(Shortened version)
(The History of Ancient Israel)
Jacob was the next patriarch for the birthright, and he was actually the final patriarch! This is the story of the last patriarch: Jacob and how his children began the chosen nation of God.
Genesis 28:6-8
“…Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there,… Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.”
So as Jacob was making his way to Harran, he chose a place to stay for the night in the desert:
Genesis 28:10-11
“Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 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.”
But that night, he had a dream: in this dream, God confirmed that he was indeed the Birthright heir and re-confirmed the promises and even added onto them:
Genesis 28:12-15
“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. There above it 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.’”
So, before Jacob left the Promised Land God re-confirms he did receive the birthright and even adds onto the promises: he even vows that he will return to Canaan before he dies:
Promises Added:
His children would be a large uncountable number like the stars in the night sky and then possibly even more greatly multiplied than that.
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children forever to be their land and all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates was given to his Children.
He would become a great nation and his descendants would become many nations until they formed a company of people, he would be the ancestor of all of them
Nations would serve/be slaves to his descendants and honor them as their rulers even closely related nations like the nation coming from Esau.
His children would become many kings
God would bless him and his descendants with plenty of natural wealth, minerals, farmland, crops, and food.
He would become famous
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return
God would be his personal God and his children’s personal God
His descendants would control the cities of their enemies (would dominate their enemies)
Now he would be the carrier of the Abrahamic promises [Birthright] and give it to his own Children to fulfil the promises to his grandfather.
His descendants would spread all over the world in every direction (to the west, east, north and south)
God will make sure that Jacob goes back to Canaan before he dies
When he woke up, he was amazed at the dream he had and though it was the entrance way to heaven (the staircase coming down) and this is where God was present (his home):
Genesis 28:16-17
“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’"
He was so amazed he woke up and vowed to God:
Genesis 28:18-22
“Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel,[ Hebrew for “house of God”] though the city used to be called Luz. 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 household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.’ ”
He said if God would really do all this for him (which he would) then he would let God be Lord over his life and give 10% of everything he had to him.
Eventually he made it to Harran where he met one of Laban's [Rebekah's brother] daughters Rachel:
Genesis 29:5-9
"‘Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?’ ‘Yes, we know him,’ they answered. Then Jacob asked them, ‘Is he well?’ ‘Yes, he is,’ they said, ‘and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.’…While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd."
So he hugged Rachel and told him he was a relative of her father and she ran and got her father Laban, and he greeted him and let him stay. Laban was so overwhelmed to see his nephew from his sister, that he had not seen in many years come and see him thought of him as his own child. Jacob finally made it!
A month later, he had fallen in love with Rachel and wanted to marry her but Laban, according to custom, wanted him to work for her wedding price for seven years:
Genesis 29:14-19
“After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, Laban said to him, ‘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…Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, ‘I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.’ Laban said, ‘It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.’"
So for seven years he worked for Rachel though they went by so fast because he was so madly in love with her:
Genesis 29:20-21
“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,...'So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. "
However Laban pull a very dirty trick on Jacob after all he had done he gave him Leah instead of Rachel and when Jacob found out he was angry:
Genesis 29:25-27
“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.’ ”
So Jacob was pretty angry with Laban’s trick and had to work ANOTHER 7 years to get Rachel, the woman he loves:
Genesis 29:28
“And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife."
However Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah and God took notice:
Genesis 29:31-35
“When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive[Become pregnant], but Rachel remained childless. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,[Hebrew for “see: a son”] for she said, ‘It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.’ She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, ‘Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.’ So she named him Simeon.[Hebrew for “one who hears”] Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, ‘Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.’ So he was named Levi.[ Hebrew for “Attached”] She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ So she named him Judah.[ Hebrew for “A Praise”] Then she stopped having children.”
So because Leah was Rejected God did not like this, so he blessed her with 5 pregnancies to five sons! Rachel took notice of this and became very upset and jealous because she did not have any children yet:
Genesis 30:1-2
“When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I’ll die!’ Jacob became angry with her and said, ‘Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?’”
So Rachel did what every woman who could not have children back in the ancient Middle East: he gave here slave to have children for her:
Genesis 30:3-8
“Then she said, ‘Here is Bilhah, my servant...she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.’ So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife...and she became pregnant and bore him a son. Then Rachel said, ‘God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.’ Because of this she named him Dan.[ Hebrew for “he has vindicated”] Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, ‘I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.’ So she named him Naphtali.[ Hebrew for “My Struggle”]…”
Leah saw what Rachel was doing and decided she could also play the ‘Baby game’ with her servant as well:
Genesis 30:9-13
“When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.Then Leah said, ‘What good fortune!’ So she named him Gad.[ Hebrew for “Fortune/a troop”] Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. Then Leah said, ‘How happy I am! The women will call me happy.’ So she named him Asher.[ Hebrew for “Happy”]”
Leah then had 2 more children!
Genesis 30:17-21
“God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. Then Leah said, ‘God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.’ So she named him Issachar.[ Hebrew for “reward”] Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, ‘God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.’ So she named him Zebulun.[ Hebrew for “Honor”] Sometime later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.”
So Leah alone gave birth to 7 children! But despite her jealousy for her sister she still had never had one child herself So God finally had mercy on her and allowed her to conceive:
Genesis 30:22-24
“Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, ‘God has taken away my disgrace.’ She named him Joseph,[ Hebrew for “May he add”] and said, ‘May the Lord add to me another son.’”
So once Rachel gave birth to her first child and Leah 7 and 4 more by their slaves through this ‘baby war’ Jacob was blessed with many children and God blessed him with many descendants already!
After Jacob finished the 7 years, after Rachel had Joseph, Jacob wanted to leave Harran to finally go back to Canaan to see his family again and face his brother. But Laban would not let him leave because God had been blessing him because he gave him wives and provided a house for him:
Genesis 30:25-28
“...Laban said to him, ‘If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.’..."
So God gets angry at Laban not only for tricking him many times but also holding him back for him going back to Canaan. So because Jacob was the Birthright heir God turned his blessing to Laban for caring for Jacob into a curse for tricking him and detaining him: he gave Jacob all Laban's wealth; his sons said this:
Genesis 31:1
“‘Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.’"
In this way, God blessed Jacob in wealth and he became very rich and he kept his promises to him:
Promises Fulfilled:
His children would be a large uncountable number like the stars in the night sky and then possibly even more greatly multiplied than that.
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children forever to be their land and all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates was given to his Children.
He would become a great nation and his descendants would become many nations until they formed a company of people he would be the ancestor of all of them
Nations would serve/be slaves to his descendants and honor them as their rulers even closely related nations like the nation coming from Esau.
His children would become many kings
God would bless him and his descendants with plenty of natural wealth, minerals, farmland, crops, and food.
(First fulfilled in Genesis 31:1 when all of Laban's wealth became Jacob's around 1800 B.C.)
He would become famous
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
(First fulfilled in Genesis 30:27 and Genesis 31:1 when Laban was, at first ,blessed because he blessed Jacob then he was cursed with God taking all his wealth because he tricked and detained Jacob)
God would be his personal God and his children’s personal God
His descendants would control the cities of their enemies (would dominate their enemies)
Now he would be the carrier of the Abrahamic promises [Birthright] and give it to his own Children to fulfil the promises to his grandfather.
His descendants would spread all over the world in every direction (to the west, east, north and south)
God will make sure that Jacob goes back to Canaan before he dies
So, after God had finished cursing Laban and blessing Jacob, he commanded Jacob to return back to Canaan:
Genesis 31:3-21
“Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.’"
So he got back to Canaan, and found out a lot of things had changed: His mother Rebekah had died and his brother Esau had gained a lot of his father's wealth while he was gone. Since his mother never sent word for him to come back home, Jacob had no idea if Esau was still mad at him after all these years, so he decided to be humble and sent a messenger to contact him:
Genesis 32:3-5
“Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau..."
But when his servants came back they had some alarming news:
Genesis 32:6
“When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, ‘We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.’ ”
This was bad: this looked like Esau was going to war with Jacob and coming to kill him! He then got his possessions and servants ready for battle with Esau:
Genesis 32:7-12
“In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him..."
That night, however, something strange happened:
Genesis 32:22-24
“That night Jacob...was left alone,…and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.”
But this man could not get freed from Jacob’s grip when the sun was coming up, he did something even odder: He touched his hip, and it was broken/out of socket and could not move! What man could do that with just a touch?
Genesis 32:25
“When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’”
But it’s becoming apparent that this is not an ordinary man, and Jacob knows it too, because he demands this “man” to bless him!
Genesis 32:26-28
“But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[Hebrew for “One who wrestles with God”] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’”
So, this ‘Man’ reveals who he really is when he changes Jacob’s name and tells him who he was wrestling: This ‘Man’ was God! God must have appeared in the form of a human man and began attacking Jacob and somehow Jacob found out and felt the need to continue fighting with God and demand his blessing from him. In which God rightfully changes his name to Israel: because he wrestled with humans and then with God himself and had lived and overcome.
So, God appearing in the form of a human man continues to bless Jacob before leaving:
Genesis 32:29
“Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he blessed him there.”
Israel (Jacob) amazed from the encounter, names the place:
Genesis 32:30-31
“So Jacob called the place Peniel,[Hebrew for “face of God”] saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’"
But he didn’t have time to rest from his all-night fight, because Esau and his men had arrived:
Genesis 33:1-3
“Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;..."
However, it seems Esau was more than happy to see his brother after all these years: He was no longer angry at his brother but had forgiven and even accepted his fate that he was not the birthright heir:
Genesis 33:4-16
“But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.
Israel was over relived that his brother had forgiven him and said this to him:
Genesis 33:4-16
Jacob. ‘...I have found favor in your eyes,... For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.'"
So, Rebekah was right, After 20 years Esau had time to not only calm down but even forgive and accept his brother as inheriting the Birthright. And he was surprisingly more than happy to see his brother again! So, Jacob finally was able to come back to Canaan just as God had promised.
Genesis 33:18
“he arrived safely...in Canaan..."
Once he came back, God reconfirmed his new name and promises:
Genesis 34:9-13
“After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.’ So he named him Israel. And God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.’ Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.”
Promises Added:
His children would be a large uncountable number like the stars in the night sky and then possibly even more greatly multiplied than that.
The whole land of Canaan was given to him and to his Children forever to be their land and all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates was given to his Children.
He would become a great nation and his descendants would become many nations until they formed a nation and a company of people he would be the ancestor of all of them
Nations would serve/be slaves to his descendants and honor them as their rulers even closely related nations like the nation coming from Esau.
His children would become many kings
God would bless him and his descendants with plenty of natural wealth, minerals, farmland, crops, and food.
He would become famous
(First fulfilled in Genesis 31:1 when all of Laban's wealth became Jacob's around 1800 B.C.)
He would be a blessing to others and all blessings would go to all other families through him
If anyone cursed him (does him wrong hates him) or blessed him (treats him well and loves him) God would curse or bless them in return.
(First fulfilled in Genesis 30:27 and Genesis 31:1 when Laban was at first blessed because he blessed Jacob then he was cursed with God taking all his wealth because he tricked and detained Jacob)
God would be his personal God and his children’s personal God
His descendants would control the cities of their enemies (would dominate their enemies)
Now he would be the carrier of the Abrahamic promises [Birthright] and give it to his own Children to fulfil the promises to his grandfather.
His descendants would spread all over the world in every direction (to the west, east, north and south)
God will make sure that Jacob goes back to Canaan before he dies
(Fulfilled in Genesis 33:18 around 1800 B.C )
Eventually Rachel got pregnant again but this time something went wrong:
Genesis 35:16-20
“...Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, ‘Don’t despair, for you have another son.’ As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.[Hebrew for “son of my trouble”] But his father named him Benjamin.[ Hebrew for “son of my right hand”] So Rachel died and was buried ..."
So, Rachel did finally get her wish to have another son, and God did finally give her another son: but in the process she died from birthing complications and it killed her, so Rachel was buried along the road to this city. Israel was very crushed to lose his favorite wife like this.
So, he finally went back to his father Isaac which was very old at this time; now being over 20 years later from when he originally got the birthright! He reunited with his father and showed him and told him all he had done, shortly after Israel came back, Isaac the promised son, died at 180 and Esau and Israel buried him.
Genesis 34:27-29
“Jacob came home to his father Isaac... Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.”
So, after his father died, Israel settled where his father had stayed:
Genesis 37:1
“Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.”
There Israel lived with his 12 sons and 1 daughter as they completely grew up.
God had kept his promise to Israel: he made sure he returned to Canaan in peace and had made him very blessed and famous. And cursed/blessed those who blessed him. Since Israel was the last official carrier of the Abrahamic Birthright, he did not have to choose one son out of the 12 to pass on the Birthright to, like Isaac did. God wanted all of Israel’s sons to be his chosen people and blessed by him: these 12 sons (and 1 daughter) were all going to be the start of this holy people! However, despite all his children were going to inherit the main Abrahamic Birthright /be a chosen people blessed by God, there seemed to be another portion of the Birthright that was not necessarily going to be inherited by all of his children: The massive physical blessings of power, wealth, and domination: Israel was going to pass this specific birthright to only one of his sons:
At first Reuben, his oldest son, was going to inherit the birthright out of tradition. However, like Esau, he forfeited his birthright through his actions and thus nature:
And he did this by having sex with his dad’s concubine (one of his wives) while he was not looking, and Israel eventually found out about it:
Genesis 35:22
“...Reuben went in and slept [had sex] with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.”
After this event, Reuben lost the birthright (but it also seems that, like Esau, the birthright might not have really ever been his) and Israel then choose his favorite son, the first-born of his favorite wife Rachel; Joseph, to be the Birthright heir:
Genesis 37:3
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age;…”
He decided to give these special Abrahamic Birthright promises to him and God seems to have approved of Israel’s decision; strongly suggesting that the Birthright like Jacob/Israel was his all along.
Despite he was going to get the Birthright, his other brothers were going to make life very hard for him. This is the end of Jacob’s story of the final patriarch, and the beginning of his chosen children and his one chosen son, Joseph, that would be the official final inheritor of the Abrahamic covenant.