Sit down. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths. What movie is playing in your head? Maybe it is a beautiful memory of time spent with family and friends. For many of us, though, the movie is an unbearable memory that seems to resurface at the absolute worst time. Despite our best efforts, we just can't delete it from our conscience. Hang on! Even when you feel like giving up. Hope is not dead!

The life of Jacob is filled with stories of deception, forgiveness, consequence, and blessing. His story reminds us that despite our past, God continues to show up. And when he shows up, He sees our pain and offers a way forward. 

The Life of Jacob: The Whole Picture

I like to think of Jacob's life in four chapters. 

1. The first 77 years of Jacob's life from birth to when he deceived his father into giving him Esau's blessing

2. The twenty years he spent serving his uncle Laban

3. The roughly thirty years he spent back in his homeland reunited with his father raising his own family

4. He spent the last seventeen years of his life in Egypt after he was reunited with his son Joseph

The early years of Jacob's life are detailed in Genesis chapters 25-37, and the conclusion of Jacob's life is described in chapters 42-49. Below is a timeline of significant events in Jacob's life:

• Before Jacob is born, his mother inquires of the Lord and receives a prophecy that "the older shall serve the younger."

• Jacob is born with his hand holding Esau's heel

• Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for some bread and lentil stew

• Jacob's grandfather Abraham dies when he is 15

• When Esau is 40 years old, he takes two wives from the Hittite people. This decision made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

• Jacob, prompted by his mother, tricks his father Isaac into giving him his brother Esau's blessing / Jacob and Esau are approximately 77 years old

• Isaac sends Jacob away from their home to go to Paddan-Aram to take a wife from Laban Rebekah's brother

• It is believed by most scholars that Rebekah dies while Jacob is away living in the house of Laban

• Jacob marries Leah - Jacob has six children from Leah and two from her maid Zilpah

• Jacob marries Rachel - Jacob has two children from Rachel and two from her maid Bilhah

• Jacob works six more years for his Uncle Laban

• Jacob returns to his homeland and is forgiven by his brother Esau

• Benjamin, Jacob's 12th son, is born but Rachel dies during childbirth

• His brothers sell Jacob's favorite son Joseph into slavery in Egypt

• When Jacob is 120 years old his father Isaac dies at 180 years old 

• When Jacob is 130 years old he appears before Pharaoh after being reunited with his son Joseph

• Jacob lives for seventeen years in Egypt and dies at the age of 147 years old  

Jacob’s Anchor Points

There are six times in Jacob's life that he built an altar or pillar to God at a critical moment. Interestingly, he did this six times compared to his father Isaac, who made one altar and his grandfather Abraham who built three altars. Perhaps it is because out of the three of them, Jacob's life is filled with more bumps in the road as he moves from initial sin to obedience. The first three altars are all while Jacob is traveling to live with Laban, serving Laban or returning to his homeland fleeing from Laban. The second three altars (which we will look at in a future devotion) are when he is reunited with Esau and now living back in his homeland. This devotion will look at the first three altars and what they have to say about leaving our past in the past. 

Altar #1 - Despite Our Past God Continues to Show Up 

"Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." So early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you. Genesis 28:16-22 ESV

The first altar is Jacob's response to God's call on his life. Despite all of the deception and sin, we see in Jacob's early years; God forgives Jacob. Through God's forgiveness, Jacob makes a covenant with God allowing him to receive God's blessing.

Altar #2 - God Sees Our Pain and Offers a Way Forward

"Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am!' And he said, 'Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred." Genesis 31:11-13 ESV

The second altar is God reminding Jacob of his promise at the first altar and that God sees how Laban is deceiving Jacob and that it is now time to go home.

Altar #3 - Forgiveness Wins the Day

"Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me." So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." Therefore he named it Galeed, and Mizpah, for he said, "The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another's sight. If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me." Then Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm. The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac, and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country." Genesis 31:44-54 ESV

The third altar signifies a covenant between Jacob and Laban. After all of the ways they have deceived each other, the poor decisions that they have made because of fear, God steps in to call a truce between the two men preserving the blessing he has prepared for Jacob's life.

What can we learn from the first two chapters of Jacob's life? First, there are consequences and pain that come from our sins that can leave our relationships fractured - and that can cause us to miss out on God's best for our life. Next, despite our past, God continues to show up with a new plan forward. He will never leave us. He will never give up on us. Finally, despite our sinfulness, God offers forgiveness through Jesus Christ and his work on the cross. Through this gift, Jesus compels us to offer forgiveness to those who have wronged us in our past. What relationships in your life need new life breathed into them? 

Featured Music

Zach Williams - Rescue Story

We all have a rescue story to tell. Lyrics like "You were writing the pages/ Before I had a name/ Before I needed grace" point to how God has been working on our behalf since the beginning. "You never gave up on me/ You never give up on me/ This is my testimony" is such a beautiful declaration that God continues to show up with a new way forward. Jesus, you alone are our rescue story - "And now where would I be without you/ Where would I be Jesus/ You were the voice in the desert/ Calling me out in the dead of night/ Fighting my battles for me/ You are my rescue story."

About the Author

Nathan Miller

You may know me as a husband, father, son, brother, friend, mentor, ultra marathoner runner, NBA basketball enthusiast, fan of all things tech, music lover and writer. However, the life blood that flows through everything that I strive to be comes from a desire for greater intimacy with Jesus Christ. He is my Savior, my Provider, my Lord and most of all my best friend.