Full Circle... In A Roundabout Way

Jacob is on the run, Rebekah is the one that told him to flee, and Esau is ready to kill his brother. All is NOT well in the family.

The story arrived at this place… because Rebekah and Jacob took matters into their own hands.

God had given Rebekah a word… but she made her own way… and it had costly effects.

Remember, we established last week that when God gives a word… He also makes the way.

God knows how things will happen and when they will happen. Rebekah and Jacob did in fact end up at the place God said they would… the older serving the younger… but they trusted in their plan rather than God’s plan.

They made it to the destination but got lost in the journey. And tonight, we see the continued results of their fleshly decision.

People are really good… at making mistakes. But this was MORE THAN a simple mistake… this was direct disobedience to the Lord.

When God gives us insight to His plan… we must believe and trust that He has all the details figured out.

NOT ONLY does He have the details figured out… He also has them in motion. I often think of it as a chess game… God is 3 or 4 moves ahead… strategically moving pieces into place we cannot see or know about!

His ways are truly higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

So… when we opted to do things our way… we are disobeying or going against His plan and creating unnecessary hardship for ourselves.

Have you ever placed yourself in a position that you knew was… avoidable? Maybe impatience got you there… maybe impulse got you there… no matter the reason, you realized you could have avoided this if you would have only done or said ___________________________.

I don’t see this so much as regret as I do reflection. And although the large passage of Scripture we aim to cover tonight does not mention Jacob “reflecting” on what He should have done differently, we do see the continued aftermath of his choice to do things his own way.

And there is something that takes place right at the beginning of this long journey that we must look at before diving into the rest of the story.

Jacob’s Fear of the Lord is Renewed.

Genesis 28:10–17 NIV

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

God speaks to Jacob in a dream. Two very important things happen as a result of this dream.

One, the promise that God had made with Abraham is once again spoken by the Lord. God speaks of a rising nation that will come through the offspring of Abraham.

Within this promise we also see God give assurance to Jacob in verse 15. God tells Jacob that He will be with him.

Secondly, we see something that I see as extremely important. We are given insight to Jacob’s response to what he saw and heard in the dream.

Verse 17 says Jacob was what? He was afraid. But I don’t see this as the kind of fear that most people are used to… I see this as a renewed fear of the Lord - a reverent fear.

What does it mean to fear the Lord?

Respect, honor, recognize authority and sovereignty, serve, be humble, He is greater than I, worthy of our highest worship and praise, worthy of our trust and faithfulness.

Jacob is now on his own, traveling to a location that his mother sent him. All of this is happening because of their lack of trusting God with the details. And yet we see God do something amazing.

Jacob is living in the mess he created… yet even then, God reassures Him of the promise and Jacob’s fear or reverence for the Lord is strengthened.

Jacob was going to need this reassurance as he navigated the crazy stuff that happens next! Yes… Jacob would end up landing where God said he would… but the journey is now full of the earthly consequences that would come with Jacob’s decision to do things his way.

And this struggle begins to rise as Jacob looks to build his family.

Like Sister… Like Brother

Jacob is on his way to Laban who is his Rebekah’s (his mother’s) what? Her brother.

Chapter 29 begins with Jacob’s arrival and a meeting or introduction that happens at a well. He comes into contact with a shepherdess who is Laban’s daughter and according to Scripture… is “lovely in form, and beautiful. Genesis 29:17.

Laban and Jacob begin talking about wages. Laban wants to compensate Jacob for his work and they strike a deal.

Genesis 29:18–20 NIV

18 Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

So now the seven years are over and Jacob is ready to receive Rachel as his wife! Sound the wedding bells, invite all the guests and lets go!

The festivities begin and all is going well… up to the point when it came time to consummate the marriage. Daddy Laban does the ole’ switcheroo. Rachel does not go into the tent.... Laban sends in his other daughter Leah instead.

Leah is a bit of a different story. All we know according to Genesis 29:17 is “Leah had weak eyes.” We also know that Jacob was not in love with this daughter - his heart was set on Rachel.

The night moves along and then we see this in Genesis 29:25

Genesis 29:25 NIV

25 When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?”

Jacob… had been duped… by Laban!

Laban gives an explanation next.

Genesis 29:26–28 NIV

26 Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27 Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” 28 And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

Laban got what he wanted… through a major act of deception.

Sound at all familiar? Rebekah used deception as a means to make a way to God’s spoken outcome for her family.

Jacob… got a taste of his own medicine. And… he got locked into working for 7 more years for Laban.

Laban used what Jacob wanted to lure him into a plan that benefited himself. Both daughters married off and a 14 year laborer who was locked in a contract.

Now… I am NOT a believer in things like karma. But… when we choose to walk down paths we make for ourselves instead of walking down the path God lays out for us… we place ourselves at high risk for attacks.

I find it really interesting that Laban, like Rebekah, plays the substitution bit to get his way. In the first round, Jacob WAS the substitution, in this case, he was the victim. And what happens in the next two chapters is the stuff modern day soap operas are made of!

And then we come up on Genesis 32… and the heading for this chapter is “Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau.”

Now how did these guys end it the last time they saw each other? Jacob had to flee because Esau was gonna kill him!

When word gets to Esau that Jacob was nearby, he sets out to meet him… with 400 other guys! Yikes!

But… the word of the Lord was not that the older brother would slay the younger brother… the word of the Lord was that the older brother would serve the younger. How would this come to pass with a death threat looming over his head?

Jacob… would have to trust the Lord!

Jacob… Wrestles with God.

Jacob’s fear of reverence for the Lord was reestablished at the beginning of this whole journey. Now… as the story is about to come full circle, Jacob is about to learn one more lesson.

Genesis 32:22–28 NIV

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

In a nut shell… the whole thing has been one big wrestling match. Who will prevail? Who will come out on top?

As the presumed angel of the Lord ended the match, he made the statement that Jacob had wrestled with both God and man… and prevailed.

I see this from an interesting angle… Jacob had been wrestling with God… this entire time. All that had happened after he fled from home was a bit of a wrestling match - and through it all, Jacob stayed true to the fear or reverence he had for the Lord.

He wrestled with man as well… through the deception of Laban and other situations. And Jacob came out on top.

And then comes… the name change. Jacob’s name is changed from Jacob… which implied deceiver… to Israel… which means “he struggles with God.”

This is not so much to say that our walk with God is a struggle… but it speaks to an active pursuit of the Lord through the struggle. God does not want his people to be passive, but to actively pursue Him.

Rebekah and Jacob bypassed the “struggle” when they deceived Isaac. Jacob just went through a tremendous season of struggle but remained true in his fear of the Lord. Now, we see the two brothers unite… and murder is no longer an issue.

Four chapters and decades later, we see a mess up come full circle. They land to what God had spoken of before they were born.

We have no idea what this might have looked like had deception not been a part of the journey. Jacob went through a lot because of the mess he and his mother created… but God NEVER left him or abandoned him.

Closing

The struggle… is real. The challenges… are real. But God has a plan… and He has all the details figured out.

I’ve never seen a staircase to heaven… nor have I ever wrestled with the Lord. But I have faced many challenges and known that God was with me in the struggle.

This is true… even when I created the struggle.

The key in ALL of this is simple: DO NOT LOSE YOUR REVERENCE FOR THE LORD.

No matter if you’re on the mountain top high or in the valley low… remain faithful and humble. Honor His authority and sovereignty. Worship the Lord with your very best and place your full trust in Him.

He will be with you always.