Revelations from the Word

Been reading about Jacob. Now this is a man who puzzled me. The Bible says, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” And for the life of me, I could not see why. Jacob was definitely a con-artist. His story is layered with deception and manipulation. The type of guy who would get you to invest in a pyramid scheme and then pull out.

Yet God loved Jacob.

And God spoke to him. He visited him in dreams. And he even blessed him after a lengthy wrestle. But I was like, why? Why this dude? Even I’m better than Jacob. Hold up what? Who’s better than Jacob?… and that’s when the penny dropped. I’m the Jacob in this story. I’m the liar. The deceiver. The con artist. I'm Jacob.

Yet God chose me.

When God revealed his name to the Israelites - he said, “Yahweh, Yahweh, the compassionate and gracious God… "

Rahum we-hanun is Hebrew meaning “compassionate and gracious”.

Rahum, or “compassionate.” It’s usually translated “merciful.” It’s from a root word meaning “female womb.” (The idea behind it is the feeling that a mother has toward her infant child.)

Hanun means “to show grace” or “to show favor.” It’s something you do. (It has this idea of help. )

You see God had a feeling of compassion towards the Israelites in slavery (Rahum) and then he actioned his grace (Hanun) towards them in freeing them from slavery.

It was undeserved.

Time & time again we see Yahweh showing us rahum we-hanun even though we are the Jacob.

Cyle Myers