We all have our preferences and favorites right? The world says that when you have good looks, you’re almost half-way there. And often times, we choose our favorites for a reason – either they look good, or they have a pleasing personality, they make us laugh, they’re fun to be with, etc. How do you think God choose His favorites?
The LORD said to her,
“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 25:23
The ‘her’ in this verse pertains to Rebekah, the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. What does this verse tell us? Hmmm…
As we all know, Jacob is the one chosen by God. Jacob is the man through whom God created a nation – his chosen people, Israel. It is Jacob through whom God chose to walk the Earth through His son, Jesus Christ. What did Jacob do to deserve this? Let’s study Jacob’s life shall we?
1. Jacob’s name figuratively means ‘deceiver’ – and he wasn’t named ‘deceiver’ for nothing
Jacob deceived his brother Esau twice.
First, He took his birthright in exchange for a meal (in this case, I would think it’s the fault of Esau for not giving value to his own birthright)
Second, He deceived both his brother and his father Isaac when he took Esau’s blessing. He disguised himself as Esau with the help of his mother Rebekah.
2. Jacob played favorites – both with his wives and with his sons
He loved Rebekah more than Leah
He loved Joseph more than all his other sons
In every way, the Bible tells us to our face that Jacob is definitely not a perfect person. He is in every way flawed as a human can be. So why did God choose Jacob?
No reason at all.
Jacob did not deserve to be chosen. He didn’t even do anything to earn God’s choice. Before he was even born, God chose him already as we see from Genesis 25:23. God’s choice is God’s choice. We can never understand why because His thoughts are not our thoughts and neither are His ways our ways.
God’s love and promises for Jacob started with a choice. And Jacob did nothing to deserve it. I don’t know about you, but for me, that is great news! To know that even before I was born, God chose me for something is mind-blowing. And I know that He has chosen and appointed every one of us for His purposes.
“your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.” – Psalm 139:16
I love this verse! Thank you Lord!
And we know full well what Jacob did with His blessings. We know what He did with God’s choice of him. He obeyed God and held on to His promises. He glorified God with all he had – giving a tenth of his possessions to the Lord.
Isn’t that the same with how we should look at our lives today? We are all chosen for a reason – the elect. Shouldn’t we glorify God with our lives as well? I urge you, men and women of God to live for him. We are not perfect – and until Christ comes again, we can never be. But just like Jacob who glorified God with his life, we should desire such a life to live for God as well.
