Jacob: The Chosen Brother
Jacob was born holding onto the heel of his elder twin brother Esau, therefore earning him a name which is derived from the Hebrew ekev which means "heel" or "supplanter." This special birth circumstance is a prime example of the fierce rivalry between the two brothers. This rivalry almost ended in death for Jacob after Esau discovered that his younger brother and mother had fooled their father into granting Jacob the family's birthright. Jacob was forced to flee to his mother's brother, Laban, in a foreign country. Jacob's life seems to be predominated by his having to flee from one circumstance after another, thus proving an interesting person in the history of the Pentateuch. Laban is skeptical at first, accepting a stranger into his household, especially a male stranger, but he agrees that if Jacob will work for seven years, he will be allowed to wed Laban's youngest daughter, Rachel. At the end of seven years, Jacob is tricked into marrying Leah, Laban's eldest daughter, when the girls pull a switch on the wedding night. Jacob is outraged, but Leah reminds him of the trick he and his mother played on his brother, so he relents and agrees to Laban's request that he work seven more years
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know very well the service I have given you"(Gen 30:26). in return for Rachel's hand in marriage again. Jacob pleads "Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. After seven more years of labor, he finally acquired both daughters of Laban and had also figured out a way to breed better livestock, which made him a very rich man. Laban proceeds to cheat Jacob out of livestock and make it hard for him to depart on good terms, so Jacob gathers up his family and flees for the second time in his life. The Bible tells us that Jacob became rich and Laban became increasingly poor. After a couple days, when Laban found out that Jacob had fled, Laban pursued him. The first was a vision in which Jacob saw a ladder reaching up to heaven; the second was a wrestling match with God that ended when God touched Jacob's thigh and made it wither; the third was a directive to return to Bethel. Perhaps we all have our Bethels that we need to return to so that we can seek God fully. All Jacob wanted was for Laban to release him and let him settle into a new land of his own with his growing family. Despite all these instances in which Jacob seemed to get into trouble with the people around him, God had promised that it was through him that the promise to Abraham would be fulfilled. Jacob and Esau's families lived together peacefully for several months. The fact that he married two women, and sisters for that matter, is one big example of their culture. When Laban was unable to find the idol, he and Jacob made a peace agreement, and Jacob traveled on with his belongings, returning to the land where he grew up.
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Acceptance Essays
