Jacob: God Chooses Us At Our Worst

During this Flawed series, we have examined different figures of faith that we see in the famous “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. As we study this passage, we see a large collection of individuals that the author of Hebrews talks about…but if we really look at their lives, we see that they are imperfect individuals who God chose to use because of His grace. Today we look at the life of Jacob - one of the key historical figures in the Judeo-Christian faith.

Jacob - A Man Who Lived Up To His Name

We are first introduced to Jacob in Genesis 25. He is the son of Isaac and Rebekah - the fulfillment of God’s promises to them after years of infertility. God told Isaac that his oldest son would serve the youngest (Genesis 25:23), and sure enough, Jacob comes out second after his twin, Esau, holding his heel. His name means “he takes by the heel, supplanter, deceived, or one who cheats.” The rest of his life, he lives up to his name.

We see Jacob’s deception come in just a few verses after we’re introduced to him. Jacob tricks his brother Esau into selling his birthright for a bowl of soup (Genesis 25:29-34). He took advantage of Esau’s hunger and short-sightedness for his own self-gain. He continues this pattern later on when he tricks his sick, practically blind father into giving him Esau’s blessing (Genesis 27:1-40) with his mom’s help. It is then that he runs away out of fear for Esau. 

Things start to take a shift for Jacob at this point as he settles into the land of his relative, Laban, and is deceived himself into working 14 years to marry Rachel, after Laban tricks him into marrying Leah instead. He stays there and builds a family until God calls him to leave and return to his land. Along the way, he wrestles with God, is renamed Israel, becomes the father of God’s chosen people, is reconnected to his brother Esau, and experiences the loss of his favorite son Joseph (who later turns out to be alive). 

Jacob’s story spans from Genesis 25 until Gensis 49. He has a long, complicated story filled with moments of God’s faithfulness in the middle of imperfection. His life is filled with mistakes and character flaws, and yet, for some reason, God chose him.

God Chose Jacob At His Worst

God had already promised Isaac before Jacob was even born that the younger would be the strongest, and that nations would come of both of his children. He had a plan for Jacob before Jacob was born. But the moment when God called Jacob was a unique moment in Jacob’s life. God met him in the most unlikely of places - right after he decieves his father into giving him Esau’s blessing and as he is running in fear for his life to avoid the anger he spurred in Esau. It is there that God meets him in a dream and calls him in a way that he doesn’t deserve.

In Genesis 28:10-22, God speaks to Jacob in a dream and says “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.” God promises Jacob that He will bring him back to this land and make a nation out of him - that God will be faithful to him. It is in that moment that Jacob first understands a small piece of what God wants to do through him - though I’m sure the picture was fuzzy at the moment.

Jacob has already lived up to his name as deceiver, supplanter, and manipulator. And yet, as he is running away from the anger he has stirred up in his brother, God finds him. God chooses him to be the father of the nation of Israel. If you’re anything like me - you can’t help but wonder…why? Why does God choose this man of all men to have this role?

We can’t claim to know what is in the heart of God, but I do think that we learn something incredibly valuable from the people that God tends to choose to play important roles in His Kingdom throughout history. Abraham, Moses, Jacob, David, Sarah - all of these individuals that have such important roles to play in the work that God has been doing throughout history…they are flawed. They have anger issues, doubting problems, adultery problems. Some of them are murderers, liars, cheaters, and cynical of God’s purposes. Why on Earth would these be the people that chooses to write His story?

Because since the very beginning, God’s choosing of His people has been based on grace through faith, not on works. God makes a habit of choosing sinners. He makes a habit of picking out normal people with nasty habits and skeletons in their closets to participate in his work in the world.

God Makes A Habit of Choosing The Worst

God makes a habit of choosing the worst. The key figures in our religious text are clearly human. God doesn’t ask us to idolize them, brush aside their flaws, or turn them into our saviors as so many other religions demand. Rather, He intentionally leaves their errors in the text for us to find out about. It’s like God is trying to make a point. There is no perfect man among you to do the job.

The people taht God chose to use all throughout Scripture help us to realize that we don’t have to put anyone on a pedestal in Chrsitianity. No human figure in our faith is perfect. They are all flawed. They are all showing us that no manmade religion, political structure, or power can save us from the disaster within us - because even our most esteemed figures of faith are sick with the same sin that we are. This is good news. You aren’t expected to set your hope on a man - you are given the privilege to set your hope on Christ. God chooses the worst - all throughout the Bible. Jacob is just one of them. The reality is that God has always been in the business of choosing messy, broken people - of letting his favor rest upon those who could never deserve it.

God Chooses Us At Our Worst

This is good news for us, because God chooses us at our worst, too. It’s almost as if since the beginning of time, God has been screaming the same message to His people. My favor has nothing to do with you - it has everything to do with grace. The God of the Old Testament and the New Testament are one and the same. There has always been a standard, and we’ve never lived up to it. Just as the figures in the Old Testament weren’t perfect, we aren’t perfect. And yet God chooses us anyways.

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We see in Hebrews 11:1 that the very reason Jacob, David, Moses, and Abraham were approved by God was simply because of their faith. Not their perfection, not their actions, but their faith.

God chooses all of us at our worst. His grace is the saving power in our lives! We, like all of the figures of faith before us, are chosen at our worst. Saved by grace alone. We are used only because we have a gracious God who is capable of writing beautiful stories with broken people.

The True Author and Perfecter Of Our Faith is Jesus Himself

In this series, we have looked at some of the key figures in the Jewish faith found in Hebrews 11. The Jewish people would have considered these the heroes of their faith. The patriarchs, the founders - the very cornerstone of their religion. But Hebrews 11 isn’t supposed to put our focus on these individuals - but rather use them as witnesses to point us to Christ.

All of these individuals are showing us that there is no man in whom we can confidently trust to lead us rightly. They are all broken. And as much as God accomplished through these people and as muc good as some of these people did - they were all equally messed up. But God uses these broken, flawed people as the primary figures of faith in the Biblical narrative to force us to realize that no human king, judge, patriarch, prophet, or person can be our prophet, priest, king, or guide. We need someone more. 

This is why the Hall of Faith ends in Hebrews 12:1-2, which says “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” These figures point us to Jesus - the true founder of our faith.

May we look back toward these individuals as witnesses to what God can do with broken people when they have faith in Him - and may we look forward to Christ who finally and fully accomplished everything for us on the cross, and run with endurance our walk of faith together.

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Flawed Week 5. May 25th, 2025. Preached by Julia Castro

Article Edited by Julia Castro