Genesis 25:23
And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Rebekah knew before they were born that the elder would serve the younger. This is alluded to in Romans 9. Jacob was chosen before he had done good or evil. This shows that God chooses us; we cannot earn God's favor by works. I wonder if Isaac had knowledge of God's word to Rebekah. Did he know that God had chosen Jacob and still try to pronounce the blessing over Esau that his brother would serve him, or was Isaac unaware of God's decree? (The scripture doesn't say.) In any case, Jacob lived up to the meaning of his name and supplanted Esau. According to Strong's Jacob means "heal holder" or "supplanter." (I'm not sure "deceiver" is a fair rendering of "supplanter," though supplanting is sometimes achieved through deceit as it was in the case of the blessing.)
Genesis 27:36
And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
A word here about the birthright and the blessing--Esau had nothing to do with losing out on the blessing Isaac pronounced over his sons, but he was complicit in the earlier incident of giving up his birthright. In fact, the writer of Hebrews uses this example of giving up a birthright for bread and lentils as the way a profane or sexually immoral person gives up what is eternal for something temporal.
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
In the incident where Jacob wrestles with the angel, Jacob is given the name Israel. In one commentary I read, which I cannot find now, the implication is that Jacob will no longer be called only Jacob (since scripture continues to use both Jacob and Israel), but is also given the name Israel.
The incident of Jacob's wrestling has always been a bit of a puzzle to me, to be frank, and the explanations of it have not seemed quite to do the strangeness of it justice.
I do remember singing the song which has the lines, "As Jacob in the days of old, I wrestled with the Lord, and, instant, with a courage bold, I stood upon His word. I would not be denied..." Again, that description of "wrestling with the Lord" doesn't seem to me to do justice to the promises we have under the new covenant (though I very much like the resolve to stand on His word).
Just mulling some things over.
What are your thoughts on Jacob?
In the incident where Jacob wrestles with the angel, Jacob is given the name Israel. In one commentary I read, which I cannot find now, the implication is that Jacob will no longer be called only Jacob (since scripture continues to use both Jacob and Israel), but is also given the name Israel.
The incident of Jacob's wrestling has always been a bit of a puzzle to me, to be frank, and the explanations of it have not seemed quite to do the strangeness of it justice.
I do remember singing the song which has the lines, "As Jacob in the days of old, I wrestled with the Lord, and, instant, with a courage bold, I stood upon His word. I would not be denied..." Again, that description of "wrestling with the Lord" doesn't seem to me to do justice to the promises we have under the new covenant (though I very much like the resolve to stand on His word).
Just mulling some things over.
What are your thoughts on Jacob?
