Manipulator

Passage: Genesis 27

According to Genesis 25:26, Jacob came out of the womb clinging to his twin brother, Esau’s, heel. This earned him his given name, which in Hebrew means, “Heel-grabber.” Which, in turn, is a Hebrew expression, not unlike our term “leg-puller”, meaning “deceiver.” Jacob spends the first part of his life living up to his name, taking advantage of Esau, and their father, on several occasions. The irony in Jacob’s story is that he shouldn’t have to manipulate the people around him to get what he wants. Before he was born, God declared that he would be blessed. When the unborn Jacob and Esau grappled inside their mother, Rebekah, she asked God what was going on. This was God’s response:

Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger. (Genesis 25:3)

In spite of God’s proclamation, Jacob repeatedly manipulates people and circumstances to make things go his way.

Now it could be speculated that Jacob’s deceit and underhandedness are simply the mechanism by which God’s blessing is secured -- that God, in a sense, blesses Jacob’s wheeling and dealing. After all, Jacob seems to get what he wants at every turn. However, Jacob’s acquisitions (wives; property; wealth) come at a cost. Jacob breaks his father’s heart; Jacob pushes his brother past the breaking point and has to flee for his life; Jacob embitters his uncle and his uncle’s community to the point that he eventually has to pull up stakes and move on. Jacob constantly burns bridges, leaving a trail of smoldering relational wreckage in his wake.

I can’t help asking the question as I read Jacob’s story: “Could Jacob’s experience of God’s blessing been richer had he honored, rather than used, the people in his life?” Sure, we see in Jacob’s story the unfolding of God’s plan in spite of, and even through, the flawed motivation of its main character. But we also see Jacob humbled, forced to face his own limitations, and forced to contend with those he’s manipulated and left behind. There always seem to be costs associated with trying to make God's plans happen on our terms.