* DISCLAIMER: After taking a look around the site, I hope by now my approach to understanding these stories is clear. These articles are not sermons passing  along God’s instructions for us. Rather, my intent is to illuminate the problems man has been facing time immemorial due to the inherent flaws in our nature, and provide the lessons we can take away from the failures and successes of those that have come before us. A secular sermon if you will. My deductions are by no means “the way” or the only interpretation of meaning. I simply hope through my sharing of them you are able to see patterns between them and the lessons you have learned in your own life.

The Story of Jacob: Below are the stories of Jacob’s life after he departs home, having tricked his father and stolen his brother’s blessing yet again. Through Jacob’s journey we learn that the blessings of life cannot be seized without struggle and hardship, responsibilities grow in tandem with our blessings, and that we shouldn’t sell the magnanimity of others short.

Jacob Starts a Family (Genesis 28:10 – 31:55): God visits Jacob in a dream during his journey to stay with his uncle Laban. In this dream he receives God’s promise of protection and prosperity, while also envisioning a “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN!” Upon awaking from this dream Jacob knows God is on his side and he sets off with a newfound confidence. Jacob arrives in Paddan-Aram, the land of his uncle, and happens upon his cousin Rachel who he is immediately smitten by. Rachel takes Jacob back to her home to meet her father Laban, where Jacob professes his desire to marry Rachel. Given their familial ties, Laban gladly grants his request in return for 7 years of labor.

Now, you must understand that Laban is Jacob’s mother Rebekah’s brother… and Laban, like Rebekah, had a sneaky way of getting his way. Laban also had another daughter Leah, who was older than Rachel, and Laban is a man of tradition and wouldn’t stand for his youngest getting married before his eldest. So on Jacob and Rachel’s wedding night Laban sneakily sent Leah to bed with Jacob in replace of Rachel. When Jacob awoke the next morning he was flummoxed to find that he had just consummated his marriage to Leah! Laban consoles Jacob with the offer to bless his marriage to Rachel in return for an additional 7 years of labor.

Jacob’s sister wives would begin a child bearing feud, with Leah being gifted with many children throughout the early years while Rachel struggled to get pregnant. In desperation, Rachel offers her servant to Jacob who bears him many sons on Rachel’s behalf. As a counterattack, Leah also offers Jacob her servant to impregnate, who also bears Jacob more sons. To put an end to this human creation competition, God blesses Rachel with a son of her own, named Joseph.

Jacob, now a father and husband to many, became weary of living under his uncle’s roof so he asked Laban for approval to return to his homeland with his family. Grateful for Jacob’s efforts, Laban inquired as to what he could possibly give Jacob in recognition of his labor as a parting gift. Jacob requested to take only the spotted sheep from Laban’s flock, and emphasized the reason for the pattern identification system as a show of trustworthiness and proof that he had not stolen any additional non-spotted sheep from Laban as his own flock would undoubtedly grow organically. Laban agrees to the terms, but then quickly dispatches his sons to take all of the spotted sheep far away so Jacob cannot have them.

Being patient and crafty, he is still the Jacob from the last article after all, Jacob employs an ancient animal husbandry trick that happens to influence the color patterns of offspring thus creating more spotted sheep from non-spotted parents. Through this trick Jacob is able to extract his own flock from Laban’s despite Laban’s efforts to sabotage the deal, and Jacob’s flock flourished turning Jacob into a rich man.

Growing jealous of Jacob’s resilient wealth creation capability, Laban’s sons begin to conspire as to how they can settle the score. Laban also became cold towards Jacob as his jealousy and selfishness festered. With perfect timing, God appears to Jacob once more and commands that he return to the home of his parents. Jacob gathers up his family and all of their belongings, his wives practically ransack Laban’s home in response to their own mistreatment, and they head off to reconnect with Isaac and Rebekah.

Laban catches wind of Jacob and family’s location a few days later and sets off in pursuit. The night before Laban’s arrival at Jacob’s camp, God spoke to him in a dream warning him to be thoughtful about what he says to Jacob. During their encounter the next day, Laban projects a front similar to King Abimelech when he appears hurt that Jacob had run off without letting him say goodbye to his daughters and thanking him for his hard work.

Not to be fooled by this presentation of victim naivety, Jacob explains that he was afraid Laban would not let them go given the harsh terms of every agreement they had ever made, and the trickery Laban pulled when he tried to shrink the flock that would be gifted to Jacob.

Perhaps remembering God’s message from the night before, Laban concedes, acknowledging his daughters and his grandchildren are with Jacob now, and that his time for controlling them is over. He extends an invitation to sign a peace treaty with Jacob, and Jacob accepts. The two feuding men promise they will do no harm to each other but also as they move on with their separate lives, that Jacob will take good care of his wives in the absence of Laban’s oversight.

Jacob and Esau Make Amends (Genesis 32:1 – 33:20): After a hard 20 years of labor and family life, Jacob had grown to be a more gentle man and wished to make amends with his brother. Before beginning his journey home, as commanded by God, Jacob sends out messengers to inform Esau of his impending arrival. Much to Jacob’s horror, the messengers return with a message from Esau: he is on HIS way with an army of 400 men! In an effort to disarm Esau’s encroaching hostility, Jacob prepares a series of advanced parties full of livestock as gifts for Esau. After dispatching all of his livestock, servants, and finally his family members, Jacob spends a final night in the camp alone.

On this night, Jacob was visited by God in the form of a man. Jacob was unwitting of who this figure was but this man attacked Jacob and the pair wrestled all night. At dawn, God proclaimed “your name is now Israel for you have struggled with both God and man and have won.”

After God’s departure, Jacob observed Esau and his 400 man army appear in the distance. Much to his pleasant surprise, Esau was hurriedly leading the way and when the two finally met, Esau embraced Jacob affectionately. Esau inquired about the advanced parties he encountered, for which Jacob explained God had blessed him with a flourishing flock and family and that he had extended his flock and servants as gifts to Esau. Esau humbly declined the offer and extended his men to escort Jacob and family back to Canaan.

Jacob’s Family’s Honor is Challenged (Genesis 34:2 – 35:14): Arriving back at Canaan, Jacob and family settle in a town called Shechem. However a sinful act would haunt their arrival home. The eponymous prince Shechem laid eyes on Leah’s daughter Dinah, took her, and raped her. Shechem proclaimed he romantically loved Dinah and begged his father Hamor to negotiate his marriage to her with Jacob. Hamor made a compelling case that the joining of their families would be wonderful for trade and harmony as Jacob’s large family has recently moved into their town and could use the social and commercial accelerant of familial ties.

Dinah’s brothers were scolding mad. Shechem begged them and Jacob to allow him to marry Dinah. Using his pleas as the preface to revenge, the brothers accepted his request under the condition that Shechem and all the men of the town were to be circumcised as they were. This would merely turn out to be a minor insult to the fate that would ultimately befall them. After Shechem and all the town’s men had been circumcised, Dinah’s brothers drew swords, slaughtered every man in town, including Shechem and his father Hamor, and ransacked the town taking all treasures, women, and children for themselves.

God appeared once more to Jacob and commanded him to move on to Bethel where his family and descendants would be blessed for generations.

Understand: Surprisingly the “Story of Jacob” is one of redemption. After stealing his brother’s blessings twice over, it could be said that Jacob repented through 20 years of trials that his uncle Laban put him through. 20 years of hard labor culminating in trickery to diminish his riches sounds like poetic justice after what he did to Esau. God himself physically battled with Jacob to test his fortitude and bend him into submission, but Jacob persevered and grew wiser and softer throughout the process.

Viewing Jacob’s story through his eyes, concepts like justice seem to be the background and not the focus. The focal point appears to be a man’s rise to responsibility. A rise from what once was a manipulated and spineless little boy who got more than his rightful share of blessings (as depicted in the tricks Rebekah influenced Jacob to pull against his brother and father) to the heights of burden-bearing manhood. Jacob wrestled with both men and God, and he rose to all occasions when his resolve was challenged, earning him the name “Israel” (one who struggles with God).

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

-Uncle Ben, Spider Man

What: Verse/quotation	So What: Moral of the story	Now What: Application/technique
33:4 – 11 “Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him affectionately and kissed him. Both of them were in tears. Then Esau [asked] ‘what were all the flocks and herds I met as I came [to you]?’ Jacob replied ‘they are gifts [sic] to ensure your goodwill.’ ‘Brother I have plenty’ Esau answered. ‘Keep what you have.’ ‘No, please accept them for what a relief it is to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the smile of God!’	We often employ the self-defense mechanism of expecting the worst from people, particularly the people we think have a justified grievance against us. In an effort to protect from getting let down, our internal monologue erodes any vulnerable hope that we could be worthy of re-connection. This can be harmful as we prevent ourselves from taking action to apologize, or compromise without actually integrating any input from the other party. We shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves, and we must remember that everyone else is the main-character of their own story and may be feeling the same way in another relationship. It is better to give the benefit of the doubt to others and be vulnerable in attempting to repair meaningful relationships. You never know what someone else is thinking or feeling until they tell you. Don’t sell someone else short.	Give the benefit of the doubt. Could a text message that offended you possibly have been lost in translation? Was a rude comment you overheard perhaps taken out of context? Was someone simply joking when they commented on something you hold near and dear? These are all questions that lead us to strive for greater understanding rather than commence with the quiet construction of walls between ourselves and others. The truth can never hurt you, as painful truths can allow you to move away from the stimulus. But assumptions and misinformation can cause us to unjustifiably hurt ourselves and others.

Remember: Blessings will accrue to those who put in the work. When we reap the rewards of others we often don’t possess the character traits to manage those rewards, as those character traits are honed in the crucible of creating those blessings.

Your story continues until you die. Develop a short-term memory for your past traumas, and move forward into the future with newfound confidence in your ability to circumvent the pitfalls of your past.

Give the benefit of the doubt, and turn assumptions into facts before giving up on meaningful relationships. Real external pain addressed head on with open eyes may be alleviated, but one who is prone to suffer false internal pains is liable to spread disease throughout all aspects of their life.

Next Up: Next is “the Story of Joseph,” the final story of Genesis.