From Jacob to Israel- Part 1
There
are so many lessons to be learnt from the life of Jacob- Simple practical
principles, which we can apply to our daily life and be blessed. Today, I want
to share a few of them with you and I hope it blesses you as much as it did me.
1.Descriptors : ‘What’s in a name ? A rose by
any other name would smell just as sweet’. ‘That was William Shakespeare in his famous
play Romeo and Juliet. But what do we make of a name like Jacob ? As a
twin in the womb with Esau, Jacob was born grasping his brother’s heel. The parents promptly named
him Jacob, which meant Grabber of heels or supplanter. In Bible times, a name given to a child had a lot of
importance. It was an adjective which described the child and very often
defined the child’ s future. Take another name from the scriptures
‘Nabal ‘ which means ‘Fool’. Mindblowing !! I have been trying to
figure out ‘why Nabal’. While today, naming children in such a manner is no
longer a trend, some parents nevertheless brand their children with descriptors such as ‘good for
nothing, lazy, black sheep, etc. We knew a person who used to call his daughter
‘pain’ because she was very naughty ; but the more he addressed her such,
the naughtier she became. It was uncanny. Word seeds which are sown during
childhood take root in the heart of the child and produce fruit ; namely
the character. The problem is that they may soon start living upto the name,
either in sheer defiance or resignment.
We know that both
Jacob and Nabal lived upto their names.
Scripture support-
Genesis 27 :36 And Esau said, Is he not rightly named Jacob
? for he hath supplanted me these two times.
1 Samuel 25 : 25- Please pay no attention, my lord, to
that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name--his name means Fool, and folly
goes with him.
2. Favoritism : All of us have at one point or the other experienced the effects of
partiality or favoritism either at home, school or work, and it certainly is
not a pleasant experience. In fact, favoritism is highly destructive especially
when the person playing favorites is in a position of authority. E.g. As in a
parent child, student teacher or boss employee relationship. Scripture says
that Esau, the hunter, was his father’ s favorite while Jacob was his mother’ s
favorite, for their own reasons. So Isaac wanted to bless Esau, while Rebekah
wanted Jacob to get the blessing. And that was how the trouble began.
3.Communication gap : Good
communication is the foundation of a strong marriage wherein couples talk
freely, they feel safe sharing their thoughts, ideas, experiences and advice.
But in Jacob’s family, the communication lines between husband and wife were
not open. Isaac did not know what Rebekah or Jacob were upto and if
Rebekah had not overheard Isaac talking to Esau, she would have known nothing
of Isaac wanting to bless Esau. Things would have been different if Isaac and
Rebekah had sat down and talked things through.
4.Lending a helping
hand : Rebekah had
received the promise concerning Jacob. However, rather than waiting for God’s
perfect timing for its fulfillment, she decided to help God along. When she heard that Isaac wanted to bless
Esau, Rebekah encouraged Jacob to deceive his poor blind father and grab the
blessing. Result ?? Jacob was in trouble with his father. His brother was
ready to murder him and he was forced to flee
from his family, finally ending up with his uncle Laban. Little did he
know that he was soon going to get a taste of his own medicine and have his
heel grabbed by Laban. What’s more Rebekah never saw Jacob again. When we step out of God's timing, we can
sometimes invite a disaster, we have to live with. We wrongly assume that when God puts a promise/desire in
our hearts, He is ready to bring it to pass immediately. And rather than
trusting him, we try to work things out ourselves in our own strength. What ever it is, a new job, house, life
partner, a financial breakthrough, we cannot rush God. We need to trust him as He
knows the perfect time to bless us with the breakthrough.
5.Wrestling
with God- Genesis
32
When Jacob was wrestling
with God, Jacob holds on to him and says“I will not let you go unless you bless
me.” 27 And God says
to him, “What is your name ?”
Fascinating !! Was God asking him for information, just like we ask
someone his or her name. No, He is all knowing ; Why would he ask Jacob
his name ? You see, many years ago, Jacob had asked his father to bless
him using a false identity. Now he was asking God to bless him and God wanted to show Jacob what
was in his heart.
Jeremiah
17 :9, 10 says "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately wicked; Who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I
test the mind ‘,
When God asked him his name, Jacob was compelled to reveal his name and in so doing, he was not just
saying his name, but confessing it, before God-‘ Deceiver 'heel grabber,'
'supplanter’, and as soon as he had confessed, God gave Jacob a new identity, Israel
interpreted as “May God rule.” Jacob, who had earlier stolen a blessing
from his father illegetimately, now received a blessing from God
legitimately.
Deuteronomy 8 :2 says “You will remember all the way which the LORD your God has
led you
in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you,
testing you, to
know what was in your heart,
God is interested in the condition of
our hearts and wants us to be clear with him. Just like Jacob we have our own
shortcomings and failures. And what we need to do is what Jacob did. Confess
our weaknesses and face God.
And when we do that we leave our
“Jacob” identity behind and step into a brand new identity ready to receive
God’s blessings.
Preetha Paul
