Have You Heard the Story of My Life?

My name is Jacob, and my brother’s name is Esau. We were twins. We were born on the same day, at almost the same time. Esau was born a few minutes before me, so I was just a bit younger than he.

Esau and I looked completely different. His skin was rough, and he was covered with hair all over. My skin was soft and fair. The two of us also had different natures. Esau was more rugged and had more energy than I. He liked roaming the fields and woods. He became a skilful hunter of deer and other wild animals.

Our father Isaac liked the taste of the wild game that Esau hunted and prepared for him. So he loved my brother and favoured him.

I preferred to stay near the tents, helping my mother Rebecca with her daily work. I would often sit and think about things. I wished very much that I had been born first, because I would then have had the birthright, a special blessing which only the firstborn son receives. I often tried to think of a way to get my brother’s birthright for myself.

One day, early in the morning, when my brother Esau went to the fields, I stayed at home and cooked a red lentil stew that smelled delicious. My mother liked my good cooking, and I knew that she loved and favoured me.

Some time later, my brother returned from the fields very tired and hungry. When he smelled the delicious lentil stew, he said, me have some of your stew to eat.”

I was ready to give it to him, but not without something in return. So I said, I will give you the whole stew if you promise to give me your birthright. He laughed and answered: Take it! What good is my birthright to me? I am going to die one day anyway.

So I gave him the lentil stew and some bread. He ate all he could, then got up and left.

After many years, my father grew very old. He could not see very well, and his body was weak. He stayed in his tent, lying on his bed most of the time. He knew that he would die soon, so he purposed to make Esau, his eldest son, the lord of the household and all that he owned.

My father called Esau and told him, My son, go out to the open country and hunt some wild game and prepare it for me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing. So Esau broke his oath to me and went to do what our father requested.

My mother overheard the conversation between my father and brother. She hurried to tell me about it. She then said to me, Get me two young goats from the herd so that I can prepare them as food for your father. Then take it to him so that he can eat and bless you instead of your brother.

I brought my mother the two goats, and she prepared them. Then she put Esau’s clothes on me. They smelled like the open fields. She tied goat’s skin around my neck and arms, so that my father would be able to feel the hair on me and think I was really Esau. Then she gave me the food to take to my father.

My heart was pounding, and I was nervous when I entered my father’s tent. My father asked me, Who are you, my son? I lied to him and said, I’m your firstborn, Esau.

He was amazed that I was back from the field and had prepared the food so quickly. He asked me to come closer so that he could feel my neck and arms to be sure that I was Esau. When he was satisfied, he took the food and ate.

After finishing, he asked me to kiss him. He smelled Esau’s clothes on me, and was sure that I was Esau, his firstborn son, standing before him.

He then put his hands on my head and blessed me, saying that I would be lord over my brother and the entire household. He asked God to bless me richly. Finally, he said, May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.

God’s great blessing was bestowed upon me, but I did not have much time to be happy about it. As soon as I left my father’s tent, Esau came back from the open fields. He was very angry when he discovered what I had done. He flew into a rage, and his anger turned to hatred. He decided to kill me as soon as our father died.

My mother was afraid for my life and told me, You have to leave this place quickly. Go to your Uncle Laban who lives far away, and stay there until your brother returns to normal and forgets what you did to him. So I had no other choice but to run away from home. This happened because of my lying and cheating.

Travelling to my uncle’s home was a long and tiring journey. I felt very lonely. I felt awful for lying to my aged father. I did not have anyone around to look after me anymore. It seemed that even God did not care about me, because of the evil I had done. This is what I thought. Worst of all, I was afraid that God was angry with me. Thinking about this made me very afraid.

The sun set, and it became night. There was no one around anywhere. I slept outside in the wilderness, lying on the ground, resting my head on a big stone. I thought God was surely far from me and would not bother to watch over me, a cheater. I longed for God to have mercy on me and forgive me. I was very sorry for my wrong behaviour. I decided to finish with my cheating and lying.

As I was thinking, my eyes became weary. So I slept. In my sleep, I had a strange and beautiful dream. I saw a stairway between earth and heaven. The angels of God were going up and down on it. At the top of the stairway, God was standing and looking at me. He was saying: I am the Lord, the God of your fathers, Abraham and Isaac. I am with you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land. I will not forsake you.

When I woke up, it was already morning, and I thought that all I had seen was only make-believe. But what I had seen was real. In His kindness, God had spoken to me – to me, a liar and cheater. He did not forsake me or humiliate me, but promised to save and take care of me.

Great fear and thankfulness came over me, because the Holy One had been at that place. I will never forget that occasion.

I took the stone on which I had rested my head and set it up as a pillar. I wanted to offer a token of thanks to God. I longed to give Him the most priceless thing I had as a sign of my joy and gratitude.

I had a jar of oil with me. So I poured it over the pillar and vowed, If the Lord will be with me on this journey, He will be my God forever, and I will truly worship Him. Thus, the Lord became my true and living God.

I had to learn many things after this accepting the truth about my nature. I saw how wrong I was, so I opened my life to the Lord and thanked Him. Despite my many evil doings, He accepted me and changed my life to honour His name.