March 2-8
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The Old Testament is full of imperfect people. There is strife and difficulty. Families struggle together. We see people who are trying to follow God, sometimes in desperation, and they make mistakes along the way. We see a whole spectrum of human emotion. It makes me wonder how much we’re missing in the New Testament. We often tease about how the Old Testament and New Testament are so different, but are they truly? Or were they just written differently? Perhaps the curtain just gets peeled back a tad bit more with the Old Testament and we get to see the bad along with the good.
This week, we read about some of those imperfect people, and there is much to learn from them. We can learn from their mistakes in our own quest to follow after God. We can learn to watch our own predilections and flaws and hopefully avoid some of their same obstacles. I want to look at Jacob and Rebekah specifically.
It took a while for Rebekah to get pregnant, but when she did, she got pregnant with twins. They wrestled within her and caused her to ask the Lord what was going on. He spoke to Rebekah (likely through the Spirit) and told her that from the two brothers, two nations would be formed. It was also prophesied that the older would serve the younger.
Esau was born first and was Isaac’s favorite, and Jacob was born second and was Rebekah’s favorite. Rebekah had received a revelation that Esau would serve Jacob, but she took matters into her own hands. Isaac spoke to Esau and told him to prepare a dinner so that Esau could be blessed. Rebekah pushes and convinces Jacob to trick his father. This is what she tells Jacob.
Genesis 27:8-10
8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.
She convinces Jacob to pretend to be Esau. Isaac is blind, and so the idea is that Isaac will give Esau’s blessing to Jacob. She takes the ruse even further by placing the hairy skins upon Jacob to further trick Isaac into thinking that Jacob is Esau (since Esau is hairy and Jacob isn’t).
Her ruse works. Isaac is tricked and gives the birthright blessing to Jacob rather than Esau. Esau comes home and is bitter and upset about what happened. He mourns his father but promises to kill Jacob when the mourning is over. Rebekah sends Jacob far away to her brother, Laban.
Jacob’s life isn’t made easier after this. He has been separated from his family. He starts working for his uncle and is tricked more than once. His uncle likewise changes his wages unjustly multiple times. The Lord calls upon Jacob to take his large family back home to where Esau is and Jacob fears his uncle and cousins enough that he tries to do it secretly.
It’s a long story, but I told the whole thing because the context is key in order to understand the principle I want to teach. I’ll shorten it to these four details. God whispers to Rebekah. Rebekah takes matters into her own hands, and Jacob listens. Jacob finds himself exiled.
Now the fraud and sin are not upon the head of Jacob alone. Rebekah pushed for this pretty hard; Jacob gave in and listened and did as his mother bade him. Both of them found themselves with poignant parallels.
When we don’t trust the Lord, we can find ourselves separated from family. Let me explain what I mean. I don’t necessarily mean that the Lord is going to exile you. I’m not prophesying that your children are going to be taken away. What I am teaching is this: not trusting the Lord can keep you separated from the family of God, spiritually and emotionally. It can make you feel like you’re all alone in the world.
Jacob had to go off on his own and try to make his own way. He didn’t have anyone to lean on. Do you feel that way? Do you feel that you have no one to lean on?
If you’ve been baptized and made covenants and kept those covenants and love the Lord but still don’t trust in His power to handle things (including your sins), you’re going to find yourself separated from Him. Not because He rejects you for not trusting Him, but because you are putting up a wall and keeping yourself from enjoying the relationship that’s possible.
Trust in the Lord is an irreplaceable part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can do all of the things, but it won’t matter without the trust. Rebekah was trying to help the prophecy along, and all it did was take her son away from her. She didn’t trust the Lord to handle it. It separated her from her loved one. Jacob listened and found himself separated from everyone.
I sat down with a loved one a couple of years ago, and she confided in me that she didn’t think she would make it to the Celestial Kingdom. She insisted that she had made many mistakes and didn’t know whether God would count her worthy. It made me so thoroughly sad. Sure, there had been mistakes, but there wasn’t a drop of rebellion in her. She loved the Lord and wanted to do what He wanted her to do.
And yet despite her goodness, she didn’t believe she could make it. Her lack of trust kept her from enjoying so many aspects of salvation right here and now. It kept her exiled and alone without anyone to lean on.
Do you know how good it feels to be a child of God? To feel close to Him even when you can’t see Him? It feels good. It feels tangible. I do not feel alone. I do not feel like I have to do this life on my own or figure out how to be okay all by myself without anyone to back me up. Trust in the Lord (whether that’s timing or unwanted answers or His ability to save) gave that to me.
If you feel that you’re supposed to be somewhere and it’s not coming together, don’t force it. Work appropriately, and trust Him. Trusting Him will keep you close rather than alone.
I testify that the Lord loves us. I testify that He wants to be close to us. I testify that His command for us to trust Him is a command because He knows it’s one of the most powerful tools for joy and peace. We are not alone. We do not have to take things into our own hands. We have an all-powerful Lord to guide us and lead us and open doors at the right times. We can rest, knowing He has our best interest in His capable hands.
Autumn Dickson 
I really had to sleep on this reply & today I don’t feel any differently……
It was bound to happen!! In all the years I have been responding to your posts, I don’t think I have ever disagreed with you more than on this one.
Did you even read the Come Follow Me section for last week? Esau was unworthy of the birthright. (Genesis 26:34-35) and had previously traded it away to his younger brother for “bread and pottage of lentils” because he despised it. (Genesis 25:30-34)
In the reading for last week, there is a section — Why did Jacob pretend to be Esau? It says……
“Rebekah had learned by revelation that Jacob would be blessed above Esau. It is possible that the actions of Rebekah and Jacob recorded in Genesis 27 were overzealous, imperfect attempts to help Jacob receive blessings the Lord had already promised to give him. This account may also be lacking details that could help us more clearly understand the actions and intentions of Rebekah and Jacob.
After Isaac learned that he had unknowingly bestowed the blessings on Jacob, he could have revoked the blessing and bestowed it upon Esau. However, he chose not to. Isaac thus confirmed that the blessing was given to the person the Lord intended.” Elder Oaks describes the clear difference between Sin and Mistakes. (October 1996). Sin requires chastening to bring about repentance (D & C 1:25, 27). He also taught that mistakes are not sins. Isaac required no chastening unto repentance, so this doesn’t meet the test of a sin to me.
The economy of Heaven is not a cosmic vending machine. Rewards and punishments don’t happen in a linear fashion, especially not on this earth. The key word is eventually!!
Jacob wasn’t a ruler for a long time, but is that even worth discussing? God’s word is never void, nor are his timelines because His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. (Isaiah 55:9). The older did serve the younger, end of story!
Evil men and women prosper and righteous men and women don’t, at least temporarily. Abraham, Job, Nephi Alma, Moroni, and many others, were faithful and ended up separated from their families. Joseph was separated from his family because he was sold into slavery by his brothers and then put in prison for keeping the Law of Chastity. Yet the Lord was with Joseph the entire time. When those same brothers came to him 20 or so years later, he gave the glory and credit to God…… “for God did send me before you to preserve life.” (Genesis 45:5). Very good and righteous men and women are separated from families due to accident, injury, illness and far too often due to malicious gossip and slander by bitter friends and family members who judge falsely. It’s all part of the proving process. “Proving moments are not evidence that the Lord has abandoned you. Rather, they are evidence that he loves you enough to refine and strengthen you”. (Elder Henry B Eyring, Proved and Strengthened Oct 2025)
Laban’s behavior was far worse than Rebekah and Jacob’s and continued for over a decade. As you pointed out, he changed Jacobs’s wages unjustly many times. He also cheated his own daughters out of their inheritance. (Genesis 31:14-15) Where was his wall? Did he ever feel all alone in the world?
How would Jacob have met and married Leah and Rachel any other way? Would Esau’s name have been changed to Israel & would he have been blessed with 12 sons? If Jacob had not left, Isaac and Rebekah may have lost both of their sons, Jacob through murder and Esau through capital punishment for killing his brother. Would the covenant God had made with Abraham and Isaac been continued through Esau had he received the birthright? It sure doesn’t seem like much of a wall to me!
Imperfect people and dysfunctional families are all the greatest being in the Universe has to work with and things always have and always will work out….. eventually!
For hundreds of weeks, I have been in awe of your wonderful insights. This one doesn’t dim my respect and admiration for you one bit!! Thanks once again for a very thought provoking 24 hours!
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Haha in my defense, I do write these at 6 in the morning regardless of how much I’ve slept! Not to mention, I was prepping two weeks of content (4 messages) in a single week (to prep for our move), and so I was rushing through it a bit. It is very likely that I missed details or misinterpreted. That’s partially why the Old Testament always makes me nervous! But alas, I’ve also learned so much.
As for Rebekah and Jacob, I suppose I just interpreted it differently. I believe that Rebekah did receive revelation that Jacob would rule. I know Esau despised it and was unworthy of it. Maybe the Lord even sent Esau down first so that Jacob could usurp Esau and be sent away to find his wives. Who truly knows? When I read the story, I suppose I just assumed that the Lord could have arranged for all of it without the trickery. I know Isaac didn’t take the blessing back, but I pictured him recognizing that he felt the spirit while he was giving the blessing to Jacob and receiving the impression that it all happened as it was supposed to. I thought maybe he received the impression afterwards and decided to not change things.
I have no idea if I interpreted it correctly haha I can easily see your interpretations as well. If I have been in error, forgive me. I’m sure you have.
I’m grateful for ALL of your comments, not just the beaming ones. Mortality allows us to learn from one another, and I’m grateful for that too.
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Good evening and thanks for the explanation. It definitely helps! Thanks so much.
I’ll explain a bit too. As is my pattern, I saved your message for a great way to end my Sunday with some AD time. I read this post first and wrote most of my reply before deciding to sleep on things and see if I felt differently in the morning. When morning came, I read your companion message for last week — You Haven’t Ruined Your Life. I added to my reply, and it became a combination of both of them.
I still see things very differently. Don’t you think our omniscient God knew exactly what Rebekah was going to do with the revelation He gave her? Perhaps that is exactly why He gave it to her?
It is very possible that Rebekah fussed, fretted and 2nd guessed herself. What devoted, loving mother wouldn’t? There may have been times Jacob was bitter, same as Joseph, Job, Daniel, Isaiah and countless other prophets ancient and modern. Even if she went too far and Jacob was temporarily bitter, the plan is still perfect, for them and for us. I like what Elder Holland taught: “However many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made … , I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.” Laborers in the Vinyard April 2012.
I am deeply grateful the opportunity to repent and forgive (none necessary here over a difference in perspective) is available to all men and women during this mortal existence and the next.
Keep up the great work my friend. Best wishes always.
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