Friday, February 17, 2012

What Goes Around Comes Around

I've been studying the life of Jacob again as I'm teaching the kids at church about him.  What has been striking me this time is the way Jacob's sins are visited back upon him.  Check this out...



Jacob's First Deception (Genesis 25:26-34)

Isaac has two sons.  These boys suffer from a major sibling rivalry.  Jacob is the younger brother of Esau.  Esau, as the oldest, is set to inherit the share of the firstborn son from their father Isaac when Isaac grows old and dies.  This includes the blessing of God passed down from Abraham.  Jacob thinks he's clever and so he takes advantage of his brother.  When Esau is very hungry, Jacob only gives him food after Esau swears to sell him his birthright for some stew.  Jacob, being younger wanted to come before his older brother.  Talk about having a major jerk for a brother!  Jacob's first big deception against his family took place around a meal.

Jacob's Second Deception (Genesis 27)

Years later, when dad (Isaac) is ready to bless Esau, Jacob tricks and lies to his father and convinces him that he is Esau.  Esau was hairy, so Jacob takes the fur of a dead animal to deceive his own father about his own brother.  Isaac, who was nearly blind, feels the hair and thinks Jacob is Esau.  So Isaac blesses Jacob with the blessing of the firstborn instead of Esau.  When Esau returns home, he weeps bitterly because his brother had betrayed him and he chases Jacob out of town.

Jacob Is Deceived Once (Genesis 29)

Jacob was a huge jerk and sinned greatly against his own family.  Now watch as God sovereignly orchestrates Jacob's life allowing poetic justice to teach Jacob the error of his own ways.  Compare the portions I've underlined to see how God does this.

Jacob runs for his life from his brother Esau and flees to live with his uncle Laban.  Laban has two daughters.  Rachel is the younger sister and Leah is the oldest.  Jacob falls head over heels for Rachel and wants to marry her.  Laban tells Jacob that he can marry Rachel after working for him for seven years.  The big day comes and there is a huge wedding feast which probably involved a good amount of drinking.  After eating a big meal, Jacob marries his bride and they consummate their marriage that night. 

Sadly, when Jacob wakes up and looks at the woman lying next to him in the morning light, he sees Leah and not Rachel!  Outraged, Jacob goes to Laban and demands to know why he deceived him.  Laban tells Jacob that it is not their custom for Rachel, being younger to come before her older sister.  Jacob probably wouldn't have been tricked if he didn't party so hard at the feast and so this big deception also takes place around a meal.

Jacob Deceived Twice (Genesis 37)

Many years later, Jacob has two wives, Leah and Rachel, two concubines, and twelve sons.  Because the boys all have different mothers and because of Jacob's favoritism of Rachel and Joseph, they end up in a major sibling rivalry.  One day, the favorite son Joseph tells his older brothers about a dream he had.  In the dream, the older boys were all serving him.  The brothers are irritated that Joseph thinks that the younger should come before the older and as time goes on they decide to get Joseph out of the picture once and for all.  The older boys betray their brother by tossing him into a well.  The boys sell Joseph to some slave traders who take Joseph far off to Egypt.  The boys then devise a plan to trick their father (Jacob).  They kill a goat and rub its blood all over Joseph's clothes.  They bring the bloody clothes to Jacob and they trick and lie to their father by saying that a wolf killed Joseph.  The boys use a dead animal to deceive their father about their brother.

My Thoughts

The similarities are too huge to ignore.  I believe that when we read the story of Jacob, God wants us to learn two things from these connections.

First, God sometimes allows us to be the victims of the same sins we commit in order to teach us valuable lessons.  I believe that God was sovereignly using uncle Laban's deception to help Jacob to really understand the sin that he had committed against Esau.  This was a hard lesson that Jacob needed to learn and God used this to speak loud and clear to Jacob.  This is not karma or the universe paying you back.  This is the sovereign God trying to teach you through your life experiences.  Not every bad situation in life is God doing this, but there may be more than we care to admit.

Second, as parents in general and fathers specifically, we have to work very hard to make sure our sins and issues don't pass on to our children.  Jacob, of all people, should have known the dangers of parents who played favorites and of sibling rivalries.  He should have worked hard to love his children equally, not play favorites, and make sure that they got along without jealousy.  Instead, his treatment of Rachel and Joseph plants the seeds for the sins of his sons.  And where do you suppose the boys learned to become so good at deceiving people?  They probably learned it from the master deceiver Jacob himself.  As parents, we need to work very hard to set a good example for our children and repent very clearly in front of them when we make a mistake.  Otherwise, we are setting them up to repeat our own errors.

Some Questions
  •  In what ways do I lie, trick, deceive, or manipulate people to get what I want?
  • Who do I need to repent to for that?
  • What sins have been committed against me lately and what bad things have happened to me lately?
  • Do I sin against others like that?  Have I put others in bad situations like these?  If so, who?  How do I need to repent to them?
  • None of our parents were perfect.  What sins or issues did my parents have?  Do I see those traits in myself when I look closely?  How can I avoid the same mistakes?
  • What sins or issues do I see in my children (or anyone I have a big influence on)?  Do I see those traits in myself when I look closely?  How can I repent clearly in front of them?  How can I overcome those sins and issues in my life?  How can I help them overcome these sins and issues as well?

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