Focus: Two Characters (Pt.2)

Text: Gen.25:27

"And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents."

We are dealing with two diametrically opposed characters here from the same parents. We have looked at Esau the other day, and now we focus on Jacob.

Jacob was the younger one. He fought very hard from the womb to be the first to come out, but he didn't succeed. As he came out, he was seen grabbing his brother Esau by the heel, and which meant that he struggled to come out first. Had he succeeded in coming out first, he would not have qualified to become the chosen seed of God, for God clearly said that "the elder shall serve the younger." God said as He blessed Jacob, "Be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee." He blessed Esau, and said, "Behold, I have made him (that is, Jacob) thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants… and shall serve thy brother" (Gen.27:29,37,40, emphasis mine). Child of God, be patient! Stop going ahead of God or of even yourself. Let God be God in your life! According to Hebrews 10:9, God takes away the first to establish the second. Be where God wants you to be, and He will bless and lift you from there. I pray you don't win to lose, but rather lose to win.

Now focusing on our text, we are told that Jacob was a plain man. The Hebrew word for 'plain' is 'tam.' Psalm 37:37 says, "Mark the PERFECT man…" Proverbs 10:29 says, "The bloodthirsty hate the UPRIGHT…" In Song of Solomon, the word UNDEFILED is used. So the Hebrew word 'tam' describes a plain, perfect, upright, and undefiled person. The plain person is not complicated. He is not sinless, but simple. Let me repeat that a perfect person is not someone without sin. Rather, he is wholly together or integrated, mature, and showing understanding. The plain person doesn't find it difficult to see his faults or flaws, and he is always willing to repent and do better.

A plain person can easily be seen for what or who he is. John reports, "Jesus SAW Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" (Jh.1:47). The word 'saw' in the Greek means 'to see in a moment.' Just a glance! Jesus took a single look at Nathaniel, and that was enough to see through him. Nathaniel was a plain man. Plain people are not difficult to identify. They are not pretentious. You can see through them in a moment or at a glance.

There might not be any big difference between Esau and Jacob in terms of moral rectitude, but one sure thing is that Jacob was ever ready to own up to his blunders, make amends and forge ahead. He was not proud in sin or of sin. He was an easygoing person. You could label him anything, but you would not deny the fact that he had a heart for God and was always willing to do better.

At a point in his life, he got sick and tired of his kind of life, as it were, and sought for life as it was meant to be. And for him to encounter divine change in his life, he had to wrestle all night with a supernatural figure from heaven. While the Angel knocked his thigh, God melted his heart. Jacob became a changed man and obtained from God a change of name.

Read the Scriptures and see how every now and then God revealed Himself to Jacob and guided his decisions and actions. By God's instruction he banished every idol that his immediate family served, and persuaded his wives and children to amend their ways and live right before God.

One more thing as I close! The Scripture says of Jacob, "And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her" (Gen.29:20). Jacob knew the meaning of love. Those who love, serve. Paul talked about the "labor of love." Love will always labor for others. Seven years labor of love meant nothing to Jacob. O, what we do for love! Jacob knew what it meant to love. Love is an action word. You can't love and not show it. Love is service-oriented and action-related.

The church is full of 'Esaus' and 'Jacobs' today, and all we need is God's touch that leads to a change of heart and mind. There is no one God cannot change and no life He cannot alter for the better. Someone said that every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. God can touch an Esau as well as a Jacob. I pray you let God do His work in you! Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter