30. Beginner Bible Course: The story of Jacob (who became Israel)

EPISODE 30  The simple Bible overview of…THE STORY OF JACOB (WHO BECAME ‘ISRAEL’)

In our last episode, Jacob's leaving home as if his family wasn't dysfunctional enough. Does he ever leave a mess? A father who feels betrayed, parents who need serious marriage counseling and a brother who wants to kill him. He sleeps that night, using a rock for a pillow. He has an amazing dream. He dreams of a stairway ascending to heaven. God's at the top of the stairs from the top of the stairs. God says to him, Jacob that dirt you're sleeping on down there. I'm going to give to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dirt. You're sleeping on down there as if for repeating the promise God had made to Abraham and Isaac wasn't enough.

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He adds Jake. I promise to bring you back, save to this place. Jacob wakes up stunned. Then I think Jake kicks back into his old tricks, wheeling and dealing, perhaps looking up at the sky. He vows God. If you keep your promise and return me to this land, I'll give you 10% of everything I own. If I were God with Jacob, I'd have gotten that in writing. When Jacob gets to the Huron area, he comes to a well shepherds are assembling their Jacob past the shepherds, by any chance, do any of, you know, Laban from Heran of course they said, and guess what? This must be your lucky day. Here comes his daughter.

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Rachel Jacob sees his cousin and melts down. He runs to her and gives her a cousin kiss. Rachel brings cousin Jacob home for a family reunion. It's hugs and kisses all around Jacob settles in and starts doing chores to earn his board and keep after about a month. Laban sits him down and talks about hiring them on permanently. Jacobs had a month to think about this discussion. And he's got a proposal, literally, a proposal, all work for you for seven years for Rachel is my wife. Genesis 29, says nothing about those seven years. Other than this, they flew by because of Jacob's love for Rachel.

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When the seven years were over, it was wedding day. Uncle Laban pulls a massive deception on Jacob. He switches brides. The text simply tells us in the morning Jacob woke up and it was Leah in his arms. My students look at me and shake their heads. Seriously, Mr. Nelson, how could that happen? I explained that's not that big of a stretch. The bride was covered completely with a veil. The wine was likely flowing in abundance and there were no lights in your tent. They get the picture almost inevitably. One of my students will pop their hand up and observe. That sounds a lot like what Jacob did to Isaac, the old switcher Ru indeed Jacob gets in layman's face.

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How could you do such a thing? Layman's reply. It's not our custom to marry the younger daughter before the older work, seven more years. And you can have Rachel to Jacob agree is Laban moves the wedding date up to a week later in less than 10 days. The bachelor Jacob has two wives, sisters, Leah and Rachel sister wives. That oughta go well. Jacob clearly favors Rachel. It's not even close in elementary school. And our playground was a long teeter-totter. You can picture it a long bar with seats at either end and a pivot in the middle. It really stunk to be the light one.

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Can you picture the large sixth grader holding a third grader up in the air and not letting him come back down. Jacob and Rachel were on one end and poor little Leah was dangling on the other, seeing the situation God steps to Leah's side of the teeter-totter and bring some balance to the situation. God blesses her with fertility. She gives birth to Jacob's first son, Ruben, then to another Semyon, then to another Levi then to another still Judah. Meanwhile, Rachel is childless. What does Rachel do? She starts a baby war as part of the wedding gifts.

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Laban had given both Rachel and Leah handmaids Zilpah and bill a one to each daughter. Rachel comes to Jacob and says, I'd like you to take my handmade bill and make her your wife. We've heard this before with Sarah asking Abraham to marry Hagar, her handmade Jacob agrees. Bill gives him two more sons, Dan and Naphtali, Leah watches, and is concerned. So she decides wait for it to give her handmade Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. Again, Jacob agrees. Zilpah gives birth to GAD and Asher probably in less than a decade.

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Jacob now has eight sons. Chapter 30 tells us that one day, the oldest boy Ruben was out playing around. He dug up some mandrakes likely a potato like tuber. When he brings it into his mama, Leah, Rachel sees it and wants it. She asks her big sister to give it to her. Her big sisters reply. You've already stolen. My husband, will you take my boys? Mandrakes to Rachel's in the dealing mood. She says to her sister, what's your price. Her sister thinks for a moment and says, I want Jacob in my tent tonight. Hoping to increase her lead in baby Wars. She hires Jacob to come into her tent.

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Rachel agrees for potatoes mandrakes were thought to increase fertility. If so Rachel's goal was to increase her fertility. So perhaps maybe she could narrow Leah's lead in baby Wars and produce a baby herself. Jacob comes to Leah's tent and she becomes pregnant with <inaudible> and shortly after his brother Zeppelin. And after that a little girl Dinah let's pause for a timeout and look at the baby Wars score. Leah six sons and a daughter, Leah through Zilpah two sons and Rachel through Bella, two sons.

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This one's getting out of hand folks. So God moves to the other end of the teeter-totter to Rachel side. The text said, then God remembered Rachel. And she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, Joseph Little Jo Jo Jacob's first son from his first love in a pause in the baby Wars Jacob starts to long for home. He meets with Laban and said, it's time I go back to my own country. Laban realizes he's become filthy rich and senses it's because of the blessing of God on Jacob. He begged him to stay put, and even offers him a partnership. Jacob insists.

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No, I really want to go home. But then this heel grabbing schemer kicks into his old habits. He ponders then comes up with a proposal for Laban. I'll tell you what I will be your partner. Here's my offer. You keep all the perfect goats and sheep. You know, the ones without all of those annoying spots and stripes, I'll keep the factory seconds. That way we'll know which ones belong to who Laban thought to himself. I'd be an idiot not to take that Dale, but, but that doesn't work out too well for Laban. The end of chapter 30 explains what Jacob did. There was a common watering area for the entire herd of both men.

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Jacob grabbed some sticks and carved slits in them. So they were striped. The text tells us the most common place these animals would, mate, was it the watering trough? When the large vigorous striped males would come to the trough, Jacob informed his men to slap the Stripe sticks down in front of them. What followed were offspring that were largely striped and spotted. My students want to know what's going on on the surface. It sounds almost like voodoo. Like Jacob thought if the males would see stripes before mating, the offspring would have Stripe babies, you know, kind of like your mother saw a mouse when she was pregnant and you've been scared of mice ever since that's certainly possible, but there's another possibility.

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And one more fitting with heeled grabbing conniving. Jacob it's the possibility of selective breeding by slapping those Stripe sticks in front of the most vigorous striped males, his men could scare them away from the trough, unable to drink. They'd do the next best thing mate, with the females, standing near the trough, vigorous striped and spotted males, mating the females around the trough. And of course, most of those kid goats and you lambs would have their daddy has stripes or spots while we're not sure why Jacob did what he did. We know the results. He stole away. The herds of Laban, the solid goats and sheep were few and weak Laban in his sons begin to smell a rat and their attitude toward Jacob changes in chapter 31, we find Jacob seemingly packing in the middle of the night to flee with his family back to his Homeland before they fled the text, tells us that Rachel took a few things from her dad's house, his family, God toys, idols, some scholars believe she wanted to worship them.

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Others believe the possessor of those guides inherited the property. When Laban realizes that Jacob has taken his daughters, his grandchildren and all of his stuff and headed South toward Canaan, he moves out in hot pursuit. Seven days later, he catches up and let's just say they get into a real knock-down drag-out argument. You get the sense. It would have turned violent. Had not got appeared to Laban in a dream saying leave Jacob alone. Got it. Layman's biggest issue seems to be those missing household guides Jacob says search the entire camp. Knock yourself out. If you find it with anyone that personal surely die Laban, scours the camp.

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When Laban enters Rachel's tent, he doesn't find them. She's sitting on them, Laban kisses, his daughters and grandkids, and goes back to Heran and Jacob continues toward Canaan. Now it's the matter of Esau. It's been two decades will time heal all wounds. Jacob sends a message to Esau along with the lavish gift. When the messengers returned, they've got a message for Jacob your brother. Esau's on his way. Here with 400 men Jacob is terrified. He gets alone. He talks to God and remind some of the promise. God had made to bring him safely back to the land. Then a man showed up and began to wrestle with Jacob.

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It sounds like they physically were wrestling. It tells us it went on all night. It tells us Jacob's hip was thrown out of joint. It tells us Jacob wouldn't let go. Jacob refuses to let go of saying, I will not let go until you bless me. The man asks, what is your name? Heel grabber. Jacob he replies the man States. You'll no longer be called heel grabber. Jacob you'll be called wrestler with God. Israel wait. That's a biggie. Jacob's name has changed to Israel. Who was that, man? Well, if you ask Jacob he thought it was God, he named the place.

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Peniel face of God saying I've seen the face of God and I've survived. He limps on his injured hip, back to his family in the morning. It's time to face. These saw Aesop is on the horizon quickly. He arranges his family and ranks. He will go first behind him. He arranges his handmaid wives Zilpah and Billa and the sons he's had with them. Next comes Leah and her sons and Diana finally, Rachel and little Joe, Joe, you can hear what he's thinking. If Esau kills me, then his blood loss will flow over to my handmade wine and their boys then to Leah and my boys and my daughter, maybe by the time he gets to Rachel and Joe, Joe Jacob, Israel like his dad is playing favorites.

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What happens next is shocking. The text tells us when the two brothers saw each other Esau ran to Jacob threw his arms around. Jacob kissed him and wept in his arms, which makes me ask what happened to Esau. It looks like forgiveness and reconciliation. It's possible between anyone. And it's incredible to see an experience. They'll settle down in close proximity. Soon. We'll find that the land cannot support all their herds. Someone will have to move. It will be Esau who volunteers Jacob now Israel is back home. He's back in the land.

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God promise to him. Chapter 33 closes with him getting a second piece of land promised by God, a small parcel of ground. He purchases from Haymour the father of Shekim Israel formerly Jacob now settles down in the promised land with his 11 boys and a daughter, the children of Israel. We'll get to meet those children and get to know them better in our next wordpicture.