Last week’s bulletin article dealt with the birth of Esau and Jacob, and Jacob’s obtaining of Esau’s birthright and blessing through oppression and deception (Gen. 25:19-34; 27:1-46). Esau was angry when he saw what happened, and he determined to kill Jacob. But Rebekah, prepared for Esau’s anger, sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to her brother Laban until Esau’s anger would be turned away. Then she would send for him to come home. She used the excuse with Isaac that she would not have Jacob marry one of the daughters of Heth as Esau had done. They were the worst sort of idolaters, and a constant source of sorrow to Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac readily consented to his son’s departure. Neither parent expected him to be gone so long (Gen. 27:44).

Jacob’s sojourn in Paddan-aram is bracketed by two events. The first was his dream at Bethel in which he saw angels ascending and descending a ladder whose topped reached heaven, up to the feet of God (Gen. 28:10-22). In the dream, God repeats the promise that was made to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3). Though Jacob seemed to be in awe of God and the things that happened there, there still seemed to be the distance between himself and Jehovah.

In Laban, Jacob met one who was much like himself. Jacob had obtained the birthright and the blessing through deceit, now he was about to be deceived. Jacob had fallen instantly for his cousin, Rachel, and had agreed to labor for her for seven years (Gen. 29). At the end of seven years, Laban substituted Leah as the prized bride on the excuse that it was the custom of the land that the younger should not precede the elder daughter in marriage. When Jacob protested, Laban gave him Rachel after seven days on the condition that he labor another seven years. Thus began the practice of polygamy among God's people and years of conflict among the children of Israel.

In Genesis 29:31, it says that God "saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb." Leah bore a son and named him Rueben, and three others – Simeon, Levi, and Judah. In chapter 30, when Rachel saw Leah’s fruitfulness, she became jealous and insisted that Jacob visit her handmaid Bilhah, and she bore Dan and Naphtali. Leah, thinking she would have no more children, gave to Jacob her handmaid Zilpah, who gave birth to Gad and Asher. Then Leah conceived thrice again and bore Issachar, Zebulun, and a daughter named Dinah. At last, Rachel conceived and bore Joseph. Benjamin came later as Jacob returned home.

It seems like Leah and Rachel were involved in a "baby-having" contest.. Indeed, much of a woman’s estimation of her own worth was measured by her in the number of sons she bore. This attitude was a source of great strife between Rachel and Leah, strife that was manifest in the behavior of their sons and the tribes that descended from them. It was not Jacob’s original intent to have more than one wife, but he did, and the resultant rancor among the sons and then the tribes of Israel is stark testimony to the foolishness of forsaking God’s plan of one woman for one man for life (Matt. 19:3-6).

After 20 years of laboring for his father-in-law, Jacob was richly blessed by God. Whereas he was virtually broke when he arrived, he now had herds and flocks more than Laban. It was time to go home.

As Jacob approached his home in Canaan, he realized that he would have to deal with Esau. It is with great relief that he was received by his brother with great joy. But as he contemplated what sort of a reception he might have, in the night at the ford of the Jabbok, he wrestles with a stranger until almost dawn. When Jacob prevails, he demands to know the man’s name, and when refused, Jacob realizes that he has wrestled with the angel of God. It is here that God renames Jacob – he gives him the name Israel, "for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed" (Gen. 32:28).

It is at this point in the narrative that the character presented of Jacob changes. The cause may have been his age (he is now over 70), it may have been this meeting with God, the second bracket of his sojourn. Previously, he has been ambitious and somewhat devious in his dealing with others. From this point on, he is a peace loving, doting patriarch.

But the coming days were far from peaceful. His sons, born in Paddan-aram, were aware of the conflict between Laban and Jacob, and the worldly tenor that it took on. They also were aware of the conflicts between Leah and Rachel, and these deepened with them.

Jacob first moved to Shechem where he bought property and built an alter. It was here that Dinah was assaulted and raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor. After the deed was done, Shechem convinced his father that Dinah should be his wife, so Hamor went up to see Jacob.

In Genesis 34 it says that "Jacob held his peace until they came" (vs. 5). But Dinah’s brothers were outraged and they conspired against Hamor and his family. When Shechem asked for approval from them to marry Dinah, they told him they would consent only if he and all of his family would submit to circumcision. Hamor and Shechem agreed, and while they were recovering from the procedure and basically helpless, Simeon and Levi went in, killed all the males, and plundered the city. Jacob was alarmed that there might be retaliation from the people of the region, so he moved on to Bethel. From there Jacob journeyed south to see his father at Ephrath. On the way, Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin. While Jacob mourned the death of his wife, Rueben committed fornication with Rachel’s handmaid, Bilhah (Gen. 35:22). This dishonorable act is only mentioned again when Jacob pronounced blessings upon his sons shortly before his death. Though he was the firstborn, he would not enjoy the preeminence of that position.

Genesis 38 gives us some information about Judah in his later life. Judah married a Canaanite woman who bore him three sons; Er, Onan, and Shelah. Judah found a woman named Tamar to marry Er, but shortly after the marriage, God struck him dead for his wickedness. Judah then gave Tamar to Onan, as was the custom of the day, and God slew him in his wickedness. Because of Shelah’s age, Judah did not pass her on to him, but sent her to her father’s house. When Judah’s wife died, he found Tamar in the way disguised as a prostitute. Judah committed fornication with her, and she bore him twins, one of them Perez, an ancestor of Jesus.

Perhaps the most painful episode in the life of Jacob involved his sons’ treatment of their brother Joseph. The rancor between their mothers, Rachel and Leah, was picked up by the sons. As Joseph grew and developed into a handsome young man, Jacob made no secret that he was the favorite. He even made him a "coat of many colors," a symbol of that favoritism. For all of this, the first 10 boys hated him and plotted his death. Fearing what it might do to their father, they instead sold him into slavery. Imagine! They were his grown brothers. He was only 17. How they must have hated him.

There is no doubt that the first 10 sons of Jacob were somewhat dysfunctional. But what was the cause? First, let me say that there is no justification or excuse for their behavior. They could have overcome their circumstance. But the Bible makes the point that the bitterness and rancor that so much characterized their lives found root in the enmity between Rachel and Leah. All of these things were written for our learning (Rom. 15:4). From the polygamous marriage of Jacob and the conflicts that arose from it, we can see the wisdom of God’s plan that only two should become one flesh. All the consequences of polygamy could not be predicted by Jacob, but we can look back as he did and see what a confused family situation produced. And we can see the same sort of damage in families that are broken by divorce.

What is God’s design? "And there came unto him Pharisees, trying him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said, Have ye not read, that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matt. 19:3-6).