18th March 2024
Jacob, a shepherd and a husband
This is the seventh study in a series of studies about shadows in scripture
“Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!” Genesis 27:29 (NKJV)
Why did Jacob want Esau’s birthright, or his blessing? Why go to great lengths, involving deception and injustice to achieve both? (Genesis 25-27). What did he plan to do with them?
His plans did not work out as expected. The birthright would have provided a double inheritance of his father’s estate, typically conferred on firstborn sons. People fight over wealth from inheritances – it often breaks up families – and this was no exception. The birthright provided wealth, and it is clear from Isaac’s blessing to Jacob, that the blessing provided power. Jacob wanted both.
Instead of enjoying the largest portion of his father’s inheritance, Jacob ended up fleeing from the murderous anger of his brother. His intended departure of ‘a few days’ (Genesis 27:44) turned into 20 years of work for an uncle who was as deceitful as Jacob. These years were pivotal in Jacob’s life, culminating in his name being changed to Israel, or ‘one who perseveres with God’. During this time he worked fourteen years as a shepherd to earn a wife he loved: ‘…and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.’ (Genesis 29:20). Is that how Christ viewed the suffering he endured on earth throughout his ministry and culminating in his crucifixion? Did they seem only a short time because at the end was the marriage described in Revelation 19:7: “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” Did it seem like a short time because of his love for each one of us?
On Jacob’s delayed return he brought with him two wives, their maids, eleven children, servants and a huge number of animals (Genesis 32:14-15): a noisy and messy journey. So Jacob’s wealth was not the result of inheritance, but of hard work – no longer the man who preferred to be ‘dwelling in tents’ making soup. He describes his very different life as a shepherd, to Laban: “There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes.” (Genesis 31:40). In this he provides a shadow of the physical life Christ was to be leading – always on the move, always battling – and bearing the scars that he showed to Thomas after his resurrection. He described his itinerant lifestyle to a would-be follower in Matthew 8:20: …“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Jacob’s life conflates both images of Christ: the future husband waiting for marriage, and the shepherd tending the flock that will be the bride of Christ. His life is bookended by two encounters with Christ: the ladder to heaven, where the earthly and the heavenly realm are brought together, and his wrestling with the angel until darkness passed and the morning light came (Genesis 32:24) – as Christ wrestled until darkness passed, to be replaced by the morning of the resurrection.
Prayer
Thank you Lord Jesus that you persevered through all of the suffering, providing a sacrifice for our sins. We wait for that time of the ‘marriage of the Lamb’. Amen.
Study by Maggie Mitchell
About the writer:
Maggie Mitchell attends the Market Harborough congregation of Grace Communion International
Local congregation:
GCI Market Harborough
9 The Point
Rockingham Road
Market Harborough
LE16 7QU
Meeting time:
Sunday 4.00 pm
Local congregational contact:
Sinead Henderson
Email: sinead.henderson@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church