Indeed, Jacob had a “difficult” pilgrimage from birth to death. This included grasping his brother’s heel at birth, stealing his birthright and his father’s blessings, fleeing to his uncle’s house only to be tricked, returning to his father’s land after wrestling with God, and finally prophesying over the twelve tribes of Israel alongside Manasseh and Ephraim.

Although Jacob was blessed by God, at some point he had to stop running and start wrestling to inherit God’s blessings. His name was later changed to Israel, which literally means ‘to strive with man and God’ and ‘to overcome’. Today, we are all on our own pilgrimage. We may be running or wrestling, or perhaps we are unaware of where we are in our journey, seeking blessings. This time, we want to briefly study the life of our patriarch and apply divine principles as God’s chosen and blessed generation through Jesus Christ.