The Life of Jacob
Jacob, Isaac’s son, Abraham’s grandson, had a very interesting life. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. And Rebekah appeared to be barren. After 20 years of prayer for this problem, Rebekah got pregnant with twins. Isaac was 60 years old when the twins were born. (Scriptures 1. Jacob’s Birth). The two babies jostled with each other within her womb. The Lord explained to Rebekah that the two babies in her will be two nations and will be separated; one will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. Rebekah kept this in her heart. The first born was named Esau, and he had hair all over his body. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.
Jacob Stole Father’s Blessing Using Trickery:
In these biblical times, the ritual of the father giving the first born son his blessing was very important. That child got everything. When Isaac was very old and blind, he knew it was time to give Esau his blessing (Scriptures 2. Jacob Stole Father’s Blessing).But Rebekah remember what God told her that the first born will serve the younger brother, so she told Jacob to pretend to be Esau so Jacob could get the blessing instead. She put Jacob in Esau’s clothes so he would smell like Esau. She also put goatskin on his arm so Isaac could feel the hair of Esau. The plan worked. Though Isaac said his voice sounded like Jacob, he smelled him and felt the hair on his arm and believed he was Esau and gave his blessing to the wrong child. So Jacob got his father’s blessing using trickery and deceit.
Jacob Tricked to Marry Wrong Person:
Jacob left the family and Esau stayed with his parents. Jacob met a lovely relative named Rachel. She was beautiful and had lovely big eyes and Jacob fell in love with her. He asked her father for her hand in marriage. Rachel’s father said he would have to work for him for seven years before he could marry his daughter and Jacob agreed.
After the seven years, Jacob went to his bed. It was dark and he couldn’t see. Rachel’s father sent Rachels older sister to go lay with Jacob and they consummated their relationship. When morning came, Jacob realized it was Leah the older sister, not Rachel (Scriptures 3. Jacob Tricked to Marry Leah not Rachel), and that Rachel’s father used trickery and deceit to marry the oldest daughter (what comes around goes around). He approached Rachel’s father about that trickery and Rachel’s father said it is tradition to marry the first born daughter first. But he would allow him to marry Rachel if he worked seven more years, which he did. So after working 14 years, he finally was allowed to marry the one he truly loved, Rachel.
Jacob’s Name Changed to Israel:
God changed Jacob’s name to Israel because he had struggled with God and with humans and have overcome. After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, 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. (Scriptures 4. Name Changed to Israel).
Jacob’s 12 Sons Become the 12 Tribes of Israel:
Jacob had two wives and two concubines. The first wife (Leah) and his two concubines gave him many strong sons. But Rachel (the wife he truly loved) had a harder time with that. Rachel finally had two boys Joseph and Benjamin. (Scriptures 5. Twelve Sons of Israel – Twelve Tribes). So Jacob had twelve sons that would later become the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jacob Favored Joseph:
Now Jacob started doing something wrong and it had bad consequences. He favored Rachel’s sons over all his other sons, especially Joseph. He bought Joseph gifts like a lovely coat, but not to the other sons (Scriptures 6. Jacob Favored Joseph). His other sons got very jealous and angry. This favoritism caused an uproar in the family. Then Joseph made the mistake of telling his brothers and father about a dream the Lord gave him about all of them bowing down to him and worshiping him. That was the last straw for the older brothers..
Joseph’s Brothers Sold Him to Slavery in Egypt:
The older brothers wanted Joseph gone and they sold him to caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead to be a slave in Egypt (Scriptures 7. Brothers Sold Joseph to Slavery in Egypt). They took Joseph’s coat and tore it and put sheep blood on it, and told their father Jacob that Joseph was attacked by a wild animal and was killed. Of course, Jacob’s heart was broken.
The Famine:
Some years after that, there became a famine in the land. Jacob’s family was running out of food (Scriptures 8. The Famine). They heard that there was grain stored up in Egypt and people were going there to purchase or trade for the grain. So Jacob sent his older sons to Egypt and left the youngest (Rachel’s other son Benjamin) home. Jacob eventually found out that the person in charge of selling the grain in Egypt was his son Joseph who he thought was dead. Ends up Joseph had won the Pharaoh’s respect when God gave Joseph the interpretation of a dream and cautioned the Pharaoh of the famine coming. Egypt was able to prepare for the famine because of Joseph’s interpretation, so the Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the grain sales.
Jacob Brings Family to Egypt:
The Pharaoh invited all of Joseph’s family (including their livestock and animals) to come live in the finest parts of Egypt. So, Jacob and all his family went to live there (Scriptures 9. Jacob Brings Family to Egypt). God spoke to Jacob in a dream and told him not to be afraid to go to Egypt and that the Lord would someday bring his people back to their own land.
Jacob’s Death:
Jacob lived the rest of his days there in Egypt. At his death, the Egyptians mourned with Joseph’s family and buried Jacob how and where he requested (Scriptures 10. Jacob’s Death). Jacob never lived to see his family be turned into slavery by the new Pharoah. Jacob’s family (even though harshly enslaved) grew to be over a million people of 12 tribes. The 12 tribes were the 12 sons of Jacob. Jesus eventually came from the tribe of Judah. (Scriptures 11. Jesus From the Tribe of Judah).
PDF: The Life of Jacob
See: Life of Jacob Bible Study Worksheet
See: Part 2 #6 Do You Show Favoritism?
Also See: Free Bible Study Worksheets
Also See: Part 3 – List of Prayers
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