When Jacob was born he was the youngest of twin brothers. Jacob's parents were Isaac and Rebecca. Jacob's brother was Esau. Before they were born there was already a struggle in Rebecca's womb. He (God) told her that a struggle was taking place in her womb. She was carrying twins and that two different nations will come forth from these two sons which will be born. He also said to her that the older would serve the younger.

Genesis 25:24-26
"So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb and the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over, so they called him Esau. Afterward his brother came out and his hand took hold of the heel, so they called him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them".

The first son to be born was said to be "hairy" and was called Esau. Jacob was not far behind. He was holding onto Esau's heel. Jacob means, "to take the place of" or "supplanter" or "deceiver". His family named him Jacob because they saw his character. He wanted that which belongs to his brother. Jacob lived up to this name for many years until God changed his "nature". The two sons grew up together. Jacob was waiting for the opportunity. Esau was the cunning hunter and a man of the field while Jacob was a plain man and dwelled in tents. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob. Jacob lawfully got the birthright but stole the blessing which, belonged to Esau.

Birthright and blessing are two separate issues. They were two very important happenings from the early days and even today.

There are several elements in the birthright. The birthright involved pre-eminence and authority. It also denotes special privileges and advantages belonging to the firstborn son. They were all spiritual. The eldest son of the family, the firstborn, received upon his father's death a spiritual inheritance. The firstborn belonged to God in recognition of man's dependence of Him for life. One important thing was to serve as priest of the family. This meant that he had to hear from God and had to know God's will for the extended family. As priest he was responsible for the spiritual welfare and direction of the family. When the family had needs he was responsible to bring them to God in prayer. This was a great responsibility but it was recognized as a special privilege. It was lawful to sell the birthright but it had to go to the next in line. The person buying the birthright had to be willing to take on the responsibility that accompanied this birthright. Now, this spiritual inheritance belonged to Jacob. Esau would later claim that Jacob had taken the birthright by deceit but the truth is that Esau willingly got rid of it. The birthright meant also a double share in the inheritance. (Deut 21:17). Double blessing. Jacob got the first blessing from his father and then he was blessed (second) again before he fled.

Bless comes from the Hebrew word, "barach" which means to bless, to salute, congratulate, thank, praise, to kneel down. It is the root word from "Barach" and "barachah" where blessing is derived from and interestingly "berech" which means knee is probably the source of these words. In Old Testament times one got on his knees to receive words of blessing.

It was Esau's lust for the present and the tangible at all cost that cost him his birthright. In the New Testament Esau is the "profane person" (Heb 12:16). Profane person - he lacked holiness. It means that he did not live a life that pleased God. It only pleased himself. Esau had no desire to be priest of his family. This problem was his weakness, which Satan used to rob him. He could not wait. He wanted it now, not tomorrow or later. He had no patience. Impatience is a thief and robbed many. Even today many people lost out because of impatience. The scripture is full of it. Interestingly the Jews of today also have no patience. They re-act in many ways like Esau. God will move in His time. Esau had his shortcomings but he had sweetness, and tenderness but this did not help him.

The birthright and the blessing are not the same. The blessing was the physical inheritance. Forty years later Jacob would get the blessing through deception. Isaac loved Esau and loved the food his son made. Isaac inherited the riches from Abraham and it was time to pass it on. Rebecca considered her Jacob to be the dominant heir and made a plan for it to happen. But God did not need Rebecca's plan and help for Jacob to get the blessing. But Isaac was suspicious. He finished the meal but something did not seem right. He wanted to smell the field. He also knew that Jacob was a "supplanter" and he had to make sure before he pronounced the special blessing. The blessing was not a duplication of his blessing from before, the one that he got from his father, but a new one.

Genesis 27:27-29
"And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing and blessed him and said: Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field, which the Lord has blessed. Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren and let your mother's son bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you".

It spoke of the dew of heaven, which meant that God was going to water his hands and make him productive. It spoke of the fatness of the earth, which meant that God wants His people to prosper. Then lastly the blessing gave Jacob the authority (spiritual). The blessing that was given to Jacob by Isaac, his father, was destined for him because he had a heart toward God.

Blessing - in the Old Testament it generally means a bestowal of good - often material. Sometimes it describes a formula of words (Gen 27:37). In the New Testament blessing often means the spiritual good bestowed by the gospel (Eph 1:3). From God's side He is the Blesser, the one who gives the capacity for living a full and rich life. The first action of God, the Creator, was to bless the newly created man and woman (Gen. 1:28)

When Esau returned from his hunt and prepared the food and brought it to his father, his father was shaken and knew that he was helpless and could not change it. Esau knew the importance of this blessing and he was tricked out of it. Esau was greatly disturbed by this news. Isaac and Esau both recognized immediately what Jacob did. The deceiver did it again. The words of blessing had already been given. It cannot be retracted or given to another.

Genesis 27:36
"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! And he said: Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"
Isaac then gave Esau a blessing to. The same blessing cannot be repeated again.
Genesis 27:39-40 "Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: Behold, Your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. By the sword you shall live and you shall serve your brother; and it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck."

From the scripture we see that the blessing accompanied the birthright. In my opinion when he (Esau) lost his birthright he lost all and therefore could not get the blessing. When Esau forfeited the birthright he lost the blessing although it took many years for him to find out that he lost the blessing too!

When the Lord spoke, His words cannot be recalled. The blessings that are destined for us cannot be diverted. Nothing can take God's blessing from us. The enemy will try to trick us out of it but it remains lawfully ours. We have an inheritance in God. We are His sons and His heirs. Let us take what is rightfully ours. May the devil have nothing that rightfully belongs to us. Our healing, our prosperity, etc. The ancient people knew far better than us about the power of the spoken word. A blessing, curse, creative words, destructive words, etc. can all have great effects when we spoke in faith. The fate of Esau serves as a warning to anyone who forfeits permanent spiritual blessings for immediate passing fleshly gratification. Once such a choice is made and acted on, its consequences cannot be reversed and the blessings are lost forever. (Heb 12: 16-17)

Esau knew the importance of a blessing and he was desperate to get one. The blessing Esau got in response to his plea was mixed. His hatred towards his brother increased and he was determined to kill his brother. Rebecca planned Jacobs escape after she learned about Esau's intentions. As Jacob was leaving Isaac prayed over him.

Genesis 28:3-5
"May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger which God gave to Abraham".
This prayer does not sound like a man who is in disfavor with God. It does not sound like a man in disobedience but a man who is in the center of God's will. By this time Isaac recognized the hand of God in everything that had happened. He saw the anger in Esau and must have talked to God about it. God must have given him the assurance that it was His will and it will come to pass. The outcome was not pleasant for Jacob. He had to flee his home. His mother was hoping that he would only be away for a few days. This turned out not to be the case.

Before Jacob was born God promised his mother, Rebecca, that he would be blessed. Even with his name he prospered. He became rich, having sheep, cattle and children. God could not fulfill the covenant of true greatness until Jacob's name was changed. God could not do this until Jacob had broken totally from his "old life" and "nature", which consisted of cunning and trickery. As believers we can learn from this because God cannot use us as long as we allow the "old nature" to rule and control us.

Jacob feared the wrath of his brother. Jacob would not returned if it was not for God who appeared to Him at Haran. God told him to return to his family. It did not matter how much he suffered. When God speaks to us and commands us to do something He expects us to obey the command. He will give us the strength to do it and He will accompany us. Jacob knew that he had to meet his brother. He had the encounter with God. He had the birthright and he had the blessing but he knew that he had to acknowledge his brother as the first born. - As believers we have the blessing of being born again, spirit filled royal priesthood, but we have to remember Israel (Jews) are still "the first born" and the chosen people. They still remain God's chosen people. God did not change it!

The old nature was still in Jacob. He was still not ready to face his enemy. God was busy with him. Jacob needed to be alone. God wrestled with Jacob until the breaking of the day. Jacob knew it was God who wrestled with him. Jacob wanted that blessing badly and therefor would not want to led him go. The importance of the narrative is Jacob's willingness to contend with God at this time of desperate need. He knows God wants to bless him and he will settle for nothing less than his full inheritance. His blessing, which he got from Isaac, was through deceiving his father. Jacob got it illegally but now he wanted a blessing, which belonged to him lawfully. His contending tenacity causes him to prevail. God touched his thigh and put it out of joint. Jacob was in agony. He no longer could trust in his loins to conquer his adversary. But with the power in his shoulders and arms he still held on to God. He was strong because as a shepherd he had to carry sick sheep on his shoulder. Jacob held on till he got lawfully what he wanted. When he got his blessing he released Him. This blessing could not be his until he dropped the "old nature" and took on the nature from God. The Lord asked him what his name was. He had to admit verbally his character and then God changed it to Israel. Gen 32:27-28

Israel means "God's hope", "ruler of God", "Prince of God", "God's fighter" or "may God Persevere". God commends him for his prevailing attitude - he is a fighter. Before God could raise him up as the mighty father of a holy race, father of a nation, God had to sanctify him. Eleven of Jacob's sons were born when Jacob had still the old nature. Only Benjamin was born with his new nature. God changed Jacobs nature at Peniel (which means face of God), the place where he wrestled with God. Many of Jacob's sons had many faults and weaknesses. They had to deal with it in their own lives, before they became the great leaders of the tribes of Israel. Peniel is the place where God meets man. Jacob wrestled with God and Jacob said: "I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved".

God put a mark on Jacob. God touched Jacob - God put a limp in him. This will remained with him for the rest of his life. This was to set him apart from men. When you get desperate something happens in your spirit. You need to press through in faith. You will never be the same after you meet God face to face. There will be a permanent mark on you to. When God changes your name it is identification that God has done a work of grace in your life. It means that God has got a new direction or plan in your life. It also means a new beginning. Jacob limped - this symbolizes that character transformation costs God's people in terms of ego, death.

Israel was born through wrestling. He was born in the darkness of the night. All alone Jacob fought the battle on it's own with his old nature. Sometimes God wants to deal with us to. He wants us alone and in the darkest places in our live He wants to bring us face to face with reality. Jacob's greatest victory was not in the holding on to God, the Mighty Warrior, but when he was asked his name. He had to confess it, verbally, Jacob (the deceiver). He had to admit who he really was. He had to acknowledge his weakness before he was transformed. God wants us to see who we really are. He cannot change us until we see the need in ourselves to change. Hosea saw Jacob as a model to be emulated whenever one is facing difficulty or in need for a character transformation (Hosea 12:2-6).

When Jacob spoke to his sons he called himself by two names - Jacob and Israel. Jacob reminded him of his old nature and the person who he was before. Israel reminds him that he is a new person with a new identity. When he spoke to his sons and calls them sons of Jacob he do it with a purpose, to remind them that they were born when he was the deceiver. He reminded them that they were born in sin and were conceived in iniquity. They to need to change.

The struggle between two manner people still continues today. It is a struggle between the light and the darkness, between the lost and the saved, between the flesh and the Spirit, between right and wrong, between carnality and spirituality. This struggle is present or was present in all of us and this keeps people from what God has destined for us to be.

In the Old Testament we find that God occasionally set aside the birthright, that belonged to the firstborn son, to show that the objects of His choice are not depended on the will of the flesh, but on His authority. We see that Isaac was preferred to Ishmael, Jacob to Esau, Joseph to Rueben, David to his elder brothers, Solomon to Adonijah, etc. The Jews attached a sacred importance to the firstborn of old times and even today. When we look at Jesus, as firstborn He has a special inheritance superior to his brothers. He alone is the true and High Priest. Rom 8:29; Col. 1:18; Hebrew 1:4-6; Hebrew 5:5-10; Hebrew 3:1 Jesus was the first-born of Mary - he was offered to God in the Temple (Luke 2:22). He is also described as the firstborn of his Heavenly Father (Col. 1:15). He is the first born of the new creation by being raised from the death (Col. 1:18) (Rom 8:29)(Rev 1:5) God's people are also called "first-born" sharing in the Son's privileges in Heaven (James 1:18)(Hebrew 12:23)

The firstborn was set apart as belonged to God. When we were born again we automatically also belong to God and can receive the blessings from Him. The blessing is destined to the believers.

We as believers are the priests and have the responsibility that goes along with it. We are the Royal priesthood. Are we willing to carry the responsibility that goes along with this birthright? Are you still carrying your "old nature" around with you? Did you meet God face to face yet? Have you name being changed?

Are we desperate enough? We need to know that we need to be willing to struggle to receive all that God has for us. God knows how to remove things of our past and give us a touch of glory for our souls. When we are serious with God the answer always comes. We need to become desperate, desperate about spiritual things.