Although Jacob was defeated in his mother’s womb by his brother and was born second, he kept struggling to seize the birthright. After Jacob finally seized the birthright and his father’s blessing, Esau hated him and plotted to kill him. So he was forced to leave his parents and to flee to his uncle Laban.
Jacob, after coming to Laban’s home, was dealt with even more than before. He was consumed in the day by the drought, and in the night by the frost. He could not sleep. He served Laban for fourteen years for his two daughters, and six years for his cattle. Laban changed his wages ten times (Gen. 31:40-41).
Jacob married Leah, Rachel, and the two maids, begetting twelve sons and one daughter. They were all used by God to deal with Jacob from every side in order that he might be transformed.
During his escape to Laban’s house, Jacob one night lay down to sleep in the wilderness, taking a stone for a pillow. As he dreamed, he saw a ladder set up on the earth. And the Lord stood above the ladder and said, “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed...and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 28:10-14). Furthermore, God promised that He would give him and his seed the land of Canaan and that in his seed (Christ) all the families of the earth would be blessed, just as God had promised to Abraham and Isaac. So Jacob took the stone that he had put for his pillow and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel, the house of God (Gen. 28:18-19).
Genesis 32:22-32 relates a crucial experience in Jacob’s life. Jacob’s experience in this chapter is practical, personal, and intimate. The Lord in the form of man wrestled with Jacob “until the breaking of the day” (v. 24). He did this in order to expose Jacob’s natural life. As the day was dawning, the man touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh and Jacob was crippled. Jacob asked the man to bless him, but the man asked Jacob, “What is thy name?” The Lord wanted Jacob to know himself; then the man changed his name to Israel. The primary meaning of Israel is “a wrestler with God,” and the secondary meaning is “the prince of God.”
In Genesis 35 God told Jacob to go up to Bethel, so Jacob took his household and went. Before they left for Bethel, however, they made a thorough clearance by putting away their foreign gods, purifying themselves, and changing their garments, that is, their manner of life (v. 2). Upon arriving at Bethel, Jacob built an altar. There God appeared to him and again changed his name to Israel. And Jacob set up a pillar of stone and poured upon it a drink offering and oil. He called the name of the place Bethel (vv. 14-15).
When Jacob heard in his old age that Joseph had become ruler over all the land of Egypt, what was his reaction? We are told that his heart became numb, but that his spirit was revived (Gen. 45:26-27, Heb.). His soul life was deadened, but his spirit and his soul had been divided. So when he heard the good news concerning Joseph, his reaction was that his heart became numb yet his spirit was revived.
After Jacob arrived in Egypt he did not beg for anything. However, when he was young, he did not only beg but also supplanted others.
The strongest sign of Jacob’s maturity was his blessing others. After arriving in Egypt, he blessed Pharaoh (Gen. 47:7, 10). According to Hebrews 7:7, “the lesser is blessed by the greater.” Thus, the fact that Jacob blessed Pharaoh was a proof that he was greater than Pharaoh.
Jacob also blessed Joseph and Joseph’s two sons, and all his children, one by one, and he even prophesied through his blessing (Gen. 49:1-28).