Your Spiritual Benchmark

Jacob is on the run and has lost his spiritual compass. But he has another guidepost to help bring him back on track.

A stone for a pillow doesn’t sound like comfortable camping equipment. But when you’re on the run, you can’t be too picky. Jacob didn’t have much to complain about on his camping trip. Truth be told, he was lucky to be alive.

 

Jacob’s Origin Story

Jacob had brought it on himself, of course. We learn the story of his birth earlier in Genesis. Jacob was born hanging onto the heel of his twin brother, Esau (Genesis 25:26). The name, Jacob, literally means “heel,” i.e. follow closely at someone’s heel.

Have you ever heard someone called “a real heel”? That would be Jacob!

During his growing-up years, Jacob was painfully aware that he was number two among the sons of Isaac and Rebekah. Esau had beat him into this world by mere minutes, but that was of no account. Esau was the firstborn. Under the law, he stood to inherit.

Until, that is, Jacob intervened with a sly deal he offered his brother. Esau was an outdoorsy...