Hebrews 11 and the life of Jacob remind us that true faith is often most clearly seen by an old man, unable to stand on his own, still fiercely clinging to God’s promises.

I want to be like Jacob. That might seem like a strange statement if you know the story of Jacob. Jacob’s name means “heel-grabber” or “trickster,” and Jacob lived up to the name. Jacob tricked his own brother and his father before fleeing for his life. In a move of brilliant poetic justice, God brought Jacob to his uncle Laban, who tricked the trickster. Their mutual deception eventually led to a deterioration of the relationship, to the point that Jacob fled in the night from his own uncle and father-in-law.

When Jacob is brought face to face with his estranged brother, we see a glimmer of faith in him. He prays and wrestles with God, doing what God told him to do even though he understandably fears his brother will kill him. Jacob gets to the end of his own devices, and finally grabs a hold of God and won’t let go until he knows he has God’s blessing. Sure enough, God comes through for Jacob in a mighty way. Then Jacob almost immediately lies to his brother and the tricking resumes.

Furthermore, if we look at Jacob’s family, we will find that it was a mess. After being tricked by Laban, Jacob marries two sisters and has children with each of them, as well as with each wife’s handmaid. This chaos led to favoritism, selling Joseph into slavery, and eventually even to a massacre. Once Jacob and the family move down to Egypt, he is given a chance to stand before Pharaoh. This is what he says:

My pilgrimage has lasted 130 years. My years have been few and hard, and they have not reached the years of my ancestors during their pilgrimages (Genesis 47:9).

How inspiring. What a wonderful testimony before one of the most powerful men in the world. And yet… the author of Hebrews doesn’t look at Jacob and see a miserable failure. Rather, he includes him in Hebrews 11, the famous “Hall of Faith.” What was it that so inspired this scriptural author that he wrote down Jacob’s name?

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