The first time we find Jacob/Ya’akov he is wrestling with his brother Esau in his mother Rebekah’s womb, before birth, Gen. 25:2 and this struggle would never cease, NEVER! In fact his name Ya’akov in Hebrew means, supplanter, heel catcher, or leg puller. As it says in Gen. 25:26, “His hand took hold on Esau’s heel and his name was called Jacob.” Rebekah was told by the LORD (YHVH) in v.23 that from the womb, “The elder (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob).” So, the battle lines were drawn in the womb from conception and would continue even till today. As they grew Esau became a cunning hunter and Jacob a tent dweller and a great cook, and Esau wanted some of his red lentil stew for which Jacob made him swap his birthright, at the age of 15. The birthright encompassed three things; the family priesthood; the Messianic promise from Adam; and the Abrahamic promise of the promised land and blessings of fruitfulness. Basically, the first born got the farm and Esau wasn’t interested in farming at that time, he was a hunter not a farmer, and he even despised his birthright, v. 34.

The ‘Arahamic Covenant’ is confirmed to Isaac in Gen. 26 and a famine strikes Gerar/Gaza. After the famine they leave, dig some wells and settle in Beer-Sheba. Then Esau marries Judith the daughter of Beeri a Hittite in Gen. 26:34, which seems strange since Judith means, “Jewess or Judahite” a, “Person of Judah, a Judean, a Jew, or Jewish.” Now, Judah and the Jewish people are not on the scene yet so this can’t be a descendant of Judah because he hasn’t been born. Isaac was 60 in Gen. 25:26 when Esau was born and now he is 100 in Gen. 27 and physically blind when he is ready to give his blessing to Esau. So, he asks Esau for savory food v. 4, so his soul can bless him, his will not God’s and he knew it. Rebekah overhears him and devised her own evil plan and she and Jacob fix two goats and steal Esau’s blessing from a 100 year old blind man, Gen. 27:28-29. Of course Isaac tries to reverse it but you can’t, “What’s done is done!” So Isaac calls Jacob in Gen. 28:1-5 and blesses him one last time with the ‘Abrahamic Blessing’ and sends him to “Laban’s Labor Camp” to get a wife from his mother’s family. Esau overhears a the plan and goes to his uncle Ishmael and takes one of his daughters, Mahalath a Canaanite for a wife because he knew it would hurt his father and mother. Rebekah will never see Jacob again, “The few days” of Gen. 27:44 become the rest of her life, as she sat in the tent door and watched and waited for his return. In fact we never hear of Rebekah again after this scheme, I think God was really upset with her evil plan.

Then Jacob/Ya’akov went out from Beer-Sheba and stopped at Bethel (God’s-House) and laid down to rest and had a dream of a ladder reaching into heaven and angels ascending and descending on it, with the LORD standing above it giving him the ‘Abrahamic Covenant.’ So, he took the stone he used for a pillow and used it for an pillar, poured olive oil on it, and called the name of the place ‘Bethel’ and vowed a vow to God and promised to give Him, “Ten Percent” a tithe of all God gave Jacob. This is 600 years before the ‘Law’ and before the IRS. What’s interesting is this is the passage Nathaniel was meditating on under the fig tree in Galilee, when Phillip found him and said, “We have found Him, of whom Moses in the Law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” John 1:43-51. Jesus said, “Because I said, I saw you under a fig tree you believe, you shall see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man.” You see He knows the thoughts and intents of your heart right now, John 2:24-25. Whenever, you read His word, you may think you received nothing out of it, but He knows exactly what you read because He wrote it through His (nabi) prophets and He knows what you are reading. So, read it to Him, you only remember 7% of what you read and 38% of what you hear, so if you read His Word out loud to Him you will remember 45% (makes sense) no? It will be a lot more enjoyable too, trust me, to have your ‘Quiet Time’ with the Author.

So, Jacob the heel-catcher leaves everything he knows, family, friends, servants, environment, occupation, life, for a strange place Padan-aram and on his first day this “Angel Wrestler” bumps into a ladder of angels ascending into heaven. He has a dream (kalam) now in my circle we don’t talk about them, so we call them ‘DMI’s’ (Dynamic Mental Impression’s) 🙂 Joseph actually is the ‘Dream-Catcher’ who we will catch-up with later. Now, this word (kalam) also means to grow strong, so I get the feeling this was a strong ‘DMI’. Again I like to use the ‘Paleo Hebrew’ when looking at Hebrew words, it paints a better portrait and this root is made up of three letters (chet – fence, inner room; lamed – prod, goad; mem – mighty, strong). So, this dream or ‘DMI’ in Jacob’s inner heart and mind was used to goad him and it was very strong. In this dream the LORD confirms the covenant He gave to Abraham and to Isaac with Jacob and promises to bring him back to the land He promised his father and grand-father.

He wakes up from his sleep, believes he is in the house of God, the gateway of heaven, takes his pillow and makes it a pillar or an altar and names the place ‘Bethel’ “The House of God.” Before that it was called Luz, the ‘Almond Tree.’ Then he makes a vow to the ‘God of Bethel‘ and this is the last time he builds an altar or at least that it is mentioned until he prays 20 years later when he is on the bank of the Peniel River. Then after wrestling all night with God or The Angel of The LORD, he limps to Shechem and builds an altar in the promised land Gen. 33:20, ‘To God the God of Israel or Jacob.” Except for the possibility of prayer in Gen. 31:1-3 where Jacob is fearful for his life after 20 years of swindling and God tells him to return to Canaan and He will be with him, Jacob’s vow seemed to be a bargain with God, “God if You will do this for me, then I will do this for You!” God is not a bargain hunter, He doesn’t shop for prayer requests on e-bay or Craig’s list and neither should we.

God also spoke to Jacob in a dream (kalam) v.12 and God usually only speaks through dreams to those who don’t or won’t speak to Him or who don’t or won’t read His word. Now that is not always the case, like Joseph and Daniel and others but many times that is the way he gets the attention of the hard hearted and unbelievers like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, etc. ‘Beth-El’ the house of God, or the ‘Gate of God’s Heaven’ is anywhere God is, your prayer closet, your prayer garden, your secret chamber, etc. Oh, my friend, let us not make deals with God, let us just lay hold of His promises and hang on with both hands in prayer. Let us take our pillows at night and consecrate them to God and make them pillars and pray with David in Psalm 63:6, “When I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches.”  So when we awake in the morning we can say with Jacob, “Surely the LORD is in this place!”                “…Between The Lines…”

“Oh LORD, may we be open and honest with You, but obedient as to Your will and not a bargain hunter in our prayer lives. May Your will be done in our lives as it is in heaven; You choose LORD, and we’ll choose what You choose. We love You LORD, let our closets, our gardens, our hearts, be Your Beth-El!” In ha Shem Yeshua we pray. Amen!

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis”  ‘Jacob the Angel-Wrestler Part #1’