Abraham, the father of Isaac, was the one whom God called out to from his father’s house. God promised him that he would bless him and the generations after him. Abraham’s wife could not give birth to a son at the time they expected.
The son God promised Abraham came when he was one hundred years old while his wife Sarah was ninety years old. Before Isaac was born, Hagar, the maidservant of Sarah, had a son for Abraham called Ishmael. After the death of Sarah, Abraham had more children from other women (Keturah, a wife, and unnamed concubines). Keturah had six sons, but the number of children of Abraham’s concubines was not recorded.
Among all the children of Abraham, Isaac was chosen by God to carry on with his plan for humanity through Abraham’s descendants after his death of Abraham. Isaac was the father of Jacob and Esau; when he was old, he wanted to transfer the blessing to Esau, his favourite son. Rebekah, the mother of the twins (Jacob and Esau), wanted Jacob, her favourite, to be the sole beneficiary of the blessing.
So Rebekah devised a cunning plan. The deceit with which Jacob got his father’s blessing in Genesis 27 was born out of his mother’s desperation and personal lack of understanding. Jacob was just forty years old when Isaac blessed him. For the next ninety years, Jacob’s story was that of a man whose days were few and filled with struggles and sorrow.
At a point, he met an angel and wrestled with him for a blessing (Genesis 32:22). If he had obtained the blessing forty years ago, he would not be desperate for another blessing at the age of seventy-seven (37 years after). The main problem was that the method through which Jacob thought he could obtain the promise was a deceitful one.
Abraham had no prophetic transfer of blessing from his biological father when he started. He met with Melchizedek after God had already blessed him. Abraham only dismissed the siblings of Isaac so that He could thrive in peace without rivalry. Abraham did not pronounce any blessings upon Isaac at any point, yet Isaac got it. If there was anyone, whom Abraham prayed for, it was Ishmael. Before the birth of Isaac, Abraham told God that Ishmael should be the one who would continue with the generational blessing which God promised in Genesis chapter 12.
Gen 17:17-19
And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing God replied him, saying No, in this way
Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him._
God said NO to Abraham’s prayer because there is predestination for Isaac. Therefore, the blessing of Abraham did not align with the intention of God. Similarly, Jacob had a prophetic word from God; this was revealed to his mother when she was pregnant with Jacob and Esau.
The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
(Gen 25:23)
Jacob is the younger, so with or without prayers, he will get the blessing just like his father (Isaac) did. One of the pieces of evidence was that Isaac knew of his deceit when Esau came, yet he did not reverse the blessing he had pronounced on Jacob.
Unfortunately, Rebecca, an accomplice to the deceit, promised that the curse should fall on her if Isaac got wind of Jacob’s guile, did not partake of the sufferings of Jacob. Jacob’s sufferings were avoidable if he avoided scheming and manipulation.
Records of Jacob’s Sufferings
Gen 31:38-42
This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
Thus, have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
The word affliction, which I underlined, summarizes the experience of Jacob during the twenty years Jacob spent in the house of Laban. Jacob, a blessed man, spent two decades, and he defined them as a season of affliction.
Genesis 47: 8-9
And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Examples of twenty-first century scheming of Jacob
- Using an uncircumcised musician to draw a crowd for a meeting centered on christ.
- Cheating in an examination after God has assured you success.
- Using satanic assistance to grow a church/business/project which God pioneered and made you the set man or woman.
Action Point
Repent and Restitute in cases that you have schemed to get what God has promised
Leave a Reply