Instead of being a blessing to one another, he tried to bargain. He didn't go far with it. The blessings that he stole actually he had to leave behind and run away. He is running away for some time. Gets employed at his future father-in-law's place, and gets cheated many times in return, but has not learned his lesson well.
We look at the time when Laban gave Leah to be his wife instead of Rachel, the one he loved. I often wonder if Jacob had taken the thinking that since I took away my older brother's birthright, maybe this is an opportunity given to me to restore it and accept Leah's position as the older sibling as father has given her to him. What if he accepted Leah to be his lawfully wedded one and only wife and let go of Rachel? How much of a blessing would that have been for him to be at peace?
I also wonder if Rachel had accepted the marriage of Leah and Jacob and stayed out of it how much of a blessing would have been her life also?
The part I like most is when the Bible says, Jacob loved Rachel but God loved Leah. What a joy to be loved by the King, God himself rather than any man who is there and won't be there tomorrow?
The fun part is when Jacob returns with his possession that God independently had blessed him with, not due to his deceit and lies but because of His own goodness God blessed. Jacob is to return and he has to face Esau his older brother.
Now Jacob realizes that he has been a cheater, he has done wrong, and he needs to seek help. 1st he is trying his own schemes of bribes to pacify his brother but he also remembers to pray and ask God to protect him from his brother. I laugh at the place where he is sending folks with gifts and making sure to tell them to say to Esau, "Your servant Jacob"....aha...Jacob, do you realise now, who is a servant? that was what you were called to be, a blessing, not a manipulator that you tried to be. The fact that he is noticing and preparing says that he knew what was done was wrong, but I guess he had to go through his own dose of deceit to realize that; 10 times his own wages were changed. God is a just God. What goes around, comes around and now he has to face the reality.
I am so glad to see Esau's response. He embraces him, cries, and wants nothing from Jacob. In fact, he is offering to accompany him on the way. Esau has a blessed life as he himself says, God had blessed him with much.
Lies and deceit do not take us far. We have to be truthful and honor God with our lives, and our choices. We have to face reality and let God bring blessings into our lives. stolen goods are stolen they are not ours but worse, we end up paying many folds for that deceit. may God help us to be truthful and live in harmony.
Copyright @Kalpana Christian Sharma
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