Jacob

In short

A main character in the book of Genesis. Grandson of Abraham and father of 12 sons.

Why is he important?

He is the nation of Israel. Really.

• In a surreal story (Gen 32:22-32), God changes Jacob’s name to Israel
• God promises Jacob that he will become a great nation in Egypt (Gen 46:2-3)
• The way this happens is really simple: he had lots of babies, and those babies had lots of babies (Ex 1:7).
• This takes about 400 years. We will talk more about the nation of Israel next week.
• Think about how Jews traced their ancestry back to what “tribe” they were from. The tribes are basically states in the nation of Israel, and the tribes are named after the sons of Jacob (aka Israel). Get it? The very identity of a Jew is defined by Jacob and his sons.
• Imagine if George Washington had 50 sons named Iowa, Oregon, Arizona, etc., and that’s why our states were named that way. And the country was The United States of George. That’s the scope of the legacy of Jacob.
• Jacob doesn’t just happen to be named Israel. He is Israel in every sense of the word.

Some defining stories about Jacob

If Jacob is the embodiment of God’s own people, he must be an upstanding man, right? Oh no. I mean, he has some positives, but it’s not a rosy picture.

• Jacob’s very name means “deceiver,” and relates to his birth (Gen 25:27 – your Bible probably has a footnote to explain this)
• The very next story (Gen 25:29-34) is of Jacob using coercion to take his brother’s birthright
• Jacob treated his wife Leah poorly because he found her sister more attractive (Gen 29:30, 17)
• Upon meeting Pharaoh – after being saved from famine and given free land to settle in – Jacob seems to respond with bitterness that he only lived 130 years (Gen 47:1-12)

Jacob does have some shining moments. His faith is praised in Hebrews 11:21.