神没有拣选好人。如果我们来拣选，我们可能都会拣选以扫，而不拣选雅各。比较的说，以扫从来没有欺骗或抓夺过甚么人。但神没有拣选以扫；神拣选雅各。每一个被神拣选的人都是顽皮的。如果你很好，那你必不会蒙神拣选。亚伯拉罕是本于信得称义的表样，雅各是蒙拣选的表样。你已经蒙拣选了么？那你必是个雅各，因为神只拣选雅各。神是神，我们必须敬拜祂是神。祂主宰的拣选了雅各这样一个抓夺者。
生为老二
神主宰的安排了雅各一生的环境和境遇。当雅各和以扫还在母腹中，他们就争着谁先出生（创二五22-26）。雅各很狡猾，似乎说，“我们都在母腹中，谁先出去，谁就是头生的，有长子名分。我绝不失去长子名分。”所以雅各开始争斗。在神的主宰下，雅各有聪明的头脑，却没有强壮的身体。以扫刚好相反，虽然不很聪明，但身体强壮，就打败了弟弟，不让他先出生。以扫虽然受雅各头脑的欺骗，雅各却被以扫的力气打败了。神非常有智慧，祂似乎说，“雅各，我要让你有聪明的头脑，但我不给你很多的体力。”因此，雅各在出生之前，就被以扫打败，生为老二。
虽然雅各被打败了，他却不认输，反而抓住以扫的脚跟（创二五26），这指明他拒绝承认失败。今天我们也是这样。许多时候我们被我们的以扫打败，但我们不承认失败，还抓住他的脚跟。有时候姊妹们被她们的丈夫打败，但她们不承认失败，还抓住丈夫的脚跟。有时候丈夫被他们的妻子打败，他们也成了抓脚跟的人。我们都是雅各，神已经拣选了我们，而我们都在神对付的手下。
雅各从以撒与利百加而生，以扫是他的哥哥，这事不是偶然的。这一切都是父豫先安排为要变化雅各的。雅各从他在母腹里的时候，就需要一个身体比他强壮的人。我们常说双生子是相同的。然而，雅各和以扫若是相同的，雅各就绝不会受到对付了。雅各是个安静的人，总是运用心思。以扫是个猎人，常常运用体力。因此，以扫正是雅各所需要的。
信息重点：神没有拣选以扫，却拣选了雅各。神不是寻找天然完全的人。我们都是雅各，神已经拣选了我们，而我们都在神对付的手下。
应用祷告：主耶稣，谢谢你在我天然的光景中拣选了我。求你让我不信靠自己的长处，乃是信靠你变化的大能。
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Jacob’s Experience — Being Dealt With (3) — Gen. 25:26
God did not choose a good man. If it were left to us to choose, we would most likely have chosen Esau rather than Jacob. Comparatively speaking, Esau never deceived or grasped from anyone. But God did not choose Esau; God chose Jacob. Every person chosen by God is troublesome. If you are very good, you will not be chosen by God. Abraham is the example of being justified by faith; Jacob is the example of being chosen. Have you been chosen? Then you must be a Jacob, for God only chooses Jacobs. God is God, and we must worship Him as God. He sovereignly chose a grasper like Jacob.
Born Second
God sovereignly arranged the circumstances and situations of Jacob’s entire life. While Jacob and Esau were still in the womb, they struggled over who would be born first (Gen. 25:22-26). Jacob was shrewd, as if saying, “We are both in the womb — whoever comes out first is the firstborn and has the birthright. I will not lose the birthright.” So Jacob began to struggle. Under God’s sovereignty, Jacob had a sharp mind but not a strong body. Esau was the opposite — not very clever, but physically strong, and so he overpowered his younger brother and prevented him from being born first. Though Esau was outwitted by Jacob’s mind, Jacob was defeated by Esau’s strength. God is very wise, as if saying, “Jacob, I will give you a sharp mind, but I will not give you much physical strength.” Therefore, even before birth, Jacob was defeated by Esau and was born second.
Though Jacob was defeated, he did not concede; instead, he grasped Esau’s heel (Gen. 25:26), which shows that he refused to acknowledge defeat. We are the same today. Many times we are defeated by our Esau, but we do not acknowledge defeat — we still grasp at his heel. Sometimes sisters are defeated by their husbands, but they do not acknowledge defeat and still grasp at the husband’s heel. Sometimes husbands are defeated by their wives, and they too become heel-graspers. We are all Jacobs; God has already chosen us, and we are all under the hand of God’s dealing.
That Jacob was born of Isaac and Rebekah, with Esau as his older brother, was not accidental. All of this was arranged beforehand by the Father to transform Jacob. From the time he was in the womb, Jacob needed someone with a body stronger than his. We often say that twins are the same. But if Jacob and Esau had been the same, Jacob would never have been dealt with. Jacob was a quiet man, always using his mind. Esau was a hunter, always using his physical strength. Therefore, Esau was exactly what Jacob needed.
Message Focus: God did not choose Esau but chose Jacob. God is not looking for those who are naturally perfect. We are all Jacobs; God has already chosen us, and we are all under the hand of God’s dealing.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for choosing me in my natural state. May I not rely on my own strengths, but rather on Your transforming power.