Your first thought should have been, “Why is Bob writing about Hitler?” or, “Who is this crazy blogger going to compare to Hitler?” If you did not make the connection to the German dictator then you are a product of a failed school system and failing to learn from the past dooms one to repeat its failures.
This blog is actually about the patriarch, Jacob, who has his name changed to Israel (Hebrew: Yisra’el – he who struggles/prevails with God) after wrestling all night with a spiritual being that has taken human form (Gen 32:24-30).
Where in the Bible do we see great wealth and leisure? One of the hallmarks of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), that speaks to its authenticity, is that the main characters have flaws . . . often many flaws that they must struggle with because of the law of ‘unintended consequences’.
Other religions depict their heroes as above reproach because of their absolute submission to their god(s). Judaism, and its offspring (Christianity) show a different, more realistic nature of man and Yahweh ensures that man’s flaws are featured prominently in the only book He has ever written.
Jacob, the second son of Isaac (even if by only a couple of minutes) deceives his blind father into giving him the blessing of the first born (Gen 25:21 – 27:41). He succeeds, but now he must, consequently, flee for his life from a vengeful brother.
Jacob’s mother (who orchestrated the deception because of a vision she received while the two brothers were yet unborn: Gen 25:22-23) sends him to the land of her family, ostensibly to find a non-Canaanite wife from among Rebekah’s relatives (another, partial deception to shield Isaac from the conflict between his sons).
Jacob ends up at the house of his uncle, impoverished.
Rebekah would not have sent her son on a long trip to find a bride without also sending gifts with him. Abraham’s servant arrived in Padanaram with ten camels laden with treasure when seeking a wife for Isaac, and Rebekah would have arranged for something similar for her son, Jacob, to bring for the family of a prospective bride.
Since Jacob was penniless when he arrived at the house of Laban (Gen 29:15), it can be presumed that he was robbed along the way. The Book of Jasher (Chapter 29) tells us that Esau’s son (Eliphaz) and ten others are sent to kill Jacob, but Jacob bribes him with everything he has to ransom his life.
[Jasher, Enoch, Jubilees, etc., are not canonized texts, but they do add to the richness of the Biblical narrative, and you should read them at least once to enhance your understanding of the Word. Ancient Israelites would have been familiar with these stories in the same way that Americans are familiar (or at least, were familiar) with the stories of Johnny Appleseed, John Henry, and Washington cutting down the cherry tree. The stories are not seen as historical truths, but they add to the richness of our American heritage.]
Jacob is smitten with his cousin, Rachel, and agrees to work as a shepherd for his uncle for seven years as a substitute for the price Jacob would have paid had he not been robbed enroute to Padanaram.
When the seven years of labor are completed (I can’t imagine a seven-year engagement), Jacob is deceived on his wedding night by Laban, who substitutes his oldest daughter, Leah, in place of Rachel in the wedding chamber. Jacob learns of the deception in the morning (it can be assumed that an abundance of wine during the wedding reception clouded Jacob ability to uncover the ruse).
So, the man that deceived his father is now deceived by his uncle and his new, unwanted, wife (Leah was complicate with the deception – she could have spoke up at any time before they consummated). Jacob loved Rachel so much that he agreed to work seven more years in return for her, also.
Marriage is hard enough – can you imagine being married to sisters, Leah who is probably shown on a regular basis that she is not loved and is probably hated by her sister for trying to steal the man her sister loved and Rachel, who is barren and watches her deceptive sister conceive numerous times with the husband she desperately wants to bless with children?
Laban deceives Jacob into working for him for an additional six years after the original fourteen years have been completed. He tells Jacob he can leave with the flocks he raises, but Laban has his sons regularly steal the livestock that is promised to Jacob (Gen 30).
Yahweh eventually assists Jacob by multiplying Jacob’s flocks and diminishing Laban’s (Laban’s deceptions towards Jacob finally yield consequences).
Jacob tries to flee Laban with his wives, children, and flocks for fear that Laban will obstruct his leaving (indentured servants who completed their service did not have the right to their wife or children if acquired during their servitude) and return to the land of his parents.
This flight has great peril, also, because it will reunite him with his brother (Esau) who tried to have him killed twenty years earlier, and may still hold a grudge. Jacob learns the troubling news that Esau, with 400 men, will descend upon their caravan the following day and he spends a fitful night wrestling with ‘god’.
Allah requires absolute submission, but Yahweh allows for His people to question, to talk back, and even to rebel (sin is lawlessness or rebellion). Yahweh is ‘tolerant’ of the sins of the people who love Him and seek to do His Will. He is not tolerant of those who refuse to keep His Word and endeavor to cause others to sin.
He records the struggles of His people with Him and with their lives as an example to us in our imperfect lives and times of trial.
- Abram questions Elohim about His promise of offspring with his wife (Gen 17), Sarai, which does not happen for fifteen years after the original promise.
- Sarah laughes at an angelic promise of a child in her old age and lies when confronted with her disbelief by the angelic being (Gen 18). Their eventual son was named Isaac (meaning, “laughter”)
- Sarah demands Abram sleep with her maidservant (Hagar) to conceive a child that she seemed unable to produce (Gen 16). Look at all the consequences produced by this one act:
- Sarai is angered with Abram for doing what Sarai demanded;
- This offspring of Abram (Ishmael) is first-born, but is not given the first-born blessing and inheritance causing generations of hostilities between the prodigy of Ishmael Isaac; and
- The promised child (Isaac) is delayed even longer.
- Abraham (his name is changed by Yahweh when he makes His Covenant with him) argues with Yahweh about his plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah . . . and Elohim appears to be receptive to Abraham’s arguments.
- Abraham struggles with the people of Abimelech, who are jealous of his good-fortune and seek to ruin Abraham because of their inability to prosper as he does (the nation of Israel today faces the same type of envy from their Muslim neighbors).
- Joseph is nearly killed by his envious brothers, but is sold into slavery, instead. If slavery was not bad enough, he is falsely accused of a crime and sent to prison for many years.
- Moses loses great wealth and titles when he flees Egypt. He argues with Yahweh repeatedly about returning to Egypt. He has to deal with over two million nomads who, for forty-years, are back-biting and complaining, “Are we there, yet?”
- Gideon questions Yahweh repeatedly and requests signs as proof before destroying his father’s pagan altars and fleeing the authorities. Gideon questions and argues with Yahweh repeatedly about the plan to defeat 135,000 Midianites with only 300 soldiers from Israel. One would presumably have to be quite insane not to question such a military plan (Judges 6-7).
- David faces and kills lions with a sling when tending his father’s sheep. He flees for his life from an envious King Saul. He later flees for his life from an envious son (Absalom) who seeks to forcibly wrest the kingdom of Israel away from him.
- Job was beset with personal and financial calamity and challenged Yahweh about why this happened. So intense was the criticism, that Yahweh responded with uncharacteristic sarcasm.
- The prophets all faced ridicule and/or imprisonment – many were killed by the kings they served.
- Christ probed his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane and plead with Him to find a different way to bring about salvation than by Yeshua’s torture and death. He accepted his Father’s Will (“Not my will, but thine be done”) and suffered beatings and crucifixion.
Life is struggle. No one who takes a stand on God’s Word will be able to escape that. Our Creator knows this and allows for us to struggle with Him while trying to navigate our faith. Those that just struggle with Him because they don’t like or disapprove of His Instructions will face the consequences of mocking Yahweh and His Word.
Speaking of those who are destined to take a swim in the lake of fire, Hitler got one thing right – life is struggle. Ad agency Ogilvy & Mather replicated Hitler’s theme though a series of biographical stories of eleven anti-racist activists in Germany – they tell their stories of struggling against racism by spending decades removing Nazi graffiti, by protesting neo-Nazis, and more (hence the poster of the new book with eleven different covers).
When you face adversity in your life, Yahweh showed us that even the heroes of old faced adversity. Those that preach “prosperity theology” and that the faithful will be blessed by riches, lie about the lessons of the Bible and the nature of life. Good people can and often face strife while evil people can and often live lives of luxury. This does not mean that rich people are evil (though many are) or that poor people are righteous (though many are).
Don’t Blame God is a good book about why bad things happen to Godly people.
It is okay to question your situation, your faith, and to question the Maker of heaven and earth, as long as your desire is be right with the Maker of heaven and earth. Zealots (ardent, unquestioning believers) will probably be of little help in your ordeals and your growth in faith.
Share your life with people who are willing to share their doubts about the path they are following and the struggles they face. They are real and are probably not scared of truth, no matter what direction it leads them in.
The story of your life could, and probably should, be entitled, “My Struggle”.