared for himself. He had no consideration of others. As long as he got what he wanted, everything was okay. But Jacob’s selfish actions had consequences. As the result of what he did, Jacob needed to flee his home, and he never saw his loving mother again. Having to flee was the outcome of Jacob’s caring only for himself.
We have to admit we are all like this. We all manipulate to get what we want. I hope that after hearing the story of Jacob, when we are trying to get what we want by using manipulation and trickery, we should all pause to consider what we are about to do and feel some shame.