Gen 27:41-44 (NIV) 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.” 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 consoling himself with the thought of killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides.

Things looked really bad for Jacob; but, God has the incredible abilities, power, and wisdom to make all that interference work out good. Rom 8:28 (NIV) And we KNOW that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. God wasn’t rewarding Jacob for taking matters into his own hands; but, He was making it work out. There were spiritual things inside Jacob that God saw and liked. Like all of us, Jacob had a lot of bad things; but, his potential head him toward trusting God and resisting evil.

Let Jesus take you into Jacob’s future for a moment. God renamed Jacob, Israel. Jacob ended up with four wives and had twelve sons. Because of the way Jacob was always taking matters into his own hands, there was a lot of strife, cheating, lying, and struggles. But, even thought Jacob created all these bad situations, God forced the circumstances to work out for Jacob’s good and fulfilled His plan. A nation with twelve tribes came out of Jacob (Israel). The Jews you see today are his decendents.

Gen 28:5 (NIV) 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. Since you know how this is all going to turn out, you might not see how all this was affecting Jacob. Having to leave his family was a difficult thing. God could have got him there without all this pain and suffering. Esau didn’t have to want to kill Jacob. Jacob could have heard from God and went like Abraham did.

By Jacob not trusting God and not resisting wrong, bad, and evil, a lot of people got hurt including Jacob. Plus, as you will soon see, Jacob reaped what he sowed. Gal 6:7 (NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. If he had just trusted God, he would have been able to resist all those things he did that hurt him and the people around him. He did a lot of damage to Esau.

Gen 28:10-12 (NIV) Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 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. 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.

It is hard for people like Jacob to believe in the supernatural realm of God. They just believe in their five senses and their own abilities. As you will see, Jacob was not cured of his trust in himself. Even though he hurt himself and a lot of other people, he still didn’t trust God. He still believed in himself and what he had been able to accomplish. He didn’t see himself as a sinner and needing to repent of all the damage he was doing. As long as he continued on this journey, he kept on cheating, lying, stealing, and damaging those around him.

During Jacob’s journey to Haran, God gave him a dream: Gen 28:13-15 (NIV) There above it (a stairway) stood 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. 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. 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.”

Like Jacob, God is speaking through the Bible and telling you what He wants to do in you, for you, to you, with you, and through you. If you will do what it takes to trust Him, you will resist the things that are trying to damage you life and God’s plan for you. He was making it clear to Jacob that He had this! But, Jacob remained unrepentant; he wouldn’t allow himself to see how bad he treated Esau and his father. This kept him from clearly hearing God and giving up believing in himself and trusting God.

Gen 28:20-21 (NIV) 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 so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God. When you start using human effort, human reasoning, and human techniques, you are put in a situation where you must manipulate. You agree to do something for someone, if they will do what you want. Your relationships are all business transactions.

Mark 12:30-31 (NIV) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these. FAITH in God makes it possible for you to start experiencing the provisions of God. That helps you start putting your TRUST in God. The more you trust Him, the more you start building a RELATIONSHIP with Him. As that relationship grows, you learn to LOVE Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then that love relationship empowers you to love your neighbor as yourself.

Gen 29:1 (NIV) Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. Jacob met some shepherds who knew his uncle Laban, the father of Jacob’s future wife, Rachel. After Jacob got acquainted with Laban and the family, he stayed with them for a month. From the text, it appears that Jacob was helping out for room and board during that time. So, Laban started up a business relationship with Jacob and Jacob’s future started to develop.

Gen 29:15-18 (NIV) Laban said to him (Jacob), “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”

Gen 29:20-23 (NIV) So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with her.” So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her.

As you look back on Jacob’s life, it isn’t hard to understand why he was being lied to, cheated, and mistreated. It is easy to get frustrated with God when things happen that don’t seem fair. But, the first thing you need to do is ask Him if there is anything in your life that is causing it. If there is, repent, ask for forgiveness, and then ask God for the power to, if possible, go make it right with those you hurt. One of the reasons trusting God and resisting wrong is so important is, it prevents these types of things from happening as the process of reaping.

Gen 29:25-28 (NIV) 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?” Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 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.

When you get USED TO a life of lying, cheating, stealing, and manipulation, it is so much easier for you to be mistreated. The rules you live by become normal and natural to you. Jacob had already worked seven years for obtaining Rachel. When he works another seven years for her, he was being cheated. Laban was acting like the first seven years were for Leah. That was a lie! But, Jacob was so trained in on the rules of his body, the world, and the devil that Laban’s “deal” seemed fair and reasonable.

Prov 3:5-6 (AKJV) TRUST in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Jacob was on a path that eventually worked out for his good and for God’s awesome plan for the Jewish people. If he would have only repented and allowed God to change his philosophies, behavior, and forgive him of his past, his whole life would have been better. But instead, he kept embracing the desires of his body, the world, and the devil. He just kept trying to work on them, improve them, get better at them, and make them work to his advantage.