Exploring the Scripture

Jacob is a complicated hero. Many would consider him to be dishonest. People familiar with Jacob’s story know that he stole his older brother Esau’s blessing and inheritance. The reader may be familiar with dishonest people, even heroes, who keep winning. But Jacob’s victories are always a bit complicated. His victory over Esau caused him to run away to live as a servant to his mother’s brother for 20 years. Jacob also found himself in nearly lifelong conflict with his brother Esau.

The story of Jacob shows us that God’s realm works with different rules than those that govern human societies. Jacob is the younger brother. According to human rules of his time, the older son would have certain advantages. But God took an interest in the well-being of the younger brother. God keeps showing up and engaging in a relationship with this person whom people would have seen as being of lesser importance. Jacob is given the name Israel and becomes the ancestor of the people of Israel. This group of people would be characterized by story after story of the younger, the smaller, or the weaker finding favor with God. Israel’s prophets would defend the poor and speak out for immigrants, foreigners, and women. Israel begins with this Jacob who didn’t follow human rules about who should have privilege.

On the surface, Jacob’s stories are all about trying to get another’s privileges. He started out trying to be born first. He grabbed his brother’s heel, trying to pull him back into the womb so he might be born first instead. Jacob tries to make the encounter with God about getting a blessing. Supposedly he gets it. The blessing is a new
name and maybe a fresh start. But this story is more about the relationship than an exchange of “stuff.” He walks away with a limp that will remind him, with every step, of his relationship with God. But a limp might not be the blessing he had in mind.

The speaker should be careful not to reduce this story to a lesson on how to extract blessings from God. Some modern preachers have used this story to teach people how to get what they want out of God. They tell people to hang on tight and to demand God’s blessing as if this demanding will force God to give us things. But if we read carefully, we see that this is not what happens in the story

First, the story is not about human initiative and demand. The story begins with God’s initiative, not Jacob’s. God showed up. If God hadn’t shown up, there wouldn’t be a story. During the struggle Jacob might have felt like he was in control, and that he had won. But what he got was a limp and to give his new name to a nation where those born without privilege would have a special relationship with God.

The story ends with details that clarify that Jacob had indeed been wrestling with God and not just some mysterious person. The story reminds us of Moses’ conversation at the burning bush where he asks for God’s name and finds the answer elusive. Jacob limps on with a God whose name he doesn’t know, blessed with their complicated relationship, and as the father of an unusual people where the normal rules of privilege don’t apply.

Faith Unfiltered Podcast

Hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith consider how this week's scripture connects to our lives today.

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Central Ideas

1. In our relationship with God, we often focus
   on asking for blessings.
2. God wants to bless us with a sincere and complex relationship with the divine mystery.
3. One of God’s best blessings for us might be an awareness of our weakness and inability to fight as we had planned—a limp that reminds us of our relationship with God.
4. God welcomes genuine struggle with the Divine.
5. True encounters with God leave us changed. Rather than appearing blessed, those in close relationship with God may be wounded.
6. God may bless us by blessing others through us

Questions to Consider

1. When have you struggled with God?
2. How have encounters with God shaped your character?
3. In what ways have you been wounded in your relationship with God?
4. When were you seeking a blessing for yourself but instead found a blessing in becoming a blessing for someone else?
5. Where have you seen God choosing a relationship with those viewed as lesser by society? When have you seen God blessing those born without privilege?