Ep. #10 “FAVORITES” [Series: GENESIS & JOB]

The setting: Jacob will inherit the majority of his father’s fabulous wealth. He is a mama’s boy who has to leave town because of his threatening twin brother and is instructed to go back to the area of his family’s origin to marry a relative of his Uncle Laban. Jacob may or may not be aware that Laban knows Jacob is wealthy and cannot wait to take advantage of him… which will be ironic because Laban is even more tricky than Jacob. Unless God steps in, the situation promises to be treacherous for Jacob. God looks out for Jacob from the beginning. As Jacob travels back to his family’s land of origin, God reiterates that his promises to Abraham will come true through Jacob. Jacob agrees to accept God as his own god and sets up a pillar at Bethel as a sign. When Jacob arrives at Paddan Aram, he immediately meets his cousin Rachel and falls in love with her. Her father, Laban, enters the situation and the chaos begins. After a month, Laban and Jacob agree that Jacob will work for Laban for seven years and receive Rachel as his wife, purposely agreeing to bypass Rachel’s older sister, Leah. After seven years, Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah. Jacob had to succumb and agreed to work another seven years for Rachel. During that seven years, Jacob had eleven sons and at least one daughter through his two wives and their two handmaidens. Just as Jacob had been a favorite, and his father had been a favorite, Rachel was the favorite. So, her son, Joseph, was a favorite, too. A few years after the second seven years, Jacob determined to take his family and his considerable possessions back to his home in Canaan. As usual the situation entails deceit and trickery. One part of the story deserves special attention. As they sneaked away, Rachel stole her “family’s gods.” As the story unfolds, it is clear that the family’s gods were very important. Apparently, Jacob agreed that these gods had power, even though he personally had accepted God as his god. As a point of interest, this is the first time that “gods” are mentioned in the Bible. However, Joshua indicates that Abraham’s family worshiped gods before moving from Ur.