By M. U. Adikwu
Disappointment of Jacob
The story or account of Jacob as given in the Bible is a disappointment to many and I am sure, even to Jacob himself. He was, I believe, disappointed even in himself. How do I know this? By carefully studying his response when he encountered or met with Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” His reply was very touching.
“The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have the years of my life been…… “ (Genesis 47:7-9).
I am sure Jacob said this with a lot of sorrowful memory, “Evil have the years of my life been.” He saw himself as a disappointment. He saw that over the years he has hurt others including his own twin brother, Esau. I, however, thank God for men like him. Their godly heritage showed in the truth they spoke. No wonder he was able to fit into the covenant God had made with his grandfather, Abraham. In another place, he pleaded with an angel to bless him (Genesis 32: 24-26).
“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”
Does that not tell us much about the heart of Jacob? One who had 12 children and 4 wives? He had servants. He had enough property to give out two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, twenty rams, thirty female camels, forty cows, twenty female donkeys, and ten foals, all to
his brother, Esau. He must have been extremely wealthy. Yet, to him, these were no blessings. He knew the origin of these things. He cheated his uncle to acquire some of the property. He married two sisters and even acquired their house-helps as wives.
He knew many areas of his life were not clean. He knew he was not under any blessing. As such, he cried out to the angel, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” We sing that sentence as a song but we are only careful about the melody of it. We are not careful that it was the heart cry of a repenting sinner! This was a heart cry of a man who was under the conviction and burden of sin to repent because of the presence of God. Many of us will acquire false certificates, false employment after bribes, buy schools for our children, steal money from government or church coffers only to fix a day of thanksgiving and offering unto the LORD. In fact, we might have even given several testimonies.
For Jacob, it was not a matter of rejoicing. It was a matter of repentance and even a matter of “do or die” as we often say. He knew if he missed this opportunity, it might be forever. He might be forever lost. Who knows when God would encounter him in such a manner again?
Many of us see such opportunities and treat them lightly. We let them slip-off.
Many may be blaming Jacob for his type of life. Meanwhile his name from birth was prophetic – one who will supplant. He must be among what we call today a spirit child. After all they were only two children in the family. They had enough “space” and opportunity to do whatever they wanted. Their mother Rebecca was barren for twenty years after marriage (Genesis 25:21). As such, I am sure the children were treated with utmost care and love as the manner is with such families. However, it seems that God was ordering the step of Jacob for the inheritance as it was very clear to the mother that the “elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). God made this very clear to Rebecca that Jacob will be a special child compared to Esau. This may
also be a reason why she loved Jacob more than Esau (Genesis 25:28).
No wonder then that Jacob certainly was a spoilt child as was and still is the manner of such children. One thing that we must note about the life Jacob was that he was prayerful after the manner of his grandfather. We are told in the Bible that he built altars. We are not told
so of Esau.
The reason why many people will not reach the maximum height God has for them is not because of their today’s sins but because they have abandoned God and have refused to repent. You can use many bad terminologies to describe the life of Jacob. He could be called a
womanizer. After cheating his brother of his birth-right (he could also be called a cheat) he ran to his uncle’s house (Genesis 28). On his way to his uncle’s house, he met the beautiful Rachael, his uncle’s daughter. His first reaction was to weep (Genesis 29:11). What manner of lust is that? He was certainly a womanizer. Not only that, he married two sisters and freely accepted their housemaids as well. He however, had disappointments from family quarrels resulting from polygamy.
He also had disappointments in Rachael his sweetheart, because she had difficulty in having children. A greater disappointment came when he finally lost her during childbirth on their way to Bethel (Genesis 35: 16, 19). Jacob had disappointments from her neighbours in Shechem (Genesis 34) who raped his daughter Dina. This was followed by a kind of treachery by his children who caused the men of Shechem to be circumcised. While nursing their wounds two of his children killed all the men in the land because their sister was raped. In addition, he was also disappointed when his children tricked him into believing that
Joseph was devoured by a wild beast after selling him into slavery. Jacob had a fair share of disappointments in life but what matters most was what he did under such situations. He did not curse the children who were murderers. Today we talk about the 12 tribes of Israel – all the
root of Jacob!
Adikwu writes from Abuja, and can be reached through 08034378988 and email: adikwum@yahoo.com
