BEMA 14: Grappling with God, Part 2

Transcription Status

1 May 22 — Initial public release

22 Apr 22 — Transcript approved for release

Grappling with God, Part 2

Brent Billings: This is The BEMA Podcast with Marty Solomon. I’m his co-host Brent Billings. Today we continue our look at the life of Jacob covering Genesis 32–35 in this episode 14 of The BEMA Podcast. If somehow you’re listening to this and you haven’t listened to episode 13 yet, you’re definitely going to want to go back and pick that up as we continue our talk about Jacob.

Marty Solomon: We had started our conversation all the way back when we got started about Genesis. We talked about “the Preface” where we talked about, in discussion groups, in these last few weeks, as we think back to the preface Genesis 1–11, how it’s this affirmation of God’s good story and these constant invitations, these consistent invitations to trust that, in fact, God is in love with creation. He does find it to be good; it is acceptable. And people failing to trust that, which leads to tragedy. Then we’re brought into what we call “the Introduction” to God’s narrative.

We had a preface and now we have an introduction. It’s really Genesis 12–50, and it’s going to be where we meet the family of God. We’ve met this guy named Avram, and this guy who is willing to trust the story in the midst of the struggle, in the midst of the mistakes, he’s going to figure out what it means to trust and to walk in faithfulness. We’ve met his son. We saw a couple of episodes ago, the story of Avram finding its realization in the life of Isaac. Then Isaac has his two sons, Jacob and Esau. Last week we jumped into that discussion in the last podcast and talked about just the life of Jacob and these two sons.

We met Jacob right off the bat, fulfilling this role. He’s called “heel holder, heel grasper.” It gives the idea of usurping or supplanting. It doesn’t directly give us the idea of deceiving or lying, like people like to say, but he is somebody who is grasping and grappling for more. He wants more. We find that in the first story when he steals the birthright from his older brother who happens to be the bechor, the firstborn, he steals the birthright from Jacob. There’s a little break in the story. Then in the next chapter we meet him again, as he, with the help of his mother Rivkah, steals the blessing from Isaac [or Esau, depending on how you look at it].

Because of this life of deception, this life of usurping and having his methods all wrong — I think we would all agree, has his methods wrong and how he’s going about doing this — he has to flee, he has to run. He runs to Laban, the descendant of Nahor, and needs to find a new family. Can’t dwell with the family that wants to kill him, can’t dwell with Esau. He finds himself with Laban, finds his two daughters, one of whom he is just deeply madly in love with, and ends up marrying them both, having some children, they have to leave. There’s a big disagreement over some stolen idols.

Really, his whole time with Laban was this big competition of deception. Like, who could outsmart, who could out-usurp, who could out-supplant the other. It just culminates in this really large disagreement as he runs — and that was where we left off in Genesis 31 last time. We’re going to pick up in the next story, Genesis 32. Now that Laban has been satiated and has gone back home, Jacob now has to turn his attention to what’s next and that is he’s going to have to deal with Isaac. He’s going to have to start facing down some demons here because his options are basically, he’s burned every bridge that he’s got and he’s got to rebuild one of them.

He’s going to turn his attention to Esau here. That’s where Genesis 32 picks up, Jacob prepares to meet Esau. What we find here is Jacob being Jacob. He’s going to take his family as everything he owns, all the wealth that he has managed to acquire through his time with Laban. He’s going to split him up into two groups there in verse 7. The flocks and the herds and camels as well. He thought if Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that has left might escape and so you know who he is going to start with? He’s going to start with Leah.

He is going to start with that family. He’s going to put them out in front first. It tells you what his line of thinking is here. There’s no glorious redemption here of what he’s really trying to accomplish. He’s thinking, “Well, if one group gets attacked, maybe the other one can escape. Let’s go ahead and start with Leah and her family and all of those possessions, followed up next by Rachel and her family and all of their possessions.” Of course, he’s such a nice guy he’s hanging out in the back and I’m sure his line of thinking is, “Well, if the second group doesn’t get away, at least I will.” He’s a fine fellow here.

Brent: Do you think he went as far as like, “Now this is my favorite steak knife, so let’s keep that bag with Rachel and that one’s worn down and dull, so we’ll have Leah carry that one.”

Marty: Oh man. It certainly gives you that impression when you hear the story. Maybe I’m being a little too facetious with that, but man, this life of Jacob is just really hard as we read it to find the redemptive — like what is going on here? Anyway, he sends his two families up in front of him. He’s trying to figure out how in the world he’s going to survive this encounter with Esau. While the family is on their way to meet him, he stays back and then he has this, we could really appropriately call it, an encounter. Brent, if you don’t mind, how about you pick up reading there in 32:22 and read the rest of the chapter.

Brent: Okay. That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his 11 sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok. Jabbok, I don’t know how you say that.

Marty: Yes, Jabbok.

Brent: After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’

Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name,’ but he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he blessed him there. Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared.’ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day, the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

Marty: We have this pretty interesting story here about Jacob. The subtitle says, “Wrestling with God.” The New Testament is going to talk about how Jacob wrestled with God. Just raises all kinds of questions because what did the story actually say as you read that, Brent?

Brent: Mostly, it said a man wrestled with Him.

Marty: Right. Like he wrestled with a man. When you read the story, what’s said is that he wrestled with a man and a man was there and the man said, and it’s always a man. Then when Jacob looks back on it, thinking about a name, “It’s because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” That’s the lone implication there. The lone insinuation that there was something more going on with this wrestling match.

Brent: The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

Marty: Sure. Okay. Maybe another indication there, plus, you bring up a name change. Who has the authority to change names? You have to have authority over a person, like some random dude passing through your life doesn’t have the authority to be like, “Oh, by the way, your name’s changed.” You have all these weird indications in the story, but you also have what the story literally says and it just raises all these questions as you read it. What’s interesting as we walk through this story is this is the first time that Jacob has been confronted with his identity. I don’t know how much we’ve talked about names in the podcast. I’m not sure we really have a whole lot.

Brent: I don’t think we’ve covered it at all.

Marty: Yes. In the Hebrew world, names are… it communicates your essence. When we named our kids, we chose these Hebrew names for our children. I wrote up a legacy that’s kind of like a blessing and our legacy that goes with their names. It sits outside their bedrooms and we read it on their birthday. Names in the Jewish world communicate. It’s not just what we call you, but it’s who you are. Oftentimes, it’ll have two edges to it. You can either take your name and you can live it out in a positive sense, you can take your name and you can live it out in a selfish or a negative sense.

We don’t give names enough weight, I don’t think in our culture, or particularly when you read the Bible for sure. The fact that Jacob has a name that means heel holder, and he has definitely been living out his name, a name which essentially means usurper. He has definitely been living out I think we would say the negative side of his name, usurper. For the first time in his story, he is confronted with and has to grapple with who he is. This man, this angel, God, however, you want to talk about it, this man says, “What is your name?” That question has a lot more weight to it than just, “Hey, what do they call you?” as we sit here wrestling?

What he’s really wrestling with is who are you really? We know that Jacob has no problem with lying. If this is some random man that has wandered into camp for your random wrestling match, out in the middle of the desert, he could tell him some false name. But Jacob — “This is my name. My name is ‘heel holder,’ my name is ‘usurper.’” This guy gives him a new name, a new identity. What he calls him is Israel, which is the combination of two words. Isra, to conquer, and el, God. He says, “You’ll be called Israel because you have wrestled with God, and with man, and have overcome.”

Has he wrestled literally with God externally, or is the man saying “You’ve wrestled with God internally? The fact that you’re coming to grips with who you are, the fact that you’re coming to grips with your name and your identity, and the essence of how you’re living that out, that is where you’re wrestling with God in your life.” Or has he more literally wrestled with God? The whole thing is interesting. God has to touch his hip socket in order to make this fair play? Of course not. This whole thing is weird if he’s really wrestling with God. When he comes out of the wrestling match and names the place, what he names it, in order to say I’ve seen God face to face, which is what the word refers to there. I’ve seen God face to face and lived. It is Jacob saying like, literally or is he saying, “Tonight, I wrestled with God,” in a more metaphorical sense, or is it both? Those are the things that I wrestle with, as I hear this story. Did you have something over there too?

Brent: Well, I was just thinking. I was reading back on the very first exchange of words. Jacob is alone, the guy starts wrestling with him, couldn’t overpower him, the hip thing, whatever. Then he finally speaks, he says, “Let me go for it is daybreak.” Jacob, at this point, knows nothing of him beyond a random man that he just happened upon.

Marty: Correct.

Brent: He says, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me,” which I think is a huge testament to the power of words in general, in their culture, like,” Who is this guy?” It’s important enough for me to get a blessing from him before he goes, because it doesn’t matter who he is, his words are powerful and I want a blessing.

Marty: Correct. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Again, I think that story takes us back to what we looked at in our last podcast. We were asking the question, why Jacob, why not Esau, what’s going on here? We talked about the power of chutzpah and how God will take somebody with a little bit of spirit, a little bit of fire. He can take somebody who is moving and the one who wants it. He is going to take Jacob with his chutzpah. This is the story regarding the name Israel, the name of God’s people that will be used all throughout the story of the scriptures, comes from this story.

This is a defining moment, and a defining story, and the defining characteristic of God’s people. It’s the fact that Jacob would wrestle with God. I still try to understand the significance of this story. I think sometimes in our culture — and part of the heart of BEMA that we even do this podcast, and get together for our discussion groups, is to wrestle and to ask questions. This is one of those defining stories for that premise. This is the kind of people God wants to partner with. If we’re going to be the kind of people who don’t really want to ask questions, we don’t really want to wrestle, we don’t want to really rock the boat, that is not what God came to partner with apparently. If there is something redemptive in Jacob’s story, it’s that God says, “Man, I want to work with this kid.”

Brent: I don’t even think it’s necessarily that people don’t want to, I feel like the way I was taught when I was growing up is, you don’t question God.

Marty: Yes, absolutely.

Brent: God has the final decision, he establishes truth, whatever God says goes. God says that I believe, and that settles it.

Marty: Yes, absolutely.

Brent: There is no room for wrestling with anything.

Marty: Right. To wrestle is dangerous, you’re just opening the door to doubt and your faith. In fact, I was critiqued a few years ago. Somebody said the problem with my study and what I did was I asked the question “what if?” This particular person said if I ever asked the question, “what if,” stop coming to my church. Somebody brought that up in one of the classes and I said, “Man, if we ever stopped grappling with the question, “what if? Why? Where? How? Who? If we ever stopped wrestling, if we ever stopped asking questions,” I said, “quit coming to my Bible study.” It’s just so essential to a healthy dynamic.

You’re right, the Christian world says, “Don’t do that. Proclaim truth, we got it all figured out, pass it on, don’t ask questions. 3500 years ago, the story of Jacob, God seems to be giving us a model to follow about the kinds of people he wants to work with. Anyway, keep moving ahead. Eventually, Jacob does go on to meet Esau. In fact, it doesn’t go to the worst-case scenario, it maybe even goes to the best-case scenario. Esau was ready to forgive him. Esau ran to meet Jacob. I started there in 33:4, He threw his arms around his neck and kissed him, and they wept, and Esau looked up and saw the women and children and he said, ‘Who are these with you?’

Jacob answered, ‘They are the children God has graciously given your servant.’ The female servants and their children approached and bowed down. Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down. Esau asked, ‘What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds that I met? To find favor in your eyes, my Lord,’ he said, but Esau said, ‘I already have plenty, my brother, keep what you have for yourself. ‘No, please,’ said Jacob, ‘If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God.’ Interesting segment coming off the last story there.

Now that you have received me favorably, please accept the present that was brought to you for God has been gracious to me, and I have all I need. Because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it. Now, it’s at this point where I know and I usually have been taught the life of Jacob. I have most definitely been given the impression that wrestling with God was the turning point in his story. Genesis 32 was the point where Jacob’s life took a turn, his life changed when he wrestled with God. I have always watched this story and I’ve thought, “Wait a minute, has it really changed?” Look what happens next.

Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way, I’ll accompany you.” See, reconciliation has happened, he didn’t get killed, his brother’s fine, all is forgiven. They can live in harmony now. Jacob said to him, “My Lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and the cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard, just one day all the animals will die. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me, the pace of the children until I come to my Lord and Seir.”

Esau said, ‘Then let me leave some of my men with you.’ ‘Why do that?’ Jacob asked, ‘Just let me find favor in the eyes of my Lord.’ That day Esau started on his way back to Seir. Jacob however, went to Sukkoth, where he built the place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. This is why the place is called Sukkoth. Jacob is still in the middle of his lying, conniving ways. Like, “Yes, sure, just go on ahead, I’ll be there in just a second. I’m going to hang up sharp left. I’m going to head somewhere else and settle there.”

Brent: Do we know where these places are?

Marty: Sukkoth? Yes, although I would not be able to explain where it’s at without having to go back and find it on a map. I’m not sure if we know for sure, there might be a few options of what we believe.

Brent: Or even Seir.

Marty: Well, Seir is more of a region where the Edomites end up settling, the land of the dome. The mountain in Edom is known as Mount Seir and was often used, especially in the prophets to talk about the people of Edom. It was a central image of what that land was, and it represents the land of Esau’s descendants, that’s who Edom is. Esau’s descendants, it says. What happened in Genesis 36, we won’t actually look at it today, but you’ll read about Esau’s descendants in that chapter. Those descendants are what ended up becoming the nation of Edom.

Brent: Either way, Jacob is not going to the same place as Esau.

Marty: No. Maybe he’s starting to have an uptick, but it sure doesn’t seem like this was the turning point of his life, but let’s keep moving and see what we find out here. Genesis 34, another story that’s just not pretty. They go and they end up dealing with the people of Shechem. The son there, the son of the King, his name is Shechem. He sees one of Jacob’s daughters whose name is Dinah, and he essentially rapes her. That’s what happens if we’re just blunt about it. He takes her and abuses her. The brothers obviously get pretty furious about that. He didn’t go through the proper channels. He didn’t respect patriarchy. He didn’t ask for her hand. He took her and abused her and violated her.

The brothers, they have to seek revenge. They set up this very sneaky, Jacob-like — they are Jacob’s true descendants here. They set up this false covenant built on false pretenses, where they’re like, “Listen, we’ll give you Dinah in marriage, but you guys need to become a part of our group here, so that means you need to be circumcised.” They set up this little thing and everybody gets circumcised. That night while everybody is trying to recover because such surgery is not a fun thing when you’re not eight days old. It’s probably not a fun thing when you’re eight days old either.

Nevertheless, they sneak in under the cover of darkness and essentially slaughter everybody in the city, the men there, fighting men. What’s interesting is at the end of the story — and so, of course, we can sit back and critique the methods. There’d be a valid critique of the methods here of the sons and it’s going to be critiqued in the scriptures at the end of the book of Genesis and elsewhere. We also obviously, have to remember what started this thing with the rape of Dinah, and then listen to the words of Jacob. Tell me if this is a man who’s been reformed, if this is a man who has been changed? Jacob said to Simeon and Levi…

Brent: This is down in verse 30 by the way.

Marty: Down in verse 30, last two verses of 34. Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought trouble on me, by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and the Perizzites. The Hebrew there talks about a stench. The people living in this land, we are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.’ Listen to all the mes. “You have made trouble for me, by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites or people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me, and attack me and my household, we will be destroyed.”

This sure doesn’t sound like a guy that had this life-changing experience, wrestled with God, came away changed, now cares about others. He seems to be the same guy who cares about himself and where he’s going and what he’s going to get and how safe he’s going to be. Maybe we’re being too harsh as we read that, but I’ll give that to our listeners to wrestle with. What’s interesting is the last chapter we’re going to look at today here, Genesis 35. Jacob’s going to return to Bethel with his family. Then later on in the chapter — let’s just go ahead, and if you don’t mind, Brent, you want to read Chapter 35 here. I may stop you or I may not. I don’t know.

Brent: Sure. Then God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel and settle there and build an altar there to God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother, Esau.’ Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come let us go up to Bethel where I will build an altar to God who answered me in the day of my distress, and who has been with me wherever I’ve gone.’ They gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.

Then they set out and the terror of God fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them. Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz, that is Bethel, in the land of Canaan. There he built an altar and he called the place El-Bethel because it was there that God revealed Himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse died and was buried under the oak outside Bethel. So it was named Allonbachuth. After Jacob returned from Padanaram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob. Your name will be Israel.’ So he named him Israel.

Marty: Now, hold on. What’s odd about that?

Brent: Well, wasn’t he already Israel? Didn’t he already get his name changed?

Marty: His name has already changed. Why has God all of a sudden changed his name again? Again, maybe I’m being far too hard on Jacob, but the one phrase that’s missing when it talks about God says go build an altar. He says, “I’m going to go build an altar so that God…” Let’s see. What does he — I literally see you read that there. He says, “Then come let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God who answered me in the day of my distress, and who has been with me wherever I’ve gone.”

That sounds like a really good statement, but is this Jacob continuing to try to work the system? The one phrase that’s missing, that was there for Isaac, it was there for Abraham, it was there for his father and his grandfather, was that they built altars, and they did what?

Brent: They pitched tents.

Marty: What else did they do? In the phrase that said they would build an altar and…?

Brent: Call on the name of the Lord.

Marty: Call on the name of the Lord. What’s interesting here is, and to be honest, we can assume that they’re in tents. That’d be a really safe assumption, but that’s also avoided in the Text. He builds the altar. He does the things that are necessary to stay in the blessing of God. Am I reading too much into the text or out of the text, or is the author…? Is there no mention of how he’s calling on the name of the Lord? I just ask the question there, but what’s interesting is his name gets changed the same way for the second time. What’s that going to be all about? Let’s keep reading and see if we can figure out what it is.

Brent: Verse 11, God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and the community of nations will come from you and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I’ll also give to you and I will give this land to your descendants after you.’ Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him. Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him and he poured out a drink offering on it. He also poured oil on it. Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.

Marty: When God told him, what was it? What were the first words out of God’s mouth when he spoke to him?

Brent: I am God Almighty.

Marty: And?

Brent: Oh, well, before that?

Marty: No, nope, right there. Same spot.

Brent: Be fruitful and increase in number.

Marty: Have we heard that before?

Brent: It’s all over the place.

Marty: In two really big stories we heard, obviously, Adam and Eve, but then the big one was Noah and coming out of the ark, and he was told twice to be fruitful and increase the number. Now Jacob is told the same thing. Expect that there’s going to be more children for whatever. However that’s going to work, there’s going to be more children. There’s going to be more love shared with his wives. Let’s keep reading there, Brent.

Brent: Well, he already has — what did it say earlier? He had 11 sons already. He’s got to have at least one more.

Marty: Absolutely, but we would expect if we’ve got those other stories ringing in the back of our head, we expect either — what do we also expect? There should be another child, but…?

Brent: There’s going to be some tragedy.

Marty: Some tragedy is going to happen. Either that son’s not going to make it. We’re not going to get another son or something’s going to happen. I would expect to find my Noah story, somebody is going to get blamed. Somebody is going to take the blame. Let’s see. Let’s keep going here.

Brent: Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. As she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, ‘Don’t despair, for you have another son.’ As she breathed her last for she was dying, she named her son Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin. Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. Over her tomb, Jacob set up a pillar and to this day, that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.

Marty: I think that’s a good place to stop for this conversation. She dies in childbirth. As she’s dying, she gives this last son the name Benoni, which means son of my trouble, son of my sorrow. Jacob for whatever reason, just can’t come to let that name stick. He doesn’t want that to be. He names him Benjamin, which means son of my right hand, son of my favor, or almost even favorite son. He’s going to be the last born son and yet his name kind of says you’re my favorite. You’re one of my favorites. At least you are definitely a favored son. One of two from his favorite wife.

Brent: Oh, and if he’s sitting at his Father’s right hand that would make him in the place of greatest honor.

Marty: Absolutely, so that communicates all kinds of stuff. Jacob has us — what’s interesting is if we were to jump to the end of the book of Genesis, when Jacob is telling Joseph when they go back down to Egypt, Jacob starts telling Joseph the story of how Rachel dies, and in our English Bibles, the phrase reads, “To my great sorrow, Rachel died.” In the Hebrew, it can literally read, “To my fault” or “because of me, Rachel died.” You see, if I’m holding on to the Noah story in the back of my mind, because I’ve heard this before, be fruitful and multiply. Here comes a tragedy. Somebody is supposed to get blamed, and it appears through the story that Jacob tells later, he blames himself. He says, “It was my fault that Rachel died.” Now, can you remember, Brent, why he might say such a thing?

Brent: Why it was his fault that Rachel died?

Marty: Yes. Let’s see, there was a story where Laban was arguing about, “Somebody stole my idols,” Laban says — who had stolen the idols, by the way?

Brent: Was it Rachel?

Marty: Yes, it was. Did Jacob know that?

Brent: No.

Marty: Laban says, “Somebody stole my idols.” Jacob, in ignorance, is saying, “Absolutely not,” and what does he say? “If anyone is still in my idols, essentially off with their head. May they die.”

Brent: Am I getting this mixed up with another story, though? What am I thinking of? I’m thinking of, like you can have the next person who walks through the door thing or whatever, though.

Marty: Oh, the Jephthah story.

Brent: Yes.

Marty: Oh, yes. I’ve never even thought about the connections there, in the book of Judges. We’ll get to that later. But yes, Jacob, definitely. I think, at least my rabbi taught me as I studied a lot of this stuff — by the way, speaking of rabbis who teach this stuff, Fohrman has incredible material in the life of Jacob. I don’t want to take all of this stuff and just repeat it, you can find it all. We’re going to start moving a little bit quicker through this Genesis stuff, but just while I’m thinking of Rabbi Fohrman, Aleph Beta Academy — we’ve linked that a bunch on our website, has all great stuff on Genesis and Jacob.

Brent: We’ll link it again in this episode just for fun.

Marty: Just to make sure.

Brent: Hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of material on Genesis.

Marty: Yes, really, really good stuff.

Brent: You will get your fill.

Marty: That’s right. Small little membership, if you want unlimited access, definitely worth the 10 bucks a month or whatever it is. Anyway, Jacob, as this was taught to me by another rabbi that taught me, Ray, about this story, it would seem that Jacob has owned the death of Rachel. He says, “It was my lying, conniving ways that ended up killing my…” It was like the only thing that Jacob really wanted in his life. If you go back through his life, the only thing he really pined after, maybe the firstborn, the bechor, the birthright, those kinds of things, but he squandered that. He never really had that because he had to be on the run his whole life.

The only thing he really, really sought after and chased after, the only real true love of his life was Rachel. According to his story, at the end of his life, he feels like it was his fault. “She died because of the curse that I put on her unknowingly. It’s my fault.” Now, here’s why this comes full circle to me. God changes his name twice to Israel, conquered God, but in the Hebrew, that name can just as easily mean God conquered. You can swap those things around.

I’ve always wondered if the first time God changed his name, Jacob wrestled with God and Jacob won, and God’s like, “Man, I love that about you, but I sure hope that you’re going to let me get a hold of your life, and take all that passion and that fire and that chutzpah and use it towards my end,” but it doesn’t appear that he does. Eventually, God breaks Jacob, and he loses the one thing that he cared about the most. If there’s a lesson in that, it’s that God longs to use your chutzpah. He longs to use your passion. He longs to use your Jacob-ness.

I know we talked — I think last week — about how many Jacobs do we have out there, people that can resonate with the Jacob story. You’re not necessarily a great rule follower. You’ve been pretty selfish through your life, but man, you wake up with a fire in your bones. God wants to use that fire in your bones, but make sure you let him use it his way, to his ends. Let the story that God’s trying to tell — trust the story like Avram and let those things shape who you become, because if not, and you find yourself trying to live in the narrative of God, it may cost you everything that’s not aligned properly in God’s created order. You may end up blaming —

I’m not sure Jacob is to blame, but it sure is the sorrow that he seems to carry. By the time we get to the end of his life, it’s at this point, the second time that God changes his name. I wonder if that actually means this time God conquered Jacob. The first time Jacob wrestled with God and Jacob won, but the second time, God wrestled with Jacob, and God won. This is where Jacob will change. From this point on in the story, Jacob will be a completely different character. He’s going to be this old, whipped patriarch sitting at the back of the story in the story of Joseph, this guy who’s afraid to move, he’s afraid to lose — we’ll get to that in the Joseph story.

He’s afraid to lose his family members. He won’t do anything God asked him to do or wants him to do because he’s afraid he’s going to lose everybody and everything. This is where Jacob will experience change. I think there’s an invitation there to let God change us before we ruin ourselves. I don’t think God ruined Jacob. I think Jacob ruined Jacob. I think there’s an invitation there to consider as we look at that.

Brent: I’m just looking back at this part where God changes his name the second time and it’s interesting. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you’re not willing to be called Jacob. Your name will be Israel,” so he named him Israel. Each name is said twice, like, “Hey, I really mean this. Yes, you know this, but it’s not that anymore. It’s going to be this, and so it’s this.” Then it says, and then nothing. Jacob doesn’t say anything. Jacob’s sitting there like, “What do you mean? Now I’m conquered? Really? I’m not the guy who’s grasping for things anymore? What is this even? I don’t know how to live this way.” He’s just sitting there and God’s like, “Look, I’m God Almighty. All this great stuff is going to happen —”

Marty: That’s fantastic. I really liked that. I didn’t even notice that, but you’re absolutely correct. Then God said to him, “Yes, be fruitful and increase in number.” Yes, an affirmation there. You’re about ready to go through some really tough stuff. I’m going to use you. I’m going to reaffirm the covenant promised. That’s really good. I like that a lot.

Brent: Read right over it the first time.

Marty: Man, yes. So good. Anyway, I know I sure find myself in Jacob’s story quite a bit as I’ve studied it. I’m not a Jacob all the way through every single day, but I have had my Jacob moments, and there’s a lot of things, unfortunately. In the short 12, 13, 14 years I’ve had in the ministry, I’ve learned far too many lessons the hard way, and I think this story is one of those things that begs to teach people like me.

Brent: Sounds about good for this episode.

Marty: Think so.

Brent: We’ll be back next time talking about Yosef, but until then, if you live on the Palouse, we hope you’ll join us for our discussion groups in Moscow on Tuesday or in Pullman on Wednesday. If you want to get a hold of Marty, you can find him on Twitter at @martysolomon. You can find me on Twitter at @eibcb, and you can find more details about the show at bemadiscipleship.com. Thanks for joining us on The BEMA Podcast and we’ll talk to you again soon.