The Jacob Lie That Keeps Men Weak

I am going to tell you something about Jacob that you have never heard before, and it may just revolutionise your life.

But why listen to a talk about Jacob? Many will tell you there is no good reason. He is a liar, a thief, a cheat, and a scoundrel all round. So why should you spend your time listening to a talk about Jacob? Because the real Jacob story contains unique lessons for all those who struggle in life.

This is for those struggling against a totally unreasonable father who favours the worst brother over you. Or perhaps you struggle with a brother who has no interest at all in spiritual things, who spends far too much time playing and is becoming a real danger. Maybe you struggle with your employer — he lies, he keeps changing the terms of your contract no matter how much you have grown his business for him. Jacob’s life story has the solutions for strugglers like you.

Do you struggle against powerful people pulling strings in church and in civil government that make it nearly impossible for you to succeed in life? Jacob’s divinely directed answer will never fail you. Maybe you are an immigrant without any capital, totally vulnerable to the whims of your rich employer or the government. There is a massive unlock waiting for you, my brother — if you are prepared to open your eyes wide like a child, if you are ready to ask why, instead of looking down your nose at Jacob as an example to avoid.

Many, many good Christian people have firmly held opinions about Jacob. They are convinced he is a liar, a cheat, and a scoundrel. They are wrong. It is no sin to question men’s opinions, but let God be true and every man a liar. Romans 3:4.

This is Nathan Conkie for God’s World, God’s Way, sponsored by CR101 Radio and Nicene Covenant Church, where you will find dozens of free audiobooks, ebooks, and podcasts for the discerning Christian.

In this episode I want to dismantle the key arguments against Jacob, salvage his good name, and then in subsequent talks unpack the lessons God has given for life-strugglers in the life of Jacob.

Jacob Is a Fighter, Not a Fraud

So how can we sum up Jacob’s life and character? Jacob is a fighter. When we meet Jacob in the womb we find him fighting. What marks him is struggle, not lies. And Jacob’s struggle was not play-fighting. Such was the duration and severity of the fighting between Jacob and Esau in the womb that Rebekah his mother was forced to call upon the Lord for a divine answer. If it had been a kick here and a kick there she would not have thought anything about it. But Jacob fought and fought and kept on fighting and fighting hard. You could say that Jacob, because of his fighting spirit, caused problems for his brother and mother even before he was born.

But is it wrong to fight? Is it wrong to cause trouble? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends who you are fighting and what you are fighting for. Who was Jacob fighting? Esau of course. And what kind of a character was Esau? In short, Esau was a bad man, an opposer of the good who had contempt for God’s ways. Esau was absolutely the bad guy. Since Jacob is fighting Esau and Esau is the bad guy, what does that make Jacob? Jacob is obviously the good guy.

Nonsense, you might say. In the real world there are no good guys and bad guys. But hold on a minute. Elijah fought against the Baal worshippers. John the Baptist strove against Herod. Jesus warred against the Pharisees. Moses battled Pharaoh. To be at war with the wicked is a godly trait. Those who love God contend with the wicked. Proverbs 28:4 says: they that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. All his life Jacob fought against the wicked in his own godly way. Jacob deserves his God-given place with all the Lord’s holy fighters — Abraham, Moses, Joshua, King David, and so many more who fought each in their own way and in their own field of endeavour.

What the Bible Actually Says About Jacob

But you might still have your doubts, and I do not blame you. Here is how various Bible section headings deal with Jacob securing the blessing in Genesis chapter 27. In the New American Standard Bible it says “Jacob’s Deception.” The NET Bible reads “Jacob Cheats Esau out of the Blessing.” The New Living Translation prints “Jacob Steals Esau’s Blessing.” With such a clear consensus, surely there must be a great deal in the text of the Bible that clearly and unequivocally says that Jacob was indeed a cheating, deceiving thief.

However, if you look at the text, God never calls him a thief. The Word of God never accuses Jacob, son of Isaac, of deceit. Nor does the Holy Spirit see fit to label him a cheat either. His brother by contrast is very clearly labelled as a profane person and a fornicator, to name but two of his abiding sins. Where is Jacob condemned like Esau? Nowhere.

What Jacob Was Fighting For

We know who Jacob was fighting. But what was he fighting for? He was fighting for the birthright, which he takes from Esau in principle in Genesis 25, and the blessing, which he takes from his older brother in Genesis 27.

What was the birthright and blessing he so earnestly desired? The birthright involved all the vast wealth of his father Isaac — the livestock business, camels, sheep, goats, and cattle. He wanted the silver and the gold that his father and grandfather had accumulated. Surely this makes Jacob an unspiritual man, a bad man, a very substandard believer in the eyes of today’s average church member — but where does God condemn Jacob?

What about the blessing? Even the blessing which Jacob fought so intensely for was far from purely spiritual. It meant victory over one’s enemies, sons beyond counting, becoming a great nation, and inheriting the mountains and valleys of all the promised lands. Both the birthright and the blessing that Jacob wanted and fought for included very real and this-worldly components. To have an intense desire for material things in this world is a taboo for all too many Christians. Jacob’s passionate desire for land, wealth, and victory marks him out as a dubious character at best for a great many Christian believers. But the fact remains that the Lord nowhere condemns Jacob.

Was Jacob a Lawbreaker?

Was Jacob a lawbreaker by wanting Esau’s birthright? What does the law of God say? By birth order Esau was the firstborn, and the Bible says the birthright belonged to the firstborn. Deuteronomy 21:17 states: “But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.” If anyone — father or brother — took from him what was rightfully his, that would of course be theft. That would mean Jacob was guilty of covetousness by desiring what was his brother’s possession, and when he took the birthright that would make him a thief.

But Cain was the firstborn and he was set aside for Abel and then Seth. Ishmael the firstborn was set aside because God chose Isaac the son of promise. Would Esau the biological firstborn be set aside for Jacob?

What is a firstborn anyway, apart from being the first out of the womb? This is what the Word of God states. Genesis 49:3: “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.” Psalm 78:51: “And smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength.” Psalm 105:36: “He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.” At the heart of being the firstborn is strength. The firstborn is, by definition, the strongest son.

If we identify the strongest son we find the actual firstborn. Who then was the strongest son? Esau the hunter is obviously stronger than Jacob who dwelt in tents — except the Lord told Rebekah: “The one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger.” Clearly not Esau but Jacob is the strongest by God’s word to Rebekah. Jacob is the strong one, the firstborn of God, not Esau.

But Esau was born first, not Jacob. What gives? Cain was born first but did not inherit. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi were all born before Judah, who inherited. Evil men forfeit their inheritance. Esau forfeited the right of the firstborn from even before his birth, since God hated him. Romans 9:13 says: “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” You cannot bless those who are by nature accursed. Psalm 37:22: “For those blessed by him shall inherit the earth, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.”

The blessing is tied to the inheritance. Only those blessed by God are to inherit, and vice versa. Esau, being reprobate, forfeits the right of the firstborn. Jacob, being loved by God and prophesied to be stronger than and to rule over his brother, is thereby marked as the rightful inheritor of his father’s blessing and estate. Both the birthright and the blessing were clearly Jacob’s possession. How can you steal your own stuff? You cannot covet your own shoes, so how can you covet your God-given birthright? Jacob is innocent.

Jacob the Good Man

Jacob is more than innocent — more than simply not guilty. Jacob is marked out in God’s Word as a good man, an example to us all. And yet in no Bible translation of Genesis 25:27 is Jacob ever called good. The KJV calls him plain. The NIV says he is content. The NLT says he had a quiet temperament. The ESV calls him quiet. The NKJV says he is mild. The NET Bible calls him even-tempered.

How then can I say that Jacob was good? Let us look at Genesis 25:27: “And the boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the fields, and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.”

In the Hebrew of Genesis 25:27, Jacob is called an ish tam. Ish is man. But what does tam mean? The Enhanced Brown Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon says tam means: complete, perfect, and beauty of physical strength. So there Jacob is complete in physical strength, in agreement with the prophecy given to Rebekah. He is thereby marked as the strongest, the firstborn. The second meaning is: sound, wholesome — of Jacob as tent-dweller, opposite Esau the hunter. Genesis 25:27: sound and wholesome. This is how the Holy Spirit describes Jacob. The third definition: complete morally, innocent, having integrity. How is tam translated in the rest of the Bible? Song of Songs 5:2: undefiled. Job 1:8: perfect. Proverbs 29:10: upright.

The Meaning of Grasping the Heel

Perhaps you are a keen Bible student and you still have doubts. You have been told that the meaning of Jacob and the action of grasping the heel means deceit. Esau, whom God hates, in Genesis 27:36 says of his brother: “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he had supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing.” Akeb is what he did to Esau in the womb — grasping Esau’s heel. Esau plays on the words Jacob and akeb as he accuses righteous Jacob of theft, and somehow we have taken Esau the reprobate’s word for it. Jacob the heel-grasper supposedly embodies deceit from the womb.

But what does the Lord say about Jacob grasping the heel? Hosea 12:3-4: “He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God. Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed.” Do these verses highlight Jacob’s lies, trickery, and deceit? No. They underline his strength — starting in the womb, culminating in overcoming the angel. Strength, the mark of the firstborn, is emphasised. Not deceit.

Here is the rest of the Hosea passage. Hosea 12:3-6: “He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God. Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication unto him. He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us. Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial. Therefore turn now to thy God. Keep mercy and judgement and wait on thy God continually.” The very act for which he is condemned by wicked Esau is used by God to call his people to repentance.

Grasping the heel — akeb — means to replace. The righteous Jacob is behind his arch-rival wicked Esau to inherit God’s blessing, then Jacob grasps his heel to trip him up and secures the prize: God’s blessing, which is Jacob’s already by prophecy.

Genesis 32:28 makes clear that Jacob was God’s prince: “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Jacob was the prince. Esau was the fool. Proverbs 19:10 says: “Delight is not seemly for a fool, much less for a servant to have rule over princes.”

You Are in This Story

This is not just Bible trivia — this is key to your life. You, struggling Christian man, are in this story.

Christ was the seed that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob brought forth. Galatians 3:16 states: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not unto seeds, as of many, but as of one: and to thy seed, which is Christ.” You, brother, are in Christ by God’s choice, just like Jacob was. 1 Corinthians 1:30: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” And 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

God has chosen you, the righteous, to inherit the earth. The destiny of the wicked like Esau is to be cut off, disinherited. Psalm 37:9, 11, 22, 29, and 34: “For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord they shall inherit the earth. But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever. Wait on the Lord and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.”

The blessing, the promises of Abraham, are for the meek before God — the tamed of God. Matthew 5:5: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” You have your little corner of God’s world which has your name in it — maybe a literal field, or an area of expertise. But God does not hand it over to you on a silver platter. Moses had to battle with Pharaoh tooth and nail to allow the children of Israel to begin inheriting the promised land. And Joshua, Moses’s successor, fought all his life to secure much of the promised land — battle by battle, inch by inch. You have to fight for what is yours.

In Luke 19:13 Jesus says in the parable of the talents: “Occupy till I come.” This means profit. Only if we do business in the marketplace of the world and work faithfully in what God has given us.

We too fight against powerful enemies. We face the false prophets, the false church, which tells you there is no struggle — which says forget about occupying, that is dangerous, come to church and be a good church boy. We face godless anti-Christian government, which is at war with Christian men who just want to do business, get married, have children, and pass it on to the next generation.

By God’s grace, you now have Jacob as an example to follow. Through the Spirit of God you can now understand and imitate Jacob’s godly strategies to take what is yours by right, even when the odds are stacked high against you. Over the next few weeks we will dig into those strategies. Keep listening, and what was formerly hidden will be revealed. And as you implement God’s ways found in his Word, your life will slowly be transformed.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this has been Nathan Conkie for God’s World, God’s Way. If you have any questions, contact me at questions@godsworldgodsway.com.