By Apostle Andre Pelser, 30 December 2012

 

Introduction

Abraham was Jacob’s grandfather and Isaac was his father. Both of them were blessed of the Lord

and God made promises to them and their children. Jacob was the third generation in a family that

served and worshipped God and gave their tithes to the Lord. But besides these generational

blessings which accounted for much of the blessing in Jacob’s life, Jacob had a secret. This secret

was many faceted. As we examine the facets of Jacob’s secret it will shine like a diamond and
enrich our own lives. If you believe, it can become your secret as well.

 

1.  Jacob had a prophetic blessing over his life (Gen 28:3, 4)

“May ^gGod Almighty bless you, And make you ^hfruitful and multiply you,

That you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you ⁱthe blessing of Abraham,

To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land ^jIn ²which you are a
stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.” ^[1] 

 

 

2.  Jacob had a personal encounter with God (Gen 28:12-17)

Then he ^qdreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven;
and there ^rthe angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

^{13 s}And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: ^t“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and

the God of Isaac; ^uthe land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your

^vdescendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad ^wto the west and the east,

to the north and the south; and in you and ^xin your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

¹⁵ Behold, ^yI am with you and will^zkeep ³you wherever you go, and will ^abring you back to this land;

for^bI will not leave you ^cuntil I have done what I have spoken to you.”

¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in ^dthis place, and I did not know it.”

¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God,

and this is the gate of heaven!” ^[2]

 

3.  Jacob made a vow to give tithes (Gen 28:18-22)

 

^{20 h}Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If ⁱGod will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going,

and give me ^jbread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that ^kI come back to my father’s house in peace,

^lthen the Lord shall be my God. ²² And this stone which I have set as a pillar ^mshall be God’s house,

ⁿand of all that You give me I will surely give a ⁵tenth to You.”

 

4.  Jacob had a God-given idea (Gen 30:37-43)

 

³⁷ Now ^cJacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled
white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. ³⁸ And the rods which he had

peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink,

so that they should conceive when they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks conceived before the rods,

and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ Then Jacob separated the lambs,

and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his

own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

⁴¹ And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods
before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. ⁴² But when

the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.

⁴³ Thus the man ^dbecame exceedingly prosperous, and ^ehad large flocks, female and male servants,

and camels and donkeys.

 

^{?Genesis 31:10-14} 

^10?“And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream,

and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted.

¹¹ Then ⁿthe Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’

¹² And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked,

speckled, and gray-spotted; for ^oI have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel,

^pwhere you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now ^qarise, get out of this land, and

return to the land of your family.’ ” ^[3]

 

5.  Jacob wrestled with God until he changed

 

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone; and ^va Man wrestled with him until the ⁷breaking of day. ²⁵ Now when

He saw that He did not prevail against him, He ⁸touched the socket of his hip; and ^wthe socket of Jacob’s

hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. ²⁶ And ^xHe said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

But he said, ^y“I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

^27? So He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

^28? And He said,  ^z“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but ⁹Israel; for you have ^astruggled
with God and ^bwith men, and have prevailed.”

29  Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”

And He said, ^c“Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He ^dblessed him there.

^30? So Jacob called the name of the place ¹Peniel: “For ^eI have seen God face to face, and my life is

preserved.” ³¹ Just as he crossed over ²Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.

³² Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip

socket, because He ³touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.

 

6. Jacob shared his blessings (Gen 33:11)

 

¹¹ Please, take ⁱmy blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt ^jgraciously with me, and

because I have ¹enough.” ^kSo he urged him, and he took it. ^[4]

 

7.  Jacob built a house and an altar for the Lord (Gen 33:17 & 20)

 

¹⁷ And Jacob journeyed to ⁿSuccoth, built himself a house, and made ³booths for his livestock.

Therefore the name of the place is called ⁴Succoth.

²⁰ Then he erected an altar there and called it ^rEl⁷Elohe Israel.

 

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