His story reads like something set in Hollywood. Where he to be born in our times, he would have drawn a large following on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms. This is the only man in recorded history that wrestled with an angel and won! It is our pleasure to interview the second son of Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, christened Israel by God Himself.
Shepherd Heart: We are delighted to have you with us Sir.
Jacob: I’m glad to be here.
Shepherd Heart: Our readers would love to hear from the horses’ mouth. Could you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
Jacob: (Laughter) I’m afraid that there is nothing more to add to what is already revealed about me in the Bible. Anyway, for the sake of your non-Christian readers, I will attempt an abridged version of my story. I was born in Canaan to my parents, Isaac and Rebecca, hundreds of years before the arrival of Yeshua, the Messiah. My twin brother Esau and I parted ways for quite a while after I tricked him into selling his birth right to me. At my mother’s prompting, I took refuge with her brother, Laban in Haran and ended up marrying two of his daughters, Leah and Rachael. There, through God’s providence, I begot sons and daughters. To the glory of God, my boys became the twelve tribes of Israel.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you very much for that super summary of your very intriguing story. The Bible gives us a clear background about your family, especially the relationship between you and your parents. We are told that your father favoured Esau, while you were mummy’s boy. Were you perturbed that your father chose Esau over you?
Jacob: It was not very pleasant to know that my father dotted on Esau. That is not to say that he hated me. As revealed in Scripture, Esau knew how to work the magic with his peppered meat. My father was crazy about this delicacy and I could never compete with Esau in that department. I must emphasize that ours what not a dysfunctional household just because each parent had their favourite.
Shepherd Heart: The Bible records that your feud with Esau started in the womb and that you tried to prevent him from coming out first by holding his heel. Was this incident related to you in your adult years?
Jacob: (Laughter) People talked and laughed about it in our early years. Of course, each person gave their own interpretation of what I did to my brother.
Shepherd Heart: Did you ponder on it?
Jacob: Not immediately anyway. I started thinking about it after my mother told me about prophesy that preceded our birth; that two nations were in her womb and that the older one would serve the younger.
Shepherd Heart: What was your initial reaction to her disclosure?
Jacob: I wasn’t really excited about it in my early years. As I said earlier, we were a happy family. I loved my brother and the feeling was mutual.
Shepherd Heart: So, where did the idea to use your lentil soup to steal his birth right come from?
Jacob: To be candid, I did not know that Esau would actually let go of his birth right for any kind of food. It started as a prank but he made it easy for me to get away with it by despising his birth right.
Shepherd Heart: So, did you feel any remorse for depriving him of his birth right?
Jacob: At that time, no. I could not understand why he was so eager to let go of it. What kind of hunger would make anyone do that? I felt he did not deserve it.
Shepherd Heart: Your mother obviously felt that it was her duty to help you fulfil prophesy about your birth and destiny. Did both of you discuss the matter and ways this could be done?
Jacob: My mother was a very religious woman. She did not hate Esau but wanted God’s will to be done. As far as she was concerned, Esau and I had been chosen by God for separate missions on earth. She felt that it was her duty to guide that process since God already revealed our destinies to her through prophesy.
Shepherd Heart: Tell us your state of mind when you were before your father on the fateful day you impersonated Esau.
Jacob: (Laughter) It is something worth forgetting for good. I was a nervous wreck. I’m surprised that my father did not hear my heart thumbing with fear and trepidation. I was sweating profusely and praying that the old man would just eat his peppered meat in peace and allow me to escape before he could unmask me.
Shepherd Heart: How did he relate with you after you tricked him into giving you Esau’ blessing?
Jacob: I kept out of his way as much as possible. My mother handled all the damage control.
Shepherd Heart: Before we follow you on your trip to Haran, give us an idea of why you had to make a deal with God at Bethel. Where you afraid that harm could befall you on the way?
Jacob: Cutting a deal with God is an integral part of worship. Even pagans offer things to their gods to obtain favour from them. I believe that Christians also employ similar strategies to woo God or court His favour. Was I afraid of getting into harm’s way? I was a young man fleeing an enraged brother. I had no way of knowing what reception awaited me at uncle Laban’s house. The situation was unnerving. It was an act of faith to turn to God in my hour of distress. Who else could I have turned to?
Shepherd Heart: Yeah. He is always there for us and His everlasting arms are stretched out to receive the prodigals. Did you fulfil your pledge to give Him a tenth of all you acquired at Haran?
Jacob: Certainly. I had no reason to cheat God.
Shepherd Heart: Tell us why you agreed to marry both Leah and Rachael. There are some people who feel that you went too far and should have just settled for Leah despite the fact that Laban played tricks on you.
Jacob: This is a cultural issue and should not be confused with spiritual demands. At the time I married the two girls, God had not given Israel the ten moral laws or other statutes that prohibited people from marrying two sisters. You cannot break a non-existent law.
Shepherd Heart: Was the curse on your son, Levi that his lineage would be scattered across all Israel justified?
Jacob: If you read the pronouncements I made before I died, you would understand that it was the Spirit of God that spoke through me. You will also understand that God used the curse to fulfil His purpose in the life of Levi and his offspring. Levi’s children became priests and High Priests. Which of the tribes could boast of that kind of favour?
Shepherd Heart: Let us talk about your relationship with Joseph. Scripture says that he became your favourite because of the love you had for his mother. Benjamin was also Rachael’s son and born after Joseph. Why did you not show him the same kind of affection?
Jacob: Certain occurrences are difficult to explain or put into words. Joseph and I had a special relationship- a bond that was unbreakable by adversity.
Shepherd Heart: Is it safe to impute that your favouritism towards him contributed to the intense hatred his half-brothers had for him?
Jacob: That might have encouraged their bitter hearts to plot evil against him. To be candid, they were very good at concealing their jealousies. If I had an inkling of their feeling toward Joseph, I would have addressed it before it escalated into their evil actions.
Shepherd Heart: The Bible paints a picture of you before Pharaoh that shows how much God had transformed you from a trickster into a prince. When you look back at your life, especially the encounters with Esau and the Angel of God, what advice can you give us about life generally?
Jacob: First and foremost, do not take God for granted. Your generation pretends to have knowledge and that somehow translates into rubbing shoulders with God. The arrogance that knowledge confers on humans makes them to believe that they can reduce God to their level. Or better still, ignore Him altogether. You should know that Almighty God has drawn a line in the sand. As was the case in the time of Noah, so will it be with your generation. God is patient, kind, longsuffering and merciful. Remember that it was the same God that wiped out the population of the entire earth and saved only Noah and his household. It was the same God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. He has given your generation sufficient time to repent and turn away from the paths that lead to destruction. He is not going to send another Messiah to save souls. That has been done and with finality. Anyone who rejects God’s mercy through Yeshua has signed his own dead warrant.
Shepherd Heart: Good word. In Hebrews 12:6, we are told that God disciplines those He loves and chastises those He receives. Your life on earth was a perfect example of God’s pruning exercise. You were cheated by Laban in the case of Rachael and your service to him for years. You were also deprived of your son Joseph for more than seventeen years. Were there times you queried the providence of God over these things?
Jacob: Hmm. I don’t believe that we can ever know God to the extent that we can decipher His will so perfectly and surrender accordingly. Our humanity stands in the way of fully comprehending God. That is why He said that our ways are not his ways and our thoughts not His thoughts. Of course, I did ask the hard questions but I did not get the answers I wanted. Eventually, I learned to just trust God and let Him fulfil His purposes in my life.
Shepherd Heart: What advice would you give to people going through stuff that challenge their faith in God?
Jacob: Trust and obey. There is no other way to please God except we are totally yielded to His will. If we know that He loves us, why would we entertain fears about the journey of life and the eventual destination? I must add that knowing that God is in control of details of the journey would not lessen the pains of whatever cross He has chosen for us. On the other hand, living in a perpetual state of agony and distress will rob us of the joy of the LORD which is our strength. The alternative to a life lived in God’s presence is eternal misery. Only a fool would choose that route.
Shepherd Heart: I totally agree with you Sir. The alternative is not attractive at all. Thank you for sharing your experiences and your wealth of knowledge with us.
Jacob: The pleasure is mine.