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Biblical People

Biblical People: Jacob 

When Rebekah sends Jacob away, she promises to send for him when his brother’s anger subsides and it’s safe for him to return. She never does.

Jacob leaves with his parents’ blessing and their instruction to marry one of Laban’s daughters. As we learned in the chapter about Laban, Jacob does just that, times two.

He marries both of Laban’s daughters, Leah and Rachel. He works for his father-in-law a total of twenty years before God tells him to return home. 

His trips mark two noteworthy events in his life, one when he leaves home and the other when he returns.

First, when Jacob leaves home to go to Uncle Laban, he stops for the night along the way. He takes a stone and uses it for a pillow. It must have worked because soon he’s asleep. That night he has a dream. He sees a stairway stretching between earth and heaven. 

Angels travel the stairway and God stands at the top. He says, “I’m the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and your father Isaac. I’ll give this land to you and your descendants, making them too numerous to count. Through you and your offspring, all people will be blessed. And I’ll be with you wherever you go and bring you back safely to this place.”

When Jacob awakes, he takes his stone pillow, tips it upright, and pours oil on it. He pledges to serve God if the Lord will do what he promised. 

This is Jacob’s first recorded interaction with the Almighty, but it won’t be his last. 

Now full of confidence, he continues his journey. God blesses his time with Laban, giving him a family and flocks. 

Twenty years later, Jacob returns home. Since his mother never sent word it was safe to come back, he has every reason to suspect Esau still intends to kill him. 

Yet God says to go, and Jacob goes.

After his parting clash with Laban, Jacob plans for his confrontation with Esau. Then he prays, reminding the Lord of the promise of prosperity made twenty years ago. He asks God to protect him from his brother.

Sending everyone on ahead, Jacob remains alone. That night, a man wrestles with him. Jacob can’t prevail, but neither can the man. At dawn, the man touches Jacob’s hip and dislocates it. But Jacob refuses to let the man go until he gives him a blessing.

The man’s response is cryptic. “I’m changing your name to Israel, for you have struggled with both God and people and have overcome.” 

Though the Bible doesn’t say if this “man” is actually a person, an angel, or some other supernatural manifestation, Jacob believes his nighttime visitor is none other than God, for he says, “I’ve seen God face to face and am still alive.” 

Jacob meets Esau, and he’s no longer holding a grudge or intent on killing his brother. The two have a peaceful reunion. God holds true to his promise from twenty years prior that he would protect Jacob, and the Lord answers Jacob’s prayer for safety.

These two events stand as cornerstones in Jacob’s life, with God supernaturally marking his departure and his return. This prepares Jacob for what is next.

What cornerstones has God given to us? Can we see how he has prepared us for what lies ahead?

[Read Jacob’s story throughout Genesis 27–35, 42, and 46–49. Discover more in Luke 1:29–33.]


Learn about more biblical characters in Old Testament Sinners and Saints, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Get your copy today.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Three People Given a New Name by God

In the book of Genesis, God gives new names to three people.

In doing so, God is effectively saying, I’m giving you a new identity. You may see yourself according to your old name, but I see you differently. I’m giving you a new name and a new future.

  • Abram becomes Abraham
  • Sarai becomes Sarah
  • Jacob becomes Israel

The Amplified Bible tells us the meaning for five of these names:

Abram means “high, exalted father,” whereas Abraham means “father of a multitude” (Genesis 17:5).

The meaning of Sarai is not given, but Sarah means “Princess” (Genesis 17:15).

Jacob means “supplanter” (one who usurps or replaces another), whereas Israel means “contender with God” (Genesis 32:28).

Would you like God to give you a new name? Just ask.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Watering Animals is a Prelude to Marriage

In the Bible there’s the story of Jacob, who rolls away the stone from the well to water Rachel’s sheep. They get married.

Then there’s Moses. He rescues some shepherd girls when they are being harassed and provides water for their flocks. He marries one of them.

It’s just not a guy thing, either. Rebekah provides water for a stranger and his camels, showing herself to be the one for Isaac, son of the stranger’s master. They get married.

Sometimes performing simple acts of service result in some most amazing things.

[Genesis 29:10, Exodus 2:16-21, and Genesis 24:15-20]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

A Love Story: Life Sustaining Water

In a love story, culturally distant and a bit strange to us, Jacob is enamored by the fetching Rachel. In an act of service, to garner her attention, he rolls away a stone from the mouth of a well to provide life-sustaining water for her sheep. It works and she becomes his bride.

In another love story, also culturally distant and a bit strange, Jesus, in an act of service sacrifices himself for those he loves. Three days later Jesus is resurrected and an angel rolls away the stone that sealed his tomb, effectively providing living water for his sheep; that would be us. It works and symbolically we become his bride.

The water is provided as an act of love. We drink the water to accept the love.

[Genesis 29:10, Matthew 28:2, and Mark 16:1-6]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Joseph, the Dreamer

In the story of Jacob’s son Joseph, we read that Joseph had a couple of dreams.

The implicit meaning of his dreams was that his older brothers would become subservient to him, as would his father and mother. To his family this no doubt seemed to be mere wishful thinking of a young boy who was tired of being last and wanted some attention.

The dream, however, was correct and its predictions did eventually happen. In these two dreams, it was later confirmed that Joseph had heard from God and that he heard correctly.

It may not, however, have been a good idea to share the dreams with this family. His father was insulted and chastised him for his impudent remarks. His ill-advised revelation also fueled his brothers’ jealousy towards him, no doubt hastening their selling him off as a slave.

The lesson to be learned from Joseph is that just because God has revealed something to us, does not mean that it is prudent to share it.

While it is often helpful to tell others what God is doing in our lives or teaching us, sometimes his words to us are for our ears only.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Jacob’s Twelve Sons…and Their Four Moms

In Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, a reoccurring theme is Jacob’s twelve sons.  What isn’t apparent from Dreamcoat is many of the sons were half brothers. Jacob was indeed the father of all, but there were four different moms.

Here is how this convoluted family tree happened:

Jacob fell in love with Rachel (his uncle’s daughter, that is, his first cousin). Since he had no dowry, he agreed to work for his uncle seven years for her hand in marriage.

The morning after the wedding, he discovered that his veiled bride was actually Leah, Rachel’s older sister.  He had been duped by his Uncle Laban. After protesting, Laban also gives Jacob Rachel’s hand in exchange for another seven years of labor.

Leah begins having children (six sons in all), but Rachel is childless — so she has her husband sleep with their maid, Bilhah, to produce children in her stead; Bilhah has two sons. In an escalating competition, Leah follows suit, giving her maid, Zilpah, to sleep with Jacob; Zilpah also has two sons.

Finally, Rachel gets pregnant and has Joseph. As the first-born of Jacob’s favorite wife, Joseph is doted upon by his father; hence he is given the infamous coat of many colors, thereby earning the wrath of his brothers.

Later, Rachel also gives birth to Benjamin, the youngest of the twelve; sadly Rachel dies in childbirth.

Although the nation of Israel is launched through these twelve sons, Jacob’s family life is a lesson of everything not to do.

[See Genesis, chapters 27 through 29.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.