Christian Heroes Pt. 1

Note from the Author: I began this Christian Heroes series when away from home on business. I believe that we ought to emulate and admire men and women from the Old Testament. They are our people. Some of them are maligned, and thus I begin with Jacob.

 

Today is the Lords’ Day, and as I cannot be with my family in Church, I thought it would be right to take a break from the commentary on Rasselas. A Sunday deserves something more Biblical.

 

In a recent post I listed some Christian heroes from the Old Testament. One of the first I mentioned was Jacob. This fellow is something of a controversial character, and given the nature of the issue, he deserves better of us.

 

When I was young Jacob was presented to my impressionable mind as being The Weasel Who Got Away With It. He got away with everything. Esau got scammed for soup. Esau got scammed with goat hair and food. Laban got scammed for two daughters and a pile of sheep, and some idols. Jacob censures Levi and Simeon for defending their sisters’ honour. Leah and Rachel scrap over their man-toy with mandrakes and insults. They take turns throwing their servant girls at him, and get pissed when the other woman has babies! To top it off, Jacob gets into a fist fight with an Angel. Then he is deceived by his sons about Joseph and never stops grieving him. All ends well when Joseph is found alive in Egypt, and in the government. Jacob dies old and happy.

 

All this trouble, and yet the happy ending! My Sunday-school teachers usually left the impression that Jacob was to be lamented as a rascal, but never celebrated as a hero. He got away with everything, but don’t think for a minute you will. The question inevitably sat somewhere in the back of my mind, Oh yea? He did. Clearly, whatever a sort of man Jacob was, he never received the kind of censure God does show in the Bible. David had his Nathan, Hezekiah his Isaiah, but there was no prophet to rebuke Jacob. Ahab was killed by some random archer, and Nebuchadnezzar ate grass. Literally. Jacob got away with it. Maybe I can too…

 

Beginning in Genesis 25, I plan to outline some of the major events of Jacobs’ life and provide a brief justification of him. This man is a Christian Hero, and thus we ought look to imitate him in certain ways.

 

His Birth and Birthright

 

In Genesis 25:21-26 we are told the story of his birth. Issacs’ wife Rebekah was barren. Barren women are quite a theme throughout the scriptures. A barren woman means something great is about to happen. God uses the barren woman to continue the salvation story of mankind. Issac prays for her, and she conceives twins. Things that go in twos usually do so for the sake of contrast. (We have Issac/Ishmael, Jacob/Esau, David/Saul, Deborah/Barak, John the Baptizer/Herod, Jesus/Judas, etc.)

 

Rebekah is told straight up that “The older shall serve the younger.” God made a promise to Abram, that the salvation of the world would come through his family. Every generation we see God dividing Abrahams’ family, and with one half goes the blessing. First it was Issac, not the older Ishmael. Now we have Jacob, not Esau. Later we see Judah continuing the line, not Reuben. This reversal finishes with the gospel going to the Gentiles, and skipping right past the Jews. Second born sons, adopted sons, these are the Sons of God.

 

Issac knew the blessing was to go to his younger son. God said so. Issac himself was the younger son. For some reason, he loved Esau more. This love came in time to mean that Issac planned to usurp Gods’ plan in favour of Esau. If this were not so, then why did Jacob feel the need to buy that birthright from Esau in exchange for stew? (Gen. 25:33) If the succession was secure, why the barter?

Rebekah also comes in for a good deal of criticism for the way she extracted the blessing from Issac for Jacob instead of Esau in chapter 27. I don’t see why she does. Most often the complaint against her is that she preempted Gods’ plan by her scheming. The text doesn’t support this reading at all. In Genesis 27 the Holy Spirit informs us of the events in a straight forward way. When Jacob protests the risk of the adventure, Rebekah was prepared to receive the curse in his behalf if discovered. She acts and sounds like a shrewed woman convinced the rightness of her course.

 

Jacob does as she tells him, deceives his father and receives the blessing that was rightfully his. I do not think this deception was outside Gods’ plan or wrong. It was Gods’ plan. God deceives his enemies all the time. The cross of Christ was the greatest deception of all time. In the very stroke whereby Satan had his victory he also had his defeat.

 

When Esau came to get the blessing as promised, Issac realizes the deception. Notice that he does not curse Jacob. Issac knows his original plan was thwarted by God and surrenders the point. Jacob acted in faith, “obeying the voice of his mother” and is justified.

 

Following this Issac sends Jacob to Laban to look for a wife. Jacob gets a second blessing from his father at this time. (Further evidence to my previous point.)

 

“May He (God) give you the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham! Thus Issac sent Jacob away.”

 

In Bethel Jacob had a vision, and in it God promised to protect and be with him. There was not a word about his trickery. Silence may not be the best tool in an exegetical arsonists bag, but it is remarkable that nothing is said by way of rebuke. I take this to mean that none was intended. 

To be continued…