Story 23: Ja'cob's Twenty Years In Mes-o-po-ta'mia l

   On the way from Beth'el to Mes-o-po-ta'mia Ja'cob passed through many trials and dangers, and must have grown very tired. But on he marched, feeling less weary now that he had cast his burdens upon the LORD, and greatly encouraged by the blessings which had been promised him. Having put himself in the hands of Divine Providence, he knew that God would lead him safely to the home of La'ban.
   At last he paused to rest for a moment by a well some distance from the town of Ha'ran, where his grandfather A'bra-ham had once lived, and where many of his kindred still made their homes. Here he began to talk with some of the shepherds who had come to water their sheep, and learned that they knew La'ban, who was Re-bek'ah's brother. When Ja'cob politely inquired about the health and prosperity of his uncle, he was told that La'ban was well, and that his daughter Ra'chel was now coming toward them with her father's sheep.
   From the first moment that he saw her, Ja'cob was carried away by the beauty and grace of Ra'chel. After removing the stone from the top of the well, and drawing water for her sheep, he told her that he was the son of her aunt Re-bek'ah. Overjoyed by the sight of his lovely cousin, Ja'cob embraced her most tenderly.
   Ra'chel then went home and told her father of the meeting with Ja'cob, and La'ban went out to invite his nephew to come and stay at his home. Ja'cob was unwilling to accept the food and shelter of his uncle without giving something in return, and for this reason he helped in the care of the sheep, and did his part in the work that made La'ban prosperous. After thirty days had passed, La'ban offered to give wages to Ja'cob if he would stay.
   There were two daughters in the household of La'ban, the elder named Le'ah, and the younger Ra'chel. The eyes of Le'ah were dull and without charm, while those of Ra'chel were brilliant and attractive; Ra'chel, moreover, was truly beautiful. Jac'ob had been attracted to Ra'chel from the moment that he first saw her at the well, and this feeling had grown even stronger during the month that he had spent in her father's home.
   It was a custom in that country for a young man to make some payment to the parents of the woman whom he had chosen as a wife. Since Ja'cob had no money or property to give La'ban, he offered to work seven years to gain Ra'chel as his wife. It must have been hard for Ja'cob, who was the son of a wealthy man back in Ca'naan, and to whom great riches had been promised, to have nothing but his own labor to offer for the hand of the woman he loved.

Story 22: Ja'cob Dreams Of The Stairway To Heaven lll

   How fitting was this mid-night vision to the peculiar needs of Ja'cob at the moment! To his sense of loneliness caused by the loss of parental comradeship, God said "I will be with thee." To his feeling of poverty and homelessness, the LORD said "I will give thee all this land as an inheritance." To his despairing hopelessness for the future the promise was given "Thou shalt spread abroad to the east and to the west."
   This experience of Ja'cob on the lonely plateau near Beth'el was a turning point in his life; it was a changed man who continued the journey into Mes-o-po-ta'mia. Having now been taught by the LORD through heartfelt experience, his worldly and crafty nature was turned into higher channels. It is true that Ja'cob made further mistakes in the future, and that his life was far from perfect, but he was made a much better man by the vision.
   Ja'cob then walked on toward the east. Crossing the rugged mountain slopes to the Jor'dan valley, he waded across the river. Then he moved on over high plateaus and across the valleys until he reached the land from which his mother had come many, many years before. Here he lived for more than twenty years, and our next story will tell some of his experiences during that time.

Story 22: Ja'cob Dreams Of The Stairway To Heaven ll

   The LORD told Ja'cob that the whole land of Ca'naan should belong to his descendants, who could no more be counted than the dust of the ground. It was promised that in his children all the families of the earth should be blessed, and Ja'cob was assured that the LORD would guide and protect him in the journey just ahead. It was also promised that in due time he should be permitted to return to the land of Ca'naan, and that the property left him by his father I'saac would come to him as soon as he was worthy to receive it.
   When Ja'cob awoke the next morning he exclaimed with unspeakable joy, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I knew it not. I thought that God had completely forsaken me, but now He has appeared before my very eyes. Since He has promised to give me bread to eat, to protect me wherever I go, and to bring me back safely to my father's house, I will worship Him alone. Of all that the LORD shall give me in worldly things I will surely return one-tenth unto Him." Ja'cob then anointed a stone as an altar, and lifted up his heart to God in worship.
   While thinking about the meaning of the wonderful vision Ja'cob realized that the great distance which sin had put between him and the LORD was now wiped out by God's mercy. There was now an open way of communication between God and man, and over it the Angels of mercy came down to bless earth, then returned to Heaven bearing the prayers and thankful praises of the Saints. The vision also taught him that the light of Heaven brings comfort and assurance to even the darkest ways of life.

Story 22: Ja'cob Dreams Of The Stairway To Heaven l

   Ja'cob had led a happy life in his father's home, and had enjoyed many favors because of his mother's love for him. That is why it was a great trial for him to become a wanderer, facing unknown dangers in a world that was strange to him. The journey to La'ban's home in Mes-o-po-ta'mia was a long, hard trip, filled with many perils.
   Still he must go out and face with courage the hardships that would come to him for many years. With staff in hand, carrying a few necessities for the long journey, he took leave of his parents and started on the strange roads to a land far to the north. Leaving Be'er-she'ba, which lay on the border of the desert in the extreme southwestern part of the land, Ja'cob walked over the hills, through the valleys, and across the plains in a northerly direction. After several days of travel had wearied him, he paused one evening at a spot in the mountains not far from Beth'el, about fifty miles from his home at Be'er-she'ba.
   As Ja'cob rested his weary body upon the bare ground and looked at the countless stars overhead, many solemn thoughts filled his mind. A feeling of guilt rested heavenly upon his heart, and the loneliness of having to bear the results of wrong-doing without a mother's sympathy and good advice filled his soul with fear and worry. With the passing of the light and cheer of the sun a gloomy darkness descended upon him. As he fell into slumber his last thought was upon the need for protection and guidance from the LORD. He now realized that if the blessings promised in the Covenant with A'bra-ham were ever to be fulfilled in him they must come through the forgiving and redeeming love of God, and not the trickery or cunning fraud.
   There came to Ja'cob a wonderful dream, a spiritual vision from God. Suddenly the Heavens above him were radiant with the Glory of God; he saw a stairway leading from the ground near where he slept up into the Heavens where God was dwelling, and angels were going up and coming down the stairs. Carried away by the dream, Ja'cob opened his whole mind and heart to its message. The LORD seemed to be speaking to him from the top of the stairway, renewing in every detail the Covenant which He had made with A'bra-ham.

Story 21: The Crafty Scheme Of Re-bek'ah And Ja'cob To Gain The Blessing Intended For E'sau lll

   As soon as I'saac had given the blessing Ja'cob hurried out of the room. Presently E'sau returned from the hunting field, cooked the venison, and came to his father to receive the blessing which belonged to him. I'saac was then forced to admit that he had just finished a meal provided by one whom he thought to be his elder son. E'sau was overcome with disappointment and sorrow, and pleaded with his father to give him the blessing. It was too late to receive the blessing of the first-born, for once it was given it could not be changed.
   Realizing that he had now been twice supplanted by his brother Ja'cob, E'sau now begged his father to give him whatever blessing that could still be given. I'saac then promised that E'sau and his descendants should enjoy great prosperity and fame, and should be successful in war. With these blessings, however, there would be burden of servitude to his brother. Sometimes his descendants would triumph over the house of Ja'cob, but would then be forced again into serving them.
   Although E'sau wept bitterly in his disappointment, there was no repentance in his heart for the sins which brought him so great a loss. At no time was there a word of humility or an admission of sin; all that E'sau desired was revenge. In a fit of anger he vowed to kill Ja'cob at the first opportunity. He wept, not for the sins of selling his birthright and entering marriages forbidden in the Covenant with A'bra-ham, but for the loss of the blessing.
   Re-bek'ah became so alarmed by E'sau's threats against the life of Ja'cob that she decided to send her younger son to her brother's home in Mes-o-po-ta'mia until E'sau's anger had become less violent. She pretended to I'saac that her reason for sending Ja'cob away was to prevent him from repeating the error of E'sau in marrying among the women of Ca'naan. Hurried plans were made for Ja'cob's journey, and he went away with the blessings of his father and the anxious prayers of his mother. Re-bek'ah had thought that his visit would be brief, but she did not live to see his return twenty years later. Everyone who had taken part in the crafty schemes of Re-bek'ah and Ja'cob suffered greatly for the sins they had committed. Though the LORD overruled the entire affair for the accomplishment of His purposes and the glory of His name, sorrow and suffering came to all who had done wrong.

Story 21: The Crafty Scheme Of Re-bek'ah And Ja'cob To Gain The Blessing Intended For E'sau ll

   Re-bek'ah overheard the words between I'saac and E'sau, and knew that whoever brought the dish of venison to her husband would receive the blessing which belonged to the first-born. She also knew that E'sau had sold his birthright to Ja'cob, but she remembered the promise of God that the heritage should be given to Ja'cob, and that E'sau was morally and spiritually unfit to carry out the deeds which God had named in His Covenant with A'bra-ham. She felt that in some way I'saac should be thwarted in his plans, and that the blessing intended for E'sau should be given to her favorite son.
   In a desperate attempt to win the birthright for Ja'cob, Re-bek'ah used a cunning scheme. The scheme was unworthy of the high purposes desired, but Divine Providence permitted it for the sake of carrying on the chosen race of God. It is true that she tricked I'saac into doing what was right, but it is always wrong to deceive; both she and Ja'cob paid dearly for their acts of deception. The evil in their deeds did not cease to be evil merely because God was able to bring some good out of a wicked action.
   Re-bek'ah called Ja'cob and told him to go out among the flocks and kill two young goats, explaining that she would cook the meat into a savory dish which I'saac would think was venison, and that Ja'cob should take the meat to his father and receive the blessing intended for E'sau. Ja'cob was afraid that his father would discover the trickery, even though he was almost blind, for E'sau was a very hairy man, and his clothing had a strong odor of the huntsman. Re-bek'ah then declared that she could overcome all danger by having Ja'cob wear clothes which belonged to E'sau, and by covering his hands and neck with goat skins to give the appearance of human hair.
   Ja'cob finally gave in to his mother's will, and agreed to do as he had been told. The scheme was carried out perfectly, just as Re-bek'ah had predicted. In the course of the meal which he served to I'saac, Ja'cob not only represented himself as E'sau, but actually lied to his father in the name of the LORD. Tricked into believing  that he was speaking with E'sau, who was still searching for venison to bring his father, I'saac pronounced upon Ja'cob the blessings of the first-born. Among these blessings were: The promise of future security in the land of Ca'naan, prosperity and increase of both goods and family, the leadership of the Chosen people of God, and supremacy over his brother and all his kinsmen.
   Before these blessings were fully enjoyed by Ja'cob, he had to travel a long, hard road of trial and suffering, had to be cured of his craftiness and deceit, and had to have his name changed from that of Ja'cob, the supplanter, to Is'rael, the contender with God. Of these events we shall learn in future chapters.

Story 21: The Crafty Scheme Of Re-bek'ah And Ja'cob To Gain The Blessing Intended For E'sau l

   E'sau's lack of respect for the Covenant which God had made with A'bra-ham, and for his parents' wishes was shown in his marriage. During his hunting trips he had become well acquainted with the Hit'tites, a heathen people of Canaan who were under the curse of God for worshipping idols. When he was forty years old he took two wives in this heathen land. Such a deed brought great sorrow to his father and mother, for it was a disgrace to the family name. From these unholy marriages there sprang a people known in later history as the E'dom-ites, who were always enemies of God's Chosen people.
   In spite of his disobedience and scorn for True Religion, E'sau remained the favorite son of the patient, long-suffering I'saac. As the strength of I'saac began to fade and his eyesight grew dim, he felt that he should prepare for his death which might come at any moment. He was now one hundred and thirty-seven years old, his half-brother Ish'ma-el had been dead for fourteen years, and he was now so feeble that even his family thought death was near. Although he did not die until forty-three years later, he thought it wise to arrange for the division of his property. In those days it was custom for a father to make what is now called a will by giving his blessing to the sons who were to inherit his belongings. In these blessings the father would tell what each son was to inherit, and once a blessing had been given it could not be changed.
   E'sau's unholy marriages to the two Hit'tite women had taken place thirty-seven years before, but he had remained in the household of I'saac during all these years, and his father had gradually forgiven his disobedience. And so I'saac planned to bestow upon E'sau, his elder son and favorite, the blessing which belonged to the first-born son, in spite of the fact that E'sau had sold his birthright to Ja'cob many years before, and had proven himself unworthy of the heritage.
   One day as I'saac sat in the house, no doubt tired and worried by his feeble state of health, and believing that he might soon be called from this world, he said to E'sau "I am failing in strength, and my eyes are dim; I do not know how soon I may die. Before I die let me bestow upon you, my elder son, the blessings of the first-born. I wish you to inherit this land, and to become the head of the nation through which all the families of the earth are to be blessed. Before I give this blessing, however, take thy bow and quiver and go out into the fields. Kill a deer, and bring me the venison which I love so well.
   It was the duty of E'sau to remind his father that the rights of the first-born had been sold long ago to Ja'cob, and he should have admitted his unworthiness to carry on the family from which the Mes-si'ah was to come. Instead of acting honestly in this matter, E'sau was moved by the spirit of irreverence and boldness which had marked his entire life. That is why he obeyed his father's request, not so much in the spirit of a dutiful son as in the hope of gaining the blessing which he had sold to Ja'cob for a mess of pottage.