God established a covenant with Abraham that extended to his descendants. Isaac, his son, continued following the God of his father. In this week’s texts, we meet Isaac’s son, Jacob. We learn that he is deceptive, cunning, perhaps dishonest, and a cheater. We read of deceptions initiated by his mother, Rebekah, and of trickery from Jacob’s wife, Rachel. Jacob himself is tricked by Laban, his eventual father-in-law, who makes sure that both of his daughters are married to Jacob and then receives many long years of Jacob’s labor in return. (Note how Jacob later tricks Laban, taking the best of the herd and leaving Laban with the weak ones.) It hardly seems like we are reading about God’s good plans and purposes when so much human brokenness is involved in advancing those purposes. How do we make sense of this?
Commentator Hampton Keathly states that Jacob’s primary problem was that he wanted to control his own life and be in charge of how things happened. He used manipulation and deception to accomplish this goal. It seems like Jacob is trying to make it on his own instead of trusting the covenant relationship that God established with his grandfather Abraham and was lived out through his father, Isaac. Despite the drama we read here (and it is dramatic, no doubt!), we see that God’s purposes are ultimately accomplished in the end. God comes to Jacob and tells him to return to his homeland. While Jacob has wandered, God has remained faithful and guides Jacob’s life to the purposes He intended.
We see God interacting with Jacob in several unique ways. One night while on his way to Haran, Jacob slept and dreamt of angels ascending and descending on a staircase. (Cue the song, “Stairway to Heaven!”) God speaks to him and blesses him. Later in his life, Jacob wrestles with God’s angel. This happens when Jacob is on his way to meet his brother, Esau, from whom he has been separated for many long years. God gives Jacob a new name, Israel, and invites him back into the covenant relationship He has desired all along.
In the Psalm for this week, Psalm 3, David cries out to God for protection at a time when he is being pursued by someone who also uses deception and trickery in a desire to take his life. Crying out for God to protect and save him, David utters a profound statement of faith and trust in God. We read in verse 3 that God is a “shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head high.” It is that confidence in God’s provision and protection that David claims in a time of anguish and trial.