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            Jacob went on his way to find himself a wife of their line like his father had commanded. He instantly fell in love with a girl from their line, Rachel, and wanted to take her as his wife.  However, it was custom to bargain for your bride and to almost buy them from their family to make up for the loss they would take from not having their daughter around to help with the homestead. Jacob didn't have anything to give yet so instead he offered to serve her father for seven years. Rachels father agreed but what he didn't tell Jacob was that the first daughter, the eldest, had to be married off before the younger.

            Jacob worked the seven years for the love of his life not realizing that on the night of his wedding, Rachels dad was going to slip his eldest, Leah, in the room with him instead of Rachel to consummate the marriage. The next morning Jacob was furious, he was informed why this happened and the dad agreed to give him Rachel still for a wife in addition to Leah but he had to work another seven years. Jacob could have left and rightfully so been angry with his father in law, but he knew that would get him no where and he would lose Rachel. So he fought through the anger and worked another seven years for her.

           When someone doesn't hold their end of the bargain, its easy to walk away or justify quitting, but sometimes it serves us to stick it out even if we feel taken advantage of. Its important to know what God wants from us in the moment, always seek His guidance before thinking and acting rash.

            Jacob didn't love Leah, although it was clear that he loved Rachel. God saw that Leah was unloved so he blessed her with sons, meanwhile Rachel was barren. Leah thought after each son she had that it would make Jacob love her, but finally she realized after her youngest son was born that God loved her and she instead chose to thank God for his blessings rather than seek them from Jacob. To show this she praised the Lord and named her last son Judah. Its noted that all of her sons were named due to the situation she was in at that moment, like the same with many others in biblical days. Babies were given names to live up to in those days, and if they didn't live up to the name then the name could change. Notice a lot of important people mentioned in the bible had a name change throughout their life according to their path.  Jacobs name meant one who supplants and later is changed to Israel, one who struggles with God.

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            Isaac demanded Jacob to not marry a local pagan girl, but to instead go to Padan Aram and marry one of their own. Esau had already upset his parents by whom he married and Isaac made it clear that Jacob was not to do the same.

            Jacob receives a dream from God one night and makes a covenant with God just as his dad and grandfather had done. Jacob was offered the same covenant that God made with Abraham, but it wasn't enough to be Abrahams grandson, Jacob had to establish a relationship with God on his own. We all have to do this. It isn't enough what our parents may or may not believe or what kind of a relationship someone close to us might have with God. We need to establish our own relationship with God and we need to get to know Him personally and let Him know us personally.

            Jacob mentions at the end of this chapter that whatever God gives to Jacob, he would return a tenth back to God. This could be why a lot of people believe you need to tithe ten percent. It is important to tithe and is something that we should all do, after all, everything that we have is Gods, we are just temporarily in possession of it. But this was a personal choice that Jacob made with God in regards to giving back a tenth. When it comes to tithing it is a personal thing between you and God, ask Him what He wants you to tithe and where He wants you to tithe too.  If you promise God to tithe ten percent like Jacob did, honor that promise and dont go back on  it. But this is something you should really pray over and even fast about to seek what God wants you to tithe.

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            Isaac was now getting old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, he called Esau, his oldest son, and told him to go hunt some game and prepare a meal for him to eat so that he may bless him. Isaacs wife heard this, and quickly told Jacob to go get a goat and she would prepare it for his father and Jacob will take it to him pretending to be Esau so that he would get the blessing. God had already told Rebekah that Jacob would be the more prosperous son, but instead of trusting in God she tried to take the situation into her own hands by lying and deceiving her husband.

            Jacob was afraid to get caught, he wasn't ashamed to deceive his father and lie. But when his mother said she would take the curse if there was one, then Jacob went through with the plan because he wanted the blessing. In ancient times, the oldest was the heir and had the birthright but not till the father spoke it verbally, and normally this didn't happen till the father was old in
age. This is because if the oldest wasn't deserving, the father could give it to another child or servant instead. So even though Esau had traded it to Jacob already, it wasn't considered permanent until the father spoke it into existence. However, in this case, because God already told Rebekah that the birthright would go to Jacob, all they needed to do was trust in that plan rather than deceive Isaac to create their own plan for the blessing.

            So Jacob brought food to his father and lied and told him that he was Esau, and Isaac blessed Jacob. When Esau arrived later with his game his father was confused, Esau told him that he was lied to and deceived and begged for the blessing. Because Isaac had already given his word and blessing to Jacob, he told Esau that he would bless him but he cant take back what he already said and that Jacob would be the new leader of the family and the heir. Their word in those times were like our version of a written/signed and notarized formal contract. Once you gave your word you couldn't take it back, it was a done deal.

            This filled Esau with anger and he decided that he would try to kill his brother. His mother feared this and sent Jacob away where he would be safe, at his uncles village. It is a common reaction to react to something unsettling with anger, but feeding into the anger will only cause more harm. You can't control what others do, only how you react to it, when you catch yourself feeling angry ask God to remove it from you and to help you with the situation. Reacting in anger will only cause more harm and suffering.

            Had Rebekah and Jacob trusted in God, this situation would have been avoided. This is why we must trust in God and what He has promised us and allow Him to work in our lives to make His promises happen. Be obedient of what He commands but dont try and make His promises happen on your own merit, and definitely dont sin to try to achieve what you want. If you have to lie to receive what your wanting, its either the wrong timing or not what God has planned for you. Trust in Him.