Genesis 47:11-48:22

“This is the history of Jacob…”

That’s how Genesis 37 began, just before our focus shifted to Joseph. As much as we have marveled at the life of Joseph over these 11 chapters, it is the life and history of Jacob that is the overarching focus of these last few chapters in Genesis.

Jacob—who would be Israel—a man who wrestled with God…a man who would eventually be governed by God. But it would take him a lifetime to get there. From his birth, he had a reputation for trickery and treachery—trying to be the first born by grabbing his brother’s heel, then buying his brother’s birthright with a bowl of stew, then stealing his brother’s blessing through fraud. He lived up to his namesake—heel catcher.

That is…until God met him and wrestled him and gave him a new name—Israel, which means wrestles or governed by God. Slowly, this new identity began to work its way out in his life—an identity that determined Jacob’s behavior. From a lying thief to the patriarch of the people of God—“This is the history of Jacob…”