Faith’s Hall Of Fame: Jacob

Faith’s Hall Of Fame: Jacob

Hebrews 11:21

By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

What can be said about a man whose very name tells you about his greatest character flaw? Jacob means “to deceive” and he lived a life of deception. He deceived others and was deceived by them.

The passage about faith, in Hebrews 11, doesn’t ignore Jacob’s flaw. It focuses instead on the end of his life and who Jacob became. His life of struggle and strife turned the hardened man into a man of God, known for his blessing of his children and his spiritual state.

The Bible talks about this process in Gods’ people. God never asks us to fix ourselves before He chooses us to do His work. Rather, He takes that rough piece of clay and moulds us into a finished product that knows and understands who God is.

Jacob worshiped, “Leaning on his staff.” Thats a picture of an old man who has lived his life, made his mistakes and learned his lessons. God has brought him through the desert and into His presence. Jacob was no longer the deceiver. He was Jacob the worshiper.

Remember his limp from “wrestling with God” in Genesis 32? That limp required Jacob to lean on a staff which, in his old age, now symbolized his lifelong dependence on God. He died leaning on God—not just physically, but spiritually.

What about you? What does your faith lean on? Are you leaning on your own strength, or on the staff of God’s grace? Jacob learned that long, difficult lesson the hard way.

But he did learn. That’s what his place in the Hall Of Fame of Faith is all about; struggling his way through life but coming out of it closer and nearer to God. A deceiver who became a worshiper.

Psalms 66:12

“You made men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water, yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.”