Tape Talk
by R.M.

TAPE REVIEW: Jacob
by Norman P. Grubb

After listening to Norman Grubb’s tape on Jacob, I have a clearer picture of how God worked through Jacob. Norman begins by saying, "There is One Person in the Universe, God;" and God’s purpose is the expression of love to the world. Everything created by God is some form to fulfill this purpose. God chose Jacob to be His agent to carry on the plan of redemption for the Jewish people (and the world) which He started through his father, Isaac, and his grandfather, Abraham. Norman explains how Jacob experienced different stages of an inner consciousness of God.

Norman’s point of view is that Jacob did not wrongfully deceive Isaac when receiving the blessing. Jacob was obeying his mother and doing God’s will. He saw a higher law in operation–the fulfillment of God’s plan through him.

Jacob’s first opportunity to trust God was through a dream on the way to Laban’s. He chose to believe the Lord would be his God, and he would be His servant. At this time Jacob realized there is a power greater than him-self and trusted God. While living at Laban’s house he worked as a shepherd and started a family. He struggled with hardships because as Norman says, "He was still living in the flesh and did not see how God was working in all parts of his life." Years later, he and his family travelled back to Canaan, but Jacob was still obsessed with the fear of his brother, Esau. This desperation led him to pray for deliverance. When an angel of the Lord appeared and wrestled with Jacob, God was pressing Jacob to see himself as he really was. Jacob finally realized he was a man who God was living through and not a separate person serving God. Norman says at this point Jacob knew union with God and experienced Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."

Norman’s tape on the history of Jacob gave me a lot of insight on how a great man of faith lived. Norman explains the difficulties Jacob had and how he worked through them. Jacob did his job by knowing what God’s will for him was and living it out so that many people would know God. I would recommend this tape to anyone wanting a deeper understanding of Jacob–a man who came to know he was a vessel through whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.