Jacob’s journey in search of a wife reminds us of Abraham’s servant’s similar mission to find a wife for Isaac. Unlike the servant, however, Jacob does not pray for God’s guidance. He does not arrive with camels laden with gifts for his bride and her family, probably because he has fled in some haste from Esau’s wrath. He does not praise God when he sees Rachel, as the servant had done on seeing Rebekah, but instead immediately kisses her. His thoughts are completely about himself, despite the vision that God had only recently given to him.

The parallels between the way Jacob deceived Isaac, and the way that Laban deceived Jacob are hard to ignore. Jacob took advantage of his father’s failing eyesight. Laban took advantage of the darkness of the tent. Jacob pretended to be the older brother. Laban pretended that Leah was the younger sister.

And so, the deceiver is deceived. Jacob learns a very hard lesson at the hands of Laban, which must have been made even more bitter by Laban’s jibe about it not being in their custom to put the younger child before the older one. Jacob did get Rachel, the wife he wanted, at the end of the week-long wedding feast for Leah, but was forced to stay and work for Laban for another seven years.

Jacob may well have been the son whom God had chosen to be the inheritor of the promise, but that did not mean that he could get away with anything. He had obtained Isaac’s blessing through deception and then obtained his wife without seeking God’s blessing, and God ensured that he learned the error of his ways.

Jacob’s story gives us both hope that God can use us despite our failings and faltering, and also reassurance that he does not ever turn a blind eye to sin. We may feel as though we see others getting away with all sorts of things, but we do not need to take matters into our own hands – God sees all.

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NEWBOLD COMMUNITY CHURCH