Jacob’s Deception

November 11, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 27:1 – 28:5 Lesson Passage: Genesis 27:5 – 10, 18, 19, 21 – 29 The bible records a number of incidents of deception. The first occurs in the book of Genesis when the serpent deceived the woman into eating fruit from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. The serpent’s deceit was a deliberate attempt to get the woman to undermine the authority of God. This eventually led to sin entering the world through the man who received and ate fruit of the forbidden tree from the woman. It seems as though deception has been part of the human experience since the Garden of Eden. Deception is often used to undermine the authority of someone and thereby achieve an end not intended by the one who has been undermined. Last week’s lesson introduced the rivalry that developed between the twins, Esau and Jacob. This week’s lesson sees that rivalry grow to a dangerous level. Esau developed a hatred for his brother, Jacob, and vowed to kill him after their father’s death. How does a sibling rivalry degenerate to the point of a death wish for one’s sibling? Perhaps Esau accepted that he had acted foolishly when he vowed to give Jacob his birthright in exchange for a meal. But in the matter of the blessing of God that their father would bestow, Esau did not willingly surrender that. It was through the scheming of Jacob and their mother, Rebekah, that the blessing was loss. Isaac was deceived, Jacob benefited, and Esau again suffered loss as a result of the deception. Rebekah overheard Isaac asking Esau to go kill some wild game and fix him some food so that he could pronounce a blessing upon him before his death. While Esau was away hunting, Rebekah developed a plan of deception. It should be noted that the entire plan was contrived by Rebekah although she stayed in the background and allowed Jacob to carry out the malicious scheme. Jacob expressed concern to his mother about her plan—not that he should not do it, but that he might get caught attempting to deceive his daddy! She assured Jacob that he should not worry about being caught. Rebekah had all of the details figured out. All that was required was for Jacob to consent to carry out the plan. Jacob did all according to his mother’s instructions to him. In fact, when it seemed as though Isaac was aware that he was being deceived, Jacob lied twice to allay Isaac’s concern. In the end, Isaac was deceived into thinking that Jacob was his brother Esau. As a result of the scheme, Isaac pronounced the blessing upon Jacob and sealed it with the stipulation that all who cursed Jacob would be cursed and all who blessed him would be blessed. The blessing also made Esau subservient to Jacob. For Esau, this was the last straw. Esau stated that Jacob had been properly named because his behavior was that of “a heel grabber”. Jacob’s name meant that he would be bent on trying to take advantage of someone. He had proven this to be accurate with his actions towards his brother, Esau. Robert C. Hudson October 12, 2018

God’s Blessing

November 25, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 30 Lesson Passage: Genesis 30:22 – 32, 43 As we approach today’s lesson, we note that God had greatly blessed Jacob. By the end of Chapter 30, Jacob had two wives, eleven sons, and one daughter. God had multiplied Jacob since his arrival in Haran as a single young man. Jacob’s stay had not been without controversy. Just as Jacob had lived as a deceiver and con artist, his uncle Laban had deceived him just as he had deceived his brother, Esau. Laban gave Jacob a life lesson in deception. Jacob, the con artist, had met his match. In spite of the deceptions, the increase of Jacob’s family, as well as the increase of Laban’s livestock, gave evidence of God’s presence with Jacob. Nevertheless, God did not keep Jacob from suffering at the hands of his uncle in the same manner in which his brother, Esau, suffered as a result of Jacob’s deceit. Laban was an old deceiver and he pulled all the tricks on Jacob. What Jacob had sown in the flesh, he had now reaped in the flesh. Jacob had sown a little, but he had reaped much. The divine law of “sowing and reaping” was and is in full effect. In today’s text, God began to greatly increase Jacob’s material blessings. Jacob wanted to leave Haran with his family, but his uncle persuaded him to remain. Laban told Jacob that he was aware that he had been blessed by God because of Jacob’s presence. Laban did not want those blessings of God to end, so he asked Jacob to suggest an appropriate wage for his labor while remaining in Haran. Laban was willing to compromise with his nephew, but he was not willing to allow him to leave uncontested. Jacob agreed to stay and suggested that his wages be the offspring of Laban’s flock that were not of a pure white wool. In other words, the less desirable brown and speckled lambs would be Jacob’s and Laban would keep those that were of a pure white wool. Laban agreed to the terms and Jacob separated Laban’s flock by color and markings. Jacob’s initial wages consisted of the sheep and goats in Laban’s flock that were spotted or speckled and the brown lambs. Once those were separated from the flock, Jacob had his sons remove his small flock a distance from Laban’s larger flock. Because this was Jacob’s choice, God greatly multiplied the flock of Jacob by causing the stronger sheep and goats to bear offspring that were brown or speckled. God had promised in a dream that He would be with Jacob and would keep him wherever he went. As noted, Laban had already observed that this was indeed the case. As a result of the hand of God, Jacob became a very wealthy herder. His wealth also included men and women servants and camels and donkeys for transportation. Previously, Laban had seen how he prospered because of Jacob’s presence with him. After Laban negotiated wages with Jacob, he saw how greatly the Lord increased Jacob’s wealth above his. Perhaps the nephew would have the last laugh. Now that they had an understanding as to what belonged to Jacob and what belonged to Laban, the bulk of God’s blessings were bestowed upon Jacob. Robert C. Hudson October 12, 2018