Again, each day 5 chapters and comments. For Sept 1, read Genesis 31-35. Here is the map of Jacob’s journey from Beersheba to Haran and back to Canaan. You can trace his journey by key places on the map, even number them if you wish.

BEERSHEBA. He begins in Beersheba when he steal the blessing that Isaac intended to give to Esau. He flees from Esau’ plan to kill him, going to Haran supposedly to get a godly wife but really to escape Esau.

BETHEL He leaves Beersheba at the age of 77. His first night away from being protected by his mama Rebekah, he dreams of the ladder to heaven and names the place, Bethel, “house of God”, sensing God’s presence there.

HARAN. He spends the next 20 years working for Laban who is a bigger con man than Jacob ever was. But God blesses him and after the 20 years he ends up with 11 sons, 1 daughter, and much wealth. But he only has one wife that he loves, i.e. Rachel, and his favorite son is the son born to Rachel, i.e. Joseph.

GILEAD. (Genesis 31) After 20 years working for Laban, Jacob observes that Laban’s attitude has become hostile to Jacob. Why has Laban become so hostile toward Jacob? The reason is that during those last 6 years of the 20 years, Jacob worked for Laban, paid with sheep. Laban would say that Jacob’s pay was all the speckled sheep born that year, which would only be a few, but God would make there be many, many speckled born. Laban would then get mad and change Jacob’s wages to the spotted ones born, but God would multiply the spotted ones born. Laban would change his wages again, etc. for 10 times in 6 years. By the end of the 6 years Laban is very angry with Jacob. God then told Jacob to return with his family and flocks to Canaan where he began his journey 20 years earlier. Jacob tells his wives and they agree, sensing that Laban has nothing to give them as an inheritance. It is interesting to note that Jacob, while trying to outsmart Laban (read how Jacob used tree “rods” to try to induce a certain type of sheep born and stronger sheep in Genesis 30:37-43), it seems that Jacob has finally realized that it was God who made him wealthy and not his own cunning. He told Rachel and Leah, “God has been with me”, “God did not allow Laban to hurt me”, and “God took away Laban’s flocks and gave them to me”. I consider this to be an important step in Jacob’s spiritual growth. Laban deceived, lied to, and cheated Jacob for 20 years but God kept Jacob safe and made him wealthy. Jacob and his family, servants, and animals flee Haran without telling Laban. When Laban discovers their departure, he is furious. He chases Jacob down for 7 days, catching him at the hill country of Gilead. God warned Laban not to hurt Jacob. An interesting side note is that Rachel had stolen Laban’s household god idols and hidden them on her camel. That means that Rachel apparently has some reverence for the foreign gods of Laban. Laban doesn’t find the idols. He and Jacob made a treaty to not hurt each other and Laban goes back to Haran. Again, Jacob gives God the credit for his wealth and protection from Laban (31:42). They name the place of their peace covenant Gilead or Mizpah. Life lesson: Have you ever been through a real tough time in your life? You tried to use your own cunning and ingenuity to handle things but felt frustrated the whole time? But then, somehow, later there was a break through and things changed and got better without your help? You then realized that it was God blessing you even during the tough times? That’s how God works some times!

MAHANAIIM. (Genesis 32:1-2) Find it on the map. The angels meet him and he names the place “Mahanaim” which means “two camps” (i.e. his camp and the camp of angels). Another step in Jacob’s spiritual growth? He realizes when he meets those angels that God will protect him with his angels wherever he goes? Unfortunately, that doesn’t keep him from being terrified at the next stop in Penuel. Life lesson: God’s angels are protecting us at all times but we don’t always see them.

PENUEL (Genesis 32:3-33:17) Find it. Panic! Jacob learns that Esau is headed toward him with 400 men. The last time he saw Esau, Esau (say that fast) was planning to kill Jacob (20 years earlier). He was “greatly afraid and distressed” (32:7). He resorted to his own cunning instead of trusting God. He devised a plan for Rachel and Joseph to escape if Esau kills his less favorite sons and Leah. I assume he would escape with them. He tries to bribe his way out by offering Esau animals. Pretty cowardly, but typical of Jacob. That night a man wrestles with Jacob all night but neither prevail. In the morning, the man touches Jacob’s thigh and dislocates it. An interesting trait of Jacob follows. You would think that Jacob would gladly let the man go after the man dislocates his thigh by just touching him. I mean, if the man could do that, then he could have done that the first 5 minutes of the wrestling match. If the man was that powerful, then why would he still keep him in your grasp after he dislocates your thigh? But Jacob would not let the man go unless the man blessed him. He must have realized that this was not an ordinary man, but was God himself who had taken the form of a man just to wrestle with Jacob. For all his faults, Jacob seems to realize that all blessings come from God and therefore he wants more blessings from God. The man changes Jacob’s name to “Israel”, which means “he who strives or wrestles with God”. Jacob names the place “Penuel”, which means “face of God”. He felt he had seen and wrestled with God himself, but that God had not killed him so God must have bigger plans for Jacob. This idea that Jacob wrestled with God seems to fit Jacob’s whole life. He had always tried to control things and get blessings by his own cunning and ingenuity. He had wrestled with God for control of his life instead of giving God complete control. Life Lesson: Does anyone reading this relate to that? I know I do. I have always tried to control things instead of giving complete control to God. Usually I am pretty successful, but often I realize that I have not let God have complete control. Often I make a mess of things by not submitting to God.

The next day when Esau came, Esau hugged him and kissed him and they both wept! Esau was the redneck who could threaten to kill you one day and have a friendly beer with you the next day! God had blessed Esau with wealth to compensate for what Jacob took from him. Jacob made an amazing statement: “I see your face as one sees the face of God” (33:10) and you have received me favorably (i.e. forgiven me). Perhaps Jacob had felt guilty over the years for the way he stole from and took advantage of Esau. Perhaps he wondered if God would ever forgive him of that wrong he had done. But when Esau forgave him, that was like looking at the face of God and God saying, “Jacob, I forgive you for what you did to Esau”. Life lesson: Have you ever struggled to forgive yourself for wrongs you have done to others? God will forgive you. Have you ever struggled with fear and panic attacks facings some danger or bad situation? Sometimes, God uses someone like Esau to ease your fears. I had that happen to me one time. I was about to have a nervous breakdown over an issue I was dealing with. A friend took me to a legal expert and that man told me, “you have nothing to worry about, we “got your back”, get back to using your gifts for God and quit worrying and being afraid”. That man telling me that allowed me to sleep that night (I had been getting about an hour of sleep every night and waking up worrying and my mind racing). I saw the face of God in that man who helped me. I should have seen the face of God a month earlier and trusted God and found peace of mind, but I just couldn’t do it. I needed that man’s help and I think God used him like God used Esau to help Jacob see God’s forgiveness for Jacob. Does any of that resonate with you?

SUCCOTH. (Genesis 33:17) Find it on the map. Jacob then goes to Succoth, just east of the Jordan River and close to Canaan. Apparently he planned to stay there for an extended period b/c he built a house. Many think he stayed about a year there. Why didn’t he just cross the Jordan River and just go on over into Canaan? We don’t know, but perhaps what happened at Shechem when he did cross the Jordan gives an indication of his reluctance to cross the Jordan. We must remember that there were many powerful armies in Canaan. Jacob might have been afraid to cross over?

SHECHEM. (Genesis 33:18-34:31) Find it. After leaving Succoth, Jacob camped near Shechem. Shechem was a well developed fortified urban center with massive walls, inhabited by Canaanite people with polytheistic practices. Leah’s daughter Dinah visited the city (we don’t know why?) and was raped by a man named Shechem who said he loved her and wanted to marry her. Jacob’s usual cowardice shows up and he does nothing to correct the wrong done to his daughter Dinah. But two of her biological brothers (all born to Leah) were angry. They devised a plan. They got the men of Shechem to agree to all be circumcised so they could marry the “daughters” in Jacob’s family. Again, we hear nothing from Jacob. But the 3rd day after they Shechemites are all circumcised and completely incapacitated by the “surgery”, Simeon and Levi go in the city and kill all the men. They rescued Dinah from the house of Shechem and killed him, and Jacob’s other sons looted the city completely. Jacob’s reaction? He was only concerned that what Simeon and Levi had done would unite the other Canaanites to attack him. Again, Jacob’s cowardice and lack of trust in God pops up. How could any father be so passive if his daughter gets raped and do nothing? I know I would be tempted to take the law into my own hands if that happened to one of my two daughters (which would be wrong to do of course). God could have righted this wrong done to Dinah without this deceptive and cruel plan of Simeon and Levi. Life Lesson: Rape is one of the most degrading, horrible crimes ever. We have to wonder how Dinah handled this whole incident later. Do you know of someone who has had to deal with a rape incident? Was justice served?

BETHEL (Genesis 35) Find it. God told Jacob to move on to Bethel and make an altar. Do you remember Bethel, “house of God” where he spent his first night after leaving Beersheba to flee to Haran at the age of 77? He is about 97 years old when he returned to Bethel. His journey has made “full circle”. To his credit, another step in spiritual growth. He makes an altar at Bethel, makes his family give up their foreign gods idols, and said, “God answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” Jacob has come a long way, distance wise and spiritually also. God takes care of his fears as the people of Canaan have apparently heard of the ruthlessness of Jacob’s sons and are afraid of Jacob, which is just the opposite reaction to what Jacob had feared. At Bethel, God reaffirmed Jacob’s name change to Israel and his promises of a nation and land. Life Lesson: Do you have a “Bethel” in your life, a place and time when you finally decided to put way your idols and totally trust in God like you never had before? Where you realized that you had been on a long journey with God and finally arrived at a more trusting relationship with God? Share that with others.

BETHLEHEM. (Genesis 35:16-21) Leaving Bethel, on the way to Bethlehem, Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. Rachel’s two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, would become Jacob’s favorite sons which cause a lot of problems later. Jacob would stay in Canaan 33 years after returning to Canaan.

HEBRON (Genesis 35:21-29) Find it. This is where he found his father Isaac whom he had not seen for 20 years. Isaac was 137 years old when Jacob left for Haran. He was about 157 when Jacob came to Hebron. He died at the age of 180. So Jacob would have been able to spend about 20 years with Isaac at Hebron before Isaac died. You have to wonder what that was like. Did Isaac see a changed person in Jacob after he returned from Haran? Did he see a more mature spiritual man than the deceptive, cunning, lying son that Jacob was before he left for Haran? Did Jacob ever apologize to his father for lying and deceiving him when he stole the blessing from Esau? Was Jacob’s mother Rebekah still alive when Jacob returned to Hebron to live with Isaac? She is never mentioned in Genesis after she sent Jacob off to Haran so some assume that she died while he was in Haran. Genesis 49:31 tells us that she was buried in the cave of Machpelah but we don’t know when she died. It is interesting that Jacob and Esau join together to bury their father Isaac. Esau had settled in Edom, which is southeast of the Dead Sea. I wonder what that reunion was like when they buried their father. Did Jacob and Esau ever see each other again after that? Life Lesson: God can reconcile broken family relationships like that of Jacob and Esau.

Jacob would be 130 when he moved to Egypt so he spent 33 years in Canaan. His journey will not be totally complete until he spends his last 17 years in Egypt and meets Pharoah, but we will save that for later. I hope you keep up with the daily reading and maybe even read these blog article that go along with each reading. This could be a great plan for personal or small group Bible study on a daily basis.

EVERY PROFESSIONAL SPORT HAS A HALL OF FAME Almost every professional sport has a “hall of fame”. Prominent North American Sports Halls of Fames:  
Baseball (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum): Located in Cooperstown, NY, this museum honors MLB history, famously considered one of the strictest to enter.
Pro Football Hall of Fame: Situated in Canton, OH, this hall houses bronzes busts of inductees.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Located in Springfield, MA, the birthplace of basketball.
Hockey Hall of Fame: Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, dedicated to the history of ice hockey.
NASCAR Hall of Fame: Located in Charlotte, NC, featuring interactive exhibits and racing simulators.
International Tennis Hall of Fame: Situated in Newport, RI.
International Boxing Hall of Fame: Located in Canastota, NY.
National Soccer Hall of Fame: Located in Frisco, TX.
National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum: Located in Stillwater, OK.

GOD HAS HIS OWN HALL OF FAME BUT IT IS REALLY A HALL OF FAITH Every Old Testament character listed in Hebrews 11 is indeed famous, but only famous b/c of his/her faith. Hebrews 11:² For by it (i.e. faith)the people of old gained approval.” Some like Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David really stand out for their faith, but even those were not perfect. Noah got drunk which led to the curse on Ham, Abraham lied twice (same lie) that Sarah was his sister to avoid being possibly killed, Joseph mistreated his brothers when they came to Egypt accusing them of being spies even puting one of them in prison before he eventually forgave them, Moses fled Egypt and then made excuses at the burning bush for not wanting to obey God’s command to go tell Pharoah to let Israel go, David committed adultery with Bathsheeba and had her husband Uriah killed, and Samson chased Philistine women which led to his death. So even the best examples of faith had major flaws. What does that tell us? It tells us that we don’t have to have perfect, flawless faith Thank goodness for that!

JACOB ONLY HAS ONE MENTION OF HIS FAITH IN HEBREWS 11 AND THAT IS WHEN HE IS DYING! But one of the heroes in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11 has always gotten my attention. Hebrews 11:²¹ By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.” One act of faith out of 147 years of life, and that act of faith was while he was dying. Did Jacob have no other great moments or deeds of faith during his 147 years? Let’s review the main events of his life.

1) AT BEERSHEBA. He took advantage of his hungry brother Esau, getting Esau to give Jacob his birthright, a very valuable thing, for a bowl of stew. So Jacob starts off selfish and unloving. Did you ever take advantage of your siblings?

2) AT HEBRON. He joins his mother Rebekkah in lying to Jacob’s blind aged father Isaac to steal a blessing that Isaac had intended for Esau. Selfish, greedy, lying even to his father. Did you ever lie to your parents? That might be the worst lie possible! Was favoritism ever a problem in your family? It certainly contributed to Jacob’s bad actions early in life.

3) AT BETHEL. As he flees Canaan to escape the wrath of Esau, he spends the first night and has the dream of the ladder to heaven. He awakes and names the place Bethel, “House of God”. God tells him that He will be with him on his journey to Haran and back to Canaan. Jacob expresses no faith, but proposed a deal. Genesis 28:²⁰ Jacob also made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and give me food to eat and garments to wear, ²¹ and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. ²² And this stone, which I have set up as a memorial stone, will be God’s house, and of everything that You give me I will assuredly give a tenth to You.” In other words, “If you protect me God on this journey, then I will accept You as my God and give a tenth to you.” It’s a wonder God didn’t ditch him right there! God is patient.

4) IN HARAN. After 20 years of serving Laban and battling wits with a deceptive Laban over wives for Jacob and flocks, God told Jacob to return to Canaan. Jacob tells Rachel and Leah, Genesis 31:5 “the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I have served your father with all my strength. ⁷ Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to do me harm.” Jacob had tried to outwit Laban and had been successful, but here it seems that he finally realized that it was God protecting and blessing him and not his own cunning. This statement from Jacob is more an epiphany of realizing what God had been doing for him during the 20 years than an act of faith. He never acted out of faith during those tough 20 years with Laban, always relying on his own cunning.

5) AT PENIEL. On returning from Haran to Canaan, he is told that Esau is coming with 400 men to meet him. Jacob was “greatly afraid and distessed”. The last time he had seen Esau 20 years earlier was when Esau was wanting to kill Jacob. To his credit, Jacob speaks to God, reminding Him of the promise God had made to protect Jacob, asking Him to save him from Esau. But as usual, He relies on his cunning to divide his people into 3 groups to consecutively meet Esau with Rachel and Joseph in the last group. His plan is that if Esau starts killing Jacob’s family, than Rachel and Joseph can escape. He sends everyone and all his animals across the river and spends the night alone (out of fear?). He wrestles with a man who appears, and after wrestling all night realizes that the man is an appearance of God himself. He names the place Peniel, “face of God” b/c he had seen God and lived. Typical Jacob, he demands a blessing from the man before he will let the man go, as if the man couldn’t get away if he wanted to since he had already dislocated his thigh. The man (God) changes Jacob’s name to Israel, “he who wrestles with God”. The next day Jacob goes out to meet Esau and Esau runs to hug Jacob, kisses him, and they both weep. Esau had forgiven him and Jacob had nothing to fear from Esau. It’s amazing how we worry about things that never happen! Later Jacob and Esau would bury Isaac when he died at age 180. I don’t know if you would call this an incident of Jacob’s faith, but at least he did ask God to save him from Esau.

6) AT SCHECHEM. Jacob came to the city of Shechem which is in Canaan. To his credit he built an altar to God there. But then his daughter Dinah was raped by a prince named Shechem who then asked to marry Dinah. Jacob does nothing and says nothing. Simeon and Levi deceive the men of Shechem, getting them to be circumcised on the pretense that Shechem could marry Dinah if they did so. Then Simeon and Levi killed all the males while they were recovering from being circumcised and took all their flocks, wealth, and families. Where was Jacob during all this? Silent. He finally spoke, Genesis 34:³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me repulsive among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since my men are few in number, they will band together against me and attack me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household!” ³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?” Jacob is more concerned about his own safety than he was about the rape of his daughter. No faith there. Maybe if Jacob had led in faith the resolution of the rape then Simeon and Levi would not have done what they did. But Jacob’s cowardice in this incident is obvious.

7) AT HEBRON. Jacob continued the practice of favoritism with his childen as he gave Jospeh the coat of many colors and preferential treatment which led to Joseph’s brothers selling him to slavery in Egypt. Later, during the 7 years of famine, he only cared about the safety of his other favorite son by Rachel, i.e. Benjamin, when he refused to send Benjamin with the other brothers to Egypt to get food. On their 2nd trip he finally allowed them to take Benjamin as Joseph had demanded, but again his only concern was what might happen to Benjamin and not the safety of the other 10 brothers or the brother in prison in Egypt.

8) IN EGYPT. After Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he had Jacob’s whole family of 70 brought to Egypt to survive he famine. Joseph brought his father Jacob to meet Pharoah. Pharoah asked Jacob how many years he had lived. Jacob replied, Genesis 47:9 “The years of my living abroad are 130; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their living abroad.” What a terrible summary of his life spoken to a stranger he had never met. The truth is that his life had been unpleasant for the most part b/c he had always wrestled with God, trying to control circumstances and get wealth and safety by his own cunning instead of fully trusting in God. That could probably be said of me and many of you reading this article.

9) IN GOSHEN. After 17 years in Egypt, Jacob was dying and Joseph brought his 2 sons, Ephraim and Manasseh for a final blessing from Jacob. Jacob blessed the younger Ephraim to be greater than the older Manasseh, which displeased Jospeh. Jacob then blessed Joseph, saying Genesis 48:15 ““The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, ¹⁶ the angel who has redeemed me from all evil.” An epiphany that God had always been his shepherd his whole life, protecting and blessing him, in spite of Jacob’s wrestling with God to control circumstances. I know personally that I can relate to what Jacob said. I have tended to worry and try to control things instead of fully trusting in God. I did obey God and went where I felt like God wanted me to go be a part of his plan just like Jacob did. But I often wrestled with God for control of my life and did not always enjoy the peace that comes wiht fully trusting God. A lot of worrying and a lot of fear. Jacob, as he was dying, finally could look back at his 147 years and see how God had used him to be a part of the plan to make a great nation, Israel. I hope that I can relax and have a similar epiphany when it is time for me to die.

10) IN GOSHEN. Then comes that one mention of the faith of Jacob out of all his 147 years of living. Hebrews 11:²¹ By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.” By blessing Joseph’s sons, Jacob was showing his faith in the promises of God to bless his family in the future. He told his sons to bury him back in Canaan in the cave of Machpelah where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebekah were buried. That’s faith that the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 15 that after slavery the chosen family would come out of Egypt and go to the promised land. Picture his last moments. He “worshipped” God as he leaned on his staff for support by the side of his bed, unable to stand on his own strength. That’s the only mention of Jacob ever worshipping God in 147 years. He then “drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.”

I have not tried to discredit Jacob and his faith, just to point out the facts. I can’t judge his heart or his faith. But I know that, in spite of Jacob’s weaknesses and lack of faith for almost all of his life that he is in God’s hall of faith. In other words, we dont’ have to have perfect faith to be in God’s hall of faith. We do have to obey God, and Jacob always obeyed God. Abraham left Ur to go to Canaan out of great faith. Jacob returns to Canaan mainly out of fear of Laban, not out of faith. I can relate to that since I went to a school of preaching after getting my engineering degree mainly out of fear, but God blessed me anyway. Abraham dies satisfied with his life (Genesis 25:8) but Jacob summarized his life as “unpleasant”, at least at the age of 130. But God used both of them to carry out his plan to make a great nation of Israel and lead them to the promised land. I want this article to give you hope. Your faith does not have to be perfect to be pleasing to God. Many of the patriarchs in the hall of faith had dysfunctional families, but God blessed them anyway. Did you come from a dysfunctional family? God can bless you anyway if you have faith. Does your faith waver at times? God can still use you. The grace of God and the blood of Jesus will cleanse you from your sins and mistakes. I feel like the man who told Jesus, “I believe. Help my unbelief.”

Here is a great map of Jacob’s journeys.