Some people feel the need to defend Jacob’s actions in deceiving his brother so as to make Jacob out to be ‘not that bad after all’. I think people do this because they see that Jacob goes on to be blessed so abundantly, and it just doesn’t seem right that such a bad guy would get so blessed. “So maybe,” they say, “he was not as bad as all that.” But he was bad, and the text is very deliberate about portraying him as such. He is portrayed as being crafty and deceitful, and in fact his name, figuratively, means ‘deceiver’ as Esau notes in 27:36. The writer of Genesis is deliberately likening Jacob to another character in Genesis who was said to be crafty and deceitful. Yes, the serpent, Satan! But this just intensifies the issue. Why would God bless such a bad guy? The answer is simple. Because God wants to dispense grace. Grace is God’s favour and blessing for those who don’t deserve it. God paid for the sins of the world, including those of Jacob, in Jesus Christ. He did this so he might bless those who do not deserve blessing. Having paid such a high price, God really wants to get what he paid for. He paid for sinners to find forgiveness and blessing. Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). That’s why Jacob was blessed; not because he deserved it, but because God loves to bestow the grace he paid so dearly for. God really wants to give you his grace. Are you undeserving enough?
Thank God for showing you his favour.
Read Genesis 26:34-27:40.
