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{{DOD-January}}
In a very real sense, the rest of Genesis presents the life of [[Jacob]], including his trials with Laban, Esau, and his own sons. The story of [[Joseph]] is actually a part of [[Jacob]]'s history.
[[Jacob]] traveled about seventy miles from Beersheba to Bethel, a three-day journey. The transfer of the birthright from Esau to [[Jacob]] had been validated by Isaac, and now [[God]] gives [[Jacob]] the assurance that henceforth he is to be recognized as the vehicle of promise.
The first 77 years of [[Jacob]]'s life were spent in Canaan. He spent the next 20 years in Haran, some 400 miles northeast of Canaan. [[Jacob]]'s mother had been raised in Haran and his grandfather, [[Abraham]], had been there years before. While in Haran, [[Jacob]] began to reap some of the [[sin]] he had sown. He suffered years of hardship. A wife he did not want was forced on him by deceit, just as he had gotten his father's blessing by deceit. [[Jacob]] spent some 20 years of toil, trial, and testing with his Uncle Laban. [[God]] used Laban and the difficult circumstances of life to discipline [[Jacob]] and prepare him for the tests that lay ahead.
In chapter 30 [[Jacob]], the schemer, is again at work. Instead of trusting [[God]] to meet his needs, [[Jacob]] again used his own plan. Once again this is a picture of flesh striving against the [[Spirit]]. After all [[Jacob]] had been through, isn't it strange that he had still not learned that [[God]] was in control of every situation? The flesh may derive plans that look successful, but true success comes only through [[God]]'s divine plan for our lives.
