'Heroes of the Faith'

but his scheming didn’t stop. He manipulated the flocks of his father-in-law so that his herd grew much larger than Laban’s. He took Laban’s daughters, grandchildren, and herds off in the night to escape his anger. In short, Jacob was not a good man. 

 The lying and cheating caught up with Jacob when he was heading back to Canaan. You know the story of Jacob wrestling with a stranger in the middle of the night. Jacob probably thought it was his brother or father-in-law trying to kill him. It ended up being a messenger from God who changed his life. Jacob, wounded by the man, demanded a blessing. That is when the man changed his name from ‘He grasps’ to ‘he who struggles with God’, Israel. The trajectory of Jacob’s life changed in that moment. 

Jacob became one who struggled to do the right thing with God’s help. Jacob was the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. His son, Joseph, became second-in-command in Egypt, saving both Egypt and Israel’s clan from starvation. At the end of his life, Jacob had become a different man all together. “By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff” (Heb 11:21). 

 Hebrews 11 is a tribute to the heroes of the faith. If God can turn a liar into a blesser, He can mend our broken lives and make us a blessing to those around us.

Blessings,

Jonathan