From Palace to Prison
BIJU GEORGE, NEWYORK

No one likes to go from a better place to a bad one; from a free place to a restricted one. But sometimes, it happens. Jacob had a royal life in the house of his parents- Issac and Rebecca. He did not have to work hard, to earn a living. His brother Esau would go out occasionally and bring tasty food from hunting. Jacob was also the pet of his mother and Esau was the pet of his father.(Gen. 25:27,28) One day, Jacob had to leave his luxurious life, all of a sudden. He never dreamed about such a situation before! He was not prepared for that. But he had betrayed his father and brother and received a blessing. (We see that Moses had to run for life in a similar way. The prodigal son in the new testament also missed the blessings of the father’s house.) Jacob reaches his uncle Laban’s house. But in between, God met him at “Bethel”, and promised him that God was with him. Laban was a selfish, evil person. Laban represents the world. Jacob almost had a prison-type experience in Laban’s house. Laban’s interest was in getting the best out of Jacob and then throwing him in the garbage. But God was with Jacob. Jacob had a desire for Rachel, Laban’s daughter. He also knew that the ‘God of Bethel’ was with him. That kept him going through all the troubles and tricks of Laban. Jacob suffered all this because ‘one day’, he will get Rachel. Every true Christian, will be mistreated in this world. But what keeps us going is the fact that God is with us and the hope that one day, we shall join with the bride-groom, Jesus Christ.

Jacob and Leah

Laban deceived Jacob. He gave his elder daughter Leah, instead of Rachel. Jacob was ‘shocked’ to see the ‘unexpected’ one on his bed, on the next day of marriage. A ‘shock’, not a ‘surprise’!. The pain, grief and anger that Jacob suffered that day and the days that followed, is beyond what words can explain, because Jacob was a human being and not a ‘robot’(!). He did not have his loving mother or dear ones near by, to share it. But he did not react, in the way Laban expected. Laban would have expected Jacob to quit his house, or that Jacob would come against him or destroy some of his property. Jacob did not do any of these, which should have ‘really shocked’ Laban. Jacob had enough ‘reasons’ to even divorce or run-away from Leah, whom he never dreamed about marrying-even once!.He did not try to commit sin and then blame his circumstances. He did not go into sin or adultery, blaming God. Instead, he loved Leah and accepted her as his wife, even though it was painful and difficult. Many people want to marry ‘the familiar’, but Jacob yielded to God’s plan.

Today people need much less reasons to fight, commit sin and even divorce. But Jacob is a good example. He is a shadow of Jesus himself, who loved us, the church, regardless of the fact that we are no match for him, as we are. There was nothing in us that was attractive to Jesus, yet he loved us! Jacob got a big reward for his patience and perseverance. His children became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Look at Israel today. Hitler could not destroy them! They learned it in the ‘house of Laban’. Joseph was inspired by his father’s role model, when he suffered in the pit and

prison. Jacob never touched Rachel, until Rachel was married to Jacob. In short, Jacob was a model husband and a model father. Jacob did not stay in Laban’s house for life. He was later married to Rachel, and Joseph was born. Satan wanted to prevent the birth of Joseph, but Jacob’s persistence and perseverance blocked satan’s plan. Jacob paid a great price to make the devil unhappy, by loving leah, his wife, and by not quitting, when things turned agaist him. Israel can not quit! When he later had the encounter with God at river Jabok, he did not let God go without a blessing. He was blessed materially, before leaving Laban’s house, but that did not please him much. He wanted a spiritual blessing. Today many are pleased with material blessings, and would even use their spiritual blessings to make material wealth, but Jacob would not. Jews have such a great fear and reverence for God, even when many of them are very rich. That is where they differ from us. Even Hindus and Muslims have more respect for their God, than most Christians. Jacob’s end was beautiful, even though he ‘lost’ his son Joseph at seventeen. Jacob did not ‘loose’ him but God was only letting him grow into where God wanted him to be. God never brings anybody to a blessing, without first letting them go through a trial. Many people worry about the job they did not get, or about the spouse they got, or about the one they missed. I have heard people say with sadness, how they missed their promotion or that they should have chosen another profession. But Jacob and Joseph are good examples. They did not get mad at the people who troubled them, because they knew very well that their fight was not with ‘flesh and blood’. Today, we want to pay back everyone who has hurt us, so that God does not have to take care of that. We may not be smart like other people, but we have a smart God. People should not fear us because we will ‘show them’ or ‘teach them a lesson’, but because our God will pay them back. I have seen people getting things done because of their smartness. Even Jacob thought he was very smart when he deceived his brother for his birthright and later for the father’s blessing. But later, he understood that his God was way smarter than him. When my friends tell me that I have to be ‘smart’, I tell (in my heart) ‘don’t you know I have a smart God’? This God, our God, is trust worthy .He will never let us fail. Whatever we think we lost in life, look at Him. Look at Jacob and Joseph. They did not quit, and they played a great role in the birth and History of Israel. God bless US.