One of the mistakes that many readers of the Old Testament make is to focus only on the human element of a story. There are many puzzling and sickening stories in the Bible that seem to have no redeeming qualities when looked at from the human perspective alone. However, when the reader looks for revelations of God in the stories, a new and exciting dimension is added that opens up more and more depth of meaning to a tired old tale. I have experienced this phenomenon many times. My recommendation is to start with simpler stories before you attempt to look into the more difficult passages. Always, look for God as He has been revealed to us by Jesus. When you look closely enough, you will see a diamond of beauty shining out where before you could only view mud and muck. One good place to start is with the stories of Abraham and his family. Remember, focus on what God is trying to do with fallen humans rather than on the miserable choices of the humans themselves.
It is true that many of the stories of the Bible are discouraging from a human standpoint. Those who are supposed to be God’s chosen ones do not seem much better than the other fallen human beings around them. In fact, the interpersonal relationships described in the Bible are just as messy as any televised soap opera. Family members, who are supposed to love each other, betray one another instead. Sisters become rivals for the love of one man. Husbands obstinately refuse to listen to their wives’ good counsel. Wives play interpersonal games to out-maneuver their husbands. Father-in-laws cheat their sons-in-law and threaten them with violence. Unfortunately, this is not the plot line from the latest drama or reality show. In fact, this was the life of a real man named Jacob. The story in Genesis includes all these sleazy details, but it also reveals the beauty of our God, who worked around and through these messy relationships to bring redemption to a troubled, guilt-ridden man.
Jacob was a twin. According to popular belief, he should have been close to his twin brother, the best of friends, but this was not the case. Instead, they were as different as two people could be, and ultimately, they became enemies. Jacob and Esau, the twin grandsons of Abraham, were both flawed and unworthy. Esau ran wild and chose the pleasure of the moment over the God he should have been serving. Jacob wanted to serve God, but he connived and lied in order to attain the position of God’s representative for the family. However, God never gives up on someone who chooses Him. Esau did not want God, but Jacob did, so God worked with Jacob until the twisted fearful man became a courageous leader for God.
Before Jacob was born, God had informed Jacob and Esau’s mother that Jacob would receive a special blessing given to the first born of the family, but their dad thought that Esau should have it since Esau was the oldest. At his mother’s urging, Jacob decided to take matters into his own hands and deceived his father into giving him the blessing that the father insisted should go to Esau. His father was old and blind, so Jacob found a way to pretend to be Esau. When his dad asked plainly, “Who are you?” Jacob replied, “Esau” and ended up cheating his brother out of the father’s blessing.
When Esau found out, he was steamed. He was so mad that he wanted to kill Jacob, so Jacob was forced to run for his life to his mother’s family home. He stayed away for many, many years. During that time, he was tricked by his uncle into marrying a woman that he did not want. As a result, Jacob ended up marrying two sisters—Leah and Rachel. Leah was the wife that he was deceived into marrying while Rachel was the wife that he had originally chosen and loved dearly. The two sisters began one upping each other and had a baby competition in order to become the more important wife. In the meantime, as the family grew, Jacob’s uncle/father-in-law kept trying to cheat him out of his wages again and again. In short, Jacob the deceiver had become Jacob the victim.
In this whole sordid story, there was only one shining light—God. As Jacob fled for his life from Esau, God was there promising to be with him. Every time that Jacob’s uncle cheated him, God was there turning the situation around so that it was Jacob who profited. Jacob was a mess, but he was a mess who remained loyal to God. That is the kind of mess that God can work with.
Fast forward 20 years after Jacob’s flight from Esau. Jacob was finally coming home. He had stayed far longer working for his father-in-law than he should have, but the day finally came when he knew that if he stayed any longer, his life and family would be in danger, so he decided to go home, but he was worried. He had never made peace with Esau. If he went home, would Esau greet him as a beloved brother, or as a rival for the inheritance that their father had left them? Would there be war between them or peace?
It was nighttime, and Jacob had received intelligence that Esau and a group of fighters were nearby. Jacob had sent peace offerings to his brother and divided his family and servants up into two groups so that one group might have a chance to escape if the other were attacked. He had done all that was humanly possible to ensure the safety of his traveling companions, but he had one other resource that he could turn to. He left his households and walked out into the night alone to pray to his God about the dangers of the coming day. As he prayed, he worried. Fear was his constant companion during those dark hours, so when a hand came down on his shoulder, Jacob assumed that his worst nightmare had come true. He reacted instinctively believing that it was Esau coming to attack him. He grabbed the other man, and they started wrestling. Jacob was strong, but so was his opponent. They wrestled for a long time with neither one gaining the upper hand. As dawn began to light up the sky, Jacob came to the realization that this was not Esau. At that moment, his opponent reached over and touched Jacob’s hip, which put it out of joint. Needless to say, Jacob started to fall, but he rescued himself by clinging to the stranger. At this point, Jacob realized that his wrestling partner was no ordinary human. The Bible tells us that Jacob believed that it was God Himself. As Jacob held on tight, the divine stranger spoke for the first time, “Let go of me.”
Jacob, however, knew that this was his chance for salvation and redemption. He responded that he was not turning loose until God blessed him. In a strange twist of life, Jacob was again asking for a blessing. There was a difference this time. The first time, he had greedily smooth-talked his frail, blind father into giving him an illegitimate blessing. This time, Jacob was the weak crippled man. He no longer stood in a position of power as he betrayed both his brother and father. Instead, he was a defeated broken man clinging to the superior fighter as he begged to be blessed. At first, this scene might make no sense to the reader of Genesis, but a closer examination of Jacob’s motivation makes the picture clear. You see, Jacob still felt guilty for how he had cheated his brother Esau even though he had repented many years before, and he wanted God to reassure him that he was forgiven. He feared Esau, but if God was with him, Jacob knew that he could move forward with courage.
Rather than answering with a simple yes or no, the divine stranger responded with a question. In fact, it was a form of the same question that Jacob’s father had asked many years before. “What is your name?” When Jacob had answered that question from his father, he had lied and said “Esau.” This time, he spoke the truth as he knew it. “Jacob.”
A mysterious paradox happens to truth when God steps in. You see, God can take our firm, settled truths and transform them into something more. That morning, God gave Jacob the blessing that He had promised so long ago to Jacob’s mother. In a surprising turn, the wrestling partner of the nighttime hours used the experience to forge a new name and identity for Jacob. God responded that Jacob was no longer the name of the man holding on tight to stay upright. Instead, Jacob had a new name—Israel. Israel meant that Jacob had wrestled with God and won. It was the name of a prince, a ruler. That day, God took Jacob’s past cheating identity away and made him into something new—a prince. In addition, Jacob was given safety from the past he feared, and there was peace between Esau and Jacob.
Here’s the message of my story. When Jacob lied about his own identity, he lost everything. He had to run for his life. The same is true for us. We lie, cheat, betray, steal, and selfishly connive to get our way. All that we achieve is heartbreak and fear. God steps into our brokenness and makes us face our past and admit the truth of who we are—warts and all. However, He does not stop there. He takes the truth of our past and turns it around. In the process, God changes us into who we could be. Just as God changed Jacob the deceiver into Israel the triumphant prince, He changes us from lying cowards into brave sons and daughters of the King. If we will cling to Him, God’s truth will become our reality.
Come to God every day with your brokenness; admit how much you have messed up, and let God change you into someone different. Wrestle with God in prayer every day, and like Jacob you will end the match a winner. Cling to God, and you will be blessed.