Missions Paul

Leah lived in the shadow of her younger sister, Rachel. She was the first wife of Jacob by default, unloved by him; she had been rejected by other men, presumably and perhaps even worse of all, used by her own father.

If you have ever felt like a second choice, then this story is for you.

“After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, ¹⁵ Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. ¹⁸ Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. ²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.” ²² So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. ²³ But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. ²⁴ And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant. ²⁵ When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. ²⁷ Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” ²⁸ And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹ Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. ³⁰ Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.” (Genesis 29 v 14-30)

Leah was humiliated.

On their wedding night, in a darkened tent, the deception unfolded. “When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, ‘What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?'” (v23, 25).

Can you imagine the shock Jacob had in the morning—he had slept with the wrong bride! But think of how Leah felt. The morning light revealed not just her identity but her husband’s horror and disappointment. There are things from the past that humiliated you, and perhaps you still feel the hurt. Jesus is the healer of hurts.

Leah was used.

“Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.’ And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife” (verses 27-28).

Leah became a transaction, a means to an end. Women in our society have also lost their independent personality and have become objects of desire or disgust, used and cheapened.

Leah’s story isn’t over. Yet it already speaks to everyone who has felt like a second choice, or who has looked in the mirror and felt inadequate, or who has experienced the crushing weight of being unwanted.

But here’s what we must remember: God sees the Leahs of this world.

He sees those who feel ordinary, overlooked, and unloved.

Your worth is not determined by who chooses you, but by the One who created you and calls you His own.

He is the healer of hurts, the redeemer of rejection, and the One who sees you exactly as you are and loves you completely.

You are not defined by who rejected you. You are defined by the God who chose you first.

Here’s a summary of what is coming up in the next chapter of Jacob’s life, before we begin reading the first part of it. Apt that it is Valentine’s Day today.

Jacob fell in love with Rachel, the younger and more beautiful daughter of his uncle Laban. To marry her, Jacob agreed to work for Laban for seven years. However, on the wedding night, Laban deceived Jacob by substituting Leah, the older daughter, for Rachel. When Jacob discovered the switch the next morning and complained, Laban offered him, Rachel as well, but only after completing the wedding week with Leah and agreeing to work another seven years. Jacob accepted because of his love for Rachel. This created tension between the two sisters, as Leah bore Jacob many children while Rachel initially remained childless, despite being Jacob’s favourite wife.

Living in someone else’s shadow is exhausting. If you constantly compare yourself to others, it can destroy the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to truly live. Leah listened and watched her sister. Every compliment she heard, and every loving look she saw coming from Jacob to Rachel, was a reminder of what she lacked. Her heart was constantly wounded.

Here’s the passage:

“After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, ¹⁵ Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. ¹⁸ Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. ²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.” ²² So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. ²³ But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. ²⁴ And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant. ²⁵ When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. ²⁷ Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” ²⁸ And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ²⁹ Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. ³⁰ Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.” (Genesis 29 v 14-30)

Leah was Jacob’s first wife, but she wasn’t his first choice. He had been deceived by her father. Jacob was in love with her younger sister Rachel.

Genesis 29:17 tells us, “Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful.” Rachel was more beautiful; every man wanted Rachel. Leah was in the background, ordinary. Added to the problem was that Leah was older. If she had been younger, she might have grown into a beautiful woman. But she’s older, Rachel is more beautiful, and Rachel has more years on her. Sometimes our problems are magnified by our age—time is running out to see that desire or dream fulfilled.

Then there was the weight of comparison.

She had weak eyes. Maybe you look in the mirror and do not like what you see, and you wish something were different about you. You may feel cheated in life because of the way you look, the way you talk, your natural gifts, and your limitations. Leah understood this burden intimately. Every day she lived in the shadow of her sister’s beauty, reminded of what she was not.

She was unloved by Jacob. Verse 18 makes this painfully clear: “Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, ‘I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.'” But the rejection went deeper than just Jacob. She was unloved by other men, Laban himself admitted in verse 26, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.” Laban had tried to marry her off for years with no success.

She was even unloved by her father. “So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her” (verses 22-23). What father would do this? In her day, Leah had to obey, and maybe she thought Jacob would learn to love her. Many women and men feel unloved today. The good news is that God cares about the rejected, and He loves you.

Do you know the feelings of Leah?

Leah would need to know that her value was not determined by how she measured up against her sister. Maybe there is someone reading this today who feels unloved, less than ordinary, in pain, feeling overlooked, second best. Please, hold on, the story of Leah isn’t over, and it isn’t over for you either. These stories in the Bible reveal a God who specialises in lifting the rejected and the overlooked. He hasn’t finished with you yet.

From Bethel (the gate of heaven experience) and the understanding that God was with him, Jacob continues on his pilgrimage to find a wife from his own kind. The confidence that Jacob must have had knowing who was behind him (not Esau, his brother chasing him, though he was, but God who had commissioned him) and knowing who was above him (the movement of the angels ascending and descending on heaven’s stairway), this gave him a state of readiness. He was ready to find his family. He was ready to find his wife. He was ready for extraordinary feats of strength, of which we will read now.

“Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. ² There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large. ³ When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well. ⁴ Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?” “We’re from Harran,” they replied. ⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?” “Yes, we know him,” they answered. ⁶ Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?” “Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” ⁷ “Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.” ⁸ “We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.” ⁹ While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. ¹² He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her father. ¹³ As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. ¹⁴ Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.” (Genesis 29 v 1-14)

If you like a love-at-first-sight story, then here it is.

Can you picture it? Jacob arrives at a sealed well and sees the flocks and the shepherds gathering. They wait till there is at least enough of them to collectively lift the stone away from the well. Jacob, upon learning that the shepherds are from his family town of Harran, asks about Laban, his uncle. It seems perfect timing because at the same time, Laban’s daughter and Jacob’s cousin, Rachel, arrives with Laban’s sheep. In v10, we have a wonderful few words, ‘When Jacob saw Rachel …’

That was it.

The one who was known in his family as a deceiver steps forward into the public gaze and, with extraordinary strength, rolls the stone away so that Rachel can water the flock.

Tears flow as he kisses Rachel. It seems a bit strange, doesn’t it? I presume this was okay with her!  She has just discovered her cousin, and he is weeping loudly and kissing her. The emotion is moving, even for us as we read and imagine the scene. Especially as Rachel gets Laban to meet Jacob, and the whole story is shared.

In this ordinary place, something of the divine happened.

When we know an open heaven, when we know the activity of heaven is closer than others think and when no place is ordinary, that we have renamed it Bethel, the house of God, the gate of heaven, then we also know that any day, even today, can be a divinely appointed day.

Many seem stuck with an attitude of ‘we cannot’. Like the shepherds who thought they had to wait for more help before they could roll the stone away. They were stuck, thinking the stone was too heavy to roll away. However, love can shift strongholds.

I am thinking of another stone, aren’t you?

So many are stuck in their life. Stuck behind their own customs and way of doing things.  Stuck because life is too difficult to change.  But love came and rolled away the stone.  And everything changed …

Heaven might be closer than you think. I don’t mean today, you may be there. But maybe today, heaven will visit you?

Where is a sacred place for you? Is it your church? Is it a favourite chair or a room in your home? Is it a certain walk you take most days?

Jacob has just had a dream of a stairway to heaven and angels ascending and descending. See what happens next.

 ^“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” ¹⁸ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He called that place Bethel,though the city used to be called Luz. ²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹ so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lordwill be my God ²² andthis stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” (Genesis 28 v 16-22)

On his journey, in a place called Luz, he falls asleep with a stone for a pillow.

So often, we think we are simply moving around (or sleeping) in a secular place, thinking the sacred places are reserved for church services.

What if everywhere is a sacred place?

The holiness of heaven will find you, even if you are sleeping rough under the skies with a stone as a pillow. As you read this, look around you, glance at your bearings, in this ordinary space, I believe, ‘the Lord is in this place.’ Begin to be more aware of this truth.

The pillow becomes a pillar. Some won’t even visualise how a stone can be a pillow. Are you a person who believes the ordinary can become significant in the presence of the Lord? If so, then wherever you are can become holy ground. You can rename anything as ‘the house of God’ simply because you know without doubt that the Lord is present.

What commitment would you make if you truly believed, as Jacob did, that where you are right now, your home, work, and neighbourhood is where God is? What conversation would you have with the Lord? In the place of His presence, you can be as honest as you want.

If you know heaven is closer to you than you sometimes realise, then how would your vocabulary change?

Jacob is doing two things: fleeing from his brother, who wants to kill him, and pursuing the prospect of a wife for himself. He is heading to the region where his family came from, including his grandfather, Abram, and his great-grandfather, Terah, who had settled there. On the way, he would meet with God in a dramatic way.

“Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. ¹¹ When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. ¹² He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ There above itstood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. ¹⁵ I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28 v10-15)

He reaches a certain place. We are not told what that place was called, not yet anyway. It was getting dark. We have a picture of vulnerability. Escaping, sleeping outside, a stone for a pillow, this wasn’t a great time for him.

Are you in a vulnerable, uncertain place today and tomorrow?

God came to Jacob, and He can come to you, too.

God calls on the covenant first given to Abraham. “I am … the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.” He then promises Jacob what was in the original Abrahamic covenant: land, descendants, blessing to all nations, and His presence with him.

The ladder he saw in his dream indicates that heaven is never far from any of us. Angels were coming and going. God is involved with Jacob’s situation. That was the message. In this uncertain ‘certain’ place, God was there. We don’t have to have everything in order or attend a spiritual conference to find God. God is here. Not because we are good enough or we have arrived at a certain destination. God is here because He is.

It is this truth that changes everything.

We all desire acceptance. We have been doing so since we were children. We begin looking to parents, teachers and our peers for approval. We need to know we are valued and that we matter. This is fine, but it can turn into something more desperate, and when it does, then it can become the goal and strategy of our lives. We focus on doing rather than being. Performance is more important than presence. We are even prepared to make mistakes to progress toward approval. There are times when these mistakes are seismic.

“Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.” (Genesis 28 v 6-9)

Esau was such a complicated and lost soul. A quick examination of what we have read over the last several days and today reveals some of his thoughts.

• He discovers that Jacob, his brother who stole his birthright and blessing, has now received a further blessing from their father, Isaac.
• He is told that Jacob has been sent with one purpose, and that was not to marry Canaanite women, as Esau had married.
• This was when he discovered that his Canaanite wives were displeasing to his father. (It would seem strange that he didn’t realise that marrying outside his parents’ wishes would not have hurt them).

So what does he do?

He marries again! This time through Abraham’s line via Ishmael. Surely this will fix things. Impulsiveness rarely does!

How many in longing to please rush into things to try and make things better?

Esau lived a life longing for approval, but he never thought that giving things away cheaply (a bowl of stew), making his own decisions that lay contrary to his culture (Canaanite wives) and rushing to then marry again, seeking to be back in the good books of his father, actually were making things worse.

Whether it is religious compliance or a desperate search for approval, these decisions can become simply reckless ones rather than a genuine conviction about the right course of action.

Esau’s story reveals a man caught in painful patterns of seeking what he’d already lost. Something the gospel speaks to perfectly.

Jacob has to escape. His brother is searching to kill him for deceiving him into handing over the blessing, though Esau had been so stupid and self-centred to do so. But for another reason, Jacob was about to embark on a new sojourn. A wife.

We often don’t see the full extent and reason for our next move. Sometimes we leave the last chapter simply because we have to. A marriage breakdown, redundancy, or a costly mistake can all feel like failure. But so many times, God turns those moments into purposeful journeys. An exile can become a pilgrimage with God.

“So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. ² Go at once to Paddan Aram,to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ May God Almightybless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. ⁴ May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.” (Genesis 28 v 1-5)

Some days we set out on journeys, and we don’t really know when we will return. Such is the case for Jacob. He sets out in pursuit of a wife. He doesn’t realise at that moment that he will have an experience with God at Bethel. He would be shocked to know he would work for fourteen years to get his wives. He could not know that he would return a completely changed man.

Jacob was not to marry from the Canaanites. Isaac knew the importance of protecting the covenantal lineage. He uses the name El Shaddai (God Almighty), which was part of his father’s blessing as he prayed for fruitfulness, growth in numbers, and possession of the promised land. Jacob is now responsible for carrying these same promises handed down from Abraham.

So Jacob sets out not knowing what will happen but carrying a hope for the future, not only for a wife, but for future generations.

It may feel like you are running away, and maybe that is exactly what is happening. Yet it could be the opening of a new chapter that will not only serve you but also many others.

Rebekah got precisely what she wanted. Jacob received the blessing. God’s promise about “the older serving the younger” was fulfilled. All is good, yeah? No! Rebekah had the blessing for Jacob but ended up losing him. The following verses invite a question: What can I not afford to lose by trying to gain what has already been promised to me?

“Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. ⁴³ Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?” ⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” (Genesis 27 v 41-46)

There are certain costs that God never intended for us to pay, but we paid them to get what we wanted. The problem for Rebekah that remains to this day is that the costs are never seen in advance. They are hidden by our desire for what we want.

After sending Jacob away to preserve his life, there is no record of her speaking with him again.

Jacob fled, and 20 years passed as he worked for Laban to earn Rachel and then Leah as his wives. There was a wonderful reunion with Esau, and he did meet his father before his death, but there is no mention of his mother. There is no more conversation or recorded meeting with Rebekah. It leads us to wonder if his mother ever saw her son again, especially if she died during those 20 years.

We grasp throughout our whole life instead of waiting to catch the blessings. In the grasping, we fail to catch.

Many win the argument and lose the relationship.

The promises of God over our lives don’t need our deceptions to secure them.

Leaders who fight so hard to be the leader end up losing the community they longed to lead.

I wonder if, given the chance, Rebekah would do things differently? I’m sure we would in our own situations if we could live our lives again.

The greatest call is to trust God to fulfil the blessing without our having to engineer it.

I know many who have won but have lost it all.

Jacob was more concerned about the ends than the means. The destination was more important than the journey. God had chosen him, and that was that, so any lie or deception, manipulation or sin is justified because it takes me to that place of blessing, right? Wrong!

“Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.’ He did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ he asked. ‘I am,’ he replied.” Genesis 27: 22-24.

Even when Isaac questioned how he managed to catch the game and then cook the stew so quickly, Jacob didn’t hesitate—he credited his quickness to God’s blessing, deepening his deception.

Genesis 27:26-29 reveals the magnitude of what was stolen:

“His father Isaac said to him, ‘Come here, my son, and kiss me.’ So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, ‘Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!'”

These blessings were hugely significant in their culture. They granted authority over the whole family that could not be taken back. They became a transfer of God’s promises to the person, including land, descendants, and even influence among nations.

All four members of the family were wrong. This breach of trust within the family had devastating consequences. The deception created such intense hatred that Esau planned to kill Jacob after their father’s death. The rivalry between the brothers was so severe that Jacob had to flee for his life and lived in exile for years.

It seems so unfair, doesn’t it? Maybe people have gotten away with it, and no one is listening or seeing what is blatantly clear to you. And so you trust God because there is nothing else you can do.

As soon as Jacob left the room, having received the birthright blessing, Esau came in from the field.

“Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also had made savoury food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, ‘Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.’ And his father Isaac said to him, ‘Who are you?’ So he said, ‘I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.’ Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, ‘Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.'” Genesis 27:30-33.

Isaac trembled exceedingly, violently; it was a terrible moment. And yet it became a turning point for him.

His final statement was powerful: “And indeed he shall be blessed!” Even upon realising the trick, Isaac didn’t attempt to revoke the blessing. Isaac recognised that despite the deception, God’s purposes were somehow being fulfilled through these events.

Isaac realised he would always lose if he resisted God’s will, even when he didn’t like it. And he came to learn that despite his arrogance against God’s Word, God’s plan was perfect.

He gave Esau a limited blessing, “Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: ‘Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.'” (v39-40)

Isaac was physically blind, yet his spiritual vision was remarkably clear. He understood that God’s purposes extended far beyond his own lifetime. Despite the family drama unfolding around him, despite Jacob’s deception and Esau’s disappointment, Isaac maintained faith in God’s covenant promises.

Isaac could have reasoned that since the blessing was obtained through deception, it was invalid. He could have appealed to his own intentions, his preference for Esau, or basic fairness. Instead, he recognised that something greater than human intention was at work.

If our filter for life is fairness, we will miss the story of God. But if our filter in life is the roles we play in God’s ever-revealing plan, then our focus is on His glory and pleasure, not ours.

Like Isaac, may we learn to bless concerning things to come, confident that God’s purposes will prevail, even when we cannot see how it will all work out.

“Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. 18 He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.” 20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied. 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.” (Genesis 27 v 17-21)

Jacob, the youngest brother, is pretending to be Esau with careful planning. He knows exactly what he is doing. This isn’t a weak or panicked lie. It’s a planned deception, created with his mother Rebekah’s help. She made Isaac, their father, his favourite meal to make the trick more convincing.

When Jacob talks to his blind father, there are no limits to his deceit. He doesn’t just act like his brother—he even brings God into his lie. He claims that God helped him find the game quickly, using God’s name to make his falsehood more believable. It’s a complete lie. Every part of it. Every word is chosen to manipulate and deceive. Yet, surprisingly, this is the man God chooses to continue His covenant promises.

God blessed Jacob and eventually turned him into Israel, the father of the twelve tribes. However, God also allowed Jacob to face the consequences of his deception. Those consequences were significant and fitting: Jacob would be deceived by others throughout his life. His uncle Laban tricked him into marrying Leah instead of Rachel. Later, his sons deceived him about Joseph’s death by giving him a bloodied coat, making him mourn for years over a lie. We reap what we sow—this biblical rule plays out vividly in Jacob’s story.

Sometimes, lies work in the short term, achieving their goals. These successful deceptions can be the most dangerous, as they show that dishonesty can seem acceptable, creating a false path that appears appealing. Jacob got the blessing, but the cost in broken relationships and personal pain was immense.