JACOB: GOD’S PERSISTENT PURSUIT

And Esau said,” Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!”… – Genesis 27:36a

When Jacob stole Esau’s birthright, he was no longer an immature youth, but a middle-aged man whose duplicity of character had long crystallized. Psychologists would hold that it was almost impossible for him to any longer be radically changed, but God does not despair of us even when we despair of ourselves. His patience is infinite; His resources never cease. God’s persistent pursuit is vividly reflected in His processing of this ‘marred piece of clay’ – this ‘worm’ (Isa.41:14). He even condescends to assume the incongruous title: “The God of Jacob” (Psa.20:1); “…the King of Jacob” (Isa.41:21b); and “The God of Jacob is your refuge” (Psa.46:7,11). God was not ashamed to associate His name with that of the swindler!

God stooped to intimately relate with such a mean and unlovely man. The Potter’s relentless love transformed this weak and seemingly worthless worm into a Prince, having power with God and men (Gen.32:28). God’s persistence derived from His piercing perception and optimism. He has a keen eye for latent qualities of nobility. He is the God of the misfit, the God of the warped personality, the God of the marred clay. He delights to begin where others have given up in despair. If you’ll surrender your life into His hands for drastic and radical treatment, He will employ all His resources of love and grace.

God discerned the princely virtues in this unattractive man. Behind all his trickery and duplicity there lay a genuine desire and capacity for the spiritual. Jacob sensed spiritual values correctly, but he always resorted to carnal scheming to obtain them. Despite his failures, there was always the faint undercurrent of faith in God. It is human nature to see the worst in our fellows, but God is always seeking to release the best in us. Behind the name Jacob, supplanter, was embedded the idea of a determined and relentless pursuer.

Praise God, Jacob met his match and finally capitulated to the persistent pursuit of the loving God who “threw” him at Jabbock (Gen.32:22). But for God’s pursuit, Jacob would never have become a prince with God! God pursued him with steadfast stride from his first encounter at Bethel until his final conquest thirty years later, significantly on the same spot. The supreme lesson of Jacob’s story is that failure need not be final. There is hope with the God of Jacob for any temperament or disposition. When God has saved and apprehended a soul, He pursues such with unwavering perseverance. He is constantly at work dealing with the Jacob in every one of us. Beloved, let the Potter deal with the ‘Jacob’ in you!